Question: NASA says new observations from the Hubble Space Telescope confirm the presence of a subsurface salty ocean on Jupiter’s largest moon, Ganymede. Jim Green, NASA’s director of Planetary space even says that the “The solar system is now looking like a pretty soggy place”. My question is, does this discredit the Bible in any way?. Assuming […]

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Editor’s note:  The person making this inquiry included material found from a web site.  This material is included, unedited, after my response. Question: I have some questions concerning archaeology and the Bible. 1.) Why is there such an absence of evidence concerning anyone mentioned in the Bible prior to Solomon or David, there is virtually […]

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Question: Mark 16::17-18 describes divine abilities believers should possess but not observant to the contrary. You think the same principle of miracles apply today? Answer: Scholars are nearly unanimous that Mark 16:9-20 was not in the original Book of Mark, so I see relatively little need to explain this section in Mark.   It is […]

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Question: I am writing to ask you a quick question: a Christian friend of mine shared his conviction that Daniel was not truly written  by Daniel, but was written some time in the second century BC.  I would like to know what are the arguments for and against this view, and the same for the […]

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Question: Mark 11:24 is a verse I find difficult to because the favors I ask of God in faith do not materialize more often.  Could you kindly explain what it really means? Answer: Mark 11:24 is true, of course, but we should not forget that there are other passages on the topic which would help […]

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Question: How could God bless all nations through Jacob after he deceitfully won Esau’s blessing in Genesis 27. I thought lying was a sin. Answer: The same way he could use Abraham, despite his lack of faith at first when he heard that he would have a child and despite his dishonesty about his wife […]

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Question: Genesis 5 states that the patriarchs prior to the flood lived as long as 900 years. How exactly is anyone supposed to take this into consideration when during ancient times, life span was actually shorter than it is now?  Only now are humans living longer, not shorter. So in the face of this how […]

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Dr. John Oakes taught a five-part series on the Book of Ezekiel for the singles ministry in San Diego May and June, 2014.  This class covers Ch 34-48 and is the most encouraging part as it reveals God’s plan to restore his people to a right relationship with him and to protect his people.  ...

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Dr. John Oakes taught a five-part series on the Book of Ezekiel for the singles ministry in San Diego May and June, 2014.  This class covers Ch 18-34 which finishes the section on God’s righteous judgement on Judah and begins to discuss the restoration of God’s people to a relationship with him.   The power...

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Dr. John Oakes taught a five-part series on the Book of Ezekiel for the singles ministry in San Diego May and June, 2014.  This class covers Ch 8-15, which is a pretty tough class because this material is on God’s judgment for sinful Israel.   The power point and notes are available in the power...

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Dr. John Oakes taught a five-part series on the Book of Ezekiel for the singles ministry in San Diego May and June, 2014.  The second class looks at the dramatic confrontation between Ezekiel and the stubborn and unrighteous in Judah. Ezekiel SD 2...

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Dr. John Oakes taught a five part series on the Book of Ezekiel for the singles ministry of the San Diego Church of Christ May and June, 2014.  This part is the introduction to Ezekiel and Chapter I. Ezekiel SD 1...

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Dr. John Oakes and James Shults taught a class on the Bible books after the exile in Babylon, including Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai, Zechariah, Esther, and Malachi.  The theme of the class was God’s desire for us to repent, return, be restored and rebuilt into what he wants us to be.  The last class covers the...

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Dr. John Oakes and James Shults taught a class on the Bible books after the exile in Babylon, including Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai, Zechariah, Esther, and Malachi.  The theme of the class was God’s desire for us to repent, return, be restored and rebuilt into what he wants us to be.  The fourth class completes a...

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Dr. John Oakes and James Shults taught a class on the Bible books after the exile in Babylon, including Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai, Zechariah, Esther, and Malachi.  The theme of the class was God’s desire for us to repent, return, be restored and rebuilt into what he wants us to be.  The third class begins a...

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Dr. John Oakes and James Shults taught a class on the Bible books after the exile in Babylon, including Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai, Zechariah, Esther, and Malachi.  The theme of the class was God’s desire for us to repent, return, be restored and rebuilt into what he wants us to be.  The second class continues with...

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Dr. John Oakes taught a six week class on the classic evidence supporting faith in Jesus Christ in San Diego Feb through April, 2015.  Part V is taught by Dan Conder.  The fourth section covers the historical reliability of the New Testament accounts of Jesus–especially that of Luke.  It also begins a study of the...

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Dr. John Oakes taught a six week, nine hour class on the classic evidence supporting faith in Jesus Christ in San Diego Feb through April, 2015.  Part V is taught by Dan Conder.  The third part continues to explore pagan and Jewish sources on Jesus and begins to explore the Christian sources and argue for...

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Dr. John Oakes taught a six week class on the classic evidence supporting faith in Jesus Christ in San Diego Feb through April, 2015.  Part V is taught by Dan Conder.  The second class refutes the claim that Jesus is a Christian myth.  It also covers different views of Jesus (the Mormon, Jehovah Witness, Hindu...

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Dr. John Oakes taught a six week class on the classic evidence supporting faith in Jesus Christ in San Diego Feb through April, 2015.  Part V is taught by Dan Conder.  The first class focuses in on who Jesus is, the claims of other world religious leaders, the sayings of Jesus about himself, the Liar,...

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Question: I’ve been discussing different god and the bible with an atheist friend of mine and there were two points which I felt really unsure of. 1. The first was the problem of suffering; I explained the idea that creation was corrupted at the fall of man, but he pointed out that this in no […]

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Question: I was just watching this video and would like to ask you (since I never really bothered to looked into this subject in depth) What does it matter if the earth is 6000 or 6.000.000 years? https://l.facebook.com/l/jAQHiGsOvAQGvEzRft5_viI9TFU7Vn-x6iPZ8utGizqWldQ/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DeAy-KTEzzaY Response: The speaker in this video implies that if we do not believe in the 6000 year […]

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Question: Hello, I have a couple of questions concerning our souls.  If consciousness can be determined to depend on the physical brain, does this mean our consciousness ceases to exist after death? Isn’t it obvious that if the brain is damaged in any way that it directly affects our consciousness immediately.  Also, if we have […]

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Question: Does 1 Corinthians 12:28 and Ephesians 4:11-12 imply that the church should be led by apostles only? What bearing do these scriptures have on the church today and it’s leadership? Answer: To be honest, I do not see where you could get the idea that the church should be led by apostles only from […]

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Question: Are apostles and prophets supposed to be part of Christianity today? Answer: No, apostles and prophets are no longer a part of the New Testament Church.   Apostles, by definition, had to be personal witnesses of Jesus Christ (Acts 1:21-24).  Obviously, there are no candidates for this office today!  As for prophets, these were men […]

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Dr. John Oakes taught a class on the existence of God at San Diego State University in 2012.  He begins by considering arguments by atheists, followed by the classical arguments for the existence of God. Existence of God SDSU...

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This is a response by Dr. John Oakes to Dawkin’s book “The God Delusion.”  He describes the content, refutes several of Dawkins arguments and shows a number of logical fallacies in the book. Dawkins Delusion I     Dawkins Delusion II    Dawkins Delusion II...

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This is a take on discipling relationships by Dr. John Oakes.  He spends time coming up with biblical definitions of the words disciple, discipleship and discipling. Discipling...

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This is part II in a two-part series on Church History taught by Dr. John Oakes.  It focuses principally on the primitive church, the Reformation and the Restoration Movement. Church History Part II  ...

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This is part one of a two-part 2.5 hour class on Church History by Dr. John Oakes.  It mainly concentrates on the primitive church, the Reformation and the Restoration Movement. Church History Part I...

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This class was taught by Dr. John Oakes.  It is his take on how we, as Christians, can take our personal study of the Scriptures to a deeper level and to know Gods’ Word in a greater way. Taking Our Bible Study Deeper...

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This is a class by Dr. John Oakes which covers the Christian doctrine of baptism.  It argues that baptism is the only way to get into Christ and is the the point in time at which one is actually saved.      Baptism In Christ...

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This is a lesson on the Christian World View given  by Dr. John Oakes.  It discusses what would make for a “good” world view and argues that only the Christian explanation makes sense, as opposed to Eastern, Modern and Postmodern and other world views. Anything True Any More?...

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This lesson was given by Dr. John Oakes at San Diego State University in 2009.  It is a discussion of postmodernism, scientific materialism and the Christian World View. What is Truth?...

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