Church History – Evidence for Christianity

What is your response to the Pseudo-Clementine Homilies when they say that God did not ordain sacrifices at all, and salvation is based on law rather than an atoning death on a cross?

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

Question: According to the Pseudo-Clementine Homilies (4th Century), the Torah was altered (Homily 3.47), God did not ordain sacrifices (Homily 3.45), and salvation is based on obeying the True Prophet’s uncorrupted laws rather than a singular, atoning death on a cross (Homily 8.5-7). This hits the foundations of Christianity. How would you respond to this […]

I read that the Ebionites rejected the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel. How should we respond to this?

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

Question: I read that: “The Ebionites believed the entire collection of later prophetic books (Isaiah, Jeremiah, etc.) was a human invention added to the Hebrew canon during the Babylonian exile, rather than the pure word of God. The Ebionites accepted certain verses from prophets because they believed that divine truth was still buried within corrupted […]

Please comment on the Roman Catholic use of Isaiah 22:20-24 as a foreshadow of Peter in Matthew 16:17-19, and of the papacy.

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Apologetics, Articles, Church History, Church History, Foreshadows and Prefigures, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Prophecy, Q & A, Theology and Doctrinal Questions .

Question: I came across this biblical argument for the papacy and was wondering if you have heard it before and if you had any thoughts on it. As I’m sure you know, the typical passage that is often cited in support of the papacy by Roman Catholics is Matthew 16:17-19. However, in more more recent […]

How would you respond to the charge that the account of Jesus burial is invented, because the Jews would not allow an idolator like Jesus a proper burial?

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

Question: How would you respond to people who say “The Jews thought Jesus was an idolater and therefore would not have allowed Jesus to have a proper burial”? Answer: I will allow what the Jews said of Jesus, as recorded in the gospels, and as recorded in Jewish writings in the first two centuries to […]

The Essenes Community Rule describes a prophet as well as two messianic figures. Does this suggest that the early church may have been mistaken about the messianic identity of Jesus?

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

Question: According to the Community Rule (1QS) 9:11 (DSS), [Editor’s note: This is a reference to a publication by the Essene group at Qumran in the first century AD, and was found among the Dead Sea Scrolls] there was an expectation of the coming of a “Prophet” and “two Messiahs”. Does this suggest that the […]

I believe one of the two witnesses of Revelation 11 was born about the time Israel became a nation again. What do you think of this?

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

Question: I have come to a conclusion that one of the two witnesses was born around the time that Israel became a nation again. Therefor he is anchoring the generation that will not pass away. This could mean that there is a lot more time involved before the rapture and tribulation take place. I call […]

How would you respond to people who say The divinity of Jesus was invented at the Council of Nicaea?

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

Question: How would you respond to people who say “The divinity of Jesus was made up in the Council of Nicaea”? Answer: This is an oft-repeated claim which is not supported by the evidence. It is true that the idea of Jesus’ divinity was in question at the Council of Nicaea, because a faction had […]

Which version of the letter of Ignatius to the Trallians do you use? Do you use the short or the long version?

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

Question: There is a long version and a short version of “Epistle to the Trallians” by Ignatius of Antioch. Which version would you use? Answer: I do not “use” the writings of early church fathers, in the sense that I use the inspired biblical books. I read them, and I study them, but I do […]

Why do Catholics do the rosary? Is this unbiblical?

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

Question: Why do Catholics use a rosary? Is this unbiblical? Answer: To be honest, I am not aware of the precise history by which what we now call the “rosary” developed. What we can say for sure is that it emerged out of a Catholic Church which had already firmly committed to the semi-deification of […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Is it true that, from the first century, there have always been at least small groups of true, faithful Christians in existence, as I have heard claimed?

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

Question: I’m wondering if there is any historical or biblical evidence behind there being a strain of Christianity that got it right throughout the centuries? I have heard Baptist apologists say that there is always a remnant (sometimes maybe only one person) with biblical truth. I have also heard mainline Church of Christers claim to […]

Tertullian said that Sentius Saturninus was the governor of Judea at the birth of Jesus. Was Tertullian right?

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

Question: Tertullian says that Sentius Saturninus was the governor of Judea at the birth of Jesus. Is Tertullian correct, or is he wrong here? Answer: I believe that Tertullian is wrong here. Saturninus ruled over Syria (and indirectly over Judea) from 9-7 BC, which is almost certainly too early for the birth of Jesus, which, […]

There are many parallels between the Ebionites and the Qur’an. What is your response to this claim?

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

Question: The Ebionites had very similar beliefs to the Koran about Jesus and the Bible. They believed that Jesus was merely a prophet (same in the Koran) and the Torah had been distorted with false texts. Specifically, laws relating to animal sacrifice were later corruptions (similar to the Koran). It makes me believe that the […]

Why did Jewish Christians take part in sacrifices in Jerusalem after the death of Christ? Were they not aware Jesus had paid the price for their sin?

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

Question: According to Christianity, the sacrifices mentioned in the Pentateuch are replaced by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, after which no sacrifice can take place, but the historical fact is that the followers of Jesus Christ went on participating in the sacrificial system of the temple in Jerusalem until its destruction in 70 […]

Bart Ehrman claims that Matthew and Luke invented the story of Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem. Your response?

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

Request: Thank you for responding to my earlier question regarding the blog post written by Bart Ehrman on Messianic Prophecy. Your answer was very helpful and I learned a lot from it. click here for article I was wondering if you could respond to one of his claims he makes later in the post. Ehrman lists […]

Please respond to an article by Richard Carrier in which he claims that Mark made up the empty tomb.

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

[Editor’s note: The article below concerns an article the inquirer found by Richard Carrier. Carrier is an atheist who tries to present himself as a scholar, but who writes fantastically poorly reasoned nonsense. My suggestion: Do not waste your time reading his blog, but it is up to you.] Request: Could I ask you to […]

Do you know any quotes from the church fathers which reference infant baptism? Why do people ignore Augustine, who taught this doctrine?

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

Question: It’s is common knowledge that the early church held to what is called baptismal regeneration. We can find this through quotes and epistles from the fathers. What about quotes on infant baptism? I’m sure you’ve read a few that can supported infant baptism. What is your response to these quotes? Also, if we are […]

Who is right in the age-old controversy over whether the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father of from the Father and the Son?

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

Question: I have a Catholic vs. Orthodox Church-based question… Does the Holy Spirit proceed from the Father or the Son and the Father? Where in scripture can we find an answer and what are your thoughts on this? Answer: It is not my job, or even my desire, to clear up a controversy between these […]

If the story of the woman caught in adultery in John 8 is an interpolation, does that mean it is not inspired and that we ought not to teach from it?

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

Question: My question is about the story in John’s gospel about the woman caught in adultery. This has always been one of my favorite, go-to, stories about Jesus to share with people. So, I was pretty disappointed when I learned from a textual critic standpoint that the story is very weak and was likely a […]

Is the story of the woman caught in adultery in John 8 a legitimate, inspired story? I have heard doubt about it being in the original of John.

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

Question: My question is about the story in John’s gospel about the woman caught in adultery. This has always been one of my favorite, go-to, stories about Jesus to share with people and to teach on. So, I was pretty disappointed when I learned that from a textual critic standpoint that the story is very […]

Please respond to a recent post in which it is claimed that resurrection was a “hot topic” at the time of Christ and that the church claimed it for Jesus for this reason.

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Church History, End Times, General, Q & A, Resurrection of Jesus .

Question: Please clear up for me the discussion below I found on line in which the writer tries to argue that the resurrection of Christ was invented by the later Christians for religions reasons: Christian apologists and conservative scholars have tried to argue that, while there was a belief in a coming general resurrection, the […]

Can you discuss recent claims that Galatians 1:19 (mentioning James, the brother of Jesus) is an interpolation?

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

Question: Could you please make a response to this atheist who claims Galatians 1:9 is an interpolation?https://vridar.org/2011/06/03/a-case-for-interpolation-does-not-rely-on-manuscript-evidence/ Response: First of all, I am pretty sure you are talking about Galatians 1:19, not Galatians 1:9. This question has been “out there” in the internet lately, so I assume you made a little error in your question. […]

Do you agree more with the Roman Catholic or the Protestant view of authority for truth?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Bible Interpretation, Church History, General .

Question: I’ve come across this interesting question that Catholics love to argue for… if we all interpret the Bible a specific way and we can even agree or disagree with certain church fathers, who’s interpretation is correct? Holding to “sola scriptura” seems like it comes down to someone’s word vs someone else’s word at the […]

Is baptism “in the name of Jesus Christ” as opposed to in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit the only valid means? Why the contradiction?

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

Question: Some Apostolic-Pentecostal Christians claim that being baptized “in the name of Jesus Christ” (Acts 2:38) is the correct form of baptism, and disregard baptism in the name of the Trinity (Matt. 28:18-20). They claim that there is a great importance concerning what you are baptized into. My question is this: are these baptisms the […]

Is baptism a metonymy, and is this a valid reason to support the Baptists’ view of baptism?

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

Question: I read several early church father quotes on baptism, A Baptist’s view on this would simply be that baptism is a metonymy. [Editor’s note: A metonymy is a smaller thing used as a symbol of a greater thing. For example, “bread” is used as a metonymy for all food in Deuteronomy 8] In the […]

Why do you reject the doctrine of Original Sin? What about Augustine vs. Pelagius?

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

Question: I read your post on original sin and have several issues/questions on the matter. No offense but I don’t believe that your interpretation of original sin is accurate. It seems to me that original sin is more of a human nature issue. Adam sinned, we all have the desire to sin, or we all have […]

Could Donald Trump be the Beast from the Sea, and Elon Musk the Beast of the Earth in Revelation 13? Maybe MAGA hats are the mark of the Beast.

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

Question: I have some Bible questions for you that I’ve been trying to figure out from Revelation 13 as it appears those events are now happening. I’m sure you’re familiar with “One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed.” from Revelation 13. […]

Do you believe in universalism? The original bible scriptures supported this.

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

Question: Are you a believer in Christian Universalism (restoration of ALL) Apocatastasis rather than Unitarian Universalism? I believe the Bible in the original writings support this. You mention in some of your writings you believe in heaven but don’t mention hell. Hell–meaning eternal, conscious torment for all who don’t believe in Christ. To me that […]

I need some deep Bible study to counteract the heresy of reformed theology and the false teaching that baptism is not essential for salvation.

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

Comment: I have been questioning reformed theology for a few years. I have many books with historical evidence to show others why it’s heresy. I am in need of a deluxe Deep Bible study to combat this disease called reformed theology. Historically, I have traced back to Zwingli as one of the main culprits in […]

Please respond to the claims of a famous Jesus-as-myth supporter.

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

[Editor’s note: I am doing the reverse of what I normally do here. The question is so long, that I despair anyone would read to the end of it to find my response. So, I am doing something that might be a bit confusing here, which is to publish my response before the question] Response: […]

Jewish Christianity is the actual Christianity, as Jesus and all the early Christians were Torah-observant. Your response?

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

Question: Jewish Christianity was the actual Christianity because Jesus was thoroughly Jewish, kept the Torah, and never disciplined [editor: discipled?] the Gentiles. The earliest Christians were all Torah observant Jews and saw Jesus as their Messiah, nothing else. Jewish Christianity, which emphasized keeping the Torah (among other ideas), came into conflict with Greek and Latin […]

Did Alice Whealy prove that the Arabic fragment of Josephus by Agapius was not a translation of the Syriac, and that it does not support the authenticity of Josephus’ testamonium flavianum?

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

Question: Did Alice Whealey prove conclusively that Agapius was translating the Syriac edition not of Josephus, but of Eusebius and did she refute the thesis that the Arabic fragment of the Testimonium supports its authenticity? Answer: I have not read Alice Whealy’s discussion of the Testamonium Flavianum in its entirety. In fact, I have only […]

Six more objections to the reliability of the gospels.

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

Question: Thank you very much, Dr. Oakes. Thank God I found you. There are also 6 more objections I found and was wondering what you think of these: [Editor’s Note: This is a follow-up to fourteen previous questions from the same person. The answers are interspersed between the questions.] 15. The historians who supposedly offered […]

Fourteen questions about the reliability of the New Testament answered.

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

Editor’s Note: This is a series of 14 questions, so I disperse my answers after the questions. Most of these criticisms are already refuted elsewhere at the web site, but since this poor unfortunate believer has been assaulted with so many false claims, I am including answers to all of them below. My responses are […]

What is the evidence that the very early church believed in the virgin birth of Mary?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Church History, General .

Editor’s Note: The list of questions is long enough that I have interspersed the questions and the answers. Questions and Answers: 1. Are there any early church fathers preferably from 1st mid-century to the 2nd century who discussed the virgin birth of Jesus in their letters or literature? Yes, definitely. Ignatius in his Letter to […]

What percentage of the New Testament Greek text can be reproduced from early church father quotations?

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

Question: Up to what percentage can we reconstruct the New Testament text/ content from early church fathers’ quotations/citations? And I want to know from when in the church’s history did believers start using NT scriptures as a base to preach the Gospel as we do now in our churches. When did Christians start having serious […]

Your refutation of claims that the story of Jesus was plagiarized is drivel and beyond ridiculous.

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

Question: I just read your refutation of Jesus being plagiarized off of previous Mediterranean deities and I must say you cannot believe your own drivel. To argue that it couldn’t be plagiarized because only portions of the stories are similar is beyond ridiculous. I have several questions for you: 1) Was Jesus the first deity born […]

We have a perfectly preserved Greek text and the KJV is an inspired translation. Your response?

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

[Editor’s note: This exchange is part of a longer discussion in which the questioner believes that there are literally no mistakes in either the Greek text or in the King James translation of that text.] Comments and Questions: I just wanted to thank you for responding so quickly again and wanted to say a few […]