Question: What is the "heart" behind Leviticus 5:3? The reason I asked is because according to this verse, in the Old Testament anyone who touches anything that could make him unclean, even unwittingly, makes him guilty. Now, Jesus intentionally touched a leper (Matthew 8:1-4), yet remained guiltless (Hebrews 4:15). I assume the reason for this […]

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Question: Where was Daniel when the trio were in fire?  What is your view on the rapture, pretribulation, posttribulation or midtribulation? Answer: The Bible does not answer this question.  In such a case, one is left to propose reasonable speculation.  Such "reasonable speculation," is just that–speculation.  Bottom line, we do not know.  Let me share […]

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Question: In the beginning, GOD created the heavens and earth.  Why not Pluto and Mercury at the same time? Answer: First of all, when Genesis describes the creation of "the heavens and the earth" this is language to those in the ancient Near East to mean, essentially, when God created the universe.  In other words, […]

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  2008 INTERNATIONAL CHRISTIAN APOLOGETICS CONFERENCE Elmhurst College 190 Prospect Ave. Elmhurst, IL 60126 FAQ Who is invited to come to the Conference? Anyone who wants to come is invited. Can I come to just one day of the conference? Yes, if you come on Saturday only the cost is $80 and $55 for a […]

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Request: Can you please comment on the exchange below I found recently on the meaning of Colossians 2:13-14.   Does this passage imply that the Law of Moses was done away with when Jesus was killed on the cross? Editor’s note:  This will be a fairly long passage, with the answer well down the page. –Quote— […]

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Question: Why can’t Muslims admit that Jesus "claimed" to be the Son of God? We know that Muslims, Jews, and many other people don’t believe that he actually is the Son of God but I can’t get past the intellectual obviousness of his claim. I don’t think anyone else in the world disputes this historic […]

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Question: Why did Constantine and the Council of Nicaea choose to"edit" The Bible by inserting and removing certain books? What was the real aim of canonization? Answer; This is an easy one!  Constantine did not "edit" or change the New Testament in any way.  Neither did the Council at Nicaea change the New Testament in […]

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Question:  I read your discussion of why the gifts of the Spirit disappeared. By no means do I consider myself an expert on the Early Church Fathers (my personal library is limited to one book). However, in preparing a lesson on false doctrines for a ministry training class I’m teaching, I came across some quotes […]

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Scholars at the British Museum announced in 2007 the discovery on a cuneiform tablet which dramatically supports the historical accuracy of the Bible.  The tablet mentions a gift of gold from an official Nebo-Sarsekim.  This is almost certainly the same Nebo-Sarsekim mentioned in Jeremiah 39:3, dramatically confirming the biblical account of the defeat of Jerusalem in 595 BC  Old […]

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Question: Someone gave me this quote from an Artscroll Torah……Direct from Isaiah 45:7: "I form the light, and create darkness; I make peace, and create evil; I the Lord do all these things. "  I checked the translations that I am familiar with and none of them said "create evil" but he said "Ra" is never translated as disaster […]

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Question: I am including links below where you can find interesting if not, shocking facts about the true name of the God of Abraham, Moses and David. I want to know your opinion about this. http://www.yaohushua.org/yahush1.html http://www.yaohushua.org/index.htm Answer: I spent a good amount of time at these web sites.  To a person who is not well […]

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Question: Any thoughts on laminin?  The youtube video and email are making the rounds.  Some are claiming that this cross-shaped cross explains Colossians 1:17.  Question: Any thoughts on laminin?  The youtube video and email are making the rounds.  That it is cruciform is, to me, coincidental.  Does it give you tingly feelings? Response: This molecule makes for a great preacher point, but […]

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Question: I read an article by a Christian scholar who believes the Egyptian God Imhotep to be none other than Joseph in the Bible, deified and exaggerated to fit Egyptian beliefs. The step pyramid, which was the first pyramid to ever be built in Egypt, is historically credited by the Egyptians to be the work […]

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Question:  I watched a show on Discovery called "Lost Kings of the Bible". They claimed that Goliath couldn’t have worn the armour that the Bible says he was wearing at that time. The show claims that they didn’t wear heavy metal armour on their bodies at that time.   I believe the Bible, however I was wondering about your response […]

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Question:   I was wondering when Paul refers to the 23,000 killed in one day in 1 Cor 10, is he referring to the incident in Numbers. In Numbers it says 24,000 were killed. I’ve heard different explanations. 1) Paul says one day and so the remaining 1000 were killed the next day 2) it […]

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Question/Comment: Please explain why "nowhere in his writings does Paul appeal to the decisions of such a Council, which were clearly so completely in his favour, nor does he ever appear in the slightest allusion or reference to be conscious of their existence." (S G F Brandon p.131). Galatians 2 speaks of no Council, only a […]

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Comment: The actions reported of Pilate in the Gospels bear no relation to the character of the Roman official depicted in Josephus. All you need to do,is look up every passage in Josephus where Pilate is involved and then compare the difference in personality and action between the man in Josephus and the Gospels. When […]

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Question: I have not seen Expelled, but based on rotten  tomatoes it is pretty read – I read your review though so I may wind up seeing it anyway.  One of my friends saw it and he liked it, agreeing with the movie that science shouldn’t assume natural causation for everything.  I strongly disagreed with […]

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Question: In 2 Kings 2 v 23 Right after Elisha heals the dodgy water, some kids call him a baldhead. He then turns around and curses them in the name of God… Two bears pitch up and maul 42 of the kids. This seems to go against everything that prophets stand for.  I get it […]

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Question:   An orthodox Jew said that Jesus sinned by practicing human sacrifice which was forbidden. That is a good point however I was unable to give an answer to his point……Any suggestions?  Answer: Jesus did not take part in human sacrifice.  Jesus was against all kinds of killing, especially human sacrifice.  It is absolutely inconceivable […]

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Question: It has been a subject of some debate as to whether "the earth without form and void" of Genesis 1, actually refers to a pre-existant earth prior to the one we currently inhabit; which was populated but destroyed for whatever reason(s). Is there any sort of proof or, shall we say, "solid spiritual logic" […]

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There has been a lot of hype in the Christian community surrounding the recently released movie Expelled.  Conservative Christians are thrilled to finally have a movie which tells the truth about how the Christian view of origins is treated by the intellectual elite in this country.  On the other hand, those excoriated by this movie […]

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Dear John, I would like to send you a mail to say thank you for changing my life 20 years ago. I was a 1st year student in UCSD when you delivered a lecture on "Does God Exist?" on the campus in 1988. I was a Biochemistry major back then and logic (evidence) was very […]

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John: Last year, a co-worker gave me this Newsweek article to read, Can God Love Darwin, Too? (Sep 17, 2007 Issue).  I have shared a few of Doug’s CD sets with him and I guess he expected me to be resistant to evolution because of my religious convictions. He was quite surprised to learn that […]

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Dear John, As you are aware that here in Malawi we are thirsty about being taught and hearing the word of God. I read that you were in South Africa, but some of us were unable to come and attend. Can’t you make a program to come to Malawi to teach us also as you […]

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Dear Dr. John Oakes, This note is simply to express my heartfelt thanks to you for making that incredible teaching trip to Douala-Cameroon last month. The truth is that disciples in Cameroon were greatly impacted by the deeper insights in to the Scriptures that came out of everything you taught and shared. The young Church […]

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