General – Page 39 – Evidence for Christianity

Do you have any material on theistic evolution, the ideaology of BioLogos and Francis Collin's book "The Language of God."?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Creation, General, Science and the Bible .

Question: I am interested of what do You think about "theistic evolution" aka BioLogos? (including http://www.asa3.org/) I read a book of Collins "The language of God": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Language_of_God:_A_Scientist_Presents_Evidence_for_Belief and found it very interesting. As a PhD student, I am attending one course called "History and Philosophy of Science and Technology" and I have to write some […]

Can you explain the apparent contradictions in Stephen's speech in Acts 7 with Genesis?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, History, Reliability of the Bible, Supposed Inconsistencies in the Bible .

Question: I have a question regarding Acts 7:2-8. There seems to be contradiction between Stephen’s speech and the Genesis account. Verse 3 quotes the words of God to Abraham given in Genesis 12:1 and implies by its juxtaposition with v. 2 that this message came to Abraham "while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he […]

What is your take in the new information about the Dead Sea Scrolls, especially on the evfidence for a wider variety in the Hebrew text?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, General, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: I was just reading an article that Tov posted online regarding to the specifics of his statistics. If you have the time to look at the article right now or tomorrow I would greatly appreciate it. Here’s the url http://www.emanueltov.info/publications.html and the article I’m reading is under "collected papers 2008-Hebrew Bible, greek bible and qumran" […]

How do you feel about Emmanual Tov's criticism of the reliabilityof the OT based on the Dead Sea Scrolls?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, General, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: How do you feel about this comment on the Old Testament by an OT Textual Critic named Emmanual Tov? He claims that about 35% of the DSS biblical manuscripts belong to the Masoretic tradition (MT), 5% to the Septuagint family, and 5% to the Samaritan, with the remainder unaligned. The non-aligned fall into two […]

Does the hyrax chew the cud (as it says in Leviticus)?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: Does the hyrax chew cud? I know it is not a ruminant and it does not practice refection? J Answer: I have already gotten this question. I am copying and pasting. John Oakes Question: I was hoping you could give me a good answer why in Leviticus 11:6 the Lord told Moses that the […]

You say we are saved when we are baptized. What about the thief on the cross?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, Theology and Doctrinal Questions .

Comment: There is a question on your webpage about salvation and baptism, ("If a person on their death bed repents and cannot be baptized, would they be saved? "). You seem to believe that you are only saved after baptism. ie. ( " but there is a clear teaching in the Bible that, although we […]

Do animals have souls? Are humans immortal? (a question about the use of the Hebrew word nephesh in the OT)

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Bible Interpretation, General, Theology and Doctrinal Questions .

Question: Do animals have souls? Since i last wrote to you I have done some research on this subject. Although I don’t know any Hebrew scholars personally, I do have several books in which they have made contributions, also a copy of Vine’s expository dictionary of Bible words. What my research revealed is that the word ‘soul’, Nephesh in Hebrew, […]

Does Isaiah 53:8 imply that Jesus was celibate?

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

Question: I have a question regarding the translation of Isaiah 53:8 and whether or not Jesus had children. The only reference that I’ve found to Jesus never having children is in Isaiah 53:8; however the only translation that indicates such is the 1984 NIV, all other translations render it differently making no reference as to […]

What does it mean when God says "you are gods" in Psalm 82:6-8 and Jn 10:34?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Bible Interpretation, General, Reliability of the Bible, Theology and Doctrinal Questions .

Question: Psalm 82:6-8 as referenced in Jn 10:34 says "you are gods". What does this mean and who is speaking? Answer: This is a difficult question and these are difficult passages to understand and interpreet. Let me start with Psalm 82:6-8. "I say you are gods; you are all children of the Most High. But you […]

Many scholars claim that Paul did not write Ephesians, Colossians or the pastoral epistles. What do you think about this?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: I was wondering what you thought about the authorship of Ephesians, Colossians, and the pastoral letters (1 Tim., 2 Tim, and Titus). I’ve read several arguments against the authenticity of Paul writing these books. I was wondering what’s your point of view on the authorship of these epistles and why? Answer: It seems that […]

Biblically, do we have a soul, or are we a soul? Genesis 2:7 and Ezekiel 3:19 seem to imply that we are a soul.

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Bible Interpretation, General, Philosophy, Theology and Doctrinal Questions .

Question: Gen.2:7 says that "God proceeded to..blow into his (Adams) nostrils…and the man became a living soul." Elsewhere in the Hebrew text animals are spoken of as "souls" (Gen.1:20; Num,31:28 ect)It seems to me a soul is what we are, not something we have. Eccl.3:19 says that at death man has no superiority over the […]

What happened to the Garden of Eden? Where is it located?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Creation, General, Prefigures and Foreshadows, The Flood .

Question: What happened to the Garden of Eden? More specifically, is the Garden of Eden intact and located at some point on the Earth? Reading through Genesis shortly after The Fall of Man we see Adam and Eve no longer in the Garden, but I wonder what happened to this physical location? A few possibilities […]

What does the fact that Jude (vs 14-15) used 1 Enoch say about it being an inspired book?

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

Question: I wanted to ask you a question about several verses in the book of Jude. In Jude 1:14-15 Jude references an apocryphal book called 1 Enoch. I was wondering what you thought about this reference to the book of Enoch. And do you think that this might hint at an apocryphal book as being […]

Can you respond to the cartoon at the web sitehttp://www.martinspribble.com/2011/09/12/soldier-crab-is-hostile-to-religion

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, Miracles, Philosophy, Science and the Bible, Theology and Doctrinal Questions .

Question: I wanted to ask, how would you respond to a comment like this, done in the form of a cartoon: http://www.martinspribble.com/2011/09/12/soldier-crab-is-hostile-to-religion I know that it is useless to argue or to try to convince people who are blocked and refuse to believe anything about Christianity, but I was wondering if you had any thoughts […]

How do you know that the New Testament is inspired by God and that the church leaders made the right decision when determining the canon?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: Could you go into a bit more depth concerning the inspiration of the Bible. I’m aware that 2 Timothy 3:16 states all scripture is inspired by God, but because it’s in scripture, it’s circular reasoning. I’m aware of Jesus’ frequent quoting of the OT, so that’s not the issue. I’m also aware that the […]

Do you believe that the New Testament we have in our Bibles are similar to the original? (a reaction to a Muslim claim that it is not)

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, General, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: How do you feel about this article? http://www.islamic-awareness.org/Bible/Text/Bibaccuracy.html Do you believe that the New Testament we have in our Bibles are similar to the originals? Answer: This is an easy question. Yes, I believe that the best Greek manuscript we have today is virtually an exact copy of the original documents. I have a […]

Can you explain the difference between Genesis 46:27 and Acts 7:14? One says that 70 went to Egypt and the other says 75.

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, General .

Question: Please clear up for me a doubt about the difference between two scriptures. The scriptures are, Genesis 46: 27 – which says 70 members and Jacob went to Egypt, and Acts 7: 14 – which says 75 members and Jacob were invited by Joseph. Who are those 75? Name them one by one. Who did not go to Egypt […]

Can you explain the Baha'i prophecies I found at a web site?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, History, Other Religions .

Question: Can you explain the Baha’i prophecies in this website http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bah%C3%A1%27%C3%AD_prophecies Response: I have looked at these "prophecies" of Baha-ullah. To be honest, I am not all that impressed. For example, he predicted in the 1860s that the Ottoman Empire would fall apart. The reason this is not all that impressive is that by the […]

Can we be confident of our salvation in this life?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, Theology and Doctrinal Questions .

Question: Please shed light on the things that somehow make me feel uneasy. How should one know that he is already saved? Is it while we are still alive or when the judgement day appears that we can know we are saved? Thank you very much. Answer: I am afraid that this is a bit […]

Can we be sure that the NT documents were writte prior to AD 100? What is the evidence?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, General, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: I wanted to ask you how do we know that the New Testament epistles, books, and sermon(s) were written prior to 100 A.D.? I looked on Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dating_the_Bible) and the majority of the oldest fragments of some of the N.T. documents are from the 2nd to the 3rd century. How do we know for […]

Is Augustine's exegesis of Genesis Chapters 2 and 3 correct?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Bible Interpretation, Creation, General, Theology and Doctrinal Questions .

Question: Is Saint Augustine’s exegesis of the 2nd and 3rd chapters of Genesis correct? Do a Google search: First Scandal. Answer: No, it is not. I found the article you are talking about using Google. He makes a bit of a simplication to conclude that there are two points in Augustine’s exegesis of Genesis 2 […]

Any thoughts on the book "The God Part of the Brain" by Matthew Alper?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Anthropology, General, Philosophy, Science and the Bible, Theology and Doctrinal Questions .

Question: Any thoughts on the book "The God Part of the Brain" by Matthew Alper? Answer: Note: This book has as its thesis that religious thought is entirely the result of genetic/physiological causes which were created due entirely to evolutionary forces. It is published by Sourcebooks, Inc., Naperville, Illinois. There is a lot of good […]

Does the Baha'i faith claim to have fulfilled prophecies?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Daniel, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Other Religions .

Question: Does the Baha’i faith claim to have fulfilled prophecies? Answer: Yes, it does. The Baha’i faith began in the mid-nineteenth century, started by a Persian man by the name of Baha-ulla (actual name Mirza Hussein Ali). His work was preceded by a John the Baptist-like figure the Bab, who was also Persian. This religion […]

Did God "dwell" in the 2nd temple, given that there was no ark there?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, Theology and Doctrinal Questions .

Comment: I did a search on the dedication of the Second Temple and your article came up (below). I find the whole story of the second temple fascinating because there was, like you said, no direct evidence of the miraculous as in the first temple. One thing has always intrigued me and that is the […]

Is it true that Ezra was responsible for the final Old Testament canon? Is it possible that he changed the scripture to make it more "spiritual" as my religious studies TA told us?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, General, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: Is it true that Ezra was the individual responsible for the final Old Testament canon? I heard from my religious studies T.A. that he changed some of the Old Testament stories to seem a bit more "spiritual". For example the story of David, and the destruction of the fall of the first temple due […]

Why do Christians worship Jesus?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, Theology and Doctrinal Questions .

Question: Why do we worship Jesus? I was asked this question while sharing my faith, and I told him that Jesus had equality with God (Philippians 2). I would like to have a firm understanding so that I can articulate this to people who have the same question. Answer: Reasons we worship Jesus: 1. Because […]

You say that Clement quotes the gospels. This is pathetic and ridiculous. Where do you find these quotes?

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

Question: You write "All four gospels are quoted in patristic writings (a technical term which means writings by the early church "fathers.") before AD 100 in books such as the Epistle of Barnabus, the book of Clement of Rome and the Didache." There is nothing said about the four Gospels in the "Clement of Rome". […]

Where did the concepts of the soul, the afterlife and the triune God come from? Were they borrowed from Greek philosophy?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, Other Religions, Philosophy, Theology and Doctrinal Questions .

Question: Where did the concept of the soul, after-life, and triune God originate? Some say that the concept of the soul is only mentioned when David tries to stir up his troops before battle, giving them something great to hope for, that Heaven and Hell and scarcely mentioned in the Bible, and lastly that the […]

How should we interpret the Bible? Is there really just one sound doctrine?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Bible Interpretation, General .

Question: Is the Bible to be "Interpreted"? How is God’s word to be read? More specifically, what’s to say that one man’s interpretation of God’s word is more perfect than anyone else’s? Is it because we take into account the entirety of God’s law? Isn’t it possible for someone to read the entirety of the […]

Is evolution true? Do all living things have a common ancestor?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Creation, General, Science and the Bible .

Question: Is evolution true? Do all the living today have a common ancestor? Answer: Scientific theories, by their very nature, are never "true." The best one can do with any theory is show that it is consistent with the observable evidence. The answer is that the modern theory of evolution is a good scientific theory. […]

Is it possible that the disciples made up the story of Jesus? What about Matthew 27:9 and the 30 pieces of silver?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Church History, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Reliability of the Bible, Supposed Inconsistencies in the Bible .

Question: Is it possible that the disciples made up the story of Jesus? I have heard several claims that the disciples could have just invented a Messiah-like figure based the Old Testament prophecies that predict the Messiah. For example the the prophecy on 30 silver coins (which is explained in Zecharia and not in Jeremiah, […]

How can we explain the trinity to Muslims?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, Other Religions, Theology and Doctrinal Questions .

Question: Can you explain the concept of trinity? While Muslims believe in the Torah which we Christians and Jews do as well, they believe in a indivisible God. How can God be one yet be called trinity? Answer: Ihave already answered this question at the web site. I am copying and pasting a quick answer, […]

Is there a connection between Luke 11:29-32 and Luke 11:33-36?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Bible Interpretation, General .

Question: Modern Bible translations seem to suggest that Luke 11:33-36 is related to Luke 11:29-32. If this is true, I can’t figure out the connection. Please explain this to me. Thanks. Answer: I am very far from being the world’s expert on Luke 11:29-36. One thing I would point out is that the statement that […]

How do you explain violent, immoral acts of animals using Christian theism?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Anthropology, Creation, General, Philosophy, Theology and Doctrinal Questions .

Question: I want to start off by letting you know right away that I am not a Christian currently, though I haven’t shut the door on Christianity. I am a philosophical theist. I felt like it is fair to let you know where I’m coming from. If you don’t wish to help me because of […]

What about out-of-body-experiences? How do we intereret them?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, Supernatural .

Question: I had the following experience when I was about 13 years old and am wondering if the Bible speaks of such things, known as out of body experiences… I guess I had fallen asleep, I "awoke" looking down at my body laying in my bed. I immediately felt that I was above the floor, […]

Is baptism needed for salvation and for firgiveness of sins and getting the Holy Spirit, or is it a declaration you are a follower?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, Theology and Doctrinal Questions .

Question: Is baptism a mandatory step for getting salvation and only through it a person gets the Holy Spirit and the forgiveness of sins? Or is it an important step but it is for declaring that you are a follower of Jesus Christ? Answer: Biblically, there is no question at all about this. In the New Testament, […]

Can followers of Jesus forgive sin (John 20:18-25)?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Bible Interpretation, General .

Question: I was doing a study with a friend who raised the issue that since Jesus told his disciples in John 20:18-25 that they have the power to forgive to forgive the sins of anyone who sins, we as disciples of Jesus also have this power to forgive sins. How do you deal with this? Answer: […]

Given the Historia Augusta, we have proof that all the early histories about Christianity are a lie.

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

Comment: The Historia Augusta is an astonishing piece of bogus history. It is perhaps showing us a Roman sense of humour, but I think scholars are generally unaware of why it was done. There are 130 fake documents and they even invent sources that disagree with them. Sounds a bit like Christianity to me. The Flavians […]

Do you have a book to recommend on the time the Lord's Supper should be celebrated?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, Theology and Doctrinal Questions .

Question: I was wondering if you have any thoughts or might recommend a book(s) on the topic discussed in http://www.twopassovers.com/ There are some convincing arguments there on why we should observe the Lord’s Supper, during supper time of day one of the sabbaton, which is closer to the resurrection moment of Jesus… Answer: I spent […]

What is the best translation of the Qur'an?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, Other Religions .

Question: I recently listened to your message on Islam. You mentioned that if we email you, then you would point us in the best direction for getting a translation of the Koran. I also have a Muslim coworker so I need this as he recently engaged me in conversation to disagree with your message. Thanks […]

Is it true that "there is no evidence that the human soul has ever been out of the host body?"

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, Philosophy, Science and the Bible, Supernatural .

Question: Last time you had responded to my question when i forwarded the excerpt from Professor Vic Stenberg on his critic of D’Souza’s book: "Life after Death: The Evidence". I haven’t yet immerged myself into the Near Death experience and out of body experience, I wonder if you would say that he is correct that there is […]

Are logical arguments for the existence of God helpful?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, Philosophy, Theology and Doctrinal Questions .

Question: I am currently taking a Philosophy class and I am reading different arguments for the existence of God. For example, so far we covered Aquinas, Descartes,and Spinoza. Are the arguments by these philosophers useful for Christians arguing for the existence of God? Granted that Spinoza did not believe in the Judeo-Christian God, he did […]

Why was the gospel story only oral for so many years? How can we be confident that it is therefore accurate?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, General, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: I have been researching the historical reliability of the New Testament because I started having doubts about the Gospels. Fortunately I have found an abundant amount of evidence on the Gospels, and the historical evidence behind them. Some of the books that I have been reading are, "The Historical Reliability of the Gospels" by Craig […]

Whatcan you tell me about the book Urantia?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, Other Religions .

Question: What can you tell me about the book Urantia? Answer: This is a very interesting story. A most anonymous group produced a book commonly known as Urantia (It actually has a longer title) in 1955. They claimed that the book was taken down by direct dictation from a man who recited these letters while […]

If the universe is old, scientists are questioning the flood, yet Jesus and Peter believed they are literal, historical events, what should our response be?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Bible Interpretation, Creation, General, Miracles, Reliability of the Bible, Science and the Bible .

Question: I’m sending you this question in hopes that you can help me or at the least shed some light on these issues. In looking at what natural sciences (Astronomy, evolution, etc.) have seemed to reveal to us about the age of the universe and the development of life, it appears that the subsequent response […]

Is it true that Pope Gregory removed Hinduism from Christianity in the second century?

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

Question: I want to know why this scholar Sandra, said this in this site: http:/indiagestão.blogspot.com/2009/09/hinduismo-e-cristianismo.html partir do século II, os lideres cristãos resolveram enterrar a influencia hindu e São Gregorio destruiu publicamente deuses hindus, que passaram a ser considerados então, deuses pagãos. Lembrando sempre que o Hinduismo possui 7 mil anos e o cristianismo possui somente […]

Did Christianity evolve from earlier Hinduism?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, Other Religions .

Question: Please, I want to know if there are prophecies about other nations, and about India in the Hindu scriptures [editor’s note, I assme this person means to ask if there are prophecies of India in the Hindu scriptures], and why the Hindus say that a man in a white horse will came like a […]

How would you biblically show someone that God has given us free will because he loves us?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, Theology and Doctrinal Questions .

Question: How would you biblically show someone that God has given us free will because he loves us? Answer: Of course, the expression "free will" is not found in the Bible, but the idea that God has given us a choice and that we are therefore responsible for our decision about what to do with […]

Who put the Bible together, and what are the texts they left out so that it would not have contradictions?

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

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 […]

What is the nature of the "church age?" Will there be no pain and no tears?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in End Times, General .

Question: I am currently looking at other views from my previously held view of the end times – I am an ex pretrib – but am now seeking and checking other views. I am intrigued with the idea and reading that the 1st century church saw themselves in the end days of the Old Covenant – […]