Church History – Evidence for Christianity

Literalist Christians falsely claim the gospels are eyewitness accounts. In fact they are quintuple hearsay. Your response?

John Oakes 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 […]

Please respond to six historical “problems” with the trial and crucifixion accounts in the gospels.

John Oakes 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 […]

Why did Matthew copy Mark’s account of the Lord’s Supper, if he was an eye-witness? Is 2 Peter a forgery?

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

[Editor’s note: These are two questions of a similar nature from the same questioner, so are being put together in one article.] Question: Why does it appear that Matthew’s version of the last supper was copied from Mark? They’re so similar and it wouldn’t make sense for Matthew to copy Mark for the last supper […]

The early church fathers seem to be wrong when they unanimously say Matthew was written before Mark. Therefore, why should we trust them about who wrote these books?

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

Question: The early church is unanimous in attributing the four gospels to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John but they are also unanimous that Matthew wrote first. However Mark probably wrote first since most of Mark is in Matthew. So my question is if they’re wrong on who wrote first then why should we believe that […]

Your claim that Wisdom (aka Sirach) does not contain messianic prophecy is incorrect. Please consider Wisdom 2:12-20.

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

[Editor’s Note: This is a rather long question with a fairly long response] Question: I read your article “Is Chapter 2 of Wisdom (part of the Apocrypha) inspired prophecy of Jesus?” and wanted to address your points. First, you asked where the Messianic prophecy is. Wisdom 2:12-20 contains a very clear Messianic prophecy: “For if […]

The Jews say there were no prophets after Malachi, but Justin Martyr said to Trypho that the Jews had prophets in succession up until John. Who is correct on this?

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

Question: Jews say: “None of God’s prophet came after Malachi among them.” On the contrary, Justin Martyr said to Trypho: “you had prophets in succession until John; there never failed to be a prophet among you, who was lord, and leader, and ruler of your nation.” Who has the correct view in your opinion? Answer: […]

How do you assess the Messianic Jewish Movement? What can we learn and what are their errors?

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

Question: How do you assess the Messianic Jewish movement – what are the things we can learn from them and where are they in error? Answer: I am sure you do not need me to tell you, as you already know, that we can learn from any sincere-minded group of believers, even if we do […]

Is it true that the Gospel of John had multiple authors and that it borrowed the idea of logos from pagan writers?

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

Note: This is a rather long question with a relatively short answer. Question: Recently I found some interesting claims about the Gospel of John. These are quotations of the Muslim critic Misha’al Al-Kadhi and his references to Christian scholars, that should bring doubt about the Gospel of John: 1. “Even at that, it is recognized […]

When was the letter of 1 Peter written?

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

Question: When was 1st Peter written? Answer: According to the letter of 1 Peter itself, the author of the letter is the apostle Peter. Multiple sources, including Church historian Eusebius, tell us that Peter was crucified in Rome by Nero. We know that Nero was murdered in AD 67. Therefore, Peter was probably killed in […]

If Jesus’ crucifixion was so evident, why did some early Christian sects deny it–saying it was Simon of Cyrene or Judas Iscariot who was crucified?

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

Question: If Jesus Crucifixion was so evident then why some early Christian sects denied it? Some said: Simon of Cyrene was crucified. Some said: Judas Iscariot was crucified. Some said: someone substituted him. What is your response? Answer: This is a flat-out, blatant lie. Plain and simple. There is absolutely no truth to this claim, […]

Josephus and Tacitus are not reliable sources on the crucifixion of Jesus. They only make vague references to rumors. The NT authors had no ability to know the truth about the crucifixion.

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

Question: My friend says: Josephus and Tacitus are not reliable sources of Jesus’ Crucifixion. They presented vague references based on rumours. NT authors had no ability to know what the truth was. What should be Christian reply? Answer: I think you had better find a more reliable source than this “friend” who says this rather […]

My Muslim friend says there is no evidence from the first century that Christians believed Jesus is God. Is this true?

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

Question: A Muslim friend proposed this to me: I have seen this “issue” before and I haven’t done a proper investigation into it. He said there’s no evidence to support Jesus’ divinity in the first century. I believe (although I am yet to see) that there is evidence of early Christians in first century honoring […]

There are many biblical prophecies of the Messiah which do not fit Jesus. Your response?

John Oakes wrote in Bible Interpretation, Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, Church History, Daniel, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, History, Other Religions, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible, Supposed Inconsistencies in the Bible .

[Editor’s note: This is a series of challenges from a Muslim regarding Jesus to be the fulfillment of Old Testament messianic prophecies. My answers are interspersed among the questioner’s examples in italics] Claim: There are many biblical prophecies which do not fit into Jesus, for e.g. Response: Whether Jesus fulfilled all potential messianic prophecies is […]

A Muslim friend asks that if thousands of followers witnessed Jesus’ crucifixion (which he says was a hoax), why did they not try to save him? Did they have no guts?

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

Questions: My Muslim friend says: The Major and Minor Prophets echoed the words of pagans i.e. God has wife, God has sons & daughters. The New Testament authors followed them and create God’s-Son in the form of Jesus to attract Roman public. Also, if thousands of people witnessed his crucifixion (which is a hoax) and […]

An [Muslim] author at a web site I was searching said that several entire books have been removed from the Bible. What is your response?

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

Question: This person claims that there have been entire books removed from the bible. https://quranicwarners.org/gospel They all seem legitimate. What’s your opinion? Answer: It is hard to know exactly how to respond to this article, because the author is not specific as to which “entire books” were removed from the Bible. If he does not specify […]

How do you view Isaiah 19:18-24? Has this prophecy been fulfilled? If so, how?

John Oakes wrote in Bible Interpretation, Church History, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Q & A .

Question: How do you view Isaiah 19:18-24? It seems that the prophecy has not been accomplished yet from my understanding of the scripture. I’ve seen some commentaries claiming that Assyria and Egypt unification is more related to Christianity and that the Coptic and Syriac churches united as one in fellowship with our Lord. Could there […]

Catholics precede Protestants and their Bibles have extra books. Does this mean that Protestants removed part of the Bible and Catholics have the correct canon?

John Oakes wrote in Church History, General, Versions of the Bible .

Question: I understand that Catholics came into existence first and then later the Protestants. The Catholic’s Bible has additional material such as extra chapters of Esther and extra books like 1 Maccabees, unlike the Protestant Bible with 66 books. This causes me to think that Protestants removed the additional books and chapters from the Bible […]

How do we know that Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were actually the authors of those gospels? How does this relate to their reliability?

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

Question: How do we know that Mathew Mark Luke and John were actually written by the people whose names they were accredited to? I will grant that it was probably at least written by a member of the church because it was widely accepted as the holy word of God by the early church who […]

Muslims deny Jesus died on the cross. Can you help respond to an article making this claim?

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

[Editor’s note: This is a VERY long question, which is simply copied and pasted from a web site. There are far too many issues raised for me to answer all of them in limited time. What I do afterward is give a general response, rather than address all of the issues raised. If this article […]

Was Peter the first pope? If so, does this prove Catholicism?

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

Question: Was Peter the first pope? If true, would this prove Catholicism: Answer: Catholicism can neither be proved nor disproved. You cannot “prove” a religious group. Catholicism has beliefs and practices which are biblical and Catholicism has beliefs and practices that are unbiblical. I am sure this is true of all Christian groups. One of […]

Can you talk about the Gnostics, the Gospel of Judas and the diversity of early Christian beliefs?

John Oakes wrote in Apocrypha, Church History, General, Q & A, Supposed Inconsistencies in the Bible .

(Editor’s note: Questions are in italics and answers are in normal type) Questions: It is said that the Gnostic Gospel of the Judas shows a gospel where God (our Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth) is the bad guy and a fascinating contrast from the theology of Nicean Christianity. Early Christianity was diverse, unlike how many […]

If the author of 1 Clement was born about AD 35, why did he not mention meeting Paul or any of the other apostles?

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

Question: Since the early church father Clement who wrote 1st Clement was born in 35 A. D, why did he not talk about personally meeting the 12 apostles or meeting Paul? It is very obvious that Clement will have been a mature adult around 50s. During 50s , St. Paul was still alive plus all […]

Was Jesus born on Christmas? Why did God make antimatter?

John Oakes wrote in Church History, General, Q & A, Science and the Bible .

Questions: Was Jesus born on Christmas? Why did god make antimatter? Answers: Jesus definitely was not born on Dec. 25 (or on Jan 7, which is the Orthodox Christmas) No one knows the date of Jesus’ birth. Anyone who says they do is wrong, and should be ignored, in my opinion. The Bible gives us […]

Some first century people such as Marcion of Sinope or the Docetists did not believe Jesus was a real person. Where did this idea come from?

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

Question; Why was there so much confusion even in the first and second century about whether Jesus Christ of Nazareth even existed as a historical person or not. One example of someone who questioned the reality of Jesus was Marcion of Sinope, a 1st century historical person. Also there were the Docetists, Gnostics and others […]

Robert Price says a miracle-worker like Jesus should have mention in non-Christian writings in the first century, but there is none. He concludes Jesus is a fictional character. Your response?

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

Question: I want to ask one question. One skeptic New Testament scholar Robert McNair Price says that since our Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth was a miracle working historical person who did many miracles like multiplying thousands of bread and fishes, raised the deaths, turning water into wine, healed the sick persons, resurrected, ascended and […]

Were the Jews in the first century aware that the Christians claimed they were responsible for the death of Jesus? If the OT prophecies of the Messiah came true, why did Jews not believe in Jesus?

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

Question: I have three questions. 1. The New Testament says that non believing Jewish leaders were accused of handing Jesus over to be killed by the Romans. The first century Jews did not deny this historical fact, as they knew that they played a role in killing Jesus by handing him to the Romans soldiers. […]

Bart Ehrman claims that the Bible was changed and is unreliable. Can you comment on these claims?

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

[Editor’s note: This is a long question with an even longer answer. The questioner makes some rather personal comments, so my response is more personal that I normally would use. Feel free to give me feedback. J. O.] Question: Bart Ehrman claims the Bible was changed and is unreliable in his book “Misquoting Jesus–The Story […]

Are the mythicists right that the Testimonium Flavium by Josephus is a forgery and that the Jesus in the James passage is not Jesus of Nazareth?

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

Question: Help me! Mythicists insist that Josephus’ account of Jesus of Nazareth in BK XVIII of his *antiquities* is a wholesale forgery. They also insist that the passage about “James the brother of Jesus who was called Messiah” is not, in fact, about Jesus of Nazareth but “Jesus, son of Damneus” They also insist […]

Many say that Paul was not a genuine Christian, including some influenced by N. T. Wright. What is your response?

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

Question: There are some people influenced by NT Wright, and some are even Christians, who have doubt whether Paul was a genuine Christian. It is said that one must study the second temple period of Jewish history if we want an unfiltered understanding of the first-century church and all things about Paul. More so, it […]

Bible critics and atheists say that all nine of the non-Christian writers who wrote about Jesus of Nazareth are really just fabrications by Christians. Your response?

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

Question: Bible critics and atheists say that none of the nine non-Christian writers like Thallus, Josephus, Tacitus and others actually wrote about Jesus of Nazareth of the Bible in their documents. They say those documents were all fabrications by a Christian. Your response? Response: This is quite simply a lie, and ought to be labeled […]

Is it true that Christianity endorsed Hermeticism at the beginning?

John Oakes wrote in Church History, General, Other Religions, Philosophy, Q & A .

Question: Is it true that Christianity endorsed Hermeticism at the beginning? Answer; I am going to guess that you saw someone somewhere claim that Christianity borrowed its belief system in part from Hermeticism. The simple answer to your question is a hard no. No, Christianity never has endorsed Hermeticism and especially primitive Christianity certainly did […]

Is there historical evidence that supports the occurrence of the darkness and earthquake at the time of the death of Jesus?

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

Question: I read a passage in the Bible where it said that there was a blackness and an earthquake after Jesus died. [Editor’s note: Luke 23:44 for the darkness, Matthew 27:51 for the earthquake] Is there historical evidence of people seeing this? Answer: Many people fail to recognize that we have very little information about […]

Many of my Muslim friends tell me that Jesus did not die on the cross and that this came, not from Muhammad but from the second century. Your response?

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

Question: I want to know about the reliability of the Bible because many of my friends who are Muslims tell me that Jesus did not die on the cross nor was he risen. They tell me that this is not written 600 yrs later but from 2nd century or the end of 1st century itself […]

If the Catholics were the first denomination of Christians, why do they do everything contradictory to the Bible?

John Oakes wrote in Apocrypha, Church History, General, Other Religions, Q & A .

Questions: We know that the Bible prohibits idolatry. If Catholics were the first denomination of Christians, why then do they do everything contradictory to the Bible? Can we trust the additional books of OT in the Catholic Bible? Why did Protestants came years later after Catholics? It seems to me that they should have come […]

How can I respond to criticisms from the Muslim apologist Shabir Ally that the Bible contradicts itself and that the resurrection did not happen?

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

Question: In a recent debate Muslim imam Shabir Ally tells us that John’s gospel is contradictory to synoptics because in John Jesus said to the people who arrested him I am he without forcing his arrest but in synoptics it’s different. In John, Jesus carries his cross, indicating that he was strong, but in the […]

Acts 8:37 is in none of the ancient manuscripts, but it is in the King James Version. How can we trust this or any other version of the Bible?

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

Question: As for Acts 8:37 none of the most ancient manuscripts include this material. The King James Version is the one which got it wrong. You are telling here here that the King James Version of the Bible is wrong. So how can we trust the other versions of the Bible because KJV is the […]

How can we trust the Bible? What are the historical records of Jesus outside the Bible? What about the fact that Jesus went to India?

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

Question: How can we trust the Bible? We know that Jesus existed for sure which every historian would agree but what about what he did ? If his miracles were true as gospels record them why don’t we have historical records of them outside the Bible?There were books that say that the 1st prime minister […]

Church History in 57 minutes

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

Dr.John Oakes gave a lesson on an introduction to church history for the West region of the Los Angeles Church of Christ. This is a very short review, but it will be a good starting point for accessing this important topic. Dr. Oakes has a three volume series of books on church history, The Christian […]

Why is heresy punished by death in the Old Testament but the New Testament is so different about this?

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

Question: Why should Israel punish heretics with death? in the NT it does not seem to happen in the same way. Should a Christian country tolerate pagan philosophies and religions, or should you pursue for the good of all? Answer: First of all, let me acknowledge that the distinction you notice is certainly real. The […]

How did the priesthood in Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy come about?

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

Question: How did the priesthood of Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy come to be? Were there priests in the early churche from the 1st century, which Jesus is said to have instituted? Answer: As I am sure you are aware, the Jews had priests. They were a group of Jews set apart from their brothers […]

In an article you say that “original sin” is false doctrine, but was there not an original sin–that of Adam and Eve?

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

Question: In reviewing one of your Q/A online I saw you refer to “original sin” as a false doctrine? What is your basis for this statement? Are you meaning that you don’t believe that sin originated with Adam and Eve? Do you believe that creation was perfect before Adams sin–that mankind did not, sin creating […]

How to you deal with the fact that so-called Saint Peter was a cruel murderer?

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

[Editor’s note: The answers from this Hindu gentleman are interspersed with the questions] Questions and Answers: Acts 5: 1-11 show that the so-called Saint Peter was a cruel murderer who murdered in cold blood both, Annanias & his wife Sapphira. I am sure Peter would be horrified to be falsely accused of murder. This is terrible false […]

When Jesus talked about the fall of Jerusalem, did he also warn the Jews? Is there evidence of the church fleeing to the mountains?

John Oakes wrote in Church History, Daniel, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, History, Q & A .

Question: When Jesus said the the Church of Jerusalem will fall, did he advise the Jews about the fall as well, or was it a prophecy and is there evidence of the church fleeing to the mountains? Answer: Actually, it was not the church in Jerusalem which fell in AD 70. It was the Jewish […]

A Rabbi claims on youtube that Psalms 22:16 (they have pierced my hands and feet) actually is a lion surrounded by dogs with paws upraised. Your response?

John Oakes wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, Church History, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Q & A .

Question: Rabbi Dtovia Singer has a video on youtube saying the church is lying about christology. In this video he says when Isaiah talks about Jesus’ peirced hands it is actually spun by Origen and other church fathers. The Rabbi claims the verse says that King David is like a lion surrounded by dogs with […]

Is there any evidence other than the Bible that shows that the twelve apostles existed?

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

Question: Is there any evidence other than the Bible that show that the 12 disciples existed? Answer: Yes, there is plenty of evidence that the twelve disciples were real people. In fact, no one who knows the evidence can seriously entertain the thought that these men were not real people. We have evidence from both […]

If John was an “unschooled” man, then how could he write the book of John in Greek?

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

Question: How do I explain to someone who doesn’t believe in the inspiration of the gospels, how it is that John was able to write his gospel in Greek even though he was called “unschooled” Acts 4:13? “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they […]

Some say that good research will tell us that Jesus did not exist. What is your response to this claim?

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

Question: I have three questions: 1. It is said by some who do a lot of research that Jesus Christ of Nazareth did not exist and all stories about Jesus Christ of Nazareth were retellings of older pagan myths by relatively well educated Greek-speaking (and writing) Christians during the 2nd half of the first century. […]

Did Paul really write the 13 letters normally attributed to him? Is Ehrman right that most of the New Testament letters are forgeries?

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

Questions: Did Paul really write Ephesians, Colossians and the Pastoral Epistles? In other words, did Paul really write all the 13 epistles of the New Testament normally attributed to him? One scholar, Bart D.Ehrman says that only the seven books, the undisputed letters of St.Paul are authentic and the rest 20 books of the New […]

Why would a sovereign God allow interpolations–in essence, errors–into the New Testament text? How reliable is Irenaeus on church history?

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

Question: I have learned that there are many interpolations of several Bible verses in the Bible. Even Irenaeus and other early church fathers interpolated the version of Luke 23:34 which says ” Father forgives them,for they do not know what they are doing.” Here,I have two questions: 1. If God is a sovereign God, why does He […]

Robert Price and others say that the historical figure Jesus of Nazareth is not a real person. Can we be sure 100% that he was a real person?

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

Question: Skeptics like Robert McNair Price and others says that a historical figure Jesus Christ of the Nazareth of our Christian Bible did not exist. Is there any historical evidences to their claim that a historical figure Jesus Christ of the Nazareth of our Christian Bible did not exist? My question is: Did the historical […]