Question: My son asked me a question which I didn’t really know how to answer. Is the Sabbath the day we are to go to church and worship together? Or is the Sabbath the day we rest? One of his co-workers told him that Saturday is the day we are supposed to go to church […]
Question: Is there historical evidence that the apostle Paul was a real person? Posted on May 12, 2013 by John Oakes wrote in Church History, General, Questions and Answers, Reliability of the Bible. You gave no evidence for Paul being a real person. I’ve searched and have yet to find any historical information outside of […]
Question: Why does the church follow the doctrine of the divine right of kings, in this country (USA) ? The founding fathers established a government based on limited government and a free market economy. Did the first century church believe in no king but king Jesus ? [editor’s note: This question included a […]
Question: I understand that since the terms used for God are masculine in the Hebrew language this is most likely the reason why God is perceived as a Father. Is it possible that since Israel was a patriarchal society that God being perceived as a male was a manipulation done by way of the men […]
Question: What does a Christian do when he or she can not see the evidence of God’s love in their daily lives? I have been told to understand that the air I breath or the daily food I can eat is an act of love from God. But these basic necessities can be given by […]
Question: In John 3:13 Jesus tells us that “No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven-the Son of Man.” My question to what Jesus tells us is what happened to those who came and died before Jesus? Also going further into verse 14-15 where it says “Just as Moses […]
Question: How do you know for sure that the Bible and Jesus is really the truth of God? – I was a Christian for a long time , not just religious. I thought I was a born again and experienced things but nowadays some things (Objective info from psychology, learning about suffering, etc.) brought doubts […]
Question: Can you comment on the Cepher Bible translation and the claims that I have heard that it is the most accurate as well as the most complete Bible translation available today? Answer: This is a fairly obscure translation of the Bible which was published quite recently. I have not used it (or even seen […]
Question: I have a question on God’s will. Romans 12:2 and many other passages suggest that doing God’s will can be pleasant, pleasing and perfect, yet It was incredibly hard even for Jesus to do God’s will. Also there are many passages that suggest that doing God’s will entails suffering and hardship. How do we […]
Question: I have been guilty of skipping over the Old Testament but am reading it now with renewed vigor. I love that I can now search for Jesus in the old testament as well. My problem comes in with Jesus’ teaching about the greatest commandment being that we must “love God with all our hearts”. […]
Editor’s note: The comment below comes from a Muslim who does not believe in Jesus. Comment: Acts 4:25 to 27 and psalm 2. God was angry with them because they plotted against his messiah. This means God did not want them to plot against his messiah. This means God did not send his messiah to […]
Question: Hello Dr. Oakes, I am studying the bible with a friend of mine that is Hindu. He is not very devout in his faith (he grew up in America most of his life and has never really grown into his beliefs). He was introduced to Jesus about a year and a half ago as […]
Question: In the works of Celsus recorded by Origen, Celsus tells of a Jew he obtained certain information from concerning the possibility that Mary was impregnated by a solider named Panthera. In addition the Talmud records an individual named Jesus ben Pandera or Pandira. Does this affirm that the Jews knew who Jesus’ biological father […]
Question: Do DNA tests prove Jesus had two human parents? Recently the Shroud of Turin has been re-dated within the range of 300 BC to 300 AD. As a result the blood found on the Shroud was type AB, and had both X and Y chromosomes. Where did the Y chromosome come from? If God […]
Question: If evolution and abiogenesis have simply naturalistic explanations behind the origins and development of life itself, then wouldn’t this replace any need for a god? Abiogenesis for example gives forth purely scientific and naturalistic reasons behind how life came into existence, why at this point would there be a need for such a deity? Same […]
Question: I believe my interpretation of the Bible comes from the Holy spirit not from man. Man may speak words but I think the Holy.spirit opens our hearts to hear his word. I have a hard time with people that say Gods word says such and such which it does but His word also is […]
Question: I was so grateful for your sermon yesterday in the Cape Town church. I was wondering how you would assist someone who comes from the quantum physics background to believe the Bible. In particular my friend adheres to the teachings of Bruce Lipton “The Biology of Belief”? Answer: Bruce Lipton is a well-qualified molecular […]
Question: Dr. Oakes, I have a question about Isaiah 11. I understand that the chapter is a messianic prophecy, but how do you interpret verse 14? Is it fair to say that this would conjure up images of a restored kingdom of Israel (God) and is symbolic of the breaking in of the kingdom in the […]
Question: (editor’s note: this question has to do with a Setswana (Botswana) translation of the Bible, as I just finished visiting there) Hi John. Obviously this is a very bad translation but I thought it would be interesting for you to see it. I have read translations that make better sense but please let […]
Question: I recently saw a question you answered in August of 2013 regarding the Left Behind movie remake. In it you remarked that there was not so much as a hint to support the idea that Left Behind teaches about the Rapture, that non-believers will be left behind on the earth. How can you say […]
Question: A religious friend of mine shared this with me. Basically a “theologian” friend of hers wrote it showing “support” for Jesus actually being born on December 25th. “Why do we celebrate the birth of Christ on December 25th? Dec. 25 was chosen because the 25th of the 12th month (Chislev) is the first day of […]
Question: Did the concept of punishment and judgement in Christianity originate from the teachings of Plato as expressed in this article? Thanks http://www.bibleorigins.net/millenium.html Answer: The simple answer to this question is no, the concept of punishment and judgment in Christianity did not originate with Plato. This idea came to Christianity from God–the one who […]
Question: I recently came across a video titled “A History of God” and it suggests that Josiah ordered religious reforms commanding the Deuteronomists to delete all Polytheistic themes in the Pentateuch, Joshua, Judges, and Kings. Additionally the Israelites were supposedly always polytheistic and that the “Yahwists” apparently enforced strict monotheism as late as the 8th, […]
Question: Does the account of the Last Supper as a Passover meal indicate biblical errors and historical unreliability? 1. Matthew 26:17-30, Mark 14:12-26, and Luke 22:7-38 call the Last Supper a Passover Meal as described in Deuteronomy 16:5-6, occurring on Thursday Nisan 14, and that Jesus was crucified on Friday and resurrected on Sunday.2. John 13:1 […]
Question: I really need an information about the Family Federation (Moonies/Unification Church). I am going to meet a student who invited me a couple of days ago. We decided to meet for a coffee and as I don’t know anything about them, I am thinking to let her share what she believes. But in the […]
Question: If miracles are to be considered divine singularities, is the scientific method appropriate for evaluating the occurrence of miracles? Does recognizing the occurrence of miracles halt scientific progress since doing so would require recognizing the miracle as a divine singularity instead of a repeatable regularity, and also result in the scientist’s giving up being […]
Question: I was talking about John’s baptism with a friend recently. I asked, what was the nature of the metanoia (repentance)–the change of thought and attitude of the ancient Jews. He expressed the understanding that John was able to baptize people because they turned away from their sins. I am confused. I looked into John’s […]
Question: Does god play dice? Quantum events are random. So how can God know who is going to heaven? The Bible mentions that those who are saved have been written in the book of life before creation. You also mention the universe has a sort of free will so how does God know about events […]
SUBJECT: Contradictions in Luke and John according to Muslims In (John 16:7) the criteria for the coming of the Holy Spirit is that Jesus has to go away, but it was already present as stated in (Luke 4:1,14,18) for example. Isn’t this a contradiction? Please reply as soon as possible because I am in […]
QUESTION: Recently I was browsing an article on Wikipedia titled “History of ancient Israel and Judah” and I read some passages I extracted and wanted to know of you could tell me if there is any actual historical credibility to them. 1 The religion of the Israelites of Iron Age I, like the Canaanite faith […]
QUESTION: This is about the phrase “the last days” in Isaiah 2:2 and Acts 2:17. When I first studied the Bible, I thought it referred to end times. It didn’t make sense to me because if that’s what the Bible meant, then it seemed like a weird time to inaugurate the Church. But since I […]
Question: I would like your opinion on two recent news items. First, is the situation at The National Cathedral in Washington D.C. where Muslims were allowed to hold service. Secondly, the story of the pope praying at a Mosque while facing Mecca. Would these be considered blasphemy? Can’t see where Jesus would approve of such […]
QUESTION: I will like to know what is the main theme of the gospel of Mark and what possible outline can I draw to help me study it better. thanks. Response: The main theme of the Gospel of Mark is this: Jesus Christ is the Messiah and the savior of mankind. This is the theme […]
Question: Do the ethnic depictions of biblical figures matter? I had a discussion with someone regarding an allegedly “white-washed and racist” depiction of biblical figures in a recent movie. Putting aside Hollywood or possible racial agendas, do we really need to be concerned about what color Bible characters are depicted as? Or could history provide […]
QUESTION: Hello there, I was just kind of confused why Isaiah 14:4-20 seems to parallel exactly how Athtar overthrew Baal Hadad and enthroned himself atop Mount Zaphon in the Baal Cycle of Ugarit. This is kind of troubling me since it is so similar to the Canaanite account. Why are the mountains the same? and […]
Question: I’ve been interacting with a lot of punk rockers on facebook and on occasion one will post something anti religious and I’ve been making some gentle answers. However, I am hoping you can help me with the question below. Do you either have verses for me to cite or some short hand answers for this […]
Question: In an article at the site you mentioned that Jesus’s death wasn’t a human sacrifice. In the article you claimed “A human sacrifice is a situation in which a human being kills another human being with the purpose of appeasing a god” True, but didn’t Jesus die to appease the wrath of God […]
Question: Was wondering if you had any resources I could check out about the authorship of the book of Isaiah? Answer: Any good commentary on Isaiah will discuss this. Some claim that Isaiah Ch 1-39 has a different author from Ch 40-end. They do so both because they claim there is a different style of […]
Question: Does the Old Testament apply to Christians today or is it only the New Testament that really matters? Answer: Of course the Old Testament applies to Christians today. It comprises over three fourths of our Bibles. Our job is to understand how it applies, not to decide if it applies. Evidence that it applies […]
Question: Does the word completeness in 1 Corinthians 13:10 refer to the Bible? 1 Cor 13:10 – but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. Answer: There has been much debate about this. I certainly will not settle this debate by my response to you. To me, I believe that he is stating a […]
Question: Hi Dr. Oakes. I have a question about apostle martyrdom. It has been asserted by people like Bart Ehrman that the evidence for the martyrdom of the apostles is not very strong. I hope this is not true. For which apostles do we have the best evidence that they were martyred, and what are […]
QUESTION: In II Samuel 24:13 God told David that he could choose 7 years of famine but in I Chronicles he could choose three years. Is this a contradiction? Answer: In the case of 1 Chronicles 21:12 the manuscripts are unanimous that the proposed time of discipline was three years. In the case of 2 […]
Question: Hello! In my biological anthropology classes at university, the argument of unintelligent design has cropped up a couple of times. In a lecture on primates, the example that came up was that our spine is designed to be horizontal so when primates moved to being bipedal due to erectness it led to many spinal […]
Question: Is implicit knowledge of Christ saving? Specifically, is it necessary to have explicit knowledge of Christ or is it enough to have faith in God (belief in one leads to the other)? If explicit knowledge is necessary for salvation, what is the soteriological effect of being unable to adequately describe the nature of the […]
Question: As a disciple of Christ, I want to understand the expression “religious tolerance”? We live in a country [editor’s note: the questioner lives in Russia] where we have a lot of the world’s religions. On the one hand we need to preach the truth, and on the other hand we need to be tolerant. […]
Question: In 2 Chronicles 36:21 it says that “70 years this place will be a wasteland and so the earth will have its Sabbath rest.” What does this mean? If 70 years represents the Sabbath, then is it significant that this is 1/7 part of the 490 years? Does this figure in the Bible? Is […]
Question: As I was studying the Bible this morning, I came up with a thought that I would like to run by you to see what you think. If we can make vows to God, is it possible that people can make vows to Satan or other evil beings? Have you read anything about that? […]
Question: How do you explain to anyone, specifically Catholics, the canonization of the Bible and the fact that the Apocrypha is not part of the canon? Answer: I suggest you read either my book “Reasons for Belief” which describes the process of canonization of the OT and the NT, or my book “Daniel, Prophet to […]
QUESTION: Other than in the Bible, do we have any historical evidence that Jesus’ body was put in a tomb by Joseph of Arimathea and that Pilate placed guards around the tomb? Answer: The simple answer is no. We do not have external confirmation of this particular historical event. What we have is the record […]
QUESTION: In Joshua 3:10 the Bible says that God will drive out the Jebusites, but only a little later it says this: “As for the Jebusites the inhabitants of Jerusalem the children of Judah could not drive them out; but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Judah at Jerusalem unto this day.” How can […]
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