[Editor’s note: This is a series of three related questions about the teachings of the very early church leaders, including on baptismal regeneration. Question: How much weight should be given to the early church fathers’ theological positions? Answer: The simple answer is that their theological position should be given zero weight. When Irenaeus or Polycarp […]
Editor’s note: This is actually a series of questions and answers. Question: I came across this statement in Sura III in the Quran, but I cannot find the exact scripture. “Jesus was of virgin birth, And performed many miracles. But those to whom he came as Prophet rejected him, and plotted his death. Their plots […]
Question: I live in India where 80% are Hindus and believe in reincarnation. I don’t believe in it but yesterday I checked out a website that has testimonies regarding Near to Death experiences. Some of them have seen Jesus after their death and he told them either to go back or reincarnate to a new […]
Question: I have a question on an article pertaining to homosexuality. I was wondering if you could take a look at this article I had to read for a class. I would love to know your thoughts on it as it is an argument I have never heard before and would love to be informed […]
Question: I would appreciate clarification from you on how John 20:23 gives authority for Christians to forgive sins. At first glance, it would appear to contravene the teaching in the rest of the Bible that only God can forgive sins. John 20:23 – If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do […]
Question: I have a question about reports in recent years (in technical, and in consumer oriented publications) of proteins, hemoglobin, collagen and various soft-tissue samples being found in various dinosaur fossils. Are these kinds of compounds able to survive for millions of years within a fossil? Seems counter-intuitive…. I have long been satisfied the earth […]
Question: Did Saul /Paul ever kill anyone when he was in pursuit of Christians or did he just have them jailed before his conversion? Answer: To be honest, I am not sure why it would matter whether he did or did not actually kill any individuals. What I can say for sure is that he […]
[Editor’s note: An “Arminian” is one who accepts the proposal of Jacob Arminius who taught free will in the face of the accepted double predestination of John Calvin and most Protestants in the 16th century. Calvinism has all humans predestined by God–some pre-selected by God for salvation and others predestined for hell.] Question: A verse […]
Question: Jesus is the pillar of Christian faith, I want to know, what are some evidences that show that he existed and not just fabricated? Answer: It has been argued that hardly anyone in the ancient world is more well attested to than Jesus of Nazareth. Within one hundred years of his life, at least […]
Question: Sir, in Matthew 2:23 its written that Joseph was told in a dream to go to Galilee and live in the town of Nazareth just as the prophets said that He will be called a Nazarene. I have heard that this is clear evidence of an error in the New Testament. Can you give […]
Question: How do you convince someone that gambling and casino games are not part of a christian life?…Even if it is done occasionally. Any bible verses that is related to this? Answer: The Bible does not ever put gambling in a list of sins. I believe that allowing yourself to become addicted to gambling […]
Question: I have been reading a lot on Lord’s supper lately and I’m having a hard time understanding this passage: 1 Corinthians 11: 28-30 “Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink […]
Question: My question would refer to the harmonization of theme and chronology. I’ve seen that modern liberal scholarship takes aim at disproving the reliance of the gospels by picking these things apart. My teacher will make points about the same stories being at different times in different gospels with different details (albeit small details). He […]
Question: I have a question for you! I have thoroughly studied out baptism and the significance of the saving act for a believer. I also have examined every article on baptism on your website. I was at a recent baptism of a friend. I posted a picture on social media, saying we baptized my friend […]
Question: My teacher just told us that the verse in Luke where Jesus sweats blood was not in the original text and is a textual issue. Have you heard this argument before? Answer: It is true that Luke 22:43-44 is not included in the majority of the oldest and most reliable manuscripts of Luke. This […]
Question: Why is the cleansing of the temple at the beginning of John and at the end of the Synoptics? What were John’s motivations for placing it earlier? Also: How do you harmonize the different gospel accounts amidst editing and audience? I’m taking a class that is picking the gospels apart and I would like […]
Question: I wanted to see if you could please help me with Acts 2:21 “And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” I am studying with a friend who believes in Romans 10:9-10, Acts 16:31 and Acts 2:21 to be saved. It is my understanding that in the first century […]
Question: Hell: is it a real place? There’s so much material out there about the nature of hell and many Christians misinterpret the meaning, some even saying hell is not real. What did Jesus historically teach about it? Answer: What I can say for sure is that the Bible describes hell as a real place. […]
Question: My inlaws and I had a talk last night about “Does God know everything before it happens?” – Dad is a science teacher. He believes in God but says God probably doesn’t care about what we had for lunch or know in advance what choices we make. Your thoughts on an omniscient God? Answer: […]
Question: I was talking to a member of a church with different beliefs on salvation from mine, and she gave reasonable and biblical evidence for why communion is the way to salvation. She used John 6:53-58 as the basis for her belief, saying that the only way to have eternal life is to take part […]
Question: Are you famliar with a church called “The Way?” I looked them up online… http://theway.org/index.php?page=home&lang=en I have a friend coming to my church who grew up as part of The Way church – her parents were in the ministry. As I understand it, The Way does not believe in the trinity. They believe Jesus is not God… […]
Question: I recently received an email response from the Muslim: Khalid Choudhary. Here is what he said to me: We do have the original manuscripts of the Quran. Our Prophet’s companions gave those manuscripts a book form. Since we have only one Quran all over the world, that’s enough proof in itself of the original […]
Question: What do gravitational waves teach us about creation? Answer: This is a good question. I answered a similar question two years ago about the discovery of the Higgs boson, also known as the “God particle.” There is a sense in which a believer and a non-believer learn the identical thing from the […]
Question: What do you think about the Church of the Brethren and the way they follow the beliefs of the Bible? Answer: The Brethren are a fairly small denomination of Christianity which is historically directly connected to the Reformation in Northern Europe in the sixteenth century. There were three principle lines of theology and practice […]
Question: A friend of mine who left my church told me that she considers herself a postmodernist, which is why she left. I did some research and got to understand it a bit better. I also watched your video. I was wondering what I can say or ask that can help my friend reconsider this philosophical […]
Question: What is Freemasonry and what should the Christian response to this organization be? Answer: To some, Free-Masonry is a Satan-inspired conspiratorial organization of secret anti-government, anti-Christian men, and to others it is a fraternal social organization very similar to the Elks and the Lion’s club. The truth lies somewhere in between, but for the […]
Question: I believe that the Bible is the word of God and is the greatest text ever written. It is 100% accurate and reliable. That being said, are there any other inspired texts that were written in the first century that one can look at and research and that are reliable? I’m asking about other […]
Question: One philisophical principle is that in a set of hypotheses, the one with less assumptions should be validated. Most of my friends think that materialism is the worldview with the least assumptions since it only requires that we assume the physical world can be perceived, measured and understood by our human senses. These materialist friends say […]
Question: I would be interested in hearing your notes / commentary on Genesis 1-11. From my research, there appears to be a lot of interpretation going into the transalation of our English language bibles. A superficial reading of our English language Bibles in Genesis would seem to support a young earth and a global cataclysmic […]
Question: Can you explain Ecc 3:1-8? Answer: This may be one of the top ten famous passages in the Bible. It was popularized by the rock group The Byrds in the 60’s. We have to look at the context of this passage. Solomon is not discussing deep theology here. He is presenting what he learned […]
Question: I was wondering what is the true purpose of prayer when we ask things of Him? I know God commands us to pray and to continue communication with Him through this privilege given by Jesus Christ, but does it actually change what God thinks or what happens on Earth? For example if I was […]
Question: In Romans 2:1 and in many other places the Bible says that we should not judge each other. We should not condemn each other. How exactly am I to understand any difference between condemnation and mentoring–between condemnation and the attempt to save a brother or sister from the consequences of their choice? I heard […]
Question: I have a question about Isaiah 59:1-2. I have heard it taught that the last words of verse 2, “your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear”, means that when people who are not Christians pray, their prayers were not heard, even if they are sincerely religious. I always […]
Question: How can baptism be a saving act? I was raised in a Presbyterian church and attended a Calvinist school (I was not a Christian at the time). So the idea of anything beyond the cross (namely baptism) being a requisite for entering heaven has been troubling for me. Initially, I thought that baptism was […]
Question: How are we to understand 1 Peter 4:6? Answer: This passage is one of the few in the New Testament which are relatively difficult to know for sure the exact meaning. In the context, Peter is talking about the suffering of Christ on our behalf (1 Pet 4:1-2) and about our salvation when we […]
Question: I am trying to share the Gospel message to a Muslim, and I need help in responding to his email. Here is his response: [Editor’s note: Because there are so many questions here, the answers are interspersed among the different questions. The questions are in italics. J. O.] God created human being, showed them […]
Question: I have just finished to read all the NEW TESTAMENT and I have some questions about some points. 1 Can you explain how a death ( Jesus’ death on the Cross) can forgive the sins of any human being even many years after? I think it is tough to understand and its a matter […]
Question: Did Paul predict the return of Jesus during his life time? Answer: The answer is no, Paul did not predict when Jesus would return. There is not verse in the New Testament in which he even hints at a date for the return of Jesus. However, it is easy to get a sense from […]
Question: If a person was locked alone in a room with a Bible, and knew nothing about Church history, would they really come out of this room as a cessationist? I have trouble believing this statement. I am attaching a debate link that I found useful. https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLOSesbHxQr2ShoYe9sgnTZ1er9GGYz5F0&v=c0biTwj635I&app=desktop [editor’s note: the questioner is using the word […]
Question: The OT describes the prophecies regarding the coming of the Messiah. The doubt I have comes from the question, did God the Father command Israel to worship this Messiah? Or on the other hand, did he only predict the coming of a great prophet who will teach Israel his way (like the old prophets […]
Question: What is your take on supernatural biblical scholars (like Tom Horn ) who spend a great deal of time, research, field trips etc into writing books, documentaries, and then go on to Christian tv shows using current events to corroborate with the bilblical/ extra bibilical prophecies? Some of the stronger claims they allege is […]
Question: Is Nehemiah Chapter 12 verse 10-11 written by an author other than Nehemiah? [editor’s note: see the follow-up question below] Answer: I am not sure why you think, in particular, that Nehemiah 12:10-11 might be written by someone other than Nehemiah. Can you please write me back, explaining why you are unsure of the […]
Question: The book of Ezra mentions that after Artaxerxes stopped the rebuilding of the temple that it began again during the reign of Darius. Is this Darius II that reigned after Artexerxes or is this Darius I and the Ahasuerus and Artexerxes mentioned in chapter 4 Cambyses and Smerdis? This is all a bit confusing. […]
Question: Thank you for all your articles and all questions and answers! I have a question I’m interested in. Often, when people leave the Church, they say that they are leaving the Church, but not away from God. They are sure that they are continue to live with God, even if their “journey” is delaying […]
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: Thank you for the interesting site. And I have fond memories of your lessons at Novosibirsk in 2011. In one of your answers you have written: “It is God’s will for my children to be saved, and my faithful, unremitting, unselfish prayer will increase the chances that they will be saved.” https://evidenceforchristianity.org/if-we-pray-for-things-that-are-gods-will-mark-1123-24-can-we-assume-that-he-will-answer-that-prayer/ What passages […]
Question: I was wondering if it possible for a man to live without lust? Wherever we go we are bombarded by sexually explicit images and texts. Being a woman I think men have more trouble controlling their lust compared to a woman. Answer: This is an interesting question to come from a woman. I believe […]
Question: I am reading your book on Mormonism [editor’s note: available at www.ipibooks.com] and I came across the section about Mormon belief and one of the beliefs was baptism for the dead. Do they take this from the 1 Corinthian 15:29 verse? What does the verse mean? Answer: Mormons do not get baptism for the […]
[editor’s note: This is a follow-up from an inquiry last week. The original question is below to give context to the concern of the one who asked. As you read the question, bear in mind it is a follow-up to the original, which is if Luke grossly exaggerated the number of converts in Jerusalem in […]
Question: War or peace? Exodus 15:3 says The LORD is a man of war: the LORD is his name. Romans 15:33 says Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen. Can God be both a man of war and a man of peace? This question is so important I feel because it deals […]
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