Q & A – Evidence for Christianity

Please respond to a list of criticisms from a Jewish apologist in which he says Jesus cannot be the Jewish Messiah.

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Bible Interpretation, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Other Religions, Q & A, Uncategorized .

Editor’s note: This is a response to a fairly long Jewish criticism of Christianity which included 50 “reasons” to believe that Jesus is not the Jewish Messiah. It can be found at https://voices.sefaria.org/sheets/624738 . Question: Please reply to criticisms # 2,3,9,10,11,14,26,30,40,44 in the following article: https://voices.sefaria.org/sheets/624738 Response: 2. I have already responded to point 2 […]

How would you respond to secular feminists who say The ancient pagan culture was more pro-woman in comparison to the Christian culture?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Church History, General, Q & A .

Question: How would you respond to secular feminists who say “The ancient pagan culture was more pro-woman in comparison to the Christian culture”? Answer: This is so untrue. I am assuming here that they are talking about the Pagan culture in the time of Jesus. The Graeco/Roman world was extremely Patriarchal, as has been documented […]

Please comment on a post by atheist Tim ONeill concerning the resurrection

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Church History, General, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible, Resurrection of Jesus .

Question: Please respond to an article I found by an atheist guy named O’Neill regarding the evidence for the resurrection. https://www.quora.com/What-evidence-is-there-for-Jesus-Christs-death-burial-and-resurrection/answer/Tim-ONeill-1 [Author’s note: O’Neill claims that the physical resurrection of Jesus was an invention of Paul and others, made many years after the death of Jesus] Answer: This is typical argumentation from unbelievers. O’Neill begins […]

Did females have leadership role over adult men in the churches (not private settings) during the 1st century AD?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Church History, General, Q & A, Theology and Doctrinal Questions .

Question: Did females have leadership role over grown men in the churches (not private settings) during the 1st century AD? Answer: That is a debatable point, depending on your definition of leadership roles. There is no evidence that women were preaching or teaching the entire, assembled church, and there certainly were no women elders. But […]

How would you respond to those who say that both “fine tuning,” and DNA could be explained as existing due to randomness?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Creation, General, Q & A, Science and the Bible .

Question: How would you respond to people who say “Randomness can explain the fine-tuning of the constants” and “Randomness can explain the code in DNA”? Answer: Those who say such things either do not know what they are talking about (most common) or they are so caught up in their naturalist presuppositions that they cannot […]

Why did Jesus teach predominantly in riddles and parables, when the Koran says the messenger’s duty is to deliver the message clearly?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, Other Religions, Practical Christianity, Q & A .

Question: Jesus spoke predominantly in riddles and parables, obscuring rather than elucidating the message. Therefore, Jesus is guilty of obscuring his message from opponents although the Koran states: The messenger’s duty is only to deliver the message clearly (24:54). What should be the response? Answer: A few comments. First of all, the Quran itself and […]

Why do Christians not offer prayer the way Jews and Muslims do, who bow their heads to the earth? This is also mentioned in Nehemiah 8:6.

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, Other Religions, Practical Christianity, Q & A .

Question: Why do Christians not offer prayers (Salah) like Jews and Muslims who bow down their heads to earth. It is also referred in Nehemiah 8:6? Answer: First of all, the majority of Jews in Jesus’ day did not bow while praying. They prayed, looking up to heaven. The statement in this inquiry shows that […]

If righteous people were forgiven before Jesus came and died, why did he need to come and die for our sins?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, Q & A, Theology and Doctrinal Questions .

Question: If Jesus was predestined by an all-knowing God to be sacrificed for humanity’s sins, what was the purpose of sending prophets beforehand to call people to repentance? Many righteous men and women believed these prophets and were forgiven long before Jesus, so would they not have already entered God’s Heaven? Answer: Good point. Like […]

How would you respond to those who say, “A king used violence to Christianize a local people,” and use this to prove that Christianity is wrong?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, Q & A .

Question: How would you respond to people who say “A king used violence to Christianize the local people. Therefore, Christian is wrong.”? Answer: Every religion has members who do evil in the name of that religion. This is not acceptable. This is tragic. But it is also true. The fact alone that evil has been […]

The killing of children by Herod is only recorded in the New Testament. Therefore it is a fabrication. Response?

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

Question: How would you respond to people who say “King Herod’s murder of the children is only mentioned in the New Testament. Therefore, it is automatically wrong” or “The murder of the children by Herod was copied from the child massacre in the events with Moses and therefore is made up”? Answer: The vast majority […]

How do you respond to people who say “Christianity causes me to feel guilty, so I want nothing to do with it.”

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, Q & A, Theology and Doctrinal Questions .

Question: How would you respond to females who say “Christianity causes me to feel guilty. Therefore, I want nothing to do with Christianity”? Answer: I am not sure how to think about this question, as you specify a female questioner, but the actual question does not reference anything which is gendered. So… I will answer […]

Does God allow the use of divination, as seems to be implied by Gen 30:27?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Bible Interpretation, General, Q & A .

Question: “But Laban said to him, “If I have found favor in your eyes, please stay. I have learned by divination that the Lord has blessed me because of you.”” ‭‭Genesis‬ ‭30‬:‭27‬ ‭NIV‬‬ Is there a clear answer on the divination meaning here? I have been reading Genesis and was wondering how to understand this […]

Why did David write, “Surely, I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me” in Psalm 51?

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

Question: Why did David write in Psalm 51:5, “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.”? Answer: We need to recognize first the genre of literature of the Psalms. These are poems. These are people talking to God, rather than God talking to people. For this reason, we should […]

Martin Luther said that Mary was a perpetual virgin. Do you agree with this?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Q & A .

Question: Martin Luther said that Virgin Mary was a perpetual virgin. Do you agree or disagree? Answer: No. Certainly not. Luther did teach the perpetual virginity of Mary earlier in his career, when he was reflecting his Roman Catholic heritage. Earlier in his career he had a very high view of Mary, but later he […]

Which is the more reliable version of the Old Testament, the Septuagint or the Masoretic?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Church History, General, Q & A, Versions of the Bible .

Question: It is debatable which is more reliable–the Septuagint or the Masoretic Text. Let me put it this way: in making English translations of the Hebrew Old Testament, as a general rule, the opening text to be used in the Masoretic. One obvious advantage of the Masoretic Text, even though it is not as old […]

Atheists claim that the complex systems we observe are the result of unguided self-organizing complex systems, and invoking God is not needed. Your response?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Creation, General, Q & A, Science and the Bible .

Question: This question is more on the scientific side but it has to do with fine-tuning. A favorite claim that online atheists like to make is that the complexity we see in the universe is the result of matter self organizing itself into a complex system through unguided processes. They use the example of how […]

How do I interpret prophecies which seem to jump between application to physical Israel and spiritual Israel, or when they vary between literal and figurative language?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Bible Interpretation, End Times, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Prefigures and Foreshadows, Q & A .

Question: Do you any advice on how I can know when to tell when a prophet jumps from talking about fleshly to spiritual Israel, or when they go from literal to symbolic or figurative language? Prophecies can be tricky for me, because it has been said they mix immediate historical events with foreshadowing of ultimate […]

If God was first called YHWH in Moses’ time (Exodus), why is the name YHWH found in Genesis?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible, Supposed Inconsistencies in the Bible .

Question: I have a Bible question for you that I’ve been wondering about. God reveals his name YHWH to Moses at the burning bush. He also says in Ex 6:2-3 he says that by the name YHWH he did not make himself known to the patriarchs. I think in the NIV whenever the word, LORD […]

A convert to Judaism from Christianity tells me that Paul’s teachings contradict those of Christ and that Christianity is the religion of Paul, not Jesus. Your response?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Bible Interpretation, General, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible, Supposed Inconsistencies in the Bible .

Question: I need your help. I wanna know your responds to some statements by a quite popular Jewish influencer on Instagram. She is an ex Christian who converted to Judaism. So she said that many of Paul’s teachings are contradicted to what Jesus taught and the core belief or Christianity is actually Paul’s teaching and […]

How should I talk to someone who says that Paul was not an apostle, therefore, we can disregard the Book of Romans?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Church History, General, Q & A .

Question: How would you deal with a person who said, “Paul was not a real apostle. Therefore, we can disregard the book of Romans?” Answer: If someone chooses to ignore Paul, that is up to them. It is a free world, as they say! But what I can say is that the apostles of Jesus […]

What is the correct translation of Deut 32:8? Is it Sons of Israel or Sons of God? Does this show henotheism in early Judaism?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, General, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible, Versions of the Bible .

Question: I wanted to ask you a question about Deuteronomy 32:8-9. In more recent manuscripts it’s translated as “Sons of Israel” but using older manuscripts it’s translated as “Sons of God” or even angels. Scholars say this was changed to sons of Israel because scribes didn’t like that it sounded so polytheistic. Did God actually […]

Did the New Testament writers borrow the idea of hell as a place of punishment from the Greek mythology about Tartarus?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Apocrypha, Bible Interpretation, General, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible, Theology and Doctrinal Questions .

Question: Scholars say that the concept of hell in the Bible developed throughout time . Hell as a place of eternal suffering didn’t exist in the Old Testament, only the New Testament, which has led scholars to draw the conclusion that early Christians took the idea of hell being a place of eternal suffering from […]

Is it sinful to call Mary the Mother of God?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, Practical Christianity, Q & A, Theology and Doctrinal Questions .

Question: Is it sinful to call Mary “The Mother of God”? If Christ is fully God and Jesus was fully his mother should this be a problem? On a deeper level if Christ’s natures are inseparable and Mary bore and birthed someone who is fully human and fully God (The God-Man) then it should make […]

Are there Old Testament writings which show that Jesus is God?

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

Question: Dr. Oakes. I am a very big fan of your writings and your work and they have helped me greatly in understanding Jesus and understanding my faith . I have recently accepted Christ as my savior and was baptized only a few months ago. I’m still learning about Jesus and one question I have […]

Did the writer of Job and did Isaiah borrow the myth of Leviathan from the Sumerians and Babylonians?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Anthropology, General, Other Religions, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: I wanted ask you about the similarities between Isaiah 27 and the Canaanite’s Baal cycle in which both Yahweh and Baal respectively kill a large aquatic sea serpent like monster. I’m copying and pasting some more information about it down below. Leviathan in the Book of Job is a reflection of the older Canaanite […]

In John 6, when Jesus said we must eat his body, the word used is not the normal one for eat, but it is the word for chew. What are the implications for the doctrine of the Real Presence?

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

Question: I understand many believe that Jesus is speaking metaphorically in John 6 about eating his flesh and drinking his blood. There are two different verbs used in John 6: “phagein”: the common verb “to eat” (used broadly in Greek), and “trōgō”: a more graphic verb, meaning “to gnaw, chew, munch, crunch.” Early in the chapter, Jesus […]

How do you respond to a person who says, “Christianity causes me to feel guilty. So I want nothing to do with it”?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, Practical Christianity, Q & A, Theology and Doctrinal Questions .

Question: How would you respond to a females who says “Christianity causes me to feel guilty. Therefore, I want nothing to do with Christianity”? Answer: I am not sure how to think about this question, as you specify a female questioner, but the actual question does not reference anything which is gendered. So… I will […]

Does the Soleb Inscription support the Old Testament account of the name of God and the date of the Exodus?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Archaeology and the Bible, General, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: I wanted to ask you about the Soleb Inscription. I’m copying and pasting some information about it down below. “Yahweh before Israel: Glimpses of History in a Divine Name” by Daniel E. Flemming where he argues that YHWH was a nomadic people group attested by an inscription in the temple at Soleb in Egypt.” […]

A Muslim apologist claims that in Mark 10:18 Jesus said, “Don’t call me good, because only my Father is good.” (as opposed to only God is good). Is this true?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, Church History, General, Other Religions, Q & A .

Question: Can these statements about Mark 10:18 be fact checked? The Muslim gentleman argued the earliest findings of Mark 10 say “Don’t call me good because only my father is Good” and quoted Justin Martyr and others. https://youtube.com/shorts/zSiB6sq_EnU?feature=shared The Christian didn’t get to respond. Answer: What this Muslim person did is irresponsible. To me, it borders […]

A Muslim claims a textual variant of Mark 10:18 supports the conclusion that Jesus did not believe he is God. Your response?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, Church History, General, Other Religions, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: Can these statements about Mark 10:18 be fact checked? The Muslim gentleman argued the earliest findings of Mark 10 say “Don’t call me good because only my father is Good” and quoted Justin Martyr and others. https://youtube.com/shorts/zSiB6sq_EnU?feature=shared The Christian didn’t get to respond. [Editor’s note: In this youtube a Muslim apologist claims that there […]

Why do we accept the tradition of the early church leaders on the content of the New Testament when we reject their other traditions?

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

Question: How do we know what New Testament scripture is inspired apart from tradition? I understand Luke and Paul are quoted as Scripture but here is the problem. Luke wrote 2 books and Paul wrote 13. There are only 7 of Paul’s letters that are recognized by modern scholarship as “undisputed” (there is no contention […]

In the Koran/Muhammad taunting Christians in Sura 2:210?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, Other Religions, Q & A .

Question: The Koran taunted that unbelievers are waiting for God Himself to come to them in the shadows of the clouds, together with the angels (2:210). Isn’t this taunting on the Biblical concept of God’s arrival? Response: Muhammad can taunt whomever he likes. As Christians, we turn the other cheek to those who persecute us, […]

Is there evidence of infant baptism being practiced in the early Christian Church?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Bible Interpretation, Church History, General, Q & A, Theology and Doctrinal Questions, Uncategorized .

Question: Is this evidence for infant baptism being practiced in the early church? Hyppolytus: “Baptize first the children, and if they can speak for themselves let them do so. Otherwise, let their parents or other relatives speak for them” (The Apostolic Tradition 21:16 [A.D. 215]). Origen: “The Church received from the apostles the tradition of […]

In an article you accuse the Catholic Church of teaching that we inherit sin from Adam, but that is not what they actually teach. What is your response?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Bible Interpretation, Church History, General, Q & A, Theology and Doctrinal Questions .

Question: In a post on original sin, you claim that the Roman Catholic Church teaches that we inherit sin that God must judge us for (I will leave the link of the article below for context.) however, it is my understanding that this is false. It seems to me that the Catholic Church teaches that […]

How would you respond to those who say that Christianity caused the Holocaust?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Church History, General, Practical Christianity, Q & A .

Question: How would you respond to people who say that Christianity caused the Holocaust? Answer: The immediate cause of the Holocaust was racial hatred from a person who was definitely not even a Christian, and from those who supported him. Hitler did not profess to be Christian. His immediate circle of criminal gangsters were also […]

Can you respond to some theories on the origin of the universe and of life I heard from an atheist debater.

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, Science and the Bible .

Question: Recently I was witness to a debate in a comment section in an article on quora between an atheist and a group of believers. (I might also say that the atheist was very rude and had the tendency to act self important. Very narcissistic.) But, he said some things that I thought I would […]

How would you respond to people who claim that “No one treated Isaiah 53 as being messianic before the first century AD”?

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

Question: How would you respond to people who say “No one treated Isaiah 53 as talking about the Messiah before the 1st century AD”? Answer: I would respond by proving that this is quite simply a false statement. Anyone who says this is either ignorant of the facts or is purposefully lying. Let us hope […]

Would you use the Talmud to support the notion that Isaiah 53 is talking about a human rather than the nation of Israel?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Bible Interpretation, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible, Uncategorized .

Question: Would you use the Talmud to support the notion that Isaiah 53 is talking about a human being (not a nation)? Answer: This is a great question. So many Jewish commentators today deny that it is a reference to the Messiah, for the rather obvious reason that it IS about the Messiah, and this […]

Why are mainstream Bible scholars so biased with regard to the date of writing of Mark and the other gospels, assuming a date after AD 70?

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

Question: Dear doctor. I wanted to ask you about the bias in mainstream Bible scholarship. You say that almost all scholars agree that Mark was written in the 50’s-60’s AD, but when I look it up the first thing I see is that mainstream scholars all put Mark around after 70 AD. Of course they […]

According to the Qur’an, Jesus was merely a prophet, and his mission was to clarify God’s will to the Jews. What is the Christian response?

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

Question: According to the Koran, Jesus was only a prophet, before whom other prophets had passed away (5:75) and his mission to the Jews was to clarify for them some of what they differed about (43:63). It is in direct contradiction with the Prophets and Epistles. What should be the Christian response? Answer: What you […]

What is the earliest evidence for monotheism?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Anthropology, Archaeology and the Bible, General, History, Other Religions .

Question: I wanted to ask you your thoughts on the original monotheism. What are some of the examples we have of early monotheism and how far back it goes? Answer: This is a bit of a complex question. Really, there are two questions we need to ask: one of which requires some speculation and common […]

How do I convince my dad to believe in God and in the Bible? Can apologetics help?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, General Apologetics, Q & A, Science and the Bible .

[Editor’s note: This question is very personal. I do not normally publish such personal questions, but have decided to do so because it provides a good example of how young Christians who are trying to learn how to defend their faith can help those that they are close to.] Question: First, I would like to […]

What do you think about Gerald Schroeder’s correlation between the Genesis account and mathematics?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Creation, General, Q & A, Science and the Bible .

Question: Have you ever read Dr. Gerald Schroeder’s work offering agreement between the science data from the old earth and universe and the 6 days of creation based on Einsteins equations of General Relativity? If so, what are your thoughts? I realize he is Jewish and I am not sure if he is a Christian. […]

Is Ezekiel 37:21 a reference to the modern state of Israel?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Bible Interpretation, End Times, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Q & A .

Question: Is Ezekiel 37:21 a reference to the modern state of Israel? Answer: No, it is not. It is a reference, either to the restoration of the Southern Kingdom of Israel when Persia conquered Babylon, as recorded in Ezra and elsewhere, or it is a reference to the spiritual restoration of Israel in the church. […]

What is unique about Judaeo/Christian ideas about morality? Could “morality” have come about by natural selection? What about other religions?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Anthropology, General, Other Religions, Q & A, Theology and Doctrinal Questions .

Question: Dear doctor I wanted to ask you about morality laws of Jews and Christians, and how they compare to other religions. A lot of hardcore atheists ascertain that Christians during the spread of Christianity destroyed and erased cultures from existence and replaced them with Christianity. They lament that so much culture was lost. On […]

Why does the Bible not include the prophecies of Idris, Ishmael and others mentioned by Muhammad?

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

Question: My Muslim friend criticized the Bible and referred to his scripture 19:58 [editor’s note: The questioner is referring to Sura 19:58, which does NOT mention these prophets, except Abraham. This quote appears to be a false one. I am going to assume that he is listing other prophets mentioned somewhere in the Qur’an, or […]

How does a Christian group without a central hierarchy and creed maintain unity on debatable matters?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Church History, General, Practical Christianity, Q & A .

[Editor’s Note: This Q & A is about matters internal to the Christian group known as the International Churches of Christ (ICOC). I normally do not post such in-house articles, but think that it might be relevant to others as well, so take it for what it is worth!] Question: I have been going through […]

Martin Luther said that Mary was a perpetual virgin. Do you agree with this teaching?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, Q & A .

Question: Martin Luther said that Virgin Mary was a perpetual virgin. Do you agree or disagree? Answer: No. Certainly not. Luther did teach the perpetual virginity of Mary earlier in his career, when he was reflecting his Roman Catholic heritage. Earlier in his career he had a very high view of Mary, but later he […]

The Bible only has the written record of a few of the prophets. Maybe if they had a complete record, Jesus would not be rejected by people. Your response?

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

Question: Christians only have the written record of a few prophets in their Bible. It seems Jews did not have a complete record of prophetic speeches, otherwise Jesus would not be rejected. What’s your say? Answer: The Old Testament includes the words of at least 16 prophets. That is quite a few prophets! What would […]

How could Jesus die for sins which had not yet been committed at the time of his crucifixion?

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

Questions: Dr. John, I would love to hear your insights on the following questions: 1. How could Jesus die for the future sins of people who hadn’t even been born at the time of His crucifixion? We can easily understand the ransom being paid for all the past and present sins. But how could we […]