Question: Is it true, as said by Bart D. Ehrman, that the early church father Papias of Hierapolis ,who lived around 120-140 A.D , is not referring to our Mark or our Matthew of the gospels of the/our Christians Bible?   He (Bart D. Ehrman) said that there are very solid reasons that Papias of Hierapolis […]

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Question: Muslims say that Jesus did not die on the cross. Is there any historical evidences to their (Muslims)claims? Answer: First of all, the fact that Muhammad claimed Jesus did not die or was not resurrected has a problem up front.  Muhammad lived nearly six hundred years after Christ.  How would he know anything that […]

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Question: How can we really know for sure that the Gnostic gospels- The gospel of Thomas, the gospel of Philip, the gospel of Mary, the gospel of Judas, etc. were actually not written by the disciples of Jesus Christ? Answer: I suppose we cannot absolutely “prove” in the mathematical sense of proof that Thomas did […]

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Question: My friend asks if Jesus is the only parameter to get to heaven. Not everyone gets to know Jesus like some do in their privilege. So she finds it hard to believe in a religion that doesn’t give everyone a chance. When she asks how the people prior to Jesus were saved, she was […]

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Question: Bart D. Ehrman says that the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) of the Christians Bible  don’t have names attached to them. The early church fathers who quote these gospels don’t say anything about them  being Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.  Here is what Ehrman claims: 1.The gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) don’t […]

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Question: What are your thoughts on the 1995 radiocarbon dating performed on charred cereal remains found at Jericho’s (Tell Es-Sultan) Middle Bronze Age City IV which dated these remains to the 17th or early 16th century BC? (Link to report below) Many use this finding as a counter to Bryant Wood’s conclusion that the Middle […]

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Question: The Catholic Church says that we must be perfectly sinless before we can enter heaven. So we can’t go directly to heaven after death if we have sin in us because God does not allow imperfection to enter heaven.  Therefore the Catholic Church invented purgatory as a place to cleanse ourselves before we go […]

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Question: Scholar Bart D. Ehrman says that we have very scanty evidence and documentation of Jesus’ life. Bart D. Ehrman says that Jesus is never mentioned in any Greek or Roman, non-Christian sources until 80 years after his death. There is no record of Jesus having lived in these sources. In the entire first Christian […]

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[Editor’s note: The video in question is a lecture claiming that the most important manuscript of the Greek New Testament, Codex Sinaiticus proves that Jesus was never called Jesus in the New Testament (using Mark 1:1) and that his followers were never called Christians (using 1 Peter 4:16).  Feel free to look at the video […]

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Comment: I was reading some of your explanations as to why Paul was a valid apostle. I must disagree with you for a number of reasons.   You made this claim, “Paul is described as an apostle multiple times, both by himself and by others”  Paul describing himself as an apostle invalidates his claim because he becomes […]

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Question: It is said that Matthew and Luke have skirted around the obvious contradiction of Jesus’ conception; that Mary and Joseph were only betrothed and not married. Clearly, Virgin Mary would not have allowed Joseph to have sex until they were married. Thus, he must have raped her. This is covered up by using his […]

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Question: Please could you clarify the doctrine of original sin?  Some say there is such a thing as original sin and some deny this.  Why is it that believers, theologians and Bible students are unable to have a single conclusion about original sin? Please help me with my doubts about this.  1. What is the […]

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Question: An archaeologist excavating the underwater ruins of Alexandria’s ancient harbor turned up something of divine interest: a bowl engraved with what could be the earliest reference to Christ.  Scientists dated the bowl to between the late second century BC and the early first century AD. According to the team, the full inscription reads “DIA […]

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Question: Please tell me about Christianity when it comes to literacy: what about people who can’t read and write, do they have only to rely on what they hear? Is there any other way for those people to learn about Christianity without relying on other people’s interpretations? How can they know, verify or understand the […]

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Question: I am doubtful about Jesus’ purification of the temple in John 2:12-25 / Mark 11:15-18, were there two purifications or only one? Answer: There are three possibilities: 1. Jesus never cleansed the Jewish temple and these stories are all just made up in order to create a false narrative about Jesus. 2. Jesus cleared […]

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Question: I need help with an apparent contradiction in the gospels, because the disciples’ call is reported differently. In the synoptics they were called one way, and in John another.  I would like to know why this discrepancy actually happened? The passages I am having difficulty understanding are in relation to Matthew 4:18-22 (Jesus calls […]

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Question: In Mark 13: 25 there is “And the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken.” Here Jesus said stars of heaven shall fall….  According to astronomy and science stars will not fall but asteroids can fall, and when I google the idea some websites say stars […]

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Question: Could you help me to understand this apparent contradiction? Did Jesus ascend to heaven Easter evening (Luke 24:13-52) or forty days later (Acts 1:3-9)? This is one of the apparent bible contradictions which has led many skeptics to say the Bible is not the word of God. But I believe there must be a […]

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Question: Can you please explain the variation in the Bible between Mathew 8:28, Mark 5:1, and Luke 8:26-27 with regard to where the miracle took place and the drowning of the swine after casting out demons from a man by Jesus?  Mathew places the event in Gadara and Mark and Luke in Gerasa. They are […]

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Question: How should I respond to the false allegation that Jesus and Christianity were invented by the Roman imperial family, the Flavians (or by Titus Flavius) as claimed in a book Caesar Messiah by the scholar Joseph Atwill?  He also claims that the religion (Christian religion) was headquartered in Rome. Can you explain this to […]

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Question: I want to ask a few questions.   Is there any historical evidences that:   1. Jesus actually died on the cross     2   . The tomb (Jesus’ tomb ) was indeed empty on the third day and    3. Jesus actually resurrected from the death? Answer: Yes, indeed, there is evidence for the first two.  […]

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Question: I have heard that some early church writers interpolated several scriptures/verses into the New Testament: (For eg: Luke 23:34 was included by Irenaeus and Alexandrinus and others) Also, I heard it claimed that Luke 22:43-44, 22:19-20, 1 John 5:7-8, John 7:53-8:11,  Mark 16:9-20, and 1 Cor 14:34-35 are all interpolated. Apparently, New Testament scholars […]

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Question: Do you believe Adam had an alternative to not to sin or God has predestined the sin of Adam and Adam had not an alternative and he must only have sinned? Since our choices are determined by our DNA, our environment, our past experiences, our education (all factors we have not chosen) do you […]

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Question: A Jewish Rabbi said that the Hebrew Tanakh (Tanach) and the Christian Old Testament are quite different . It seems Tanakh is not an Old Testament. More so, he said that Catholic Church misinterpreted  several important verses (over and over) of the Old Testament to suits New Testament claims in order to make it fit […]

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Question: I have seen a line of thinking on social media that says “Christianity was made because people fear death/ was made for people who fear death. “ I don’t know if it’s because I personally fear death, but this view is really getting to me. Is there any insight or words you would like […]

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Question: Jehovah’s witnesses teach that no one goes to heaven after death. In proof of this they cite Acts 2,34 and they say that here Peter denies that David ascended into heaven and so if a man of God like David did not go to heaven it means no one go to heaven. Personally I […]

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Question: Jesus—who had no sin (Hebrews 4:15)—is said to be “perfected” (Hebrews 2:10). I can’t understand what Jesus was missing. What was still imperfect in him? Answer: The word translated as “perfect” from the Greek in the New Testmanet is teleos or teleon.  This word is not identical to the English word “perfect.”  It has […]

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Question: What is the meaning of “All Israel will be saved” in Romans 11:26? Does it teach that every single Israelite will be saved? If some Israelites are lost (for example Judas Iscariot) why did Paul say “All Israel will be saved”? Maybe Paul it referring to a future event in which every single member […]

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Question:  If Jeremiah 33 15 says that Messiah will sprout up in the days of Israel’s restoration doesn’t this contradict the time of Christ’s appearance? Answer: The timing and meaning of a prophecy is determined by the context.  Besides, many of the restoration prophecies in both Jeremiah and Ezekiel are what I call “double prophecies.”  […]

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Question: I have a question on your thoughts about Robert Eisenman who says that Paul was a Herodian? He gives evidences that both men in question were named paul/saul , persecuted and killed many , were of Herodian bloodline (Romans 16:11) .. the assertions here are pretty serious and I’d like advice on countering these […]

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Question: Question: If Jeremiah 33 15 says that Messiah will sprout up in the days of Israel’s restoration, doesn’t this contradict the time of Christ’s appearance Answer: The timing and meaning of a prophecy is determined by the context.  Besides, many of the restoration prophecies in both Jeremiah and Ezekiel are what I call “double […]

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Question: One area of Old/New Testament which I’m interested in is the genealogy of Jesus. Now what I’m wanting to find out is whether the genealogy of the line of David (as the Jews know the Messiah must come from his line) is still being recorded to this day? Is there any record of it […]

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[editor’s note: Tis is a pretty long, but nevertheless simple question. I hope you do not mind reading such a long question. My answer is below.] Question: In one of the articles at your web site someone was asking about how we can trust that the Bible came out correctly b/c it was written by […]

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Request: I had a conversation with someone who knocked on my door from a “nondenominational” church. They meet on Saturdays. Can you point me in the right direction to figure out why meeting on Saturdays matter?  Response: The answer is that meeting on Saturday does not matter.  Christians can meet on Saturday or on Sunday […]

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[Editor’s note: this is part of an interaction with a questioner who feels my treatment of Peter Enns’ book How the Bible Actually Works is not fair. The article is found here: https://evidenceforchristianity.org/a-review-of-peter-enns-book-how-the-bible-actually-works/ ] Question: I have worked my way through some fairly lengthy portions of your sermon at the Boston Church of Christ on […]

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Question: I am trying to understand how the early Christians viewed the Sabbath, how the non-Sabbath keepers justified a neglect of the fourth commandment and particularly if we can really be clear that God doesn’t intend for us to continue upholding the seventh day as a day of rest (doing no work, also taking into consideration […]

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