General – Page 5 – Evidence for Christianity

Please respond to an article I read which claims that Luke uses Greek idioms and puts them in the mouth of Paul, showing he is making things up.

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

[Editor’s note: I got a follow-up question from the same person. The second question and answer are below.] Question: I am a Christian who is going through some doubts about the Bible and I was wondering if you had any insight on the claims made on this article? https://bibleoutsidethebox.blog/2021/07/18/are-stories-in-the-bible-influenced-by-popular-greco-roman-literature/ Thanks [Editor’s note: In the article […]

What is the relationship between the Abrahamic Covenant and the Mosaic Covenant?

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

Question: What is the relationship between the Abrahamic Covenant and the Mosaic Covenant? Also, what is the relationship between the Abrahamic Covenant and the New Covenant? Are Christians still under the Abrahamic Covenant? Answer: This is a good question. I believe that it is (more or less) answered in Galatians 3:10-22. In this passage Paul […]

Christianity, Islam and Zoroastrianism: Which is the true religion and why?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Archaeology and the Bible, General, General Apologetics, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Other Religions, Q & A, Uncategorized .

Question: What would you tell someone who was having trouble figuring out which religion is the one true religion? What would you tell him if he said he believes it must be Christianity, Islam or Zoroastrianism but he isn’t sure which of these three is the one true religion and isn’t sure how he can […]

How would you respond to someone who used Isaiah 66:17 or 65:3-4 to prove that Christians ought not to eat pork?

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

Question: What do Isaiah 66:17 and Isaiah 65:3-4 mean? What are these passages about? How should we understand these passages as Christians? How would you respond to someone who says Christians shouldn’t eat pork based on these verses and that Christians will be judged by God for eating pork based on these verses? Those who […]

Both Daniel and Zechariah Ch 9-14 are the product of the Hellenistic era and have no messianic prophecies. Your response?

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

Question: Book of Daniel and Zechariah (Ch. 9-14) are the product of Hellenistic era. Jesus is not prophesied in them otherwise DSS would elaborate it. What’s your response to this criticism? Harrison: These are quite simply false statements. I assume that they are coming from a Muslim source. Muslims have a disingenuous approach to the […]

What are the Dead Sea Scrolls? Who were the Qumran Community? Who were the Essenes?

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

Question: What are the Dead Sea Scrolls? Who were the Qumran Community? Who were the Essenes? Answer: The Dead Sea Scrolls are hundreds of manuscripts found in about a half dozen caves in the desert hills to the west of the Dead Sea. Some are entire documents, and others are mere fragments. Most were on […]

Jesus did not fulfill Zechariah 9:9 because he is not a “victorious king of Israel.” He also did not bring in universal peace. He is not Messiah.

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Bible Interpretation, Daniel, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: Jesus did not fulfill Zech. 9:9 because a significant part of the verse speaks about the person riding as the “victorious king of Israel”. The passage explains that at that time, universal peace will be established. This is a key feature of the Messianic age, as we see in passages like Isa. 2:4; 11:1-9 […]

How can God allow his Messiah to be the descendant of immoral people like Judah and Tamar or David and Bathsheba?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible, Supposed Inconsistencies in the Bible, Theology and Doctrinal Questions .

Question: How God can allow his Messiah to be a descendant of immoral people i.e. Judah and Tamar, David and Bathsheba? Hadn’t scribes fabricated these immoral tales? Answer: Good question. One of the beautiful things about Christianity is that Jesus is the descendent of imperfect people. In fact, when Matthew recorded the genealogy of Jesus, […]

What are the main covenants in the Bible and how do they relate to each other?

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

Question: What are the main covenants in the Bible and how do they relate to each other? Answer: The five covenants in the Bible that most Christians will recognize as such are the following: The covenant with Noah Genesis 9 The covenant with Abraham Genesis 17 (or Gen 12, 15, 22) The covenant with Moses […]

Was Jesus ignorant of Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai? Why did he not cite them?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Other Religions, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

[Editor’s comment: This must be the Muslim biblical criticism of the day, as I have gotten five versions of this question in the last couple of days] Question: Was Jesus ignorant of Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai? Why did he not cite them? Answer: Jesus was well aware of the entire canon of […]

If the “experts” are right and the Bible is made up, full of errors and has been changed, then how can we trust what historians say about secular history?

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

Question: If so many experts and historians say the Bible is made up, full of errors, and has been changed, etc. then how can we trust what historians say about secular history? Answer: I assume yours is more of a rhetorical question than an actual one. You seem to be making a point rather than […]

Fifteen questions about the reliability of the gospels.

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Bible Interpretation, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible, Supposed Inconsistencies in the Bible .

Question: 1. If Jesus’s mission was to the lost sheep of Israel, why did he fail in his mission? And why did Jesus prohibit the gfrom being preached to the Gentiles during his ministry but after his ‘resurrection’ tell them to preach the Gospel to the whole world? If Jesus really had made the latter […]

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

Dr. 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 […]

Trinitarians interpret John 8:58 to be a claim of deity by Jesus, but this is a mistranslation/misunderstanding of the text.

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

Question: Trinitarians claim that Christ was declaring Himself to be God in John 8:58, but this sentence is not translated accurately. The New Jerusalem Bible has translated the phrase in Exodus 3:14 “I am that I am” from “Ehe’ye asher ehe’ye” (Hebrew) as “I am He who is: Ego eimi, Ho on” (Greek). The Divine […]

What are your thoughts in “The Voice” translation of the Bible?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, Q & A, Versions of the Bible .

Question: What is your opinion of The Voice translation? Answer: I have not yet read from The Voice translation. From what I have read about it, this translation was created using 125 scholars, but also artists and other creative people. There appears to have been some solid scholarship behind the translation. The intent was to […]

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

Dr. 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 […]

How did Joel, Amos, Micah, Zephaniah, Habakkuk and Malachi recognized as prophets?

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

Question: The Bible doesn’t tell us how Joel, Amos, Micah, Zephaniah, Habakkuk, Malachi, etc. proved themselves as prophets in the eyes of their contemporaries. Their alleged prophecies were fulfilled, according to the NT authors. Before then, what was their status? Answer: This is a good question. The answer is that we do not have access […]

Robert Carroll says that Hosea, Amos, Isaiah and others were poets and were not thought of as prophets until the exile. Your thoughts?

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

Question: According to Robert Carroll and Auld: Hosea, Amos, Isaiah, etc. were poets and were NOT thought of as prophets until exilic times. The collectors of their words labelled them “prophets”. The Koran also does not mention them except Jonah. What are your thoughts? Answer: My response is this: Why do we listen to people […]

How do you explain that Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Nahum, Zephaniah, Habakkuk and Haggai do not mention a “single person” who is Messiah?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, Q & A, Uncategorized .

Question: Several prophets make no definite promise of a “single person” as the Saviour; such as Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Nahum, Zephaniah, Habakkuk, Haggai, the Deutero-Isaiah. All didn’t have a perception of the future salvation in connection with an individual. Dr. Oakes, What is your response? Answer: First, I ask the one who is posing this […]

Is Zechariah 9:8 a false prediction by Zechariah about God protecting Israel?

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

Question: Zechariah Ch. 9:8 says: “But I will encamp at my temple to guard it against marauding forces. Never again will an oppressor overrun my people, for now I am keeping watch.” But in reality, Jerusalem was soon overrun by the Persians, the Greeks, and the Romans, who utterly destroyed the second temple in 70 […]

Prophecies need to be specific. Why hide a messianic prophecy in Isaiah 52-53 in a passage about Israel, causing confusion?

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

Question: Prophecies need to be specific. There was no need to hide the promised messiah within a passage that was also speaking about something else, for e.g. if Isaiah had an intention of speaking about the Messiah, it would’ve been nice had he said it clearly, instead of using the same moniker to identify both […]

How do you explain that Isaiah 53 borrows biographical details from Jeremiah?

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

Editor’s Note: The questioner mentions “Deutero Isaiah.” There is a commonly-accepted scholarly opinion that Isaiah only wrote Ch 1-39, and that Ch 40 onward was written after the exile by another author. This theory is somewhat speculative, but has some reasonable evidence supporting it. The author is assuming presuppositionally that the theory is true. Question: […]

If the gospels are eyewitness accounts, why do Matthew, Mark and Luke just copy each other?

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

Question: If the gospels are eyewitness accounts then why is it clearly evident that Matthew, Mark, and Luke just copied each other? There are so many verses that are exactly the same and that doesn’t make sense if they were based on different eyewitness accounts. If you could help explain this to me that would […]

Did the concept of a Messiah develop only after the exile, when Jews had lost all hope?

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

Question: Sir, George Athas writes in his book “Deuteronomy: One Nation under God” that Yahweh continued to send prophets to Jews even after they returned from exile. However, they were never able to reinstall a Davidic heir as king. Foreign kings ruled over the Jews at that time. This frustrated Deuteronomy’s condition that Israel’s king […]

Is Genesis 1:26 (“Let us make man in our image”) evidence of the trinity?

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

Question: What is the meaning in Genesis 1:26 where God says, “Let us make man in our image”? My NIV study notes that “us” refers to members of His heavenly court? I was always led to believe it referred to the Trinity. Thank you Answer: Commentators give three possible interpretations of the words “us” and […]

Does Genesis 9:3 demonstrate that before the Fall, humans and animals were vegetarians?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Bible Interpretation, Creation, General, Q & A .

[Editor’s Note: This Q & A is a follow-up to an earlier question regarding Genesis 1:30 in which the questioner proposes that before the “Fall” of Adam and Eve, both humans and animals were vegetarian.] Question: Isn’t Genesis 9:3 problematic? God says that “Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you. Just as […]

God and Science in Merced

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, PowerPoints, Q & A, Science and the Bible .

Dr. John Oakes gave a lecture on God and Science at UC Merced for the Alpha Omega club Feb. 2, 2023. PPT and audio are here: Science and the Bible PPT God and Science Audio

Andrew Davidson claims that the OT prophetic books were created from scattered fragments of anonymous authors–that they were not written by the prophets such as Isaiah and Jeremiah. Is this true?

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

Question: Andrew B. Davidson (1902) wrote that Scribes were arrangers of the scattered fragments, many of them anonymous, existing in their time. They arranged small anonymous prophecies under general headings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Zechariah, just like all Psalms were gathered together under the name of David. Dr. Oakes, is it possible that anonymous prophecies became part […]

Did the Last Supper happen on Thursday or Friday? What day of the week does the Jewish Passover fall on?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Bible Interpretation, General, Prefigures and Foreshadows, Q & A .

Question: Thank you for taking my question, My question is about the meal talked about in Exodus, that was eaten in haste, in which they ate the lamb they sacrificed. My question is this: in Jesus’s day, would that meal have been eaten on Friday night? Is that called the Passover meal? If it was […]

Why do Christians no longer have to follow the Old Testament laws?

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

Question: Why don’t Christians need to follow the Old Testament Laws (especially the Old Testament Civil Laws) anymore? Answer: Christians do not need to follow the Old Testament law because Jesus fulfilled the Law (Matthew 5:17). Jesus replaced the Law of Moses with the Law of Christ (1 Corinthians 9:21, Galatians 6:2). The requirements of […]

What are some of the problems with believers trying to set up a Christian theocracy?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, Practical Christianity, Q & A .

Question: What are some key problems with Christian theocracy? Why shouldn’t Christians seek to have a Christian theocratic nation? Answer: There is no direct statement in the New Testament which commands Christians to not create a theocratic state. If believers in some country decided to found a state based wholly on Christian principles, I suppose […]

How would you respond to claims that Islam is the best religion (for several reasons listed in the question)?

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

Question: How would you respond to these common claims that Muslims make with the intention of trying to show that Islam is true i.e. the one true religion 1) ‘Islam is not a religion in the common and distorted sense, for it does not confine its scope to one’s private life. It is a complete […]

Is there any evidence for the tearing of the curtain when Jesus died from non-Christian sources? Revisited

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

Editor’s note: I answered the question above in 2011. At that time, I had no knowledge of non-Christian sources supporting this claim, and said so. However, a visitor to the web site has shared with me an article which does provide good support from a Jewish source in the first century that there was a […]

How can we say that the prophecy in Isaiah 42:2 applies to Jesus, given that he did cry out for people to repent, he cleansed the temple and he argued with the Pharisees?

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

Question: How can Isaiah 42:2 apply to Jesus when he did cry out for people to repent, cleansed the temple and argued with the Pharisees? Response: I suppose you have a point here if we take Isaiah 42:2 to be literal. Clearly Jesus “shouted” at times, otherwise how could his teachings to groups like the […]

Do you have any apologetics material in Russian?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, General Apologetics, Q & A .

Question: Do you have any apologetic resources in the Russian language? My sons are adopted from Ukraine, and are very skeptical about Christianity. They believe it is all “fake” and unsupported by any logic or science. I think some resources could help them immensely, especially videos because they are not avid readers. Thank you very […]

In Joseph’s second dream/prophecy of the sun, moon and eleven stars, who does the moon represent?

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

Question: I have some questions regarding the interpretation and fulfillment of Joseph’s second dream. 1. What do the sun, moon and 11 stars represent in the dream? 2. Was Jacob right at the interpretation of Joseph’s second dream? 3. If Jacob was sun, 11 stars were 11 sons of Jacob, then who was moon? Do […]

Which is correct on the time from Adam to Abraham–the Masoretic text or the Septuagint?

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

[Editor’s Note: This is a two-part question, as the one asking clarified his initial question] Question: Can you explain to me why there is such a difference in the Genesis 5 and 11 chronologies of the antediluvian and post-flood patriarchs? I understand there is about 1380 years difference between the Septuagint and Masoretic translation texts, […]

You suggest that the young earth idea is a Calvinist invention. What about non-Calvinists who reject evolution? How do you respond to them?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Anthropology, Creation, General, Q & A, Science and the Bible .

Question: This question pertains to your response regarding “Evolution” posted on September 15, 2022. I was somewhat surprised that you weighed in on Calvinist theology as the question was not overtly suggestive of that theology. (I was once espousing that theology until I came across your website). But that made me curious of what you […]

How do I respond to my fellow Africans who say that Christianity is the religion of the colonizers, and therefore reject Christianity in favor of worshiping ancestors?

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

Question: I’m from Cameroon, Africa. I mention this because having been to Africa and in Cameroon in particular you may have noticed that many African families still worship ancestors. The reason for this is that The Bible was one of the powerful tools European Countries used to Conquer Africa. SO my question is: HOW CAN […]

If humans evolve, would we be a different species 100 million years from now? If evolution is true, what about birds before land animals in Genesis 1?

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

Question: I have a few questions about evolution and the Bible. First of all if we evolved then in 100 million years could humans have evolved into a different animal like how apes apparently evolved into humans? Secondly if evolution is true then that means there were land animals before birds but the Bible says […]

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

Dr. 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 […]

Evolution means that there was death before Adam sinned, but the Bible teaches that there was no death before sin. Evolution cannot be true, biblically.

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Bible Interpretation, Creation, General, Q & A, Science and the Bible .

Question: I have a few questions about evolution. First of all evolution means death of animals before sin and that is super inconsistent with the Bible and there is no way God would allow death and suffering. And the last thing is if we evolved over time couldn’t we humans evolve into something else? Would […]

Isaiah 42 does not talk about Jesus, as proved by the quote “and the isles shall wait for his law,” which Jesus did not bring

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

Question: Isaiah 42 does not talk about Jesus if you read with a broad mind, because KJV says. “and the isles shall wait for his law.” But the truth is Jesus did not bring new laws for Jews and he never nullified the laws of the Torah. Paul, who never met Jesus, distorted the true […]

If we don’t know who wrote the gospels then why should we trust them? Since their anonymous I don’t know if I can.trust them.

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

Question: If we don’t know who wrote the gospels then why should we trust them? Anyone could have just made them up. I want to be able to trust the gospels but since their anonymous I don’t know if I can. Answer: First of all, we very likely DO know who wrote the gospels. It […]

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?

Dr. 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.

Dr. 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 […]

I read your article on baptism. What happens to believers who are not baptized, such as the person on the cross who repented?

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

Question: I was reading your article on baptism and have a question. What happens to believers who are not baptized e.g the person who repented on the cross next to our Saviour? Answer: The person who repented on the cross is not a particularly helpful example for your question for a couple of reasons. First […]

A Muslim friend claims that Moses and Joshua were violent men, but that Muhammad was a man of peace. What is your response to this?

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

Question: Hello Dr Oakes. I saw a video about why Muhammad was far more peaceful than Moses. The man claimed that Christian’s don’t read the Quran and Hadith everyday in context from Muslim scholars, so we have no right to say Muhammad was violent or to quote the violent verses without historical context. But he […]

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?

Dr. 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: […]

The Ascension of Isaiah mentions the prophets Aged, Ananias and Josab. Why do they not have canonical status?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Apocrypha, General, Q & A .

Question; The Ascension of Isaiah mentions unknown Hebrew prophets named Aged, Ananias & Josab. Why did they not get canonical status? Answer: The so-called Ascension of Isaiah is an apocryphal book. One thing we can know with certainty is that it was not written by Isaiah (and therefore it is pseudepigraphal, ie. falsely attributed), as […]