Question: My father says he does not believe in organized religion because most churchs seem only to care for themselves and not other people. He also says that the bible is biased because it was written by man and that whomever put the bible together left out some of the texts because they didnt want […]
Editor’s note: The question below is answered by ARS board member Brian Colon. Unfortunately, this person has a fairly critical attitude, but hopefully the interaction will be helpful. J. O. Comment: I just ran across another article put out by you [John Oakes] about Bart Ehrman. The Memoir of the Apostles mentioned by Justin Martyr is […]
Question: Note: The points made and my responses are interspersed. About the Q & A https://www.evidenceforchristianity.org/index.php?option=com_custom_content&t ask=view&id=5162 This answer is so full of errors and/or misleading lies I don’t even know where to begin. I guess I’ll just throw out some of the whoppers. First of all, your quotes from "Wisdom" are not from Wisdom, but from […]
Question: I am a believer, but have an atheist father who is searching. After a long conversation with him regarding the Bible, he is convinced that the Bible was formed by "church authorities" and is in fact not true writings (based on a TV show he saw). He believes that it was written only to give […]
Question: I note what you say about the Ryland’s papyrus but I find it somewhat disingenuous. It merely testifies to the existence of the 18th chapter of John’s Gospel being in existence possibly as early as 120 A.D. and it says absolutely nothing about the reliability of the text which we have of any of […]
Question: What comment would you make about the very great differences between the MT, LXX & Samaritan Pentateuch? Answer: Evidence implies that our Greek New Testament text is a nearly perfect descendant of the originals. The case with the Old Testament is significantly different. The time period between the last New Testament book being written […]
Question: I am questioning information I read on the page:https://www.evidenceforchristianity.org/index.php?option=com_custom_content&task=view&id=3954 Dr. John Oakes uses Mark 1:2 as an example of Byzantine copyists attempting to improve a text. He states, "The quote following in Mark 1:2 is taken both from Isaiah and Malachi. Presumably a copier took the role of an editor, removing what hethought of […]
Question: I was reading some Wikipedia articles about early Israel and came across and interesting section regarding the origin of Yahweh http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_ancient_Israel_and_Judah#Religion Ill let you read it but I’m adding quotes from it that I was hoping you could respond to. "It is generally accepted among modern scholars that the narrative of […]
Question: What do you think about the Gospel of Barnabas? It clearly states that prophet Muhammed is the messenger of God. Dont tell me that it was written by a Muslim or changed by a Muslim. I think no gospel was changed by Muslims. Only Christians change it as per the church. Answer: It is […]
Question: Most biblical scholars claim that the King James Version isn’t the best to use today because of the archaic terms and non-usage of the latest surviving documents. Are there any flaws within the New King James Version? Answer: You have the right scoop on the KJV, otherwise known as the Authorized Version. The principle […]
Question: Why the Mark 11:26 in brackets? Answer: What an interesting coincidence. I got two questions on Mark 11:26 in the same week. I am copying my answer to the other question below. Actually, he was asking about a different aspect, so I will add a couple of thoughts on your question as well. Like […]
Question: I read your article on why there is no Mark 11:26, and it made me wonder, how than can we be sure that the Bible hasn’t been altered by other scribes somewhere else down the line. If scribes tryed to insert their own verses, han how can we be sure that the Bible is perfect […]
Question/Comment: You say, with regard to the Letters, that "my assumption…. is that these are inspired writings." I have to point out that whenever God-inspired Scripture is spoken of in the NT, that it is the Jewish Bible that is spoken of. There is in fact no Biblical warrant for the inspiration of the NT […]
Question: Is there any [strong] evidence that the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke were written after 70 AD? I’ve been browsing wikipedia and found that some scholars believe that those 3 gospels, specifically Luke, believe that it was dated sometime after 80 AD to maybe around 125 AD. Is there any [strong] evidence […]
Question: I’ve recently learned about these so called Deuterocanonical books that are accepted by Catholics and Eastern Orthodoxs, but not by Protestants. I even came across this from an Orthodox Christian (not a friend of his btw) on Facebook who claims that this predicts the coming of the Messiah: "The Book of Wisdom was the […]
Question: I have a friend who suggested that I should get a Hebrew Bible because of supposed corruption with the translations. While I find his reasoning questionable, are there any current Bibles with the original Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic languages that are trustworthy? Answer: This is a good question! I believe that you will not […]
Question: I have recently been looking through my Bible and have noticed that the gospel of Mark stops at 16:8 with the quote (Early manuscripts end at 16:8) I have researched this and indeed the earliest manuscripts we know of stop at 16:8 . The only problem I have with this is that I know […]
Question: Wikipedia makes the claim that 2 Peter might not have been written by Peter. Any evidence to this? Is there evidence that points to Peter actually being the author? Answer: I believe that Peter wrote this book because it was the tradition of the church from a very early date that it was in fact written […]
Question: If the bible was written so long ago and interpreted in many different ways and has been re-written so many times how can we be sure the version we read today is not complete fiction? Answer: I have answered this question a number of times and in various ways at the web site. I […]
Question: Would you help me? I see many answering the questions: Is the Bible true? Is the Bible inspired? Is the Bible the Word of God? I have a different question that I do not find answered anywhere — at least, not answered in so many words. Those other questions start with the Word of […]
Question: I learned that the Pentatauch is attributed to Moses was, in fact, a compilation of 4 very different sources, which reflect the interests and biases of the author. This is a highly accepted theory and can be found everywhere in the Pentatauch if you know where to look. Like the story of the ark, […]
Question: During your recent trip to teach in Dallas, I mentioned to you an article published recently, challenging the authenticity of the Dead Sea Scrolls. As promised, here are the links: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1885421,00.html?cnn=yes Here is a 2nd article: http://mideast.blogs.time.com/2009/03/18/more-doubts-on-dead-sea-scroll-auth ors/?iid=sphere-inline-bottom While I don’t have a speicfic question, I would appreciate your general opinion of the articles. […]
Some of my friends say there is evidence that during the reign of Constantine and the meetings at that time, many scholars met and decided which books to put in the Bible and eliminated others that didn’t fit their agenda and they changed the wording of many of the verses and deleted others. Yet the […]
Question: Our senior high pastor recently resigned and tit was brought to light what he thought were termed inconsistencies, which made him doubt the inerrant quality of the Bible. For example, in the same verse of scripture 2 Sam 8:4 the different versions don’t agree. The youth in my group want to know why the different versions differ, […]
Question: Who put all of the books of the Bible together in one book, and how do we know that they were right? Answer: The logic of the answer to this question is fairly simple, but the evidence is a bit involved. In order to give you a sufficient answer, I suggest you read the […]
Question: Where does Jesus say he is God? I haven’t seen a verse in the Bible where Jesus says he is God. Also I am sure that you are aware that many people think that the Bible is corrupt, it this is not true, where are they getting this belief from? Answer: The answer is that Jesus […]
Question: In reference to the question of whether or not Jesus actually used the word synagogue rather than church, it is highly unlikely in my humble opinion for two reasons. First of all, my copy of Lamsa’s translation from the Aramaic of the Peshitta says "church." Secondly, the word "ekklesia" is a combination of 2 […]
Question: Were the original prophecies of the Messiah altered? Jews state that Jesus did not fulfill all of the prophecies realting to the Messiah. They also claim that the followers of Jesus in the early ages sincerely believed he was the Messiah, and altered the Old Testament to suit their needs. Answer: It is true […]
Question: I noticed a curious thing tonight at bible talk. One of the passages we were asked to look at was Mark 11:22 – 25. I read a little further and noticed that there is no verse 26. Chapter eleven jumps from verse 25 to 27. What happened to verse 26? Answer: There is a […]
Question: I was wondering as a Christian, how sure are we that Matthew the Disciple of Jesus wrote the Gospel that bears his name and if he did, when can we assert he wrote his Gospel? Answer: I wish I could say that we know for sure that Matthew wrote this gospel and that we […]
Question: Why do some Christians believe Mark 16:15-16 is for us and Mark 16:17-18 is not for us but for the apostles? Answer: Before answering your question, let me point out something very important to know about Mark 16:9-20. Most scholars believe that it is quite likely this passage was not in the original book of […]
Question: With all of the different dates that are floating around re: the manuscripts – especially those of the 4 major gospels – what dates do you rely on and how are those dated (e.g. carbon dating, etc)? Answer: One thing for sure is that we cannot use carbon dating to determine the date that […]
Question: When one reads your materials you seem to claim(though not clearly) that the four gospels recorded in the New Testament are the only ever written. However, nowadays some reseach has proven the existence of other gospels for instance "the Gospel according to JUDEA". Do you have anything to say about this? Answer: Yes, […]
Question: I have recently heard that many scholars believe 2 Peter is pseudepigraphical and was written around 100-150AD. Is there any evidence that shows that it was written around 64-65 AD which is another possible date that it was written? Answer: The date of writing of the New Testament books will always generate some controversy. We […]
Question: Why did Constantine and the Council of Nicaea choose to"edit" The Bible by inserting and removing certain books? What was the real aim of canonization? Answer; This is an easy one! Constantine did not "edit" or change the New Testament in any way. Neither did the Council at Nicaea change the New Testament in […]
Question: I am including links below where you can find interesting if not, shocking facts about the true name of the God of Abraham, Moses and David. I want to know your opinion about this. http://www.yaohushua.org/yahush1.html http://www.yaohushua.org/index.htm Answer: I spent a good amount of time at these web sites. To a person who is not well […]
Question: How then do you explain the LXX & MT versions of Daniel & the story of Bel & the Dragon? Dennis; God used the Jewish teachers/rabbis as the arbiters of what is to be considered an approved text. They said no to the additions to Daniel. I agree with their assessment by looking at […]
Question: I have heard and seen articles so many times about the Catholic faith hiding evidence of other gospels and possibly a gospel from Jesus himself? This concerns me since I used to be Catholic (now a non-denomintated Christian) and still have many Catholic friends that may be oblivious of this information and frankly get […]
Question: How can we know the date of an event or writing from thousands of years ago if the date was not recorded at that time? For example, someone may say, “this was written around 58 AD”. How can we know that for sure? Or even when someone says, “the book of ____ was written […]
Question: Has there been any scientific analysis on the Book of Enoch that will prove it is unbiblical? Answer: I am not an expert on the book of Enoch. I doubt science will have anything to offer on the book of Enoch. Science generally has little if anything to offer in analyzing literature. However, scholars […]
Question: Has there been any scientific analysis on the Book of Enoch that will prove it is unbiblical? Answer: I am not an expert on the book of Enoch. I doubt science will have anything to offer on the book of Enoch. Science generally has little if anything to offer in analyzing literature. However, scholars […]
Question: There are two questions that have been troubling me. 1) The Ark – how could such a modest sized boat keep so many creatures alive for so long? 2) Why is the book of Enoch not part of the Bible. Surely if the apostles could quote from it it should carry some weight? Answer: […]
Question: My pastor preached a sermon suggesting that we should not believe that the Bible is without error. I happen to disagree with his assertion however, he said that the numbers in the book of Numbers do not add up and used this as proof of his belief. He did not go into detail on […]
Comment: I notice that you do not include deutero-Isaiah in the list of books that were completed after the Persian conquest. In this, you differ from modern scholars of the Old Testament and I would be interested to know your reasons for so doing. I am currently in the process of reading through the old […]
Question: What are the churches from which the four text types of the Greek New Testament (Alexandrine, Western, Caesarean and Byzantine) circulated? Answer: The Western text type will have circulated in the West. Generally, the Western churches are taken to mean North Africa, Spain, Gaul and Italy. The North African churches were very strongly influenced […]
Question: My question is can you tell me where specifically did the four text types originate and when they originated and by whom or what local group are most likely to have done so? I understand by Bruce Metzger that using the fathers to locate a certain family of text or reading is also a […]
Question: Please explain to me the differences between the Septuagint and Masoretic text in relation to your belief in the faithful transmission of Scripture. How also does it impinge on your belief in the prophetic element in the OT ? Answer: I have found in my study that the transmission of the original has been […]
Question: What text type or types do the most early church fathers use? If the Byz. type goes no further than the 4th cent. why then do kjv. only people say that church fathers from the 2nd cent usedthis type? My second question is what are the text types for the earliest versions of the […]
Question: I have just finished reading a book that has caused me to mistrust the truth I find in the Bible. The book “Misquoting Jesus – The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why” by scholar/author Bart D. Ehrman has raised innumerable questions in my mind as to the validity of what Jesus actually […]
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