Question: What comment would you make about the very great differences between the MT, LXX & Samaritan Pentateuch? Answer: Evidence implies that our Greek New Testament text is a nearly perfect descendant of the originals. The case with the Old Testament is significantly different. The time period between the last New Testament book being written […]
Question: How can you be sure that God is outside of your mind instead of inside? Every spiritual or religious person seems to have their ideas about what God wants them to do, or what he (or she) is like. I am not a Christian, but very interested in the idea of faith. I am […]
Question: Just wondering what you might think about this? Editor’s note: This is from a person who was forwarded a chain e-mail which claims that NASA has discovered proof of a missing day which can explain the "day the sun stood still" in Joshua. The unfortunate e-mail contents are copied below. Response: This is one of those Christian […]
Comment: First of All, let me greet you with the greetings of prophet Jesus pbuh (Shalom Aleichem). Peace be upon you. In Arabic (Asalaamu alaikum). I have read your response where you compared Prophet Moses with prophet Jesus and Muhammad (peace be upon them all). I must say you have made invalid and biased points. […]
Question: I am struggling with this: It is about Rev 21.3-4. How can there be no pain in heaven if I make it to heaven and feel much love (& there are many more loving people than me); It seems that I will be filled with pain for those I love that are not saved […]
Question: You appear to support the evolutionists theory. However, other Christian scientists e.g. Ken Ham totally refute this theory and provide evidence of the creation, even challenging carbon dating, etc… I welcome your thoughts. Answer: I am well aware of Ken Ham and his arguments. I have read some of his work. I do not […]
Question: I have a question: please answer me logically "If God is an all power God can he create a big mountain which he cannot carry"? Answer: Some have tried to use this argument to prove that God is not omnipotent. This is really a rather silly argument. It is kind of like saying "God […]
Question: I am from Palestine, Bethlehem but I live in Spain. I am Christian and I never doubted God´s existence until the other day and I feel really lost. I was desperate, thirsty for help until I found your website. I went to a priest, they couldnt help me get my faith back. Your website is […]
Question: I have always felt that hell is a temporary place. I don’t understand a separation from God for eternity especially in an eternity of pain. I don’t understand how God who knows everything would justify a person being born if that person were to ultimately reject God and go to hell. Wouldn’t God have […]
Free Online Apologetics Class! Lectures will be recorded on March 2nd, March 16th, March 30th, and April 13th. Topics will include: The Reliability of the New Testament, Arguments for the Existence of God, Responding to Atheistic Attacks on Christianity, The Resurrection of Jesus. To register, click here: http://knowitstrue.com/school/login/index.php
Question: Is Paul responsible for Christianity? If so, what influence did he have? Did Jesus come to save Jews only? Answer: Obviously, the person who had the most influence on the direction of Christianity was Jesus Christ. One can argue for either Paul or Peter as the two humans who had the greatest influence on […]
Question: I am very interested in your beliefs. Do you believe in the Bible as a literal source? When the Bible says that it the world was created in 6 days, why do you feel it wasn’t actually 6 days? Answer: My answer is that when the Bible is written so that it is obviously to […]
Robert Carrillo and John Oakes will be teaching a class on the Kingdom of God on five consecutive Saturdays at 9:00-10:30 at the Mission Center of Hope beginning Sat, April 9th. You can just show up the first day, but we request you register. Contact Jan Oakes at joakes01@san.rr.com 858-505-8841. Cost for the entire series: $10. […]
Question: I am studying with a man who is very eager and has read Genesis on his own. A question that he asked was regarding sacrafice? How did the people know to sacrifice? Was there something given to them from God directing them? Also, question was asked how long before Jesus did the prohecies about […]
Question: You’ve done a great job with the website. I have a question. As a practicing Christian, the greatest challenge to my faith comes from certain Old Testament scriptures. On one hand the Bible often displays wisdom and knowledge that is otherwise unknown by man at the time it was written. An example would be […]
Question: (note, this is actually a series of two questions and responses) We’ve been studying the book of Daniel here in Athens, GA. I’m teaching a lesson to the women, primarily using information from your book. In studying what information I could find online about Domitian, I could not find anywhere that he demanded disciples […]
Question: I am starting to feel like Columbo with "just one more question, Sir." It seems that if there was a global flood as the YEC affirm, then there would be evidence of such in that area of Iraq where it all supposedly occured. And it would not be a layer of " sterile" soil […]
Question: First I want to say what an awesome website you have. Great resources topics and Bible Study! I never really questioned the scriptures much and I still have no doubt the Bible is God’s word. However I have recently questioned if the Bible can be God-inspired and at the same time contain some human […]
Question: Not to be argumentative but just so I understand: is your belief that Adam and Eve were created " de novo" from soil or "from nothing" instead of thru evolutionary sequence? [For me, the story is not about the science of how man came to be]. Answer: My "stand" on this is that I […]
Question: I was enjoying some of your writings and responses this morning, and I am provoked in thought. Does any passage in the Bible discredit the existence of living planets beyond Earth? If not, what are your thoughts on the possibility of other "living" planets? You wrote somewhere that intelligent design cannot be proved experimentally, […]
Question: I have one question which was also asked to me by person when I was studying the Bible with him. Why does Bible say that we are born sinners? In Psalms 51 David says I am sinner even in the mother’s womb? Could you please tell me what it is really taking about? Are […]
Question: I understand that you believe that Adam was a literal man. How do you understand the genealogies and the time between Adam and Christ’s existence? I know many theistic evolutionists say that generations were missed out (where?) but I don’t understand how, because in Genesis it gives the age that men were fathered so […]
Dr. John Oakes did a class titled Genesis and the Christian World View in Detroit, Michigan 2/19/2011. Audio is available in the EFC store. Power point and notes are included. Genesis and Christian World View Power Point 2.11 Mb Notes
Question: There is a strong scholar with heavy credentials by the name of Robert Eisenman, who uses the Dead Sea Scrolls and the writings of the Jewish historian Josephus, and makes a convincing sounding connection between the Apostle Paul of Tarsus and a man whom the Dead Sea Scrolls calls ‘Spouter of Lies’ and who […]
Comment: Your Question/Answer topic on hell, and specifically quoting Daniel 12:2 as pointing to the doctrine of hell in the OT, is a serious lie and error. You surely know the Hebrew word ‘oulm’ means eon or age. Why paint the face of God with your destructive and carnal brush strokes. It is a lie […]
Question: Why did God create planets? What is their purpose? Answer: God did not tell us why he created planets. Planets are the natural result of gravity acting on the matter in the universe which God created. If we assume that God had a "purpose" in creating a universe with planets, then the most obvious […]
Comment: (Editor’s note: This one is a comment, a response, another comment and another response) I do not view Christianity as a socially healthy phenomenon–I think it hurts far more than it helps, that it retards our growth globally. To prolong its survival isn’t an attractive proposition for me. Response: I do not question the contention […]
Question: Why does a PhD in chemistry and physics discuss things as is he is a ThD? Your science convictions are right, no argument. I accept that you are no dummy, but why are you defending Christianity? Answer: I defend the Christian faith because I believe it is true. I believe Jesus was who he said he was, […]
Question: I am the son of a Baptist minister and admit that I long ago dismissed Christianity as the most convoluted, indefensible patchwork of complete nonsense perpetrated on mankind in the last 2000 years. I believe this as strongly as you apparently believe in your inherited Jewish God from the magnanimous Jesus (oh, we lucky […]
Question: Would an infallible God PREORDAIN to have to kill himself in order to appease himself? Would an all-powerful God somehow suffer from a communication problem which compels him to recruit some primitive Jews to write his biography? Answer: I will have to say that your question seems like a reasonable one. However, it is based […]
Question: What was the hominid species that rejected god? I know that that Neanderthals wore clothes (before the fall we were naked), and that they even buried their dead and decorated gravestones. And they are known to exist 200,000 years ago. Does this mean that the fall happened to Neanderthals? Answer: The simple answer is that […]
Question: I read your answer from the questioner about the myrrh and aloes in Our Lord’s burial. You mentioned washing the body. An exception is when the deceased has died a violent death. Then all body parts, including any blood that can be mopped up are gathered and buried with him. This would probably be […]
Question: How long was Noah in the ark prior to reaching land? Answer: According to the Genesis account, it rained for 40 days., the waters continued to rise until the 150th day, and the floods receded sufficiently for Noah and his family to emerge from the ark after ten months and two weeks. Probably there […]
Question: I was watching a show on T.V. and the "experts" were arguing that the Christians borrowed their concept of Hell from the Greeks concept of Hades. According to these individuals, Hades has different levels and the last level is where individuals are punished eternally by fire and other ways similar to the way explained […]
Question: I was reading that you believe that God used evolution to create modern man. However, to refute this point, I’ve heard Christians point out that evolution is a process that is achieved through death. However, death did not exist until Adam (a fully developed human) brought sin into the world. Now, this is a […]
Question: You mentioned in one post that you believe in the coexistence of God and macroevolution and the idea that God controls this process. Take a look at 1 Corinthians 15:39 and explain: "For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another […]
Question: I have noticed that you find scientific accounts of evolution to be fairly convincing and that it is likely that God directly intervened to create man. My question is, then, that if man is the direct descendant of an evolutionary process (with some divine intervention), why is it that we exhibit such non-evolutionary characteristics […]
An essay by Dr. John Oakes on the apologetic issue of Pain and Suffering. The Problem of Pain and Suffering
Question: If the tallest mountain was covered by 22.5′ of water, what would be theevaporation rate until the surface of the earth was visible, does the Gensisaccount get anywhere close to what would be proveable, just wondering? Answer: A couple of comments. First of all, the flood is clearly presented as a supernatural miracle. For this reason, […]
Question: I am struggling with my beliefs regarding the life and crucifixion of Jesus. I dearly want to believe in this, but need some evidence for my beliefs. I read a lot about a passage from The Babylonian Talmud (Sanhedrin 43a), also your reply to someone’s question. If I read answers from Jewish rabbis that […]
John Oakes describes his visit to churches in South and East Asia Asia 2011 Missionary Teaching Trip
Question: I was wondering if we find similar thought patterns and representations of God in the Old Testament as in other representations of God in ancient cultures. In my Ancient Middle East class, I read that the language used to describe God in certain Psalms or Daniel–I think it is the reference of God standing on […]
Question: It appears there is physical evidence for great floods – submerged cities all over the world. Many cultures speak of the great floods, isolated by location and time, these cultures seem to share similiar beliefs and architecture (i.e. pyramids built from south america to China). It seems as if, this ties in with the […]
Question: (note, this is a rather long question, with many scripture references. The answer is below) I came across this site. It deals with preterism which I don’t buy into. But its scriptural evidence for the early return of Christ is rather overwhelming. What is your explanation in view of the words of Christ and His […]
Pregunta: La mayor parte del evangelicalismo moderno no acepta la doctrina del bautismo como necesario para salvacion, de hecho algunos de sus teologos afirman que ni siquiera es parte del evangelio. Me gustaria saber tu que piensas al respecto y como argumentas el bautismo como necesario para salvacion. ¿Es cierto que predicamos una regeneracion bautismal? […]
Question: I have believed in God and the main teachings of Christianity for my whole life up until this past year. I was taught there was a God by my parents and the main points of Christian belief (heaven, hell, free will, gift of eternal life, sacrifice of Christ). I never questioned these beliefs or thought […]
Question: I`m Reading your book Reasons for Belief. On page 148 you talk about frangments of the góspel of Mark found in Egypt recently that have been tentativley dated as aearly around 50 AD. Do you have more information or the complete article? Answer: Yes, this is the Magdalene Papyrus, known as P64. The latest on this […]
Question: Do you know anything else about the 7 spirits of God in Revelation 4:5, or do you have any further explanation of them? Answer: Thank you for your question, I’m sure you’re already aware that the book of Revelation is a highly symbolic book. Since this is the case it is vital that one […]
Comment from "Disappointed": We most certainly did evolve, over the period of millions of years. As a matter of fact, if one were to visit the earth just 30,000 years ago, one would have found not one but several species of "human" forms. Today, scientists from around the world direct major projects pursuing answers to outstanding […]
Question: 1. 1Cor15:29 – Baptised for the dead.What does this all mean? 2. In Acts 8 we see Peter and John going to Samaria and laying their hands on the them for the Holy Spirit yet they were baptized in the name of Jesus which Peter in Acts2 says “be baptized in the name of […]
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