General

/Category Archive for "General"

wrote in General, Other Religions, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: A Jewish friend of mine says:  According to Megillah 14b, eight prophets, who were also priests, descended from Rahab the prostitute, and they are: Neriah; his son Baruch; Seraiah; Mahseiah; Jeremiah; his father, Hilkiah; Jeremiah’s cousin Hanamel; and Hanamel’s father, Shallum.  ​None of them are considered prophets by Christians except Jeremiah. If Christians are […]

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wrote in Bible Interpretation, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Other Religions, Prefigures and Foreshadows, Q & A .

Editor’s Note: This question comes from a Muslim, which might explain the tone of the question. Question: 1. The Christian Zionists claim that the modern Israelite state is made according to the Biblical prophecies for e.g., Ezek. 37:21-22, but the problem is: where is that king who will rule over them? Did all Jews return to Israel? […]

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wrote in Bible Interpretation, General, Practical Christianity, Q & A .

Question: My question is going to be about Romans 13:1-7.  Here, Paul talks about submission to authorities. My question is this… Is Paul only referring to authorities in the time of him writing Romans, (especially when he says the authorities have been established by God) or does this apply to today as well?  If this […]

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wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible, Supposed Inconsistencies in the Bible .

Questions: Do we have the exact words of Jesus or a paraphrase? How does it affect the credibility of Jesus’s words?What is your definition or understanding of a contradiction? Did Jesus say to loose and bring one or two animals( a colt and donkey) Thanks Answers: No, we definitely do not have the exact words […]

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wrote in General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question:  If Amos, Nahum, Habakkuk, Haggai, Malachi were names of real people, why are they not found elsewhere in Biblical history? Answer: You are asking the wrong question, in my opinion.  Here is the correct question to ask:  Are Amos, Nahum, Habakkuk, Haggai and Malachi real people?  It is not the job of a historian […]

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wrote in General, Other Religions, Q & A, Theology and Doctrinal Questions .

Question: Amos, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel allegedly received “Oracles against Nations”, but what purpose do they have other than consoling Jews? On the one hand, God used foreign nations to punish Israelites, then on the other hand, God wants to punish them without giving them a chance of repentance. Although the Israelites continuously mocked Moses, […]

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wrote in Bible Interpretation, End Times, General, Q & A, Theology and Doctrinal Questions .

Question: Where does your soul go when you die? Some say heaven (or hell) but if that’s true then the people that were raised from the dead were taken out of heaven and brought back to earth…? Jesus raised people before his crucifixion and Peter and Paul did too after Jesus died and rose again. […]

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wrote in General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Other Religions, Prefigures and Foreshadows, Q & A .

Question: According to Jewish tradition, four messianic figures, called the Four Craftsmen, from a vision found in the Book of Zechariah (Zech.1:18-21). The four craftsmen are discussed in the Babylonian Talmud Suk. 52b. which identifies these four craftsmen as Messiah ben David, Messiah ben Joseph, Elijah, and the Righteous Priest. My question is: If Jesus […]

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wrote in General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Other Religions, Prefigures and Foreshadows, Q & A .

Question:  Jeremiah Ch. 33:17-18 foretold false things which have not happened, because there is no temple that exists and no king lineage runs on. What’s your response? Answer: The person making this statement (I assume it is not you and that you are finding this at a Muslim anti-Christian website) does not know what they […]

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wrote in General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Other Religions, Q & A .

Question: Why does the Bible not record the words of Jonah referred to in 2 Ki 14:25? What about prophets/seers alluded to in 2 Chr 33:10, 18? Hosea prophesied more than 80 years but only small quantity survived. Why? Answer: My Bible is already about 1150 pages long.  If the Scriptures were to record all […]

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wrote in Apocrypha, Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, Daniel, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Other Religions, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible, Versions of the Bible .

Comment: I have some comments regarding accuracy of biblical texts and the importance of genealogies in the Bible in response to your reply to my question: Which is correct on the time Adam to Abraham–the Masoretic text or the Septuagint?   [Editor’s note: Here is the article: https://evidenceforchristianity.org/which-is-correct-on-the-time-from-adam-to-abraham-the-masoretic-text-or-the-septuagint/ There were statements made in the article that weren’t […]

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wrote in General, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible, Uncategorized .

Question: I have learned that about 55% of Matthew’s gospel is just Mark’s material.  If Matthew was an eyewitness why would he use 55% of Mark’s gospel? He even uses material from his gospel for events that he witnessed such as the last supper. In the last supper, the last part in Matthew and Mark […]

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wrote in Bible Interpretation, Daniel, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Other Religions, Q & A, Versions of the Bible .

Question: Why do Christians and Jews have different interpretations for the meaning of the word “Moshiach” in Daniel chapter 9 verses 25-26? Why do Jews translate “Moshiach” as “the anointed one” but Christians translate it as the word “Messiah”? Answer: If we transliterate the Hebrew word Moshiach, we get Messiah.  If we translate it, we […]

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wrote in General, Q & A, Theology and Doctrinal Questions, Types .

Question: I am currently studying out the book of Hebrews (I am reading the book you wrote about Hebrews along the way as well) and I’m learning a lot, but there is one question that I would like to ask. If the covenant that Moses brought was to be replaced by Jesus at some point, […]

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wrote in General, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

[Editor’s note: I got a follow-up question from the same person.  The second question and answer are below.] Question: I am a Christian who is going through some doubts about the Bible and I was wondering if you had any insight on the claims made on this article? https://bibleoutsidethebox.blog/2021/07/18/are-stories-in-the-bible-influenced-by-popular-greco-roman-literature/  Thanks [Editor’s note: In the article […]

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wrote in Bible Interpretation, General, Q & A, Theology and Doctrinal Questions .

Question: What is the relationship between the Abrahamic Covenant and the Mosaic Covenant? Also, what is the relationship between the Abrahamic Covenant and the New Covenant? Are Christians still under the Abrahamic Covenant? Answer: This is a good question.  I believe that it is (more or less) answered in Galatians 3:10-22.  In this passage Paul […]

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wrote in Archaeology and the Bible, General, General Apologetics, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Other Religions, Q & A, Uncategorized .

Question: What would you tell someone who was having trouble figuring out which religion is the one true religion? What would you tell him if he said he believes it must be Christianity, Islam or Zoroastrianism but he isn’t sure which of these three is the one true religion and isn’t sure how he can […]

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wrote in Bible Interpretation, General, Q & A .

Question: What do Isaiah 66:17 and Isaiah 65:3-4 mean?  What are these passages about?  How should we understand these passages as Christians? How would you respond to someone who says Christians shouldn’t eat pork based on these verses and that Christians will be judged by God for eating pork based on these verses?  Those who […]

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wrote in Daniel, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: Book of Daniel and Zechariah (Ch. 9-14) are the product of Hellenistic era. Jesus is not prophesied in them otherwise DSS would elaborate it. What’s your response to this criticism? Harrison: These are quite simply false statements.  I assume that they are coming from a Muslim source. Muslims have a disingenuous approach to the […]

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wrote in Archaeology and the Bible, Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, General, History, Q & A .

Question: What are the Dead Sea Scrolls? Who were the Qumran Community? Who were the Essenes? Answer: The Dead Sea Scrolls are hundreds of manuscripts found in about a half dozen caves in the desert hills to the west of the Dead Sea.  Some are entire documents, and others are mere fragments.  Most were on […]

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wrote in Bible Interpretation, Daniel, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: Jesus did not fulfill Zech. 9:9 because a significant part of the verse speaks about the person riding as the “victorious king of Israel”. The passage explains that at that time, universal peace will be established. This is a key feature of the Messianic age, as we see in passages like Isa. 2:4; 11:1-9 […]

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wrote in General, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible, Supposed Inconsistencies in the Bible, Theology and Doctrinal Questions .

Question: How God can allow his Messiah to be a descendant of immoral people i.e. Judah and Tamar, David and Bathsheba? Hadn’t scribes fabricated these immoral tales? Answer: Good question. One of the beautiful things about Christianity is that Jesus is the descendent of imperfect people.  In fact, when Matthew recorded the genealogy of Jesus, […]

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wrote in General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Other Religions, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

[Editor’s comment: This must be the Muslim biblical criticism of the day, as I have gotten five versions of this question in the last couple of days] Question: Was Jesus ignorant of Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai? Why did he not cite them? Answer: Jesus was well aware of the entire canon of […]

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wrote in Archaeology and the Bible, General, History, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: If so many experts and historians say the Bible is made up, full of errors, and has been changed, etc. then how can we trust what historians say about secular history? Answer: I assume yours is more of a rhetorical question than an actual one.  You seem to be making a point rather than […]

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wrote in Bible Interpretation, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible, Supposed Inconsistencies in the Bible .

Question: 1. If Jesus’s mission was to the lost sheep of Israel, why did he fail in his mission? And why did Jesus prohibit the gfrom being preached to the Gentiles during his ministry but after his ‘resurrection’ tell them to preach the Gospel to the whole world? If Jesus really had made the latter […]

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wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, Church History, General, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: Sir,  Literalist Christians frequently employ the argument that the gospels represent objectively reliable “eyewitness accounts”, but this contention is disingenuous. The reasons are:  (1) Literalist Christians have no way of authenticating any of the gospels. In fact, all four were originally written anonymously.   and     (2) These gospels constitute unreliable hearsay and not true […]

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wrote in Bible Interpretation, General, Q & A, Theology and Doctrinal Questions .

Question: Trinitarians claim that Christ was declaring Himself to be God in John 8:58, but this sentence is not translated accurately. The New Jerusalem Bible has translated the phrase in Exodus 3:14 “I am that I am” from “Ehe’ye asher ehe’ye” (Hebrew) as “I am He who is: Ego eimi, Ho on” (Greek). The Divine […]

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wrote in Church History, General, History, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Questions: Doctor,  There are historical problems in the trial & crucifixion accounts of the Gospels. 1) Passover was a family holiday. Would the entire Sanhedrin (and the high priest) get up and leave their families, first as a group to arrest him, and second, for a trial of a Galilean wonder-worker? According to later Rabbinic […]

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wrote in General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Q & A .

Question: The Bible doesn’t tell us how Joel, Amos, Micah, Zephaniah, Habakkuk, Malachi, etc. proved themselves as prophets in the eyes of their contemporaries. Their alleged prophecies were fulfilled, according to the NT authors. Before then, what was their status? Answer: This is a good question.  The answer is that we do not have access […]

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wrote in General, Other Religions, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: According to Robert Carroll and Auld:  Hosea, Amos, Isaiah, etc. were poets and were NOT thought of as prophets until exilic times. The collectors of their words labelled them “prophets”. The Koran also does not mention them except Jonah.  What are your thoughts? Answer: My response is this: Why do we listen to people […]

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wrote in General, Q & A, Uncategorized .

Question: Several prophets make no definite promise of a “single person” as the Saviour; such as Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Nahum, Zephaniah, Habakkuk, Haggai, the Deutero-Isaiah. All didn’t have a perception of the future salvation in connection with an individual.  ​Dr. Oakes, What is your response? Answer: First, I ask the one who is posing this […]

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wrote in Bible Interpretation, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Q & A .

Question: Zechariah Ch. 9:8 says:  “But I will encamp at my temple to guard it against marauding forces. Never again will an oppressor overrun my people, for now I am keeping watch.”  But in reality, Jerusalem was soon overrun by the Persians, the Greeks, and the Romans, who utterly destroyed the second temple in 70 […]

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wrote in General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: Prophecies need to be specific. There was no need to hide the promised messiah within a passage that was also speaking about something else, for e.g. if Isaiah had an intention of speaking about the Messiah, it would’ve been nice had he said it clearly, instead of using the same moniker to identify both […]

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wrote in General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Editor’s Note: The questioner mentions “Deutero Isaiah.” There is a commonly-accepted scholarly opinion that Isaiah only wrote Ch 1-39, and that Ch 40 onward was written after the exile by another author. This theory is somewhat speculative, but has some reasonable evidence supporting it. The author is assuming presuppositionally that the theory is true. Question: […]

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wrote in General, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: If the gospels are eyewitness accounts then why is it clearly evident that Matthew, Mark, and Luke just copied each other? There are so many verses that are exactly the same and that doesn’t make sense if they were based on different eyewitness accounts. If you could help explain this to me that would […]

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wrote in Bible Interpretation, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Q & A .

Question: Sir,  George Athas writes in his book “Deuteronomy: One Nation under God” that Yahweh continued to send prophets to Jews even after they returned from exile. However, they were never able to reinstall a Davidic heir as king. Foreign kings ruled over the Jews at that time. This frustrated Deuteronomy’s condition that Israel’s king […]

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wrote in Bible Interpretation, General, Q & A, Theology and Doctrinal Questions .

Question: What is the meaning in Genesis 1:26 where God says, “Let us make man in our image”? My NIV study notes that “us” refers to members of His heavenly court? I was always led to believe it referred to the Trinity.  Thank you Answer: Commentators give three possible interpretations of the words “us” and […]

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wrote in Bible Interpretation, Creation, General, Q & A .

[Editor’s Note:  This Q & A is a follow-up to an earlier question regarding Genesis 1:30 in which the questioner proposes that before the “Fall” of Adam and Eve, both humans and animals were vegetarian.] Question: Isn’t Genesis 9:3 problematic?  God says that “Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you. Just as […]

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wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, General, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: Andrew B. Davidson (1902) wrote that Scribes were arrangers of the scattered fragments, many of them anonymous, existing in their time. They arranged small anonymous prophecies under general headings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Zechariah, just like all Psalms were gathered together under the name of David. Dr. Oakes, is it possible that anonymous prophecies became part […]

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wrote in Bible Interpretation, General, Prefigures and Foreshadows, Q & A .

Question: Thank you for taking my question, My question is about the meal talked about in Exodus, that was eaten in haste, in which they ate the lamb they sacrificed. My question is this: in Jesus’s day, would that meal have been eaten on Friday night? Is that called the Passover meal? If it was […]

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wrote in Bible Interpretation, General, Q & A .

Question: Why don’t Christians need to follow the Old Testament Laws (especially the Old Testament Civil Laws) anymore? Answer: Christians do not need to follow the Old Testament law because Jesus fulfilled the Law (Matthew 5:17).  Jesus replaced the Law of Moses with the Law of Christ (1 Corinthians 9:21, Galatians 6:2).  The requirements of […]

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wrote in General, Practical Christianity, Q & A .

Question: What are some key problems with Christian theocracy? Why shouldn’t Christians seek to have a Christian theocratic nation? Answer: There is no direct statement in the New Testament which commands Christians to not create a theocratic state.  If believers in some country decided to found a state based wholly on Christian principles, I suppose […]

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wrote in General, General Apologetics, Other Religions, Q & A .

Question: How would you respond to these common claims that Muslims make with the intention of trying to show that Islam is true i.e. the one true religion 1) ‘Islam is not a religion in the common and distorted sense, for it does not confine its scope to one’s private life. It is a complete […]

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wrote in General, History, Other Religions, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Editor’s note: I answered the question above in 2011. At that time, I had no knowledge of non-Christian sources supporting this claim, and said so.  However, a visitor to the web site has shared with me an article which does provide good support from a Jewish source in the first century that there was a […]

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wrote in General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Q & A .

Question:  How can Isaiah 42:2 apply to Jesus when he did cry out for people to repent, cleansed the temple and argued with the Pharisees? Response: I suppose you have a point here if we take Isaiah 42:2 to be literal.  Clearly Jesus “shouted” at times, otherwise how could his teachings to groups like the […]

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wrote in Bible Interpretation, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Q & A .

Question: I have some questions regarding the interpretation and fulfillment of Joseph’s second dream.  1. What do the sun, moon and 11 stars represent in the dream?  2. Was Jacob right at the interpretation of Joseph’s second dream?  3. If Jacob was sun, 11 stars were 11 sons of Jacob, then who was moon?   Do […]

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