QUESTION: I was recently browsing youtube,and found a video about a banned book called Book of Enoch. What is it? Answer: As far as I know, no important group has banned the book of Enoch. Just so you know, some call this book the 1st (1 Enoch) because other pseudepigraphal books (books with a falsely-claimed […]
Brian Colon, one of the members of the ARS board, recently taught a class on the resurrection of Jesus. The audio is available at http://www.knowitstrue.com/audio/Rez.mp3
Question: I’m going to be taking a class on evolution this fall and wanted to see what book(s) you recommend I read so I can help myself as well as my classmates. Also, if you could just give me some general advice about how to go about debating/talking about evolution that would be appreciated. Thanks! […]
FSTR FrenchDr. John Oakes spoke to the Conakry Church of Christ in Guinea, Africa on July 22, 2012. The lesson was translated into French by Vincent Kamano. Audio attached.
QUESTION: My question for you is fairly simple and straightforward. What are the best arguments for atheism and why don’t you find them convincing? Answer: A good question. It is always advisable to understand the best argument of those with whom we disagree. Sometimes we might even change our mind if we are willing to […]
John Oakes just finished a three week missionary teaching trip. A report is attached. Berlin and West Africa Report
QUESTION: John I was wondering if anyone has ever suggested a hypothesis based on drug hallucination for the resurrection? I know there’s a hallucination hypothesis but has anyone ever brought up drug hallucination like psilocybin mushroom hallucination? And if someone has how would you respond to that hypothesis? Thanks John! Answer: Hello from Conakry, Guinea; […]
John Oakes is teaching in Berlin, Conakry, Guinea, Accra, Ghana, and Lagos and Abuja, Nigeria. You can follow on Twitter @evidence4christ or on facebook.
QUESTION: How does one explain the fact of Lot’s wife being converted into salt when they were running away from Sodom’s destruction? What is the “logic” or scientific” explantion behind this fact. Answer: I do not believe that there is any “scientific logic” to what happened to Lot’s wife. What happened to his wife is […]
Dr. John Oakes did a presentation on the resurrection for the Berlin Church of Christ 7/19/2012. His power point and notes were updated and are attached here: PPT The Resurrection of Jesus Resurrection of Jesus Notes
QUESTION: What is the context of James 5:16? What does confessing our sins have in relation to anointing the sick and him being raised up? Is that a commandment from Jesus to confess our sins to each other in any context? Answer: It does appear that James is a bit random in what he is talking […]
Illuminations Publishers has just published a new book by John Oakes. The title is “The Christian Story: Finding the Church in Church History.” It covers the history of Christianity from AD 30 to the Council of Chalcedon in AD 451. The book is intended to help Christians understand best how to “do” church today. Copies […]
QUESTION: I’m really interested in the whole area of Apologetics and I am studying it out to try and establish my own beliefs according to the evidence. It seems to me that people either believe in creation that took place over six 24hr days or evolution whether unguided, partly or fully guided by an Intelligent […]
Question: I want to ask you about born again Christians and ‘speaking in tongues’. I experienced this at a different church recently and it was quite overwhelming, but now after I’ve tried to research it I’m quite shocked and confused. John MacArthur lectures on youtube ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVSLc0cqlZM ) about it being demonic, existing before Pentecost […]
Question: I have been wondering about the Anabaptists. To your knowledge, did any of them teach a thorough biblical baptism? Answer: The Anabaptists were a back-to-the Bible offshoot of the Reformation which came from the Ulrich Zwingli wing of the movement. What made them differ from other “Protestants” was that they were committed to separation […]
Request: I was reading your article about the 4 Christian views of evolution and got stuck on the way you describe YEC beliefs. “YEC believes in fixed species and completely rejects the theory of organic evolution commonly known as Darwinism or neo-Darwinism. Those who take this view believe quite literally that on the third through […]
Professor Yosef Garfinkle of Hebrew University announced in May of this year his discoveries in the Jewish city of Khirbet Queiyafa. The city was occupied from about 1020-980 BC, during the reign of King David. It was a border city between Israel and the Philistines. Items in the city demonstrate conclusively that a uniquely Jewish cult, without graven […]
See below for a Q & A of particular interest which was answered by John M. Beggs on the question of whether scientific results about the neural pathways for decision-making can be used to prove that we do not have free will.
QUESTION: How would you respond to the claims that free will is an illusion? I’ve looked over some of the “evidence” for this argument and have heard several lectures on this topic (http://media.st-edmunds.cam.ac.uk/WebMedia/FAR460%20Alexander.mp3 and http://media.st-edmunds.cam.ac.uk/WebMedia/FAR470%20Newsome.mp3) given professors and scientist at The Faraday Institute. I believe the strongest evidence for the “illusion” of free will is […]
A video on the topic of hell is available at http://vimeo.com/30967402 We at ARS do not necessarily endorse all that Dr. Fudge is saying in this video, but believe it may give a useful point for thought and discussion on this controversial topic which is very important for Christian apologetics. Fudge describes three common ideas […]
Question: I’m a Christian and like to think myself an enthusiastic amateur theologan 🙂 Firstly I have to point out your website and all of your articles are amazing, they’ve certainly done a lot for me in advancing my knowledge and having fun with my studies. With that said I ran into a minor philosophical dilema today […]
QUESTION: Did the ancient Jews believe that Satan never rebelled against God and is not evil? Is the idea that Satan rebeled just a Christian idea? Answer: I am a bit confused about your question. Is there anyone who has suggested differently? Going all the way back to Genesis 2, Satan is a figure of […]
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 […]
QUESTION: What do you know about the Ebionites and the Nazarenes? I know that both were a minor sect alongside Gentile Christianity and that the Ebionites denied the majority of the deity claims made about Christ. I wanted to also ask did they both believe that Jesus physically rose from the dead? Thanks. Answer: I […]
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.
John and Jan Oakes visited Iglesia de Cristo, Tijuana April 19-20, 2012. See the report below.
This lesson was taught by Dr. John Oakes May, 2012. It is about prophecies of the Messiah, as well as foreshadows and prefigures of the Messiah which show that Jesus is who he claimed to be. Profecias Mesianicas Audio Profecias Mesianicas Power Point
This class was taught by Dr. John Oakes and Jan Oakes in Mexicali, Mexico, May, 2012. It is in English, translated into Spanish. Criando los Jovenes en la Iglesia
This class was taught by Dr. John Oakes in Mexicali, Mexico May, 2012. It was taught in English and translated into Spanish. The topic is the freedom we have in Christ and how God intends us to use it. It is about using our God-given gifts to serve the church and the lost. Libertad en […]
This class was taught by Dr. John Oakes in Mexicali, Mexico May, 2012. It is in English, translated into Spanish. PPT Hebreos, Preservacion y Predestinacion Hebreos Predestinacion y Preservacion Audio
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 […]
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? […]
Editor’s note: We are not sure we agree with all being said here, but it is food for thought. The authors place Adam and Eve about 14,000 years ago. http://www.accuracyingenesis.com/adam.html
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 […]
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 […]
A 20 hour class on the book of Hebrews in 14 parts is now availabel in the store. Just click on the EFC store icon ore go to https://www.evidenceforchristianity.org/store/. This class was given by Dr. John Oakes for the Asia Pacific Leadership Academy January, 2012.
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 […]
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 […]
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? […]
Question: Our son is a Biochemistry Major at the University of Virginia and has been a faithful Christian for several years. Now, he is starting to question the validity of the Bible. He has a list, but one of his questions is that there is no scientific evidence for a worldwide flood? Is this true? […]
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. […]
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 […]
Notes and power point for a lesson given by Dr. John Oakes in Manila, Philippines 1/15/2012. Audio will be in the ARS store soon. Preservation and Predestination Notes Preservation and Predestination 1.10 Mb
This is a presentation given by Dr. John Oakes in Hong Kong 1/11/2012. John acknowledges that, although all the notes and power point are his, many of the thoughts come from a similar presentation by Dr. Douglas Jacoby at the 2011 ARS Christian evidences conference. Audio will be in the ARS store soon. […]
Attached are notes and a power point for a 23 hour class on the Book of Hebrews given by Dr. John Oakes recently in Manila, Philippines. The recordings are now available in the ARS store. The Book of Hebrews 2.22 Mb Hebrews Notes
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 […]
question: You mentioned that a researcher encountering a miracle in their research would most likely disregard the event, however what do you do when that miracle is something like the Antikythera Mechanism? We can xray and study it, but all the data we collect seems to completely contradict our understanding of the Helenistic world. With […]
This is a debate between Dr. Douglas Jacoby and the skeptic. Richard Carrier Jan 14, 2012 in Sacramento, CA. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJmKxTB7Twg
Question: Do plants have a soul? Should we use animals for food? Answer: No, plants definitely do not have a soul. Neither do animals have a soul. According to the Bible, human beings were made "in God’s image" (Genesis 1:26). This God-likeness includes having a spirit and a soul. Animals definitely do not have the […]
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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