Question: In baptism, the church I go to does a good confession by saying “Jesus is Lord” and there are scriptures that supports it like Romans 10:9. How can we be sure that we are doing it the way the early Christians did? Did the 3000 baptized in Acts 2 undergo the same practice as we […]
Dr. John Oakes taught a six-week class on World Religions on six consecutive Saturdays beginning on 2/23 9:00-11:00. See below for suggested reading and schedule. World Religion Notes World Religion PPT World Rel Audio 1a World Rel Audio 1b World Rel Audio 2a World Rel Audio 2b World Rel Audio 3a World Rel Audio 3b […]
Question: I believe that there is a difference between the righteousness of Jesus and the Pharisees. But in what sense do they differ from each other? Some say, Pharisees are legalistic in their righteousness, but what does it really mean? And how can we surpass their righteousness, as Jesus taught, in a day to day basis […]
Question: I was looking through your sermon notes on the Holy Spirit and it said “Q: Do you pray to the Holy Spirit?”. From my understanding of prayer we are to pray to God through Jesus’ name and the Holy spirit, but not necessarily to it. Holy Trinity thing? (I’m a kingdom kid so honestly […]
Question: I was studying the Bible with a friend and she told me that in John 3:1-5 when Jesus states that you must be ‘born again’ to see the Kingdom of God he is referring to amniotic fluid, not baptism. In other words, she said that Jesus is stating that one must be born again […]
Question: I wanted to ask you a question in regards to the book of Daniel. The LXX [editor’s note: this is the Septuagint Greek version] version of the book of Daniel has three additional passages, “The Prayer of Azariah and Song of the Three Holy Children, the stories of Susannah and the Elders and Bel […]
Question: First, let me say that I discovered your site about 6 months ago and I thoroughly enjoy it. You and other sites like yours, has helped me become a better and a more enlightened Christian. Thank you! I am a military veteran. Served honorably. I have been very proud of my service,but have to […]
Question: My sister sent me this video and asked me to review it (Johnathan Cahn Warns America on the show with Jonathan Bernis). I thought it was interesting. I don’t want to simply discount what they are saying as I usually do with most of these guys who prey on peoples fear and ignorance to […]
Question: If life is discovered on another planet, how will it affect our understanding of the Bible, God, the Anthropic Principle, and our place in the universe? Answer: In a word: no effect. If God created life here, he can create life elsewhere. That is God’s prerogative. The Bible does not suggest one way or […]
QUESTION: Can you give me some insight you might have about some Greek words like Dikaiosune for “righteousness”, Zeteo for “seek” in mat. 6:33, Peinao for “hungry” & Dipsao for “thirsty” in mat. 5:6, & lastly, Hiplon for “instrument” in rom.6:13? just need some input from you as i compose a lesson. thank you! Answer: […]
Question: Your thoughts on the new information concerning the Higgs-Boson, the “God particle”? Response: My thoughts on the new information about the Higgs Boson is that it changes absolutely nothing from a Christian Apologetic point of view. First of all, the theory about the existence of this particle–the one responsible for giving mass to particles–has been […]
Question: I love your website, it has helped me in many ways. I have a question that I’d love to get your take on. When Adam was in the garden by himself, naming animals for whatever conceivable amount of time that he was there without Eve (hanging out with God, naming animals, all that), and Eve […]
John and Jan Oakes just returned from a 20 day teaching trip in Jakarta, Ambon, Surabaya, Medan, Singapore, Brisbane and Perth. A report is attached. Indonesia Singapore Australia Journal
Note: This is a follow-up to a question posted just a couple of days ago. Question: I feel that I failed to communicate exactly what I meant in my last question. What I am saying is I have been told Jesus came to earth at the exact time and place that He did because God […]
Question: My 7 year old son has recently become interested in the Bible and has been reading some of Genesis on his own. He asked me about the biblical ages in Genesis and how people can live 800, and 900 years. I said I thought it could have been that God gave longer lives at […]
Question: My wife was physically abusive to me, and threatened to commit perjury / bear false witness against me if I ever dared to call the police. One day, she threw a whiskey bottle at my head (missed), and I did call the police. When they arrived, she told them a story, and I was […]
Question: God created all of us, yes? That means He chose you exactly as you are and not a slightly different you (maybe one with different color eyes or slightly quicker to anger or any tiny variation). When David says “you knit me together in my mother’s womb” is he not saying this? Therefore how could […]
Question: At what point in the evolutionary line did humans develop the Image of God? At what point in time did we fall into sin? What is the eternal fate of our evolutionary ancestors? Please forgive my rusty science, but what I am asking is will there be neanderthals, cro-magnons, etc. in heaven Answer: Humans […]
Question: Hi, John! I have some questions about discoveries. Tell me, please, if I am not right. 1. This tablet now in Germany – http://ferrelljenkins.wordpress.com/2012/02/08/evil-merodach-562-560-graciously-freed-jehoiachin/ 2. This tablet now in London (from your PDF) – text from tablet: [In] the seventh year, the month of Kislev, the king of Babylonia mustered his forces and marched […]
Question: How do we understand the Book of Jonah? Was he really swallowed by a whale/fish/something else? How did he survive for three days in whatever it was? Is this just one of those things we must just understand as a miracle? Answer: According to the writer of the Book of Jonah, when Jonah was […]
Question; I want to ask you about the one discovery – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hezekiah%27s_Tunnel Is this the real tunnel from the Bible or not? Could you give me, please, a good web site about Bible discoveries? Answer: Yes, this is almost certainly the same tunnel which, according to 2 Kings, was constructed under Hezekiah in about 705 […]
QUESTION: It’s clear in Scriptures that only Jesus Christ can forgive our sins. If so what does John 20:23 mean? Answer: This is a good question. Biblically, only God can forgive sins. Mark 2:1-11 (especially 2:7) makes this clear. Theologically, it only makes sense that God, the one sinned against, can forgive sins committed against […]
Question: I’d like to ask you a question about spirits and demon possession. If you could help me, below is the situation. A friend of mine told me that he is helping a couple. The husband told him that his wife is having times with different attitudes. He thinks that a spirit or a demon possesses his wife. The […]
Dr. John Oakes taught a series of lessons in Indonesia January, 2013. Power points in Bahasa Indonesia are included. Kingdom of God Day of Lord-Kerajaan Allah dan Hari Tuhan PPT God and Science Tuhan Dan Ilmu Pengetahuan PPT
Question: What does John means when he says that God is Love? What love he is talking about? I s it the same if we say that Love is God? Answer: What John means is that, biblically, love is defined by God’s relationship with us. This is love, not that we loved him, but that […]
Editor’s Note: This is a series of interactions with a person who is obviously a Muslim making a typical argument against Isaiah 7:14 as a messianic prophecy. See below for further arguments from this person. Question: If you say that the Hebrew word in Isaiah 14 means a virgin and that it is a dual prophecy, […]
Editor’s note: This recent Q & A is of sufficient interest that we have turned it into an article. See below.
Question: I recently read an interview with atheist psychologist Steven Pinker about one of his books that he wrote. It was on a website (unfortunately,I can’t recall it). The topic of concern is the apparent biological basis for behavior and the impact this has on the traditional understanding of the Free Will Doctrine. As you […]
Question: Some time ago you gave an enlightening lesson at church on offerings from Leviticus. I have it on my ipad and listen to it every once and awhile. As a result, my read of exodus 29 this morning was much more exciting than it was a couple years ago. Here is one of my […]
Comment: It is absolutely impossible to have a firstborn son formed from the womb of his mother, Zion, which is Yisrael, and an only born son which is jesus. If jesus is the only born son, then he is the firstborn, and what has been said about Yisrael is a lie; however, the word firstborn […]
Question: May I know why God did not send anybody to India or some other countries just like he sent Jonah to Nineveh? Some good people in India such Gauthama Buddha searched for truth. Why did the true God Jehova did not respond to them by sending some angels to inform them? Answer: God did send […]
Are there modern-day Christian prophets? (Editor’s note: This question is a response to another Q & A posted earlier at the site) I disagree with your statement that there are no modern day prophets in these last days, not only that but scripture has been used out of context especially in your sentence “Like Paul […]
QUESTION: In Genesis 1:27 it is stated that God created “man”, with gender male and female. In Genesis 2:5-7 it is stated that God formed a man and called him Adam. Does this mean that God has created “man” first then later God formed Adam and Eve? In Genesis 6:1-2 it is stated that in […]
QUESTION: I have met homosexuals who would like not to be. In other words, their homosexuality is not chosen. I recognize the Bible considers homosexual acts as an “abomination”. I accept that in a non-fallen world, homosexuality would not likely have happened. However, even though the Bible is clear on its stance against homosexual activity, […]
Question: In John 1:24,25 The pharisees asked John the Baptist why he baptised if he was not the Messiah, Elijah or the Prophet. Why did they associate baptism with these 3 figures? Answer: When people saw John preaching and baptizing and that thousands came to hear him, they began to wonder who he was. Might […]
Author: Bill Pratt Editor’s note: This article is taken from the web site www.toughquestionsanswered.org Old-school atheists like Friedrich Nietzsche recognized that atheism utterly failed to answer the most profound of human questions, and thus atheism, he believed, led inexorably to nihilism. Nowadays, most atheists are very uncomfortable with nihilism and want to distance themselves from […]
Question: How could God create this material world out of nothing? We know nothing comes from nothing. Did God turn the energy of His words into matter? Kindly, explain this to me. Thanks. Answer: What a great question! I am afraid that this is one of those questions which will forever be beyond human ability to […]
We are pleased to announce that the sixth of an eventual ten courses in our Christian Apologetics Certificate Program series is now available for students to take the course. The topic is The Existence of God. The class is taught by Dr. Douglas Jacoby and Dr. John Oakes. The class is $150 ($125 in the […]
A number of related questions have come in lately about abiogenesis/the origin of life, so we thought it would be a good idea to reproduce an appendix from the book Is There a God (www.ipibooks.com) which addresses this topic. See below. John Oakes
QUESTION: If 2Pet 1:19,Rv 2:28, and Rev 22:16 reckons Jesus is the “Bright Morning Star” (even said so Himself) then how should we understand Isaiah 14:12? Answer: First of all, 2 Peter 1:19 does not call Jesus the “Bright and Morning Star.” I am not sure this changes your question much, but thought I would […]
QUESTION: The Greek translation of the Hebrew OT was called the Septuagint and I’ve read it was used in the early NT church and often quoted by NT writers. I’ve also read that it contained the Apocrypha, which was not accepted into the Hebrew OT canon. Question #1 “Was the Septuagint read in the NT […]
Question: I was wondering if science and scripture have any contradictions. I have done a small study on the creation account, and when doing that, I wanted to show how evolution was irrational, not logical, and so on. Even Darwin had doubts in his own theory, people of his day did not accept his theory. But […]
QUESTION: What can you say about this statement: “Religion is Darkness”? This comes from the character Mr. Kumar in the book and movie Life of Pi. It turns out that Mr. Kumar is an atheist. Answer: What I can say about this is that it is a meaningless statement. What does this atheist mean when […]
Question: It was good to meet you and talk to you a little in Accra last July at the 20th Anniversary celebrations of our church in Ghana. Since then I have bought some of your books and have just finished “Is There A God?”, which I learnt a lot from but need to study again. The […]
Question: I have “heard” that there are other letters Paul wrote that are not in the Bible. For example, there was a Third letter to the Church of Corinth that was not included in the Bible — Why not? Answer: It is hard to respond to the general question about “other letters.” There are many […]
Question: The order of the fig tree being cursed is different in different gospels. How can you explain this apparent contradiction? Answer: As you stated in your email, “The order of the fig tree being cursed is different in different gospels.” Ultimately, your question (I take it) is: Is there a contradiction between Matthew 21:10-22 […]
QUESTION: Many believed in God by seeing the miracles performed by Jesus. Today we do not see miracles happening in the same way as the first century, for example. Many disregard the Bible and do not even think it is historical. Although nature and the fulfillment of prophecy etc. prove the existence of God, for […]
Question: I would appreciate any light you could shed on another biblical issue: the “all things are permissible” concept Paul presents in 1 Corinthians 10. Answer: This passage can be a bit difficult to know how to apply. Most scholars believe that there should be quotes around “all things are permissible.” Paul is giving an important […]
QUESTION: Can a person be ‘Born Again’ more than once? Answer: The simple answer: No! It is not possible. We cannot be saved from our sins by the blood of Jesus twice. When we have truly repented, made Jesus Lord of our lives and been baptized into Christ, we are saved. It is possible to […]
Question: Why are there different lists of apostles in different gospels? Answer: The principle reason that there are three different lists of the apostles is that the gospels are independent accounts of the life of Jesus. If they were identical, then why would there be four gospels? If one writer copied from another, then the […]
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