Question: I wonder about the Eden "project" and the fact that it was so imperfect, so how did God plan for it to exist (even if man haven’t sinned)? – If Adam and Eve were immortals, why did God ask them to multiply; where would all their descendents live if there would be billions of […]
Why do you believe what you believe? Why should others believe it too? Wouldn’t it be great if you could answer both questions with the same answer? With his new book, Basis for Belief, ARS boardmember Brian Colon will teach you how to think critically about your faith, provide reasons for why you believe in […]
This lesson was given by Dr. John Oakes 11/20/2011 in San Diego, CA. The topic is the significance of the Old Testament sacrifices to Christianity. Notes: OT Sacrifice and Christianity Sacrifice Prefigure PPoint 526.37 Kb Sacrifice prefigures audio 9.51 Mb
Question: Can Monotheism be proven? Answer: The simple answer is no, monotheism cannot be proved. There is no mathematical equation, the end of which, if solved, would result in having "proved" the reality of monotheism. On at least some level, monotheism is believed on faith. To the Christian, monotheism is accepted by faith in the […]
Question: Dr, a Muslim presented me with these arguments. I find it difficult to refute. There are too many coincidences.. Can these be true Sir? And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned. (Isaiah 29:12 KJV) Truth stands out […]
Question: A Muslim gave me this. What are your thoughts? The similitude of Jesus pbuh is of Adam pbuh. Even Adam pbuh had no mother nor father. If following your logic, then Prophet Adam would be a greater God because he came into existance with no father nor mother. You see for God( The Father) […]
Question: Is jesus the only religious leader who performed miracles? Answer: No, Jesus is not the only religious leader who performed miracles. However his miraculous ministry was absolutely unique in at least one sense, as I will discuss below. Let me start with a list of famous religious leaders. I will only list ones who […]
Question: Proverbs 6:6-8 says that an ant has no ruler. Is this a scientific inaccuracy? Would the conclusion be different if God were to say this instead of the wise man? Would it be a biblical error when Jesus asks "Why are you thinking these things in your heart?" Would it not be more accurate […]
Request: I am a minister and college student who has found himself on the defensive a lot lately about the topic, "Does God exist?" When searching for references about this topic for a research paper I came across the Butt-Barker Debate of 2009 published by Apologetics Press on YouTube and on DVD. After reading information […]
Question: Talking with Jehovah’s Witness always gets confusing. My question is in Daniel when he says that Michael the Archangel will lead the people, how do I explain to my aunt and cousins that Jesus is NOT Michael and is fully God and fully man even though they interpret most angel verses in the Bible as Jesus […]
Question: I am interested of what do You think about "theistic evolution" aka BioLogos? (including http://www.asa3.org/) I read a book of Collins "The language of God": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Language_of_God:_A_Scientist_Presents_Evidence_for_Belief and found it very interesting. As a PhD student, I am attending one course called "History and Philosophy of Science and Technology" and I have to write some […]
Question: I have a question regarding the translation of Isaiah 53:8 and whether or not Jesus had children. The only reference that I’ve found to Jesus never having children is in Isaiah 53:8; however the only translation that indicates such is the 1984 NIV, all other translations render it differently making no reference as to […]
Question: Gen.2:7 says that "God proceeded to..blow into his (Adams) nostrils…and the man became a living soul." Elsewhere in the Hebrew text animals are spoken of as "souls" (Gen.1:20; Num,31:28 ect)It seems to me a soul is what we are, not something we have. Eccl.3:19 says that at death man has no superiority over the […]
Question: What happened to the Garden of Eden? More specifically, is the Garden of Eden intact and located at some point on the Earth? Reading through Genesis shortly after The Fall of Man we see Adam and Eve no longer in the Garden, but I wonder what happened to this physical location? A few possibilities […]
Dr. John Oakes and Mark Wilkinson taught a class on how to understand and interpret the Bible. This was a 7 hour class. The suggester book for this class is "How to Study the Bible For All It’s Worth by Gordon Fee and Douglas Stewart. Notes Hermeneutics Hermeneutics PPoint 1.04 Mb AUDIO is no longer available […]
Question: I wanted to ask you a question about several verses in the book of Jude. In Jude 1:14-15 Jude references an apocryphal book called 1 Enoch. I was wondering what you thought about this reference to the book of Enoch. And do you think that this might hint at an apocryphal book as being […]
Question: I wanted to ask, how would you respond to a comment like this, done in the form of a cartoon: http://www.martinspribble.com/2011/09/12/soldier-crab-is-hostile-to-religion I know that it is useless to argue or to try to convince people who are blocked and refuse to believe anything about Christianity, but I was wondering if you had any thoughts […]
A fun video of a typical atheist trying to claim Jesus was not a real person: stumped by the evidence. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=WUQMJR2BP1w
Question: Can you explain the Baha’i prophecies in this website http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bah%C3%A1%27%C3%AD_prophecies Response: I have looked at these "prophecies" of Baha-ullah. To be honest, I am not all that impressed. For example, he predicted in the 1860s that the Ottoman Empire would fall apart. The reason this is not all that impressive is that by the […]
Question: Is Saint Augustine’s exegesis of the 2nd and 3rd chapters of Genesis correct? Do a Google search: First Scandal. Answer: No, it is not. I found the article you are talking about using Google. He makes a bit of a simplication to conclude that there are two points in Augustine’s exegesis of Genesis 2 […]
Question: Any thoughts on the book "The God Part of the Brain" by Matthew Alper? Answer: Note: This book has as its thesis that religious thought is entirely the result of genetic/physiological causes which were created due entirely to evolutionary forces. It is published by Sourcebooks, Inc., Naperville, Illinois. There is a lot of good […]
Question: Does the Baha’i faith claim to have fulfilled prophecies? Answer: Yes, it does. The Baha’i faith began in the mid-nineteenth century, started by a Persian man by the name of Baha-ulla (actual name Mirza Hussein Ali). His work was preceded by a John the Baptist-like figure the Bab, who was also Persian. This religion […]
Question: You write "All four gospels are quoted in patristic writings (a technical term which means writings by the early church "fathers.") before AD 100 in books such as the Epistle of Barnabus, the book of Clement of Rome and the Didache." There is nothing said about the four Gospels in the "Clement of Rome". […]
Question: Where did the concept of the soul, after-life, and triune God originate? Some say that the concept of the soul is only mentioned when David tries to stir up his troops before battle, giving them something great to hope for, that Heaven and Hell and scarcely mentioned in the Bible, and lastly that the […]
Question: Is evolution true? Do all the living today have a common ancestor? Answer: Scientific theories, by their very nature, are never "true." The best one can do with any theory is show that it is consistent with the observable evidence. The answer is that the modern theory of evolution is a good scientific theory. […]
Question: Is it possible that the disciples made up the story of Jesus? I have heard several claims that the disciples could have just invented a Messiah-like figure based the Old Testament prophecies that predict the Messiah. For example the the prophecy on 30 silver coins (which is explained in Zecharia and not in Jeremiah, […]
Notes and Power Point for a class on the Pentecostal Movement, miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit and the work of the Holy Spirit by John Oakes in San Diego 8/11/2011. Pentecostalism Pentecostalism PP 2.79 Mb
Apologetics Class: Biblical Reliability, Inspiration and Inerrancy The class has now been taught by Dr. John Oakes, Dan Conder and Brian Colon. Notes and Power Point are attached. Notes: Reliability, Inspiration and Inerrancy PPoint Reliability, Inspiration and Inerrancy 6.69 Mb Apologetics Class: Biblical Reliability, Inspiration and Inerrancy Instructors: John Oakes, PhD and Dan Conder Required reading: […]
Question: Can you explain the concept of trinity? While Muslims believe in the Torah which we Christians and Jews do as well, they believe in a indivisible God. How can God be one yet be called trinity? Answer: Ihave already answered this question at the web site. I am copying and pasting a quick answer, […]
Question: I want to start off by letting you know right away that I am not a Christian currently, though I haven’t shut the door on Christianity. I am a philosophical theist. I felt like it is fair to let you know where I’m coming from. If you don’t wish to help me because of […]
Una leccion se ensenado por John Oakes para Projecto Esdras en DF Mexico 7/25/2011 Cristianismo y Lo Paranormal 12.72 Mb
Este leccion estaba ensenado por John Oakes en DF Mexico para el Projecto Esdra 7/24/11. Los Milagros de Jesus Power Point 2.15 Mb Los Milagros de Jesus version corta 1.78 Mb
Comment: The Historia Augusta is an astonishing piece of bogus history. It is perhaps showing us a Roman sense of humour, but I think scholars are generally unaware of why it was done. There are 130 fake documents and they even invent sources that disagree with them. Sounds a bit like Christianity to me. The Flavians […]
Question: I recently listened to your message on Islam. You mentioned that if we email you, then you would point us in the best direction for getting a translation of the Koran. I also have a Muslim coworker so I need this as he recently engaged me in conversation to disagree with your message. Thanks […]
Question: Last time you had responded to my question when i forwarded the excerpt from Professor Vic Stenberg on his critic of D’Souza’s book: "Life after Death: The Evidence". I haven’t yet immerged myself into the Near Death experience and out of body experience, I wonder if you would say that he is correct that there is […]
Question: I am currently taking a Philosophy class and I am reading different arguments for the existence of God. For example, so far we covered Aquinas, Descartes,and Spinoza. Are the arguments by these philosophers useful for Christians arguing for the existence of God? Granted that Spinoza did not believe in the Judeo-Christian God, he did […]
Question: What can you tell me about the book Urantia? Answer: This is a very interesting story. A most anonymous group produced a book commonly known as Urantia (It actually has a longer title) in 1955. They claimed that the book was taken down by direct dictation from a man who recited these letters while […]
Question: I’m sending you this question in hopes that you can help me or at the least shed some light on these issues. In looking at what natural sciences (Astronomy, evolution, etc.) have seemed to reveal to us about the age of the universe and the development of life, it appears that the subsequent response […]
Question: I want to know why this scholar Sandra, said this in this site: http:/indiagestão.blogspot.com/2009/09/hinduismo-e-cristianismo.html partir do século II, os lideres cristãos resolveram enterrar a influencia hindu e São Gregorio destruiu publicamente deuses hindus, que passaram a ser considerados então, deuses pagãos. Lembrando sempre que o Hinduismo possui 7 mil anos e o cristianismo possui somente […]
Question: Please, I want to know if there are prophecies about other nations, and about India in the Hindu scriptures [editor’s note, I assme this person means to ask if there are prophecies of India in the Hindu scriptures], and why the Hindus say that a man in a white horse will came like a […]
This Power Point presentation was used by John Clayton at the 2011 ICEC in Long Beach CA June 18, 2011. Science and the Paranormal 12.49 Mb
A power point and notes by Dr. John Oakes from a presentation at the 2011 ICEC Christianity and the Paranormal. Thinking About the Paranormal: Notes Thinking About the Paranormal PPT 12.02 Mb
Question: My father says he does not believe in organized religion because most churchs seem only to care for themselves and not other people. He also says that the bible is biased because it was written by man and that whomever put the bible together left out some of the texts because they didnt want […]
Question: I just want to ask what is Quantum Mechanics? Why do atheists say that this is the biggest threat to the existence of God? Answer: It just so happens that my specialty as as PhD scientist is in chemical physics, with emphasis in quantum mechanics. Now, you have given me a nearly impossible task. I […]
Question: After taking an Anthropology course (which is preceded by my philosophy course) I have to wonder what reasons are there for God creating Bonobo’s with such striking similarities to humans? Viewing footage of Jane Goodall’s work and other anthropological studies I saw, although through a biased lense, that bonobo’s and other species of primates […]
Question: Where can I find (if exists) a philosophically based break-down of the Christian world veiw? Having read Plato, Sartre, Macmurray, etc. Im interested in comparing directly these philosophies and world views with something other than my own convictions, which are more intimate and less universal. Answer: By coincidence, I just taught a lesson on […]
Question: I have looked at your Power Point Presentation entitled: “Genesis and the Christian World View”. What exactly do you mean by Genesis 1 being a “true myth”? Would you please elaborate on the relationship between Genesis chapters 1-3 and the view that the earth is several billions of years old? Did the things described […]
Note: The question is quite long, including some quotes from scientific journals. I have moved much of these quotes to after my answer so that the reader will not get distracted by too long a question. Question: I would love some help in one area, because I feel like I don’t know enough to tackle […]
Question: Shalom Dr. Oakes. I have a serious challenge for you. Can you show me any unique evidence for Christianity from anywhere in the Bible? What I mean by "unique" are beliefs, customs or any religious artifact that is unique to Christianity alone. If the same thing can be found among say the Pharisees, Nazarenes, […]
The attached Power Point and notes are for a class taught April and May, 2011 by Dr. John Oakes and Robert Carrillo in San Diego, CA. The audio is also available in the EFC store. KOG&TDOTL notes The Kindgom of God and The Day of the Lord 15.13 Mb Also, notes are below. The […]
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