The Ultimate Miracle [Note: this is a chapter on the resurrection taken from the book Reasons for Belief by John M. Oakes Illumination Publishers, International www.ipibooks.com] In the previous chapter we looked at the miracles that Jesus performed, examined evidence that Jesus really did work these miracles and considered what they imply about the miracle-worker […]
The Resurrection of Jesus An Outline Q: Is it logical to believe that Jesus was raided from the dead? Q: Why is this important? 1. If Jesus was in fact raised from the dead, this validates all his claims. If not?.. 2. It explains a lot The changed […]
? Knowing the Mind and the Heart (and Knowing the Future) [Note: this article is a chapter from a book by John Oakes and Dave Eastman on miracles to be published in 2007] The miracles we have looked at thus far involve Jesus violating physical laws of nature. We will now consider a […]
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Hi J.Oakes, Thanks for the email. We were touched by your concern and "tears" for our welfare and that of our children as ministry staff. We cannot forget that. Thanks for the inspirational classes as well. Hope you will make Lagosthis year either during AFRICAN LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE or later in the year. Titi, Philip […]
Note: This is part three in a series on the problem of pain and suffering. The others are available at the site. Part III Suffering: A Human Problem. Human pain and suffering raises an apologetic problem. How can the idea of a loving and powerful God be consistent with the existence of evil, […]
Question: According to Jer 43 Egypt would be conquered by Babylon, but secularhistorians attribute this conquest to the Persians. Do you have any infoon this? Answer: Your information is correct. The Persians/Medes did conquer Egypt under Cambysses, the son of Cyrus in 525 BC. However, the Persians were not the first to conquer Egypt. The […]
Question: I have read your material on evolution being “scientific” and your view of the Big Bang. Would you object to the Big Bang being taught in school as it is not “science” any more than intelligent design? One cannot do an experiment to prove or disprove Big Bang. Have you read the book by […]
Question: What was the law before the mosaic laws? What was the penalty that goes with sin under that law? Answer: As far as we know, the law given to Israel under Moses was the first formal covenant between God and a nation or large group of people as a whole. The time before Moses […]
Question: One concept I do not understand of evolution, is that if change happens by chance over time, how does it account for reproduction? That is, how is it that species mutated to the differentiation we see today with the ability to reproduce every step of the way? We have to assume fully functional reproductive […]
Note from John Oakes: This is a college lever paper submitted by a user of the web site. It is not at an extremely scholarly level, but I am proud of Johans for doing an excellent job of defending theism in view of scientific knowledge. I hope you enjoy his paper. J. O. […]
Question: Can you help with history of city of Corinth and at present what’s their condition? Answer: Corinth is on the isthmus separating the Peloponesian peninsula from mainland Greece. For this reason, it was in important and wealthy city from ancient times. During the 500’s BC it played a role as the or one of […]
Questions: 1. God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to Tarturus according to 2 Peter 2:4. If God sends angels to Tarturus when they become bad, is Satan the only spiritual force of evil in the heavenly realm that we are fighting against? 4For if God did not spare angels when […]
Question: Ever since last year, I’ve been sharing with a Jewish friend I have. He told me about this small book he read about why you can’t trust the Christian Bible and why not to believe in Jesus. The thing that made me think the most is when this little book talked about how scriptures […]
Introduction to World Religions: Judaism. Click on the link below for a Power Point presentation by R. D. Baker (Phoenix, AZ) and Ryan Cartwright (Edmonton, Alberta). This is a general introduction to a course on world religions, followed by the body of the class, which is on the background of Judaism. Power Point: Judaism 2.29 […]
Question: Did Jesus Christ himself claim to be God and that we should worship him? When he was teaching in the synagogues and temples wheretheJews went, did he teach the following fundamental beliefs? 1. Trinity 2. His supposed divinity 3. That salvation will come through his blood. What didhe mean in John 17:3-4 where he […]
The Problem of Pain and Suffering Part II John Oakes 11/1/06 In the previous essay I proposed a two-pronged strategy to considering the problem of pain and suffering. The existence of evil and of suffering is both an apologetic problem and a human problem. In the first part, I tackled the apologetic issue. […]
The Problem of Pain and Suffering John Oakes 9/27/06 This past summer I traveled to the UKon a teaching trip. I was asked to speak on the problem of pain and suffering. When I received the request my first thought was to wonder why they thought I might be qualified to speak on this […]
Comment: The oldest representations of gods are female & one of the oldest is the Venus of Willendorf, dating from the Upper Palaeolithic about 30,000 years ago. Coming closer to the present is the Mother Goddess of Skorba in Malta which dates from the Neolithic about 6,500 years ago. Isis, the Mother Goddess of the […]
Question: I was at an islamic apologetic web site which claimed that the Qur’an has a correct value for the speed of light, which supposedly proves the Qur’an is inspired by Allah. Below is the quote. 299,792.458 km/sis the speed of light in vacuum. However, according to Einstein’s theory of General Relativity, the speed of […]
Question: If the age of the Cosmos is regarded as 24 hours, Homo Sapiens did not appear until the last second and Jesusdid not appear until almost the last 1/100th of a second. Is it impertinent to enquire what God was doing for the rest of the 13,000,000,000 years ? Was he pondering the future […]
Question: I realize that astrology and the Zodiac today is something that God would not condone, but I heard some argue that the Zodiac was originally a biblical concept that was corrupted during the time of the tower of Babel. Is there any proof supporting this claim? ;Also, in my Rome and Jerusalem class, we […]
Question: Doesn’t Mark 16 where Jesus says, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved” contradict teachings on salvation by grace alone? Also, if you say that Mark 16 was inserted over time then doesn’t the Bible fall short of it’s claim to be inerrant? Answer: First of all, you will not find the phrase […]
Question: After studying through the book of Esther and trying to draw parallels, I had a few things that I just could not make sense of. First, I had a hard time figuring out King Xerxes and Queen Vashti?s interaction in the first chapter. I could not be sure who was the villain and who […]
Christian Science and Scientology. What do they have in common? Not science!!! Click below to view or download the Power Point Presentation Power Point: Christian Science and Scientology 300.00 Kb
Power Point: Eastern Religion and New Age
Cristianismo y Ciencia: Una Historia. Las notas son en ingles pero, un powerpoint en Espanol esta aqui. Christianity and Science: A History San Diego, CA August 5, 2005 John Oakes evidenceforchristianity.org The ancient world: Chaos vs Cosmos 1. Thales (585 BC) Predicted a Solar Eclipse: Nature is predictable. Cosmos and the […]
Question: I have been developing a theory or a concept for living according to God’s plan for mankind. Please tell me where there are flaws in my concept. God created man and all other creation according to his will and pleasure. He differentiated man to be in his own “image,” which I think should read […]
Question: I have heard a few sermons preached on the situation that took place in the Garden of Eden. Eve being tempted by the snake, Adam standing by and also partaking in the forbidden fruit. The questions of Adam’s fault or Eve’s fault seem secondary to the question why let the #&@% snake in the […]
Question: I had a question about a passage I read recently. It’s the passage in 1 Corinthians 10 that talks about the 23,000 killed for sexual immorality. However, in Numbers, it states that 24,000 were killed. I ‘ve read Paul was referring to Ex 32 and not the passage in Numbers. I’ve also read that […]
Question: Thanks a lot for your extremely informative book “Is there a God?” I have read it several times. I totally agree with your opinion that the Creationist’s theory about the creation of up to thousands of feet of sediments through the flood (described in Genesis 7-9) is wrong. Nevertheless, in a creationist book I […]
Question: I wonder why the break-up in the churchof God. I mean Catholic, Anglican, Baptist, International Church of Christ etc…. Sometimes I imagine why most group claim to be the only Christians among the Christian circle. What caused the break up? How did it happen? What could be done? The Catholic Church has been existing […]
Question: For a long time I have wondered why Luke and John describe the Mary?s and the disciples not recognizing Jesus after the resurrection. Even Thomas didn?t recognize him until he saw the scars (even after the other disciples told him who he was.) I guess I just always chocked it up to the disciples […]
Question: I heard someone say they thought Moses striking the rock in to get water in Exodus 17 and then the second time being told to speak to it, was supposed to be a model of the first and second coming of Christ that Moses messed up. (1st he had to be “struck” and killed […]
Question: Do you think there were significant scientific changes that occurred with the fall of man? Is it possible it was not until this point that the spiritual and physical realms became separate, or was it just that Adam and Eve didn?t realize it until then? Also, I remember from chemistry talking about the theory […]
Question: I have been talking to a friend and we are trying to understand luke 16:9. My friend sees this as something negative “…buying your friends” because of the previous context, but I see it as something positive. Can you help me understand this verse? Answer: This is a good question. There are a couple […]
Question: What is the significance of the angel that appears to Daniel in chapter 10 telling him that he was summoned 21 days ago but was held up by “the Prince of the Kingdomof Persia”? I believe every scripture is there for a reason and God does not bother with insignificant issues, so what is […]
Question: My question is about doubt. I have to write a paper for a Bible class I take at my school. The paper is on the subject of doubt. I was just wondering if you think doubt is a sinfull act or an act of trying to find God. What do you think is the […]
Question: i would like to add one more question is that, what does exact interpretation of the scripture in 1 cor. that poul says there is a thorn in my flesh,is he talking bout any desease or something else?PLs explain me. Answer: I assume you mean 2 Corinthians 12:7-10. Many commentators have debated the interpretation […]
Question: My question is: we have only one God (Jesus) but is it differentiated in the Bible as Father, Son and Spirit? Is the Father the only God and Jesus is His son or are Jesus and the Father one being? Answer: These questions have puzzled Christians for centuries, so you are not alone! It […]
ARS Evidence for Christianity Newsletter Letters to the Editors September 2006 John, I’m at AIM in Athens(Online course) and I just wanted to say "thanks" for the lesson today. It was very inspirational and it fueled my desire to study more so that I can get some evangelistic "Evidence" classes going when I get […]
? The Jewish High Holy Days Phillip Lester 9/23/06 Jews all over the world are about to enter a three week period called the High Holy Days. They involve special Jewish celebrations for the fall season. Although they are found in the Scriptures, their position in the Jewish calendar is often overlooked by disciples. They […]
Question: Is there such thing as speaking in tongues? In the Bible Paul said he had that spiritual gift and it was his greatest gift (1CO 14), and then I read a study Bible and it said that as Christians we could have the gift but it is not of help to others but just […]
Cosmic Origins The significance of the Big Bang for Theism Matt Longhorn, Reading, UK (philosophical_1@hotmail.com) September 21, 2006 The story of our understanding of the universe has been charted well in the agnostic author Robert Jastrow?s – God and the Astronomers. Jastrow traces the Big Bang theory back to mathematical calculations by […]
Question: Why does Jude quote apocryphal literature in verse 9 and 14? People often immediatley dismiss this by saying “just because he quotes apocryphal literature doesn’t mean he considers it scripture”, and point out to where Paul quotes other pagan poets. This is true, however what bothers me is that he refers the prophecy directly […]
Question: How do we know that the word “Law” in the NT is referring to the Mosaic Law? Also does baptism equateto circumcision? Answer: I want to suggest you do your own additional research on this topic, as I cannot claim to be an expert on this. Let me share with you what I have […]
Question: When Jesus’ resurrection happened why did he appear to his apostles first? Why did he not appear to the Pharisees & teachers of the law who handed Jesus over to be crucified? Answer: The Bible does not answer this question, at least not directly. This requires me to speculate to some extent. First of […]
Question:What is Buddism & its childhood & what is the difference between him & Christ? I’m a Christian ; How can I speak with atheists & what is the main point to persuade them to be a Christian? Answer: Here is a little information on Buddhism, its founder and its teachings: Founder: Gautama Buddha or […]
Question: I run a “myspace” for Christianity and I had my first tough post. I don’t know how to respond to it. Where did Jesus first appear to the eleven disciples after the resurrection? Here is the comment I got at my site: ;Where did Jesus first appear to the eleven disciples? oh wait i […]
Question/Comment: I just finished reading an article you wrote regarding the ‘evidence’ for an intelligent designer and I found it so intellectually dishonest that it inspired me to write you. I hope that someday you come to see the ‘folly’ that comes with accepting ideas such as the ‘anthropic principle.’ Someday I think you will […]
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