Question: Thank you so much for writing “From Shadow to Reality.” It has strengthened my faith by seeing how only God could have orchestrated the foreshadowing in the Old Testament. I have learned a lot, and have had theories of my own on foreshadowing confirmed by your explanation of the related Scriptures.   One issue […]

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Editor’s Note: This question and answer are taken from an exam by Randy Hroziencik, a student in our ARS Apologetics Certificate Program.  It is used by permission. Question: In your own words, try to present the “explanation” of evil from the point of view of at least three other world views other than Christian theism.  […]

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Question: It is almost unreasonable to deny that God has shown some evidence of His existence ( in the resurrection of Christ as prophesied before His time and witnessed afterwards) But, one reason why people don’t believe in God is because He doesn’t seem to answer or guide when there is a physical need (starving […]

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QUESTION: I recently came across a friends post on Facebook in which he quoted Jesus saying to love one another, to bless those that curse you and do good to those that persecute you. One of the follow up posts was from another person who quoted the section in 2 Kings 2 where Elisha curses […]

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Question: I can’t find any solid information on the Old Testament Pseudepigrapha and why these books are not considered inspired scripture.  I know they are considered false writings, but why?  Are the Old Testament pseudepigrapha and the Old Testament apocrypha consideredto be the same thing?   Is the OT Pseudepigrapha just a branch of the OT apocryphal writings?   […]

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Dr. John Oakes taught a class on apocalyptic literature, including the Book of Revelation on six consecutive Saturdays beginning September 28 at the Mission Center of Hope in San Diego.   Revelation notes    Revelation Power Point     The audio of this lesson is now available in the web site store.  Go to the front page and click on […]

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QUESTION: I really need help on the following-I was on a website recently that claims that Aaron’s feast day of the golden calf that is said to have occurred in around 1446 BC in Exodus was copied from a events that took place within the same time period (between 17-15 century BC) by a group […]

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Question: I have spent the last two years trying to learn from the Holy Spirit. During this time the issue of Bible translations has arisen. The Lord led me to look at and compare all the different versions. I found the NIV translation to have omitted many vital scriptures. This has also left me wondering […]

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Question: The typhoon that hit the Phillippines was completely devastating. Possibly over 10,000 dead.  I understand through Christian teaching, that these events, according to some, are the result of a fallen world. Others say that this is just a natural part of God’s created Earth. My question is this. There are thousands of Christians living […]

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ARS is proud to announce that the ninth of ten classes in our Apologetics Certificate Program is now available.  The class is on the reliability, inspiration and inerrancy of the Bible.  The instructor of the class is Dr. John Oakes.   The class includes a study of biblical manuscripts and the canon of the Old and […]

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ARS is excited to announce the eighth of our ten courses in our Christian Apologetics Certificate is now available.  This is a ten hour class on the historical and archaeological support to the reliability of the Bible.  The instructors are Dr. John Wilson, professor emeritus of archaeology from Pepperdine University, as well as Dr. John […]

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Question: I am a 20 year old college student from Louisiana and I have been a Christian all my life. There came a time this past summer where I began to question my faith and why I believed what I did. I began searching and instead found a lot of atheist arguments which proceeded to […]

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QUESTION: I  have a question for in regards to an article posted by Fox News today. Apparently a 1.8 million year skull has been found which apparently is some evolutionary link. Does this mean tha there was some sort of pre-adamic race? Are they even sure the skull is that old? How would this reconcile […]

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Question: If God understands my humanity and sin nature better than I do, why does He still hold me accountable for what I cannot help doing?” Answer: A good question.  When my children were young, I understood their “humanity and sin” better than they did. Despite this, I held them accountable for their actions because […]

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Question:   May I ask why anyone should believe in the Bible?    You claim that the global flood was miraculous, yet what does that have to do with evidence?  Did God completely heal the earth? Is that what you’re saying?  You wish people to believe that God kept the ocean animals, plant life, bacteria all from […]

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Dr John Oakes gave a class 10/17/2013 on how the Christian can know God’s will.  Coll 1:9-10, Psalm 119:110, Romans 12:1-2 and others are used.  The lesson focuses largely on how to obtain wisdom through advice.  This is clearly not Christian evidence, but we thought we would publish it for those interested.   Knowing and Doing […]

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Question: I am asking a series of questions that come from 1 Cor. 15.     Several times in the chapter Adam is referred to as “one man,” a single individual.     If Adam and Eve existed as an “original couple” and had a real Fall, I believe this may present major problems in trying to harmonize evolution with […]

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Question: I wanted to thank you for your last email and for answering some of the questions I had. I appreciate you taking the time out of your undoubtedly busy schedule to do so.It helped me greatly. I hope I do not wear you out with my somewhat simplistic inquiries.    The reason for this question […]

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Question: Which religion is correct? Answer: Because you sent this question to a web site with the name Evidenceforchristianity.org, it is fairly obvious that we believe that Christianity is the correct religion.   I am guessing that there is a more specific question behind this request.  Do you have a more specific question about why we […]

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Question: I have been thinking lately about the the difference between willing yourself to change vs. being changed through and by the Holy Spirit. What’s the difference? I ask this because it seems as though when God wants you to grow in an area He allows you to go through situations that mold you into […]

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Question: This is starting to circulate on the internet. Facebook……etc. I am sure young christians in our congregations may have a hard time with it. Just curious if you guys have heard about it yet.  http://uk.prweb.com/releases/2013/10/prweb11201273.htm Response: Ancient Confession Found: ‘We Invented Jesus Christ.’ A new “theory” to explain the genesis of Christianity is making […]

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Question: Professor, one of the characters that I find most curious that there isn’t a lot of information about is Melchizedek. Besides Hebrews Chapter 7, Genesis 14, several references in Psalms, and mention in the Pseudoepigraph “The Book of the Bee” of the Book of the Cave of Treasures, are there any legitimate sources in […]

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Question: The Magi/wise men who visited the young Jesus were obviously men of knowledge, possibly scholars of some sort. I would assume that when they returned to their home they documented their experience. Is there any evidence of this? Answer: I would agree that the Magi were probably of high birth and likely were scholars. […]

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Question: I have recently been troubled by a theological dilemma regarding 1 Corinthians 11 and veiling. Actually, I should say I’ve been wrestling with it for years and the conflict comes and goes.   How can we as disciples of Jesus KNOW that Paul is speaking culturally? I know that David Bercot is popular throughout churches […]

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Question: One of the main reasons our founding fathers declared independence from Britain was because of taxation. Based on what Jesus said about” render unto Caesar…” in reference to paying taxes, were our founders going against what Jesus had said? Answer: This is a fun question.  Probably there is no practical implication of this since […]

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Question: Are Christians in danger of committing idolatry by having crucifixes,and pictures of Jesus, statues of Saints and Archangels, praying for those saints and Archangels to intercede for us in God’s presence? Answer: I think you put it well. Christians are “in danger of committing idolatry” when they use crucifixes, pictures of Jesus, statues of […]

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Question: I have seen your view about the book of Enoch.first I have to tell you where I am from , I am actually from Ethiopia. the only christian country that accepted the book of Enoch as canon.please I want much evidences that can disprove its authenticity. do you have? Answer: I did not say […]

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Question: Since you believe Jesus fulfilled Zech.6:11-13, do you also believe the body of Christ is the Temple? Answer: I believe that Zechariah 6:11-13 is really more of a messianic foreshadow than a historical messianic prophecy. In other words, it is a picture, in earthly terms of an equivalent future reality in heaven. The vision […]

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Dr. John Oakes taught a class titled Christianity and Bioethics for the South Florida Church of Christ 8/30/2013.  The class focuses on the moral and ethical questions raised by the leaps in technology in the biomedical field.  He discusses the Christian Worldview and how it can guide us to decide which kinds of technologies Christians […]

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Dr. John Oakes taught a class for the South Florida Church of Christ 8/30/2013 on Christianity and Postmodernism.  In the class Dr. Oakes explains the history of modernism, discussing its strengths and weaknesses.  From there, he explains why modernism led to postmodernism, followed by a discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of the postmodern mindset. […]

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Question: In Acts 10:44 Peter is at Cornelius’ house and the spirit of God falls on the Gentiles pre-baptism (while they hear the testimony of Jesus from Peter). Most commentaries suggest that this is more crucial to the argument of Jew v. Gentile and all being alike now, but how could the Holy Spirit come […]

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