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Author "john-oakes"

wrote in Apocrypha, General, Miracles, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question:  Dr Oakes, can you view this article:  https://talesoftimesforgotten.com/2021/09/17/heres-how-we-know-the-canonical-gospels-were-originally-anonymous/   This came from a historical scholar it seems. She tried to refute an apologist regarding the gospel’s names and authors. But I found several of her interpretation are quite forced (Like the Mark verses she cited) and how she said Didache and Didascallia just got accepted without […]

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wrote in General, Miracles, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible, Resurrection of Jesus .

Question: In the world of 1st century Palestine, a woman’s testimony was not recognized as legally binding BUT the Jesus resurrection account is built on the testimony of women.  Does that mean it’s a hoax? Answer: Absolutely it does NOT mean that the gospel message is a hoax.  Who said that?  How sad is it […]

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wrote in Church History, General, Other Religions, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question:  If Jesus Crucifixion was so evident then why some early Christian sects denied it?  Some said: Simon of Cyrene was crucified.  Some said: Judas Iscariot was crucified.  Some said: someone substituted him. What is your response? Answer: This is a flat-out, blatant lie.  Plain and simple.  There is absolutely no truth to this claim, […]

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wrote in General, Other Religions, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: Barabbas, who is also called “Jesus Barabbas”, was crucified instead of Jesus of Nazareth due to confusion created by God.  What is your opinion? Answer: My opinion is that this is one of the most far-fetched and outrageous proposals about Jesus I have ever heard about.  Jesus’ mother Mary was at the cross.  Jesus’ […]

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wrote in General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Other Religions, Q & A .

Question: Radak (Rabbi David Kimchi) explains Isaiah 53 except for the final two verses, as the “Words of the Other Nations”. These words are not Isaiah’s words. Evidently, this is recorded to understand the view of the Gentile Nations at that time.  What is the Christian response? Answer: It should not surprise anyone that a […]

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wrote in Church History, General, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: My friend says:  Josephus and Tacitus are not reliable sources of Jesus’ Crucifixion. They presented vague references based on rumours. NT authors had no ability to know what the truth was. What should be Christian reply? Answer: I think you had better find a more reliable source than this “friend” who says this rather […]

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wrote in General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: Jesus had no traits of a King who would save Jews from their enemies as the OT prophets anticipated. Why are these prophecies fabricated? Answer: I assume that this criticism is coming from a Muslim source. You begin with an erroneous premise, which makes your question a nonsense question.  I will share with you […]

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wrote in Bible Interpretation, General, Prefigures and Foreshadows, Q & A .

Question: Is Israel God’s firsborn son (Exodus 4:22) or Jesus (Hebrews 1:6)? My understanding is it’s both but in different senses. Would this be correct? In what sense is Israel God’s firstborn? Is it in the sense that Israel was chosen among the nations? In what sense is Jesus God’s firstborn? Is it in the […]

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wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: There was no proper canon or collection of the writings of the Old Testament, until the time of the Synagogue under the Maccabees, which was only about 200 years before the appearance of Jesus. Up to this period, the “Holy books” were scattered and liable to be altered or amended just as priests might […]

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wrote in Bible Interpretation, General, Q & A, Theology and Doctrinal Questions .

Question:  It is impossible for any part of God, even if incarnate, to decompose in any way and still be considered God. The everlasting, one God, in whole or in part, does not die, disintegrate, or decompose: ‘For I the Lord do not change.’ (Malachi 3:6).  Did Paul invent God-Son concept to attract Romans? Answer: […]

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wrote in General, Miracles, Q & A, Supernatural .

Question:  1) The article ‘St Paul converted by epileptic fit, suggests BBC’ By Jonathan Petre, Religion Correspondent and Jonathan Wynne-Jones https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1427916/St-Paul-converted-by-epileptic-fit-suggests-BBC.html?fb states ‘ ‘A documentary about St Paul has infuriated Christians by suggesting that the apostle’s conversion on the road to Damascus may have been caused by an epileptic fit’How would you respond to this claim?2) […]

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wrote in General, Other Religions, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: I asked on chabad.org this:  How did Rabbis know that Isaiah 8:19-20 belongs to Beeri and Micah 3:12 to Uriah? Are there any other instances of anonymous prophecies in prophetic books? I got the following answer:  “I could not find any other examples. There may be more, but I don’t know them and have […]

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wrote in General, Other Religions, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: According to Midrash (Levit. Rabba 15), Hosea’s father, Beeri, was also a prophet, and fragments of his prophecies are preserved in Isa. 8:19-20. It means that works ascribed to well-known Prophets include anonymous portions. On the other hand, Megillah 15a says: when the name of a Prophet’s father is recorded, the latter, too, probably […]

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wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, Church History, General, Other Religions, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: A Muslim friend proposed this to me: I have seen this “issue” before and I haven’t done a proper investigation into it. He said there’s no evidence to support Jesus’ divinity in the first century. I believe (although I am yet to see) that there is evidence of early Christians in first century honoring […]

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wrote in Bible Interpretation, General, Q & A, Theology and Doctrinal Questions .

Question: How would you respond to someone who asked whether Jesus was born again? If He wasn’t, what about His statement, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3)?  What does it mean to be born again? And what is “circumcision of the […]

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wrote in Bible Interpretation, Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, Church History, Daniel, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, History, Other Religions, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible, Supposed Inconsistencies in the Bible .

[Editor’s note: This is a series of challenges from a Muslim regarding Jesus to be the fulfillment of Old Testament messianic prophecies.  My answers are interspersed among the questioner’s examples in italics] Claim: There are many biblical prophecies which do not fit into Jesus, for e.g. Response: Whether Jesus fulfilled all potential messianic prophecies is […]

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wrote in Apologetics, Archaeology, Articles, Foreshadows and Prefigures, Jesus, Other Religions, PowerPoints, Prophecy, Theology, World View .

Dr. John Oakes is doing a series of two classes on evidence for the reliability of the Bible for “The Temple Project,” an on-line program of the Boston Church of Christ March 19 and 26.  The first class is on the reliability of the New and Old Testament texts and on the historical accuracy of […]

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wrote in Anthropology, Archaeology and the Bible, General, History, Q & A .

Question: How did Judaism form? I saw from Wikipedia that it formed from one of the Canaanite god’s called Yahweh?  Is this true? I am skeptical of this notion. Answer: It is hard to prove unambiguously the path by which what we call Judaism was formed.  The biblical evidence is that there were at least […]

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wrote in Creation, General, Philosophy, Q & A, Theology and Doctrinal Questions .

Question:  “Why did loving God create predators”?  I heard many answers but all are non-sense!  The most famous 2 answers are:  1- Predators are important for the ecosystem.  The problem is that God is the one who created this ecosystem. He could create an ecosystem that doesn’t need predation. He could decrease fertility rate of […]

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wrote in General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Other Religions, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: If Isaiah was the greatest prophet in Israelite history from David to the exile, why are his character and personal life not known to us? Same with Obadiah, Joel, Nahum who are obscure figures. Answer: I can tell you have been hearing from Muslim critics, as this is the latest “fad” criticism of the […]

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wrote in Bible Interpretation, General, Q & A .

Question: Could you explain what Romans 10:9 means? Obviously we can’t interpreted it in isolation or literally.  There are many discussions and opinions on this verse. Answer: Whether we take Paul “literally” here or not depends on your definition of literally.  Clearly, anyone–even a total heathen–can say the words “Jesus is Lord.” Simply mouthing the […]

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wrote in Bible Interpretation, General, History, Q & A, Theology and Doctrinal Questions .

Question: The theology of the Prophets before the exile had no place for the priestly blood sacrifice system. There was no atonement. The law of forgiveness worked directly and without any ritual. If Abraham, Moses, David, etc. were saved without sacrifice, it is hard to understand how blood sacrifice became necessary for salvation from the […]

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wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, General, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: I want to ask you, sir, regarding the textual variation of Mark 6:3. Some early manuscripts said son of carpenter. Between “carpenter” or “son of carpenter”? This one was cited by a quote in Origen works (184-253), Against Celsus (248 AD), where Origen claimed that none of the Gospel on the current church said […]

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wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, General, Other Religions, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: Sir, can you view this article: http://mquran.org/content/view/9181/16/  This comes from an anonymous Muslim apologist website written in 2006. He said that the New Testament is unreliable and the 99,5% number that Christian apologists used in their argument are not valid. He claimed that apologists just cite other apologists and only 50% of the gospel are […]

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wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, General, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

[Editor’s note:  In this one the questions are interspersed, in italics, between the four questions] Questions: I have some points to discuss: 1. The Major and Minor Prophets of the Bible contain a significant amount of data from other persons, namely, editors and others whose words were added without acknowledgement. Those additions include materials such […]

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wrote in General, Q & A, Supposed Inconsistencies in the Bible .

Question: The NT authors fabricated stories about Jesus for e.g.   (1) Overturning of the tables in the temple & chasing out the money changers (John 2:13-16); Were the gospel writers unaware of the sizeable temple police and Roman guards who were permanently stationed at the temple? Were the temple police & Roman guards unable to […]

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wrote in Bible Interpretation, General, Practical Christianity, Q & A .

Question:  1) Are Christians supposed to love everyone?   Are Christians supposed to love the following:  a) false prophets in general  b) the false prophet mentioned in the book of Revelation c) the antichrist mentioned in the book of Revelation d) Satan   2) Does God love (or hate) a) false prophets b) the false prophet mentioned […]

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wrote in General, Q & A, Supposed Inconsistencies in the Bible .

Question: Paul said ‘Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh.’ (Philippians 3:2) Why did Paul call his  opponents here dogs? What is meant by dogs here? How should we understand the meaning here? Also, how would you explain to someone why it was appropriate […]

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wrote in Bible Interpretation, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Other Religions, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: I am Christian, but am also a very skeptical person.  I always challenge what I believe for the sake of truth and if it is truth it will stand. I would like to ask about Isiah 7:14. There is a lot of discussion about the use of the word “almah“. Does it imply virginity […]

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wrote in Bible Interpretation, General, Q & A .

Question: Paul admitted that he’s a liar in 1 Cor. 9:19-22 for luring the Jews. He further testified that he’s a liar in 2 Cor. 12:16 where he used the word “trickery” (dolos in Greek), mainly used in bad sense. What’s the Christian response? Answer: This is a rather blatant misinterpretation of 1 Corinthians 9:19-22.  […]

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wrote in Bible Interpretation, General, Q & A, Theology and Doctrinal Questions .

Editor’s note:  In this Q & A, I am interspersing the answers in italics among the four questions. 1) What does it mean to say Jesus is the ‘Messiah’ or ‘Christ’? What are some good Bible verses that show the meaning of the word ‘Messiah’ or ‘Christ’ when applied to Jesus? The Hebrew word for […]

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wrote in Bible Interpretation, General, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible, Supposed Inconsistencies in the Bible .

Question: What is the Abrahamic covenant mentioned in Genesis 17:7, 17:13 and 17:19? What aspect of the Abrahamic covenant is everlasting? Why don’t Christians practice circumcision if the Abrahamic covenant is everlasting? Answer: I wish that this was a simple question with a simple answer.  One difficulty here is that the Jewish concept of the […]

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wrote in General, Q & A, Theology and Doctrinal Questions .

Question: I hope you can give me helpful answers for my questions. Is salvation unconditional love? What is God’s love like after baptism? Is it unconditional love? Do I still have obligations after baptism? Is it true that God will not love me if I don’t fulfill my obligations or if I do not grow?  […]

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wrote in General, Other Religions, Q & A .

Question:  The Koran says the same things that God said to the Jews which the Major and Minor Prophets proclaimed. For e.g.   1) Hearts hardened (compare Quran 2:74 with Ezek. 3:7, Zech. 7:12) 2) Be Kind to orphans & don’t shed each other’s blood (compare Quran 2:83-84 with Isa. 1:17, 59:7)  What is the Christian’s […]

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wrote in General, Q & A, Theology and Doctrinal Questions .

Question: 1. When Peter said about Jesus “You are the son of the living God” what did he mean? Did the disciples know about the trinity at that time?  2. When did the disciples firmly believe Jesus was God? Might the disciples have held a basic understanding of Jesus as a God but not confirmed […]

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wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: Is there any proof of Isaiah 53 predating Christ? I’ve heard carbon 14 testing for the Isaiah Scroll could be inaccurate as the parchment could be reused and paleographic dating might be unreliable. David: There is a boat load of evidence for the Book of Isaiah predating Christ.  Perhaps the most obvious is the […]

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wrote in General, General Apologetics, History, Miracles, Other Religions, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: What writings should be called God’s word? The words which are literally said by God himself? Muslims claim that the Koran contain God’s words, not the words of Muhammad. His words are separately recorded in Hadith. Christians claim that every word in the Bible is inspired but the fact is: there’s difference between revelation […]

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wrote in Bible Interpretation, General, Practical Christianity, Q & A .

Question: What is an “altar offering”? Should we give it separately from the usual offering on Sunday? Is it biblical? Answer: I may be wrong, but I am guessing you are referring to Matthew 5:24 in which Jesus is talking to Jewish people.  He says to these Jewish people that if they are presenting a […]

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