Articles

/Category Archive for "Articles"

wrote in Daniel, End Times, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Other Religions .

Question: I noticed you discussed some Baha’i prophecies on your web site.   I noticed some sites produced by some Christians that you might be interested to look at:    http://www.ministryofhealing.org/FreeDevotionals/ChristianDevotionalNewsletter.      http://a233.webs.com/apps/blog/show/prev?from_id=5310025 http://www.bibleprophecytruth.com/prophecy-resources/bible-prophecy-charts.aspx        They all seem to start with the year 457 BC as the starting year of the prophecy and they also mention the year 1844 […]

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wrote in Announcements, Apologetics, Articles .

Class #5 in our apologetics certificate program: Biblical Criticism and Inspiration is now available. The ten-hour class is taught by Glenn Giles, an elder in Denver, Colorado. To order the class or any of our other Apologetics Certificate classes, click on the ARS Apologetics Certificate Program icon or contact Jan Oakes at joakes01@san.rr.com or 858-505-8841.

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wrote in Announcements, Articles, Bible, Bible Teaching, PowerPoints, Prophecy .

Dr. John Oakes, Robert Carrillo Pedro Figueroa and Mark Wilkinson taught an 8-week 16-hour introduction to the Old Testament on consecutive Saturdays Feb 25-April 14 at the Mission Center of Hope in San Diego, CA.  To view the notes, the power point:    Old Testament Survey Notes   Introduction OT PPT   Amos, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel    Recordings are available in the EFC […]

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wrote in General, General Apologetics, Philosophy, Theology and Doctrinal Questions .

QUESTION: I’ve listened to numerous debates by famous Christian apologists (William Craig, Douglas Jacoby, Mike Licona, ect.) and I noticed that in some of their arguments they regard the Athiests of having a presupposition (naturalism, materialism, etc.) for not believing in God. However, I was wondering what if we asked that same question about Christians? […]

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wrote in General, Other Religions, Practical Christianity .

Question: I have been dealing with cancer. Morman missionaries have been coming by to offer to help me. Their women arranged meals….etc. Super sweet and loving. I tell them my convictions and read to them in Romans where it begins”Love must be sincere”.  They have assured me that they will continue to love me and […]

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wrote in Apologetics, Articles, Other Religions, Philosophy, PowerPoints, Spanish Content, Spanish Powerpoints, Theology, World View .

This lesson was given by Dr. John Oakes for the Iglesia de Cristo de Tijuana April 20, 2012.  Translation is by Mauricio Garcia.  The class is about hte reasons that the early church, starting with a small group of poor, uneducated people without power were able to conquer the entire Roman and Greek world.  Hechos […]

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wrote in Creation, General, Science and the Bible, Supernatural .

Question: I just watched a video (see below) in which John Clayton presents his version of what seems to be examples of irreducible complexity [IC].  Seems to be a bit more like a parade of God of the gaps.  I think there might be better examples of irreducible complexity.  What do you think of IC arguments in […]

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wrote in General, Miracles, Resurrection of Jesus, Supposed Inconsistencies in the Bible .

Question: I was wondering how would you harmonize the resurrection narrative accounts? I found an essay written by a theologian to be the best one so far (click here to view it) however I wanted to see what your take on the accounts were. Thanks! Answer: I do not believe I can improve on the […]

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wrote in Anthropology, General, Philosophy, Theology and Doctrinal Questions .

Question: Dear Sir, what about human memory?  Scientists tells us our memory is stored in Brain. Word of God tells us it is the soul that has memory. Lamentations 3:20. what about our memory when we die? our memories stored in our brains will be transported into disembodied souls at the time of our Death? […]

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wrote in Anthropology, Archaeology and the Bible, General, Other Religions, Supernatural .

What about Atlantis, the Sphinx, Ring of Power, Joseph is Amen Ra and other similar theories? 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. […]

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wrote in General, Other Religions, Practical Christianity, Theology and Doctrinal Questions .

What do you think about the Jehovah’s Witness group? Question: I have a question to ask you if you have the time. Jehovah’s Witnesses often knock on my door; unlike a lot of people, I invite them in. We have friendly discussions and I advise them that there is not the faintest chance of them […]

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wrote in Creation, General, Science and the Bible .

Comment: A friend directed me towards your site. I’ve been reading your articles on how life could not possibility come about spontaneously. I was wondering what your thoughts are on this.  When a new property of RNA was discovered: some kinds of RNA can catalyze chemical reactions – and that means that RNA can both […]

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wrote in Creation, General, Science and the Bible .

Question: When debating with an atheist about the origins of life I used your statement (see below) In order for life to come about by a chemical accident, as atheists and scientists committed to materialist explanations assume, several things must have happened which simply can not happen. First of all, a genetic code, capable of […]

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wrote in General, Other Religions .

Question: Could you explain the Quran prophecy about the Byzantines and Sassanids at this Islamic site http://www.islamreligion.com/articles/347/ Response: We should call this a prediction rather than a prophecy. The fact is that if you look at the history of the Sassanid Persians and the Byzantine Empire you will see that they fought continuously for over […]

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wrote in Announcements, Apologetics, Articles, Other Religions, World View .

ARS will be sponsoring a six-hour class on Islam 9:00-4:00 Saturday May 4th.  The location is 15610 Crenshaw Blvd., Gardena, CA 90249.  Teachers will include Dan Conder and John Oakes.  The cost for the class is $20.  Suggested reading, schedule, registration and more information will be posted soon.  For more information, contact Jan at joakes01@san.rr.com

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wrote in Apocrypha, Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, Church History, General .

Question: Why does the Septuagint Bible consist of additional books (3 Kings, 4 kings, Maccabees,etc.) and psalms (151,152)? From my understanding some of these books and psalms were found in the DSS, so why wasn’t it included in the canon? Answer: The question of what the content of the Septuagint is/was is not an easy […]

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wrote in Archaeology and the Bible, Creation, General, Science and the Bible .

Question: My Church cannot really give me answers to alot of the evolution questions I have and direct me to either Kent Hovind or some other creation website. I know from talking to a lot of my atheist friends this source is not reliable. I also have an atheist friend who is studying history. His […]

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wrote in Creation, General, Science and the Bible .

What is the most convincing evidence for the existence for a supernatural being? Answer: The most convincing evidence for the existence of God, at least for me, is the indirect evidence provided by the inspiration for the Bible (and all the evidence which supports belief in the inspiration of the Bible). For this I strongly […]

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wrote in Archaeology and the Bible, Church History, General, History, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: I was hoping you could answer my a question on Isaiah 45:14. It seems to say that Cyrus the Great would gain tribute or conquer Egypt, Cush and the Sabeans (which I believe are Ethiopians). But Cyrus the Great never conquered Egypt. Rather Cyrus’ son Cambyses invaded Egypt and conquered Egypt. He then tried […]

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wrote in Anthropology, Bible Interpretation, Creation, General, Science and the Bible .

Question: As a student studying Biology I personally believe in evolution, and I also believe in God. However, I have been struggling to figure out whether I should interpret Genesis chapter 2 literally. I looked at two different prestigious scientists who are both Christians but claim evolutionary creationism or bios logos. The first is Dr. […]

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wrote in Bible Interpretation, Creation, General, Science and the Bible .

Question: Does Genesis 1:7 say that there is water above the expanse(sky)?  Does the Bible support this wrong cosmology? Answer: Genesis chapter one is not a scientific treatise and should not be treated this way. It is a theological treatise, stating that God created everything in the universe, giving a rough order in which the […]

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wrote in Creation, General, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: In the Septuagint it states that Methuselah was 167 when he begot Lamech. But that would mean that Methuselah living up to 969 would have survived the flood. The Bible states only 8 people were on the ark. Is there any earlier Old Testament text that gives Methuselah a different age when he begot […]

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wrote in Church History, General, Theology and Doctrinal Questions .

Question: I come from a VERY Catholic family. This Christmas was naturally a very…interesting time. ANYWAYS, they brought up a statement/question that I felt ill equipped to answer. They made the statement that back in OT days, when Jews made a sacrifice, they would have to partake (i.e. eat) the sacrifice to consummate the covenant. […]

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wrote in General, General Apologetics, Philosophy, Theology and Doctrinal Questions .

Request: I have a former student who is in college and really questioning his faith and is starting to believe in the arguments presented by Hitchins and Dawkins. Recently he posted this "question" asking for people to comment and give him feedback. I am looking for anyone who could help me give some meaty and […]

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wrote in General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, History, Other Religions .

Question: I am a Jew who lives in Israel, in recent times I began to wonder why my way, Judaism, is true. I talked with some rabbis, and their best claim against the other religion was that Judaism has survived thousands years. Despite all of the pogroms, anti-Semitism and the Holocaust, even though they were […]

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wrote in Bible Teaching, Jesus .

We are reposting an article on a biblical and historical perspective of Christmas from 2007 for your enjoyment.  Merry Christmas.  John Oakes   Is Christmas a Christian Holiday? Christmas sure has taken a beating lately, seemingly from all sides.  The secularists demand that we say Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas,  while some believers have threatened […]

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wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, Creation, General, Science and the Bible .

Question: Some non-believers do believe Christ rose from the dead.  The historical evidence is great.  We mark our calendars by the event.  Sadly even liberal Christians buy the baseless fairy tale that the writings of Josephus were "revised" or the book of Luke was "planted" in the Roman libraries despite not a shred of evidence […]

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wrote in Archaeology and the Bible, Church History, General, History, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: I recently read a report prepared by an archaeologist from the Israeli Antiquities Authority which stated that Nazareth could not have been occupied during the Herodian Period (the time of the birth of Jesus Christ) because no ruins or other archaeological evidence from that period had been found in or around Nazareth. He did […]

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