See below for a brief report on the 2011 ICEC. Report on the 2011 ICEC: Christianity and the Paranormal  The 2011 ICEC Christianity and the Paranormal was a great success.  Eighty gathered to hear about and discuss a topic normally avoided in church settings.  Meeting on the Queen Mary provided a great background for considering […]

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Question: I have been taking a class on The History and Reliability of the Bible, where we recently discussed the subject of Noah and the Ark. I have gone back and forth before on whether the flood was a regional one, perhaps partly because of a statement made to me by a member of my biological family.  My […]

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Question:  I was wondering if you could address and refute these claims made by Jews against Jesus being the Messiah: "The Messiah must be from the tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:10). Under Jewish law, tribal affiliation is conferred through the birth father only (Numbers 1:18-44,34:14,Leviticus 24:10) (Criterion for being the Messiah is not met – in […]

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Question: Do you know of an Old Testament scripture that alludes to us having the authority to use OT scripture as allegory for future events? I’m pondering, praying and studying with one of my best friends and former pastor John Wickes. He asked me what gives us the right or authority to use Old Testament […]

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Comment: After reading your reply to the question regarding the geology of Hawaii could you explain to me why anyone should believe the Bible? 2 Timothy 3:16 states that "all scripture is given by inspiration of God" and Titus 1:2 says that God cannot lie. Now, the question arises, what does one believe? Is it […]

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Question: How would you respond to the late Henry Morris’s comments in his book The Genesis Record?: In the first place, the order of creative events narrated in Genesis 1 is very different from the accepted order of fossils in the rocks representing the geological ages…. Second, as already pointed out when discussing the gap theory, […]

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Comments:  In regard to your article about Genocide in the O.T., I would have to believe that the LYING PEN of the scribes have attributed to God, words and events that He is not responsible for. Not only did God NOT murder people in the Old Testament era, he NEVER asked Abraham to commit child sacrifice […]

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Question: On the Discovery Channel I saw a show on the subject of Hawaii.  The show touched on how the Hawaiian Islands were formed.  According to the dominant view among geologists, the crust or plate on which the Hawaiian islands rest, is slowly moving north and each island was formed when the crust or plate below the future island […]

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Question: And the Lord said unto me. They have well spoken that which they have spoken, I will raise them up a prophet from among their brethren like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. And it shall come to […]

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This lesson was taught by John Oakes, PhD in Bergen, Norway 9/2/2010.  Norway is a mainly atheist or agnostic country where traditional Christian apologetics may not work.  The lesson uses Acts as a model for how to do Christian apologetics depending on the culture.      Using Apologetics in Christian Outreach Notes       Using Apologetics […]

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Question: What do you think about the Gospel of Barnabas?  It clearly states that prophet Muhammed is the messenger of God. Dont tell me that it was written by a Muslim or changed by a Muslim.  I think no gospel was changed by Muslims.  Only Christians change it as per the church. Answer: It is […]

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This will be the eight in our series of ten-hour classes on Christian Apologetics.  The class on History, Archaeology and the Bible will be taught by Dr. John Wilson, Pepperdine University, Dr. Douglas Jacoby, AIM, Dr. John Oakes, ARS and Foster Stanback.  Date: October 29,30 in Irvine, California.  See below for schedule, outline and other […]

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Question: I’m am reading your book,"Reasons for Belief" and I had a question on p.38… Can we be sure about Babylonia Sandhedrin 43a in the Talmud is refering to Jesus of Nazareth? Do we have any Jewish sources confirming that it is Jesus of Nazareth?  The Talmud certainly fits very well with what we know […]

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This is a very interesting article by a good friend Jerry Maday on the evidence from the human ability to perceive music as evidence for design and an intelligent designer.  He also includes an interesting analogy to the mathematical relationship between musical scales and the radius of orbit of the planets, reminiscent of Kepler’s "Music […]

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Question: According to NIV & TNIV, Apollos  was a Jew & an Egyptian (a native of Alexandria) (Acts 18:24) but GNB says he was a Jew but born in Alexandria. Is NIV & TNIV correct to say a Jew is also an Egyptian? Answer: Now, that is an easy one.  In the first century Alexandria […]

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Question:  I’ve been doing some research on extra Biblical evidences as I continue studying the Bible with Chinese people. In my search I came across something about the moon turning to blood. Every time I study out that section in Acts 2, I’m not really sure whether that’s going to happen in the future, or […]

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Question:A lot of anti-Christian biblical skeptics often use this objection to the Bible: “The Bible tells the story of Jesus being born when Herod was king (Matthew) and traveling to Bethlehem (Luke) for the census as if the two accounts were compatible but, they are actually ten years apart. Luke has Jesus born at the […]

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Question: In your article on slavery you state     "Therefore, for his own reasons, God chose to regulate the cruelty of slavery rather than to ban it outright for the Jews under the Law of Moses. He commanded that slaves be set free automatically after a certain amount of time But I read in Lev that […]

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Question: Many non-Christians see the Bible as just another book rather than accepting that it is inspired. What do we say to the non- beliver about the Insipriation of Scriptures? Answer: To be honest with you, Randy, this is really too broad a question for me to frame a reasonable answer.  My simple answer is send them […]

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Pregunta:  Quisiera entender un poco más aquello de que Dios nos elige, entonces que ocurre con los que no elige Dios??…  Si Dios no los elige son culpables?   Dios endureció el corazon del faraon, si?  No se trata de que el hombre quiera y se esfuerce sino de que Dios enga compasión.  Respuesta: Dios elige […]

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Question:  Most biblical scholars claim that the King James Version isn’t the best to use today because of the archaic terms and non-usage of the latest surviving documents. Are there any flaws within the New King James Version? Answer: You have the right scoop on the KJV, otherwise known as the Authorized Version.  The principle […]

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Question: In studying the Bible carefully, I noticed that the type of wine which is mentioned in the New Testament is actually the unfermented grape juice. Certainly this is evidence that the Bible forbids the consumption of wine.  You seem to say in your book Reasons for Belief that moderate consumption of wine is not bad. on what basis […]

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Question: How should one approach those who believe that Christians can achieve sinless perfection at some point in their lives? Answer: It is hard to know how to answer this question.  My answer would depend on where the person who believes this is coming from.   Is this someone who knows very little of the Bible?   […]

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See below for a review of the evolution forum at the 2010 International Christian Evidence Conference.  The review is by Brian Colon, a member of the ARS board. Review:  ICEC Forum, "Four Christian Views of Evolution"  Editor’s note:  In the interest of full disclosure, John Oakes, who was one of the participants in the forum, did […]

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Question:  I read your article on why there is no Mark 11:26, and it made me wonder,  how than can we be sure that the Bible hasn’t been altered by other scribes somewhere else down the line. If scribes tryed to insert their own verses, han how can we be sure that the Bible is perfect […]

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Question: Transubstantiation has been described on the website as a false doctrine of the Catholic Church (a doctrine I am not convinced of one way or another). Please, allow me a moment to play devil’s advocate…   Several close Catholic friends of mine have explained that the doctrine for Transubstantiation was extrapolated from several biblical verses […]

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Question: I recently saw an article in the telegraph stating that a scholar had claimed Jesus was not crucified on a cross but rather a stake like the Jehovas witnesses believe, explaining that "stauros" does dont mean cross but pole or stake. While I couldn’t care less on what shape the wood was that Jesus was […]

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