Question: What are your best biblical and historical arguments against the Roman Catholic doctrine of Purgatory? I am interested in hearing both sides and I would like to hear some insight from yourself as I do not believe you believe in Purgatory. Thank you for all you do and God bless. Answer: Honestly, you should […]
[Editor’s note: The question below is a follow-up from a previous one in which the questioner is quite surprised that a faithful believer would agree that Christians do not have access to a perfect text of the Bible, to which I replied about the textual evidence for the great (but not perfect) reliability of the […]
Question: In the thread below the author demonstrates that Israel’s idea of the Arabian tribes of the time was contradictory, and based on a 7th century BC understanding on how they worked. I’ll copy paste the comment here, but I implore you to read the entire thread. The question was “Where does the idea that […]
Statement: The incest story of Lot and his daughters is borrowed from Zoroastrian traditions of the incest performed by Jam and Jamag, who were brother and sister. Jamag took advantage of the intoxicated state of her brother and had sex with him. What’s your response? Response: My response is that this is so obviously a […]
Question: According to Jews, many of the Torah’s laws are entirely meaningless without further elaboration. Therefore, some type of “Talmud” was taught to Moses at Sinai together with the written Torah. This is what we know as the Oral Law. Thus, the wisdom and debates of the Talmud, in all their diverseness and variety, may […]
Question: In Genesis 18:21 towards the ending of the verse, God says “if not, I will know” when concerning the people of Sodom’s sin. Also, in Genesis 18:21 “I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me. And if not, I will know.” Does […]
Question: Authors of prophetic books added their fantasies into God’s word for e.g. 1) Gentiles will come over to Israelites in chains and they will bow down before them (Isa. 45:14). David Guzik affirms this in his commentary. 2) A Gentile nation or kingdom that will not serve Israelites will perish and be utterly ruined (Isa. 60:12). […]
Question: How was God created or how long has he existed? What does “I am what I am” mean? Answer: This is one of the classic questions, both of skeptics of Christianity, but also from some believers. It is a response to what is known as the cosmological argument, which goes like this: Premise: All […]
Question: My Muslim husband says: Why do Jews & Christians not have Hebrew manuscripts from before the Exile or 600 BCE which could verify that the DSS & Septuagint are exact copies of the original text? Why don’t Christians have the original Aramaic Gospel from 30 CE? Answer: Out of respect for the ancient text and […]
Question: I really enjoy the articles on the website. I was reading an article on Daniel at the website, and wanted to bring up a question about it regarding general Titus fulfilling v. 29 of Daniel chapter 9. If indeed it is more likely that it speaks about him, and the information we gather leads […]
Question: There were 12 tribes of Israel, who were given divine scrolls. They were called “Israelites”. Then how can one tribe [Editor’s note: I am assuming the questioner means Judah] represent the whole Israelites and their scriptures when 10 tribes are lost in history and what is the guarantee that the current OT was the […]
Question: The only evidence of the Septuagint translation is the pseudepigraphical letter of Aristeas. It says: “six elders out of every tribe of Israel wrote it.” First, 10 tribes of Israelites had already been lost in history a long time ago, before this time, which shows that this story is fabricated. Second, if they wrote, […]
Question: My teacher says: The current Gospels are not reliable because they were written in Greek, whereas the language of Jesus and his followers was Aramaic. Christians don’t have manuscripts from 40 AD in Aramaic. Further, when Titus destroyed Jerusalem in 70 CE, his speech was translated from Roman to Aramaic. It means Greek/Latin was not […]
Question: According to 1 Samuel 15:22, “Samuel said, Does the Lord take pleasure in whole-burnt-offerings and sacrifices, as in hearing the words of the Lord? behold, obedience better than a good sacrifice.” Therefore, the whole story of Jesus’ crucifixion is bogus and God didn’t order Jesus to do it. Your response? Answer: This statement is riddles […]
Question: We are told in the Talmud that an assembly of priests were about to reject the books of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Ezekiel because those writings were contradictory to the Law but a certain Rabbi had tried to reconcile them and they were preserved as “canonical”. Those three books are confessedly presented to us as […]
Question: Jesus was also a borrower who copied text from the book of II Esdras 1:30-33 and presented it as an inspired word. “I gathered you as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings. But now, what shall I do to you? I will cast you out from my presence. When you offer oblations […]
Question: St. Eucharius (3rd Century) said: “It is evident why we have not remaining the books which the Holy Scriptures approve of, because Judea having been ravaged by the Chaldeans, and the ancient bibliotheque being burnt. There remaining only a small number of the books which at present make up the Holy Scriptures and which were […]
There is a short prophecy appended to the book of Jeremiah in Ethiopic Bible which August Dillmann translates: A Prophecy of Jeremiah. And Jeremiah spake thus unto Pashur: But ye all your days fight against the truth, with your fathers and your sons that shall come after you. And they shall commit a sin more damnable […]
Question: Adam Clarke (1831) wrote a commentary on Jeremiah 8:8 that: It is too bold an assertion to say that “the Jews have never falsified the sacred oracles;” they have done it again and again. They have written falsities when they knew they were such. John Chrysostom (4th Century) wrote in his homily on Matthew 2:23 that: The […]
Question: Although the Isaiah scroll [Editor’s comment: The questioner is referring to the Dead Sea Scrolls] is similar in structure to today’s book of Isaiah, it contains alternative spellings, scribal errors, corrections, and other variant readings. Strictly speaking, the number of textual variants is well over 2600, ranging from a single letter, sometimes one or […]
Question: Why did Jesus not make efforts to stop the promulgation of apocryphal/pseudepigraphal books, for e.g. the apocalypse of Enoch, apocryphon of Ezekiel, apocalypse of Zephaniah, etc.? Answer: A good question. At the time Jesus lived, these books were NOT considered part of the Jewish canon. They were non-canonical but popular spiritual books. Toward the […]
Question: If Jesus’ followers were thousands at the time of crucifixion, why did they not save him? They were such cowards who let their Prophet/Messiah beaten by the Romans. Muslims were far more brave, whose 15,000 men fought against the Byzantine Empire’s army of 140,000 in 636 CE and captured the Christian Levant. Why were […]
Question: I read that in the 7th century, Christians of Najran interacted with Muhammad in Medina. The event of the mubahala (mutual cursing) took place to resolve a theological dispute between Muslims and Christians circa 632 CE by invoking the curse of God upon liars. The Christian delegation withdrew from the challenge and negotiated a […]
Question: What or who is the ark of covenant in New Testament? Catholics claim that Mary is the ark of the covenant because she carried God’s covenant in her body. What is your response? Answer: The Ark of the Covenant was the wooden box, covered with gold, that contained Aaron’s rod, a piece of manna, […]
Question: Christians deliberately corrupted the Jewish Scriptures to prove that Jesus is God, for e.g. they altered the translation of Isa. 9:6. They translate: “And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” but the Jewish translation is: “The wondrous adviser, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, called his name, “the prince of […]
Question: Jesus came to the Jews to show them the right path, which was unacceptable for them. The New Testament tells us that he brought the concept of “God’s Son” or “Human-God” which was not prophesied in the Jewish Scriptures. That’s the reason the majority of the Jews rejected him. Similarly, when Muhammad came to […]
Question: Ezek. 38:17 mentions the Israelite prophets who prophesied about Gog, but no prophecy earlier than Ezekiel’s prophecy talks about Gog. Then who were those Israelite prophets and why did Ezekiel not name them? Answer: I do not know for sure what prophets Ezekiel is referring to. He does not tell us. However, it is […]
Question: Are there any historians who write about Luke as a real person? Answer: Sure. There are many. Sir William Ramsay is one of the most famous to discuss Luke. Here is a quote about him: It is almost universally acknowledged that the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts were written by the […]
Question: Why did Peter boast about Jesus that all the prophets testified about him (Acts 10:43) although they have a meagre record of 15-16 prophets and among them Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Obadiah not talk about Jesus? What is your response? Answer: My response is that all the true prophets of Jehovah did in fact prophesy about […]
Question: I often hear Jesus Mythicists arguing that Paul believed Jesus was a celestial being who put on a body of flesh to be crucified by demonic powers in the heavens. Hence I ask: did Paul ever situate Jesus on earth? Answer: First of all, unless you make reference to an actual person who makes […]
Question: What are your thoughts on the tower of Babel; particularly on its historical reality? And also on the topic of the different languages? How should we interpret this? Answer: I believe that the Tower of Babel story is semi-historical. What I mean by this is that I believe that there was an actual city, […]
Question: I have a question regarding a man who was baptized in my local church for the forgiveness of his sins. We found out later that this man did not know about the passage in Romans 6:1-7 when he was baptized. How does this lack of knowledge of Romans 6:1-7 affect his baptism? Should this […]
Question: Could Jesus have received a proper burial by the Jews, rather than be tossed into an unmarked grave? Answer: The Jewish perspective is influenced by the passage Deuteronomy 21:23, which is referenced by Paul in Galatians 3:13 and possibly in 2 Corinthians 5:21. Here is the Deuteronomy 21:23 passage: (NIV) “If someone guilty of […]
Question: Jer. 23:6 does not talk about Jesus because it says: “this is his name whereby he shall be called, The Lord Our Righteousness.” Jesus was never called by this name or title in his lifetime as New Testament depicted. What is your response? Answer: As they say, lack of evidence is not evidence of […]
Question: Amos predicted that God will plant Jews in their own land, never again to be uprooted (Am. 9:15), but they were banished by Titus in 70 CE. Zechariah predicted that ten people from all nations will take firm hold of one Jew and say, Let us go with you, because we have heard that […]
Question: If John the Baptist was sure that Jesus was a Messiah (Matt. 3:14), then why did he doubt him in the other place (Matt. 11:3)? Does that mean NT accounts have contradictions? Answer: This question has troubled me in the past as well. It seems surprising that John the Baptist was the prophesied “one […]
Question: What does the Bible say about reincarnation? Answer: That is an easy question. The Bible says nothing about reincarnation except to deny the reality of reincarnation. In fact, the Bible quite specifically, denies the reality of reincarnation. Hundreds of passages could be used to prove the biblical reality that after this life we die […]
Question: Is there any scripture evidence for the way that Apostolic/Pentecostal churches operate in tongues today? Is it biblical for people to gather and have many different people in the congregation speaking in tongues at the same time? Answer: Let me be honest with you. This is a debatable matter. I have a rather strong […]
Question: Dr. Oakes, After deep study of the prophetic books, I come to the conclusion that, on one hand, the Bible portrays opponents of Jeremiah & Ezekiel as false prophets and blames them for lying, adultery and wickedness and, on the other hand, its accepted prophets did the same things for e.g. Hosea had an […]
Question: I have a serious question about the Bible’s authenticity. Why did the biblical Prophets borrow characteristics from Canaanite/Ugaritic epic poetry and apply them to Yahweh? For e.g., Nahum (1:4-6) and Habakkuk (3:14-15) describe God as an avenging warrior God similar to Canaanite/Ugaritic storm god Baal. Your response? Answer: First of all, you say this […]
Question: My question is about Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) In the case of a Christian married couple where the wife is said to be infertile, and doctor recommends ART. This means that the wife accepts a donor egg of which her husband’s sperm will be used to fertilize and eventually the embryo transferred to wife’s […]
Question: I read that: Deut. 18:15 is about Muhammad because he was similar to Moses, i.e. he brought law to, and war against non-believers, etc. The same is true of Isa. 2:2-3, which is about Mecca, not Zion, because millions of pilgrims visit Mecca but nothing like that happens at Jerusalem. Isa. 42:4 is not […]
Question: Jesus failed to bring universal peace (Mic. 4:1-4; Isa. 11:6-9) because, after him, bloodshed occurred multiple times in Jerusalem. Former dominion was not restored nor was kingship established as predicted (Mic. 4:6-8). What’s your response? Answer: Jesus fulfilled Micah 4:1-4 word-for-word and in detail. He died to establish the Church, which is the Mountain […]
Question: Theologian Bernhard Duhm (1912) wrote: “This process of editing the Prophetic Writings, with such added expositions, enlargements, and supplementation, went on to so large an extent that now no single prophetic writing exists in its original form. Indeed, more than once we find that what was originally not at all the work of Prophets […]
Questions: I have a few questions concerning baptism and repentance. For baptism my 3 questions are: If someone has repented and has made the decision to be baptized and make Jesus Lord of their life and is on the way to their baptism, and tragically dies in a car accident, is there any way to […]
Question: When did Mary worship first start? I’m trying to witness to my Christian Catholic friend who still prays to Mary. I asked SIRI and an article came up with your web page entitled: “Was Mary worshipped by the early Christian Church in 250 AD as my Catholic friend claims?” I would like to print […]
Question: Liberal Rabbi Mark L. Solomon says: “We have no way of knowing for certain the authorship of any of the Biblical books, including the prophecies in Neviim (Prophets), since they were probably based on oral teaching handed down for generations before being written down by anonymous scribes.” What’s your opinion? Answer: My opinion is […]
Question: Jesus had no need to prove himself Messiah through corrupted Jewish prophecies. Jews fabricated the concept of “King like David”. Those prophecies will neither be fulfilled in the distant future for Jews, not as the Davidic Kingdom will never come to exist. Indeed, Jesus came as Messiah to teach Jews to leave their worldly […]
Question: If the Levites and Priests already knew the criteria for recognizing the true prophet and false prophet (Deut. 13:1-5; 18:21-22), then why did false prophets flourish among Israelites? Why is there no mention of the execution of false prophets by the hands of Levites and Priests? Answer: The answer to this question is really […]
Questions: I’ve got a couple of questions. Some atheists and Jesus-mythers claim that a book like the Bible and the miracles in it are not surprising because during that time such writings and legends were common, with even serious historians like Tacitus adding miraculous or bizarre things to their writings. They say it was very […]
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