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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Question: How would you respond to the apparent contradiction between the epistle of Galatians, and Acts. Paul highlights his trip to Arabia and specifically states that he did not go up to Jerusalem (Galatians 1:17) , however Luke reports nothing about Arabia and states that Paul went to Jerusalem just a couple of days after […]

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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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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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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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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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Question: I have a lot of trouble when presented with "picky" questions about numbers, names, or even localities of the Bible events. Some of them are raised by people I talk to, and some of them are mine, when trying to read the Bible deeper and have a better understanding of God’s word. As for […]

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Question: Any thoughts on the contradiction between John having Jesus as crucified on the eve of Passover and the other gospels on Passover itself? Answer: This is a somewhat complicated question. There is no doubt that John tells us Jesus was crucified on the eve of the Passover. It was also the day before a […]

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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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Question: In leviticus 11:20-23 it said that the Israelites could not eat any flying creeping thing that is on all fours. What was God refering to when he means flying creeping on all fours? I can’t find any creeping flying animal or insect that is on all fours. Answer: Scholars will agree that Leviticus 11:20-23 […]

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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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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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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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Question: What’s your response to people who claim the hallucination hypothesis and state that Paul had a lot of guilt towards persecuting the Christians which eventually led to his hallucination? And how would you interpret the verse in Matthew 2:3 "When King Herod heard this he was disturbed and ALL Jerusalem with him"? Thanks! Answer: […]

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Question: How did the Philistines get 30,000 chariots in 1 Sam 13:5? Is there any evidence that this is a copyist error? Answer: The answer is that the Septuagint and Syriac translations have 3000 rather than 30,000 chariots. Both are very early translations of the Old Testament which were made many hundreds of years before […]

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Question: I have a friend who claims that there are biblical prophecies within both the Old and New Testament that have not come to pass as of yet. Though I am aware that not all biblical prophecy hasn’t been fulfilled, what are the basic rules for interpreting it? Should we focus on how Jesus had, […]

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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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Question: In Mark 15:38 it says that the Temple curtain was torn in two from top to bottom. Is there any historical evidence that this actually happened: Either in some Jewish texts or some other credible writing outside of the New Testament? Answer: As far as I know there is not other written source confirming […]

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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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Question: When did Jesus meet Simon? Was it when Peter’s brother Andrew asked Him to come see the Messiah (John 1:35-42)? Was it when Jesus healed Peter’s mother in law (Luke 4:38-43)? Or was it next to the sea of Galilee (Mark 1:14-20)? Thanks! Answer: Jesus met Simon (later known as Peter) when Simon’s brother […]

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Pregunta: Mi pregunta es la siguiente: Hay personas que afirman basándose en pasajes de Hechos que el Espíritu no necesariamente se recibe en el momento del bautismo. Aducen que se recibe en el momento de creer. Me gustaría saber que piensas acerca de eso.  Reputesta: Por supuesto, he escuchado esta opinión muchas veces. Yo creo […]

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Question: Sorry to add another question to my previous question, but I was wondering how do you feel about the use of the Septuagint and the pre-Samaritan text in the New Testament? I know that these two versions of the Old Testament sometimes differ and have on older Hebrew reading from the Masoretic text. Would […]

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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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Question: I am stuck on Daniel 7:26-28. It seems to say that after the defeat of Domitian that Jesus sets up his dominion on earth and that the dominion would be everlasting and that the saints would possese the kingdom. But Jesus never came it 96 A.D? Answer: The Kingdom which Jesus established is the […]

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Question: How would you interpret the formal contradiction in Mathew’s citation (Matt 2:6) of Micah 5:2? Matthew states that Bethlehem is by no means the least among the rulers of Judah, and Micah states that Bethlehem is small among the clans or rulers of Judah.Thanks! Answer: Here is a literal, word-for-word translation of the Greek […]

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Question: I recently read a report prepared by an archaeologist from the Israeli Antiquities Authority which stated that Bethlehem 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 Bethlehem. He did […]

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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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Question: I have a question which bugs me a lot.  Reading Exodus 4:22-23 has overwhelmed me with doubts. Then say to Pharoah, ‘This is what the Lord says: Israel is my firstborn son, and I told you, "Let my son go, so he may worship me." But you refused to let him go; so I will kill […]

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Question: Why was the field called the field of blood (Matthew 27:8)? Is it because it was bought with blood money or because Judas died there? Answer: Because the Bible does not answer this question, we are left to make reasonable speculations. First of all, it is almost certainly not called this because Judas died […]

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Question: Why is the tribe of Dan NOT LISTED in Revelation with the other tribes of Israel? Answer: There are a number of theories about why Dan is not included. The scripture does not tell us, so we are left with the need to do at least some speculating. Let me list a few suggested […]

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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 […]

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Question: What do you think about 1 Samuel 13:1? In my Bible it states that the Hebrew manuscripts state "Saul was … years old when he became king; and he reigned two years over Israel". I’ve looked at several different versions of the verse and some state one year old, and two years over Israel […]

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