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Author "john-oakes"

wrote in Archaeology and the Bible, General, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: I found interesting article on findings in Khirbet Qeiyafa.  May I ask, what is your opinion about that, is it another archeological proof of Bible historicity,  or just a hoax? http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/History/Early+History+-+Archaeology/Cultic_shrines_time_King_David_8-May-2012.htm Answer: No, this is the real thing. This is a very exciting discovery. Garfinkle is a highly respected archaeologist and this find will […]

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wrote in General, Practical Christianity, Supposed Inconsistencies in the Bible .

Question: Prov 26:4-5 seem to contradict. I’m trying to figure out how to deal with the foolish arguments of someone I know, and I can’t figure out whether to argue back or answer!!! Input??? Prov 26:4 Don’t answer the foolish arguments of fools, or you will become as foolish as they are. Prov 26:5 Be […]

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wrote in Archaeology, Articles .

Professor Yosef Garfinkle of Hebrew University announced in May of this year his discoveries in the Jewish city of Khirbet Queiyafa.  The city was occupied from about 1020-980 BC, during the reign of King David.  It was a border city between Israel and the Philistines.  Items in the city demonstrate conclusively that a uniquely Jewish cult, without graven […]

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wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, General, Reliability of the Bible, Versions of the Bible .

QUESTION: I’m having trouble believing that every single word in the Bible is true. I do know that Jesus’ resurrection is true and can be proven to a certain degree historically and that the creation of the universe can also be proven to a certain degree with scientific data and theories. But I’m having a […]

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wrote in General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy .

Question: I remember reading in Evidence for Christianity that Voltaire scoffed at Isaiah 53 being written before Jesus’ time, and he claimed he would believe if someone could prove Isaiah 53 was written beforehand. I find that fascinating, what is the title of Voltaire’s work containing that quote? Answer: I did a fair amount of […]

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wrote in Anthropology, General, Philosophy, Science and the Bible .

QUESTION: How would you respond to the claims that free will is an illusion? I’ve looked over some of the “evidence” for this argument and have heard several lectures on this topic (http://media.st-edmunds.cam.ac.uk/WebMedia/FAR460%20Alexander.mp3 and http://media.st-edmunds.cam.ac.uk/WebMedia/FAR470%20Newsome.mp3) given professors and scientist at The Faraday Institute. I believe the strongest evidence for the “illusion” of free will is […]

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wrote in Articles, Bible Teaching, Philosophy, Theology .

A video on the topic of hell is available at http://vimeo.com/30967402  We at ARS do not necessarily endorse all that Dr. Fudge is saying in this video, but believe it may give a useful point for thought and discussion on this controversial topic which is very important for Christian apologetics. Fudge describes three common ideas […]

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wrote in General, Philosophy, Theology and Doctrinal Questions, Uncategorized .

Question: I’m a Christian and like to think myself an enthusiastic amateur theologan 🙂 Firstly I have to point out your website and all of your articles are amazing, they’ve certainly done a lot for me in advancing my knowledge and having fun with my studies. With that said I ran into a minor philosophical dilema today […]

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wrote in Bible Interpretation, General, Supposed Inconsistencies in the Bible, Theology and Doctrinal Questions .

QUESTION: I was wondering if you could help me interpret 1 John 2:26-27? I know that the author is writing to a group of Christians, perhaps eyewitnesses of Christ. However once the author addresses the anointed he tells them that they have no need for anyone to teach them. He writes, “you have no need […]

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wrote in Daniel, End Times, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Other Religions .

Question: I noticed you discussed some Baha’i prophecies on your web site.   I noticed some sites produced by some Christians that you might be interested to look at:    http://www.ministryofhealing.org/FreeDevotionals/ChristianDevotionalNewsletter.      http://a233.webs.com/apps/blog/show/prev?from_id=5310025 http://www.bibleprophecytruth.com/prophecy-resources/bible-prophecy-charts.aspx        They all seem to start with the year 457 BC as the starting year of the prophecy and they also mention the year 1844 […]

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wrote in General, Reliability of the Bible, Resurrection of Jesus, Supposed Inconsistencies in the Bible .

QUESTION: Just to understand: The Bible says Jesus spent three days and three nights in the tomb” However, if he died on Friday, it only spent two nights and two days in the tomb. Could you explain please? Anne: I have already answered this question at the site.  I am copying and pasting for you. […]

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wrote in Bible Interpretation, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Theology and Doctrinal Questions .

Question: Correct me if I am incorrect in my interpretation: God tells the Jews a key sign to look for is Elijah,who would come before the Messiah, and then God secretly puts the spirit of Elijah in the form of John the Baptist (who himself says he is not Elijah…) What would be the point […]

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wrote in Bible Interpretation, General, Supposed Inconsistencies in the Bible .

Question: I wonder sometimes about Job.  As he was “blameless and upright” (Job 1:1), in some translations “perfect and upright”, does it mean that he was sinless?  The Bible teaches that no one is sinless (except Jesus), I guess Job was not sinless.  So what makes him “blameless” or “perfect”?  I know that every OT prophet […]

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wrote in General, Reliability of the Bible, Supposed Inconsistencies in the Bible .

Comment:    (editor’s note:  This is a follow-up to a question about supposed contradictions in Mark 16 about Mary Magdalene and the resurrection accounts.  In the earlier letter I establish that all the gospels agree Mary Magdalene was the first see that the resurrection had happened.) I do agree that every account aside from the Mark […]

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wrote in Archaeology and the Bible, Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, General, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: I really appreciate the time you take to read and respond these emails (which I believe does not give you anything in return but I believe you do it for Christ).  I need an advice from you.  I have been a kind of person who looks to validate things. I have followed a lot […]

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wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, General, Reliability of the Bible, Supposed Inconsistencies in the Bible .

QUESTION: I have a question regarding to the ending of Mark. I understand that the evidence for Mark’s ending is scant, however I don’t understand why the scribe that wrote the passage would insert this statement “he appeared first to Mary Magdalene” when clearly in Matthew and Luke Jesus appears to others before Mary Magdalene. […]

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wrote in Archaeology and the Bible, Daniel, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, History, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: I am referring to one of the powerpoint presentations at the web site (Reflections on the Passion of Christ).  It indicates that the decree of Artaxerxes (Ezra Chapter 7) was issued around 458 BC. I am impressed with the overall insight into the prophecy (Daniel Chp 9).  However, how did you reach the conclusion that […]

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wrote in Announcements, Apologetics, Articles .

Class #5 in our apologetics certificate program: Biblical Criticism and Inspiration is now available. The ten-hour class is taught by Glenn Giles, an elder in Denver, Colorado. To order the class or any of our other Apologetics Certificate classes, click on the ARS Apologetics Certificate Program icon or contact Jan Oakes at joakes01@san.rr.com or 858-505-8841.

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wrote in Archaeology and the Bible, Daniel, General, History, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: Is there any evidence against the theory that the book of Daniel was written by two people or multiple people? Also I assume that you know about the discovery of Daniel’s three friends in a list of Babylonian officials.  I was wondering why Daniel’s name was not found in the list of Babylonian officials, […]

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wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, General, Reliability of the Bible, Versions of the Bible .

Question: I was wondering if you had any information regarding the following topic “Has the Bible been changed.”   I would guess, through cross referencing all the manuscripts over the past centuries, we would be able to identify what has been changed within the text.   Do you have any sources of info/studies for this? I would […]

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wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, General, History, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: When were the Gospels written? I saw something on the History Channel that said that the first Gospel was Mark and was written 40 years after the death of Jesus and that the other three Gospels copied Mark’s Gospel and added to it. If this is true, how accurate could they be if they […]

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wrote in Announcements, Articles, Bible, Bible Teaching, PowerPoints, Prophecy .

Dr. John Oakes, Robert Carrillo Pedro Figueroa and Mark Wilkinson taught an 8-week 16-hour introduction to the Old Testament on consecutive Saturdays Feb 25-April 14 at the Mission Center of Hope in San Diego, CA.  To view the notes, the power point:    Old Testament Survey Notes   Introduction OT PPT   Amos, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel    Recordings are available in the EFC […]

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wrote in General, General Apologetics, Philosophy, Theology and Doctrinal Questions .

QUESTION: I’ve listened to numerous debates by famous Christian apologists (William Craig, Douglas Jacoby, Mike Licona, ect.) and I noticed that in some of their arguments they regard the Athiests of having a presupposition (naturalism, materialism, etc.) for not believing in God. However, I was wondering what if we asked that same question about Christians? […]

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wrote in General, Reliability of the Bible, Supposed Inconsistencies in the Bible .

Question: Christ said that knowing Him = knowing the father. But allow me to give you an example that my mind can not seem to harmonize with respect to the characteristics of God:   2nd Samuel 6:1-7    6 When they came to the threshing floor of Nakon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark […]

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wrote in General, Practical Christianity .

QUESTION: What is Splankna Therapy?  Is it valid and why can’t just anyone be trained in it?  Is there a fallout from it?  [Editor’s note:  We asked Dense MacKenzie, an expert in this therapy to provide an answer] Answer: Splankna Therapy offers a Christian protocol for Energy Psychology developed from an integration of Neuro-Emotional technique, […]

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wrote in Bible Interpretation, General, Reliability of the Bible, Supposed Inconsistencies in the Bible .

Question: When I was reading in 1 Corinthians 7, I noticed that Paul said a rather peculiar thing. He said “To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord)…” (verse 12). What does this mean? If the words that followed this were “not [from] the Lord” then wouldn’t that mean that it was not inspired? Answer: […]

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wrote in Bible Interpretation, General, Practical Christianity .

Question: I’ve had several debates lately, one a Christian and an unbeliever re: the paganism involved in our holidays (i.e. Christmas/Easter).  I’ve already forwarded the article you had on Christmas to them, however, now there’s the debate w/ Easter and my believing friend is even arguing that if the OT law is obsolete, than why did Jesus […]

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wrote in General, Other Religions, Practical Christianity .

Question: I have been dealing with cancer. Morman missionaries have been coming by to offer to help me. Their women arranged meals….etc. Super sweet and loving. I tell them my convictions and read to them in Romans where it begins”Love must be sincere”.  They have assured me that they will continue to love me and […]

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wrote in Apologetics, Articles, Other Religions, Philosophy, PowerPoints, Spanish Content, Spanish Powerpoints, Theology, World View .

This lesson was given by Dr. John Oakes for the Iglesia de Cristo de Tijuana April 20, 2012.  Translation is by Mauricio Garcia.  The class is about hte reasons that the early church, starting with a small group of poor, uneducated people without power were able to conquer the entire Roman and Greek world.  Hechos […]

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wrote in General, Versions of the Bible .

Question: http://www.intrepidlutherans.com/2011/08/issues-with-niv-2011-saints-are-no-more.html I am interested in your thoughts about the article I found above while searching for the word saint in the NIV. A friend of mine, a sister in my church for many years, didn’t know what a saint was. I was shocked, asked her to study it out and I wanted to quickly […]

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wrote in Bible Interpretation, End Times, General, Supernatural .

Question: (editor’s note: This is a very long question!) I have a two part question for you. I. I have been reading about very young children who have claimed to have gone to or seen heaven after having both visual or death experiences particularly two named Akiana Kramarik, age 7, and Colton Burpo, age 4. […]

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wrote in Creation, General, Science and the Bible, Supernatural .

Question: I just watched a video (see below) in which John Clayton presents his version of what seems to be examples of irreducible complexity [IC].  Seems to be a bit more like a parade of God of the gaps.  I think there might be better examples of irreducible complexity.  What do you think of IC arguments in […]

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wrote in General, Miracles, Resurrection of Jesus, Supposed Inconsistencies in the Bible .

Question: I was wondering how would you harmonize the resurrection narrative accounts? I found an essay written by a theologian to be the best one so far (click here to view it) however I wanted to see what your take on the accounts were. Thanks! Answer: I do not believe I can improve on the […]

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wrote in General, Practical Christianity, Theology and Doctrinal Questions .

QUESTION:  Should a Christian attend an infant baptism at a Roman Catholic church?  I have gotten conflicting advice in my church (editor’s note: in the Philippines) regarding this issue.  Some say its ok some say it is not, because of the false doctrine of infant baptism that we should refute. Answer: This is what some call […]

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