Question: How do we know that the Biblical accounts are true? How do we know that the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) are reliable? How do we know that the Bible is the inspired, infallible, and authoritative Word of God? How do you know that the “other gospels” are not inspired? Answer: This is […]

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Question: Mark 16:16 says that signs would accompany those who believe and John says that we can do greater work then Jesus Christ. What are these greater works? Answer: Although I can certainly see how one might make the connection, I would be cautious about using Mark 16:16 to interpret John 14:12. Let me start […]

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Question: Mark 16:16 says that signs would be with those who believe and John says that we can do greater work then Jesus Christ. What are these greater works? Answer: Although I can certainly see how one might make the connection, I would be cautious about using Mark 16:16 to interpret John 14:12. Let me […]

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Question: Here is a situation that I have come up against just lately, and would like your opinion. I listened to a CD by David Bercot, author of “Will the Real Heretics Please Stand Up?,” about the stance of the early Christians on divorce and remarriage. He states pretty clearly that it was the original […]

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Question: Who were the books of the new Testament written by and what was the relationship of these authors to Jesus? Answer: In some cases, it is hard to prove who wrote which books. Many of the letters of Paul were “signed” by him, making it fairly certain, but even this is not proof. Some […]

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Question: Answer: I do try to keep up as much as possible with the new discoveries in evolutionary/molecular biology. I am not sure exactly which aspect of self-replicating molecules you refer to. For example, there are prions, which are the cause of Kreutzfeld-Jacob (mad cow) disease. These molecules are self-replicating, but only within a cell […]

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Question: What evidence have you for the existence of a metaphysical soul outside the Bible? Where is the soul located? Where absolute proof is unavailable, we should be able to proceed on the basis of the balance of evidence. For example, if a person is standing at a bus stop and a bus comes along […]

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Question: I’ve always thought science was the study of God’s creation. If we find that our species is just a part of a living planet, that which was made in His image is a bit bigger than our species. In that case, God’s image is grander than is expressed in humanity-stood-alone, but more like humanity-in-and-of-nature. […]

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Question: I have recently begun studying the evidence supporting Christianity and the alleged contradictions in the Bible and all that stuff… [my brain hurts 🙂 ] I was wondering if you have any tips for me in my ‘journey’ of intense study into Christianity, or provide cautions to stop me from making mistakes (see below). […]

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Question: In 1 Corinthians11 it says that women should cover their head when they pray; is that a literal term? Does this mean that women must cover their head when we pray? Answer: Yes…. and No…. What I mean is yes, Paul is talking about a literal head covering in 1 Corinthians 11:5,6, but no, […]

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Question: 1. Would you say it’s true that everyone comes to know God in a different way? (because of their friends, after some sort of catastrophe, etc) Is one way of coming to God as good as another?2. When people come to know God, how much would you say comes frompeople’s own efforts, and how […]

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   Power Point: Stone Campbell Movent: Restoration or Reformation? 210.00 Kb   The Stone/Campbell Movement: Reformation or Restoration?   Background:  The religious atmosphere in the early 19th century on the Western Frontier:   1. Puritans.  British Dissenters.  Strongly Calvinistic.  Independent church structure.   The  Great Awakening:  Jonathan Edwards 1740?s, 50?s,  ?Sinners in the Hands of […]

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Brown makes a number of other equally unsubstantiated claims, but probably the most outrageous is that Jesus had sexual relations with Mary Magdalene which led to her giving birth to a son.  He claims the ?Holy Grail? which Christian mystics searched for the past two thousand years was actually the secret that Mary Magdalene had […]

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Question: I have read arguments that the church really shaped the Bible for their own purposes.That is implied by the Da Vinci Code. Some of the people I’ve talked to don’t believe in Jesus because they don’t think the Bible is legitimate, but that Jesus was just a teacher andthat the church turned in him […]

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Question: I was recently told that the original Hebrew word for Satan, is in fact a different word completely, when compared to the word “devil” which is used in the New Testament. The claim is that Satan, and the devil are actually two different entities. What do we actually know about Satan and the Devil […]

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The Da Vinci Code: A Review               Dan Brown?s book, The Da Vinci Code, has been the best selling book in the past few years. Its only recent rival has been the Harry Potter series. This summera blockbuster movie based on the book, promises to be the biggest movie of the year. What is […]

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The Resurrection of Jesus An Outline   Q:  Is it logical to believe that Jesus was raised 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 […]

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Question: How do you explain the similarities between the Babylonian Gilgamesh epic and the flood account in the Bible? Answer:There are five logical explanations I can think of for the admittedly striking similarities between the two accounts: 1. It is coincidence. 2. They are both a record of an actual event (even if semi-mythical as […]

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Question: What is your view on the widely held belief that the conquering of the Canaanites at Jericho is not supported by the archeological excavations and finds at Jericho? The Israelites were supposed to have entered Jericho in 1407 BC, but many archeologists believe they didn’t enter until 1230-1220 BC. Kathleen Kenyon’s research in 1952-1958 […]

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Question: I am currently enrolled in a college course discussing Western Religions. Currently the topic is Christianity. For the most part, the information presented has been bias, and not exactly fair. A recent topic of discussion has been how the religion may be oppressive to woman. Certain scriptures that were pointed out were : Ephesians […]

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Question: My question is partly related to the problem of theodicy. In Joshua 7 we see Achan and all his family executed for a sin which only Achan is responsible for. For years i’ve wrestled trying to reconcile this passage in light of clear divine instruction in Deut 24:16 and Ezekiel 18:4,20. I will acknowledge […]

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Question: Do Good Friday, Easter Sunday represent the actual date that Jesus was crucified. and what is the significance of Church on Sunday? Answer: Jesus was crucified on a Friday; on the eve of the Passover. He was raised on the day after the Passover, which was a Sunday. The early church began to commemorate […]

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Question: Please help me understand the prophecy about 666. Is it literal? Will some people really get forehead markings? Answer: As far as I know, the only use of the number 666 is in Revelation 13:18. Almost without question this number is to be taken symbolically, not literally. Of course, many have used the actual […]

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ARE THE GOSPELS RELIABLE?    By John Oakes   A number of questions have come to the web site  from people who question the validity of the gospel accounts.  Groups such as the Jesus Seminar have sought to find the ?genuine? sayings and acts of Jesus among what they consider to be the chaff added by believers […]

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Question: If the Bible/Christianity is so obviously the truth and the correct religion, why isn’t the whole world Christian by now? Or, why aren’t there more articles in the newspaper or more things on TV about it? I mean, when the whole thing with DNA was figured out, most people knew within …a few years?? […]

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I was rereading your article on the ID debate after reading through an interesting article found at the link below   http://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/archive/0 0002583/  It made me reconsider your statement: "There is no experiment one can even conceive of which can test the design hypothesis. What could one do in a laboratory to test whether a system […]

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Question: I’m doing my senior project in high school on this topic of whether Jesus was actually the Son of God, and thus everything he said was actually true. I have a few more questions: Is it possible that the Bible lasted for so many years just because no one questioned it? For example, Aristotle’s […]

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Question; The Mormons claim that when Jesus died he traveled in the time so that he was able to preach to long-dead people in the Old Testament. Any comment on this claim? Secondly what are those sins that do not lead to death? Thirdly, what kind of sins that are unforgiveable? thank you so much.. […]

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Question: A Muslim friend made an outrageous claim to me that in Deuteronomy 18: 15-19 it is speaking of Muhammed and not Jesus. One hole in this claim is that Muhammad was an Arab, not a Jew. (Genesis 22:18). He would be of the house of David (Jeremiah 21:5). What do you think of this? […]

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Are The Gospels Accounts Reliable?               It is a very common phenomenon for scholars and theologians to question the reliability of the gospel accounts as history.  Groups such as the Jesus Seminar have sought to find the ?genuine? sayings and acts of Jesus among what they consider to be the chaff added by believers in […]

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Question: Where can one find the book where the kings in the old testament such as David, Solomon and other prominent leaders were mentioned, such as BOOK OF THE HISTORY OF THE KINGS OF ISRAEL, HISTORY OF THE KINGS OF JUDAH? Answer: These books have been lost. There were several books used as sources for […]

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Question: If you feel like a heart attack, go to the University of Idaho website, type N.F.Gier in the search box and then select GRE.It’s a reference to his book ” God Reason and the Evangelicals”. Then select Chapter 13. The point is that Genesis one describes the earth as surrounded by a solid “firmament.” […]

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Question: I am currently studying the resurrection of Jesus in an apologetic manner and have started looking into the Greek texts. Matthew 27:65 mentions the guard requested by the Jews, I noticed that the word translated as “you have” appears to be “I have” (echo as opposed to the ete ending denoting you plural). Unfortunately […]

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Question: My question is on your interpretation on the two olive trees on pg 102 of you book “From Shadow to Reality.” You said ” The two who are anointed are a reference to the high priest Joshua and the governor Zerubabbel, both of whom were foreshadows of the anointed one: the Messiah”. I was […]

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