Question: Are the 4 Gospels writen by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John historical documents? Can you send historical or any proof of Jesus from the first century when your N.T. claims the miracle worker, crucified and resurrected Jesus was here on earth? Answer: What do we know about Jesus from extra-Biblical sources? Let me list […]
Question: I am a believer, but have an atheist father who is searching. After a long conversation with him regarding the Bible, he is convinced that the Bible was formed by "church authorities" and is in fact not true writings (based on a TV show he saw). He believes that it was written only to give […]
Question: My question is on the anointing oil referred to in James 5:14. What do you make of the olive oil the Pentecostals use to anoint different things including buildings? They always quote James 5 to substantiate their claim. Who prepared this oil in James 5 or what is its origin? If there is a […]
Question: I have a question regarding something a friend in the Seventh Day Adventist Church said. Regarding the Sabbath day, you mentioned in a Q & A at this site: "Paul attended Synagogue on the Sabbath at times to preach Jesus, but all the evidence points to the undeniable fact that the church in the first […]
Question: Why is it that people try to compare the ancient Sumerian tablets, saying that they are similar to the book of Genesis? Why is it that people try to relate those gods to the God in the Old Testament? Answer: It is difficult to judge the motives of people I have never met. I am […]
Question: I have a question I hope you will kindly answer. I need an expert Bible opinion about the similarity of this Quranic passage that deals with the birth story of Jesus to that account we find in Luke. Thanks for taking my question seriously. Editor’s note: The passage from Surah 19 of the Qu’ran […]
Comment: This a more a human question than a theological one. Why is it that most of your responses are anti-Roman Catholic? At the least seems that way. Response: I want you to know that I take this very seriously. I REALLY do not want to be anti-Catholic or anti-any Nicene Creed accepting "Christian" group. […]
http://www.facebook.com/l/5e9a8sDnpfM_UJH2gQut6uOWwUg/hartfordchurch.org/cms/ or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fr0tO8U_Cow An article in the UConn School newspaper: http://www.dailycampus.com/news/speaker-melds-god-and-science-1.2139516
Question: How can you be sure that God is outside of your mind instead of inside? Every spiritual or religious person seems to have their ideas about what God wants them to do, or what he (or she) is like. I am not a Christian, but very interested in the idea of faith. I am […]
Comment: First of All, let me greet you with the greetings of prophet Jesus pbuh (Shalom Aleichem). Peace be upon you. In Arabic (Asalaamu alaikum). I have read your response where you compared Prophet Moses with prophet Jesus and Muhammad (peace be upon them all). I must say you have made invalid and biased points. […]
Question: I am struggling with this: It is about Rev 21.3-4. How can there be no pain in heaven if I make it to heaven and feel much love (& there are many more loving people than me); It seems that I will be filled with pain for those I love that are not saved […]
Question: You appear to support the evolutionists theory. However, other Christian scientists e.g. Ken Ham totally refute this theory and provide evidence of the creation, even challenging carbon dating, etc… I welcome your thoughts. Answer: I am well aware of Ken Ham and his arguments. I have read some of his work. I do not […]
Question: I have a question: please answer me logically "If God is an all power God can he create a big mountain which he cannot carry"? Answer: Some have tried to use this argument to prove that God is not omnipotent. This is really a rather silly argument. It is kind of like saying "God […]
Question: I have always felt that hell is a temporary place. I don’t understand a separation from God for eternity especially in an eternity of pain. I don’t understand how God who knows everything would justify a person being born if that person were to ultimately reject God and go to hell. Wouldn’t God have […]
Question: Is Paul responsible for Christianity? If so, what influence did he have? Did Jesus come to save Jews only? Answer: Obviously, the person who had the most influence on the direction of Christianity was Jesus Christ. One can argue for either Paul or Peter as the two humans who had the greatest influence on […]
Question: I am very interested in your beliefs. Do you believe in the Bible as a literal source? When the Bible says that it the world was created in 6 days, why do you feel it wasn’t actually 6 days? Answer: My answer is that when the Bible is written so that it is obviously to […]
Robert Carrillo and John Oakes will be teaching a class on the Kingdom of God on five consecutive Saturdays at 9:00-10:30 at the Mission Center of Hope beginning Sat, April 9th. You can just show up the first day, but we request you register. Contact Jan Oakes at joakes01@san.rr.com 858-505-8841. Cost for the entire series: $10. […]
Question: Not to be argumentative but just so I understand: is your belief that Adam and Eve were created " de novo" from soil or "from nothing" instead of thru evolutionary sequence? [For me, the story is not about the science of how man came to be]. Answer: My "stand" on this is that I […]
Question: I was enjoying some of your writings and responses this morning, and I am provoked in thought. Does any passage in the Bible discredit the existence of living planets beyond Earth? If not, what are your thoughts on the possibility of other "living" planets? You wrote somewhere that intelligent design cannot be proved experimentally, […]
Question: I understand that you believe that Adam was a literal man. How do you understand the genealogies and the time between Adam and Christ’s existence? I know many theistic evolutionists say that generations were missed out (where?) but I don’t understand how, because in Genesis it gives the age that men were fathered so […]
Dr. John Oakes did a class titled Genesis and the Christian World View in Detroit, Michigan 2/19/2011. Audio is available in the EFC store. Power point and notes are included. Genesis and Christian World View Power Point 2.11 Mb Notes
Question: Why did God create planets? What is their purpose? Answer: God did not tell us why he created planets. Planets are the natural result of gravity acting on the matter in the universe which God created. If we assume that God had a "purpose" in creating a universe with planets, then the most obvious […]
Comment: (Editor’s note: This one is a comment, a response, another comment and another response) I do not view Christianity as a socially healthy phenomenon–I think it hurts far more than it helps, that it retards our growth globally. To prolong its survival isn’t an attractive proposition for me. Response: I do not question the contention […]
Question: I am the son of a Baptist minister and admit that I long ago dismissed Christianity as the most convoluted, indefensible patchwork of complete nonsense perpetrated on mankind in the last 2000 years. I believe this as strongly as you apparently believe in your inherited Jewish God from the magnanimous Jesus (oh, we lucky […]
Question: Would an infallible God PREORDAIN to have to kill himself in order to appease himself? Would an all-powerful God somehow suffer from a communication problem which compels him to recruit some primitive Jews to write his biography? Answer: I will have to say that your question seems like a reasonable one. However, it is based […]
Question: What was the hominid species that rejected god? I know that that Neanderthals wore clothes (before the fall we were naked), and that they even buried their dead and decorated gravestones. And they are known to exist 200,000 years ago. Does this mean that the fall happened to Neanderthals? Answer: The simple answer is that […]
Question: I was watching a show on T.V. and the "experts" were arguing that the Christians borrowed their concept of Hell from the Greeks concept of Hades. According to these individuals, Hades has different levels and the last level is where individuals are punished eternally by fire and other ways similar to the way explained […]
Question: I was reading that you believe that God used evolution to create modern man. However, to refute this point, I’ve heard Christians point out that evolution is a process that is achieved through death. However, death did not exist until Adam (a fully developed human) brought sin into the world. Now, this is a […]
Question: You mentioned in one post that you believe in the coexistence of God and macroevolution and the idea that God controls this process. Take a look at 1 Corinthians 15:39 and explain: "For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another […]
An essay by Dr. John Oakes on the apologetic issue of Pain and Suffering. The Problem of Pain and Suffering
Question: If the tallest mountain was covered by 22.5′ of water, what would be theevaporation rate until the surface of the earth was visible, does the Gensisaccount get anywhere close to what would be proveable, just wondering? Answer: A couple of comments. First of all, the flood is clearly presented as a supernatural miracle. For this reason, […]
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. pyramids built from south america to China). It seems as if, this ties in with the […]
Question: I have believed in God and the main teachings of Christianity for my whole life up until this past year. I was taught there was a God by my parents and the main points of Christian belief (heaven, hell, free will, gift of eternal life, sacrifice of Christ). I never questioned these beliefs or thought […]
Comment from "Disappointed": We most certainly did evolve, over the period of millions of years. As a matter of fact, if one were to visit the earth just 30,000 years ago, one would have found not one but several species of "human" forms. Today, scientists from around the world direct major projects pursuing answers to outstanding […]
Question: I have just observed a response on this website to Richard Dawkins book titled The God Delusion. The response seems to be written with a sense of aggresive defence, why is it that religious people tend to become immediatly angered when their faith is questioned or is it aggression as a chosen emotion to […]
Question: Under the heading of Biblical Manuscripts and Textual Questions, the following query was posted at your site: "I learned that the Pentatauch is attributed to Moses was, in fact, a compilation of 4 very different sources, which reflect the interests and biases of the author. This is a highly accepted theory and can be […]
Class taught by Dr. John Oakes at the Mission Center of Hope, San Diego Feb 26, March 5, 2011. Notes: Answering the Hard Questions Power Point: Answering the Hard Questions 13.69 Mb Topics include the Trinity, Foreknowledge vs Predestination, The Question of Evil, The Problem of Pain, Violence, Slavery and other difficult questions from the OT and The […]
Article by John Oakes attached. 2012 Mania
Question: Just a random thought here. Scripture says: Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever. Hebrews 13:8 How do you reconcile that Christ is God, yet the God of the OT appears to be nothing like the God of the NT i.e. Jesus Christ. Can you ever hear Christ telling his Church to go […]
Class taught by Dr. John Oakes 11/14/10. The lesson focuses in on the definition and evidence for biblical inspiration, the meaning of biblical inerrancy, errors of copyists and translators, followed by an introduction to the English translations. The final section discusses claims that the King James Version is the only acceptable translation and that others are of […]
These are notes and a power point for a lesson delivered by Dr. John Oakes 11/14/10 in Ingelwood, CA for the Metro Region of the LAICOC. Holy Spirit notes Holy Spirit Power Point
Question: I want to learn from you Please help me: Can you please help about Miracles? One of my friends says ‘"ou people don’t believe miracles." I told him I believe when we pray God answers our prayers he heals, and I told him we need to consult doctors too. I Answered him, When Jesus […]
The notes and power point are from a class taught by Dr. John Oakes 11/30/2010 as part of our ARS Certificate in Christian Apologetics. The examples used are ones which are particularly useful in using archaeological finds to illustrate important biblical teachings. Notes: OT Archaeology, Teaching and Preaching PPoint OT Archaeology Teach/Preach 3.85 Mb
Science and Religion are Not Enemies. An essay by John Oakes, PhD. This essay was written for inclusion in a new college textbook for a class titled "Intro to Scientific Thought." Because of the nature of the class, the essay is about the relationship between science and religion in general, and does not deal specifically […]
Question: I have a question on your answer to the 13 year old wanting proof that evolution is not real. You say that you believe in God’s creation and that he guides the evolutionary process. I was wondring if you think that the earth is older than 6000 years old or if you think evolution […]
Below is a short but nicely reasoned article on the reliability of the canonical gospels by Brian Colon. Evidence for the Reliability of the Gospels Brian Colón 10/20/2010 When assessing the truth claims of the Gospel narratives, the first question that usually arises is the question of the burden of proof. In other words, […]
Question: I was reading some Wikipedia articles about early Israel and came across and interesting section regarding the origin of Yahweh http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_ancient_Israel_and_Judah#Religion Ill let you read it but I’m adding quotes from it that I was hoping you could respond to. "It is generally accepted among modern scholars that the narrative of […]
Question: I am currently working on an informative lesson for an adult Sunday school class regarding Jewish ideas about the Messiah prior to Jesus’ birth. I am curious if there are non-biblical writings or prophecies that give us an idea of what the Jews were expecting in the Messiah? Or perhaps you could explain why […]
Question: I wonder if I could have the privilege of picking your brain. I’ve been thinking a lot about Jesus as a real figure in history recently – and the fact that He is the head of the church, and it has led me to question what about Jesus’ ministry sets him apart from all other […]
A twelve point outline of logical arguments for the existence of God. Note from the editor: I recently got this nice little outline of arguments for the existence of God from a friend Lee Tavares. I have much of this in different presentations on the topic of the existence of God at the web site, […]
Buy Now: DVD
Buy Now: MP3
Buy Now: MP3
Buy Now: MP3
