History

/Category Archive for "History"

wrote in Daniel, General, History, Q & A .

Comment: I googled “Is Darius the Mede real?” and your article was #1 on the list. https://evidenceforchristianity.org/if-darius-the-mede-daniel-6-is-a-real-person-why-does-the-cambridge-history-of-judaism-not-mention-him-as-it-lists-all-the-rulers-of-bablyon-after-the-persian-conquest/ But your article did not have the amazing and powerful evidence that is now available. So I want to share it with you. You can talk directly to the author of the book himself (I recommend it) to […]

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

Question: I came across this forum on Reddit about the Old Testament. It says that it is mostly oral histories rather than detailed written histories. See the comment by BigBennP.  https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/8k455b/there_are_two_places_that_i_know_of_in_the_bible/ He referenced Schinderman’s book that I’m quite familiar with.  I’m not sure if this is correct.  But if it is true, then I have to ask […]

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

Question: I have a question regarding the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. Do we know if the disciple Christians fled to the mountains like Jesus advised or did they participate in the Jewish-Roman war?     Mark 13:14-15  14 “When you see ‘the abomination that causes desolation’ standing where it does not belong– let the […]

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wrote in Anthropology, Archaeology and the Bible, General, History, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: I have a question regarding the biblical history of humanity and the archaeological view which has been bugging me lately.  Allow me to explain: In the early chapters of Genesis, there is evidence of human agricultural activity (Gen 2:15) (Gen 4:2) before the Tower of Babel incident which spread humanity across the face of the […]

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wrote in Daniel, General, History, Q & A .

Question: It is my understanding that Octavian, otherwise known as Augustus died in Rome.  This does not seem to agree with Daniel 11:45 and therefore does not support him as being the final “King of the North.” What do you say about this? Thanks and God bless. Answer: You are doing a great job here of […]

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wrote in End Times, General, History, Other Religions, Q & A .

Question: Since the announcement from Trump that he would move the US embassy to Jerusalem, there has been an uproar in the media about how this pushes back the effort for peace between Israel and the Palestinians. I am aware that the Jews have violated human rights in the occupied West Bank, but somehow deep […]

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wrote in Archaeology and the Bible, General, History, Q & A .

Question: I have a question about some archaeological information regarding the Exodus. I recently saw some information that is out there that puts the original Mt. Sinai in western Arabia near Midian. It is specifically mentioned in Exodus 2 and 3. Archaeologists know where the ancient city of Midian was located and when they went […]

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wrote in Church History, General Apologetics, History, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: I found this article particularly interesting due to the impact it may have on a historical interpretation of Revelation. I am not familiar with much of the evidence the author uses to support his perspective but I do understand the bottom line. In short the author claims that there was no Domitian persecution of […]

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wrote in Church History, General, History, Q & A .

Question: When was Paul killed? I’ve heard one person say AD 64 and someone else say AD 67. Also why was he killed? Answer: Here is the simple answer.  No one knows.  There are two general opinions, as you have heard.  One is that his imprisonment in Rome, as described by Luke, led to his […]

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wrote in Archaeology and the Bible, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, History, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: In Jeremiah 45, God says that Egypt will fall and most all the remnant of Judah will be destroyed.  How does this work historically?  I don’t see where Babylon invaded Egypt at this time in history. Am I incorrect? Thanks for clarifying. Answer: I assume you mean Jeremiah 46.  In this prophecy we are […]

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wrote in Bible Interpretation, End Times, General, History, Q & A .

Questions: I was confronted with these questions. Did Paul teach that the law was over by Jesus’ sacrifice? Also, when will the ten tribes come back to Israel? Answers: Not sure if I would say it exactly that way:  “the Law was over by Jesus’ sacrifice.”  What Paul did say is, “When you were dead […]

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wrote in Archaeology and the Bible, Daniel, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, History, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: I am happy to find your resourceful website and I hope you can help solve my puzzle.  Why did the book of Daniel get all the history wrong from verse 11:35 to the end? I tried to find answers in your power point but you list the historical facts just up to 11:35. This […]

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wrote in Church History, General, History, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible, Resurrection of Jesus .

Question: Jesus is the pillar of Christian faith, I want to know, what are some evidences that show that he existed and not just fabricated? Answer: It has been argued that hardly anyone in the ancient world is more well attested to than Jesus of Nazareth. Within one hundred years of his life, at least […]

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wrote in Archaeology and the Bible, Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, General, History, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: The book of Ezra mentions that after Artaxerxes stopped the rebuilding of the temple that it began again during the reign of Darius. Is this Darius II that reigned after Artexerxes or is this Darius I and the Ahasuerus and Artexerxes mentioned in chapter 4 Cambyses and Smerdis? This is all a bit confusing. […]

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wrote in Church History, Daniel, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, History, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Comment: I’ve been reading your book “Daniel: A Prophet to the Nations” and I’ve been very inspired and overwhelmed by the very specific prophecies. I’m thankful for how God is using you to reveal his word to others. So suffice it to say, while I have a problem with your response to Daniel 11:36-45 my […]

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wrote in Archaeology and the Bible, General, History, Q & A, Science and the Bible .

Question:   [editor’s note:  This is a series of two questions from the same member of the same topic] I wanted to know if you know much about fulgurites and the evidence they give to support the reality of the ten plagues in Egypt?   How about this for a bible study?  Studying out about […]

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wrote in Bible Interpretation, General, History .

Question: I’ve been reading through the Book of Esther and some small nuances have caught my attention. One has to do with the background of Haman the Agagite.  Most websites I’ve found claim that he was a descendent from Agag King of the Amalekites from 1st Samuel 15. They say that his existence is a […]

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wrote in General, History, Resurrection of Jesus .

Question: Is there any evidence in Roman records of Jesus’ body being stolen? There is an account of the body being stolen in Jewish records, but what about Roman records?  Answer: The answer is no.  There are no ancient Roman records of Jesus’ body being stolen. We have the Roman Tacitus reporting in the very early second century that he was […]

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wrote in General, History .

Question: Were our founding fathers Christians? I tried to google this and I get secular answers and articles, saying that the founding fathers were Deists not Christians. Answer: I assume you are an American and are asking about the founders of the United States of America.  I have already answered this question, so I am […]

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wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, Church History, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, History, Reliability of the Bible, Supposed Inconsistencies in the Bible .

[Editor’s Note:    I recently answered a question about R. G. Price but, not knowing his middle name, thought the question was about a different critic of Christianity named Robert Price.  Interestingly, the positions of the Robert Price and of R. G. Price are actually fairly similar.  Nevertheless, I am a bit embarrassed and apologize […]

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wrote in Archaeology and the Bible, Bible Interpretation, Daniel, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, History .

Question: I read in a question at the web site concerning the prophecies of Daniel 11 in which you said that the Kingdom of the North which were the Seleucids become later identified as the Romans. Why is it that this change seems random as if to accommodate for the fact that Antiochus IV did […]

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wrote in Archaeology and the Bible, Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, Daniel, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, History, Reliability of the Bible .

Editor’s note:  This is a series of about ten questions.  For ease of following the arguments, I will intersperse my answers between the questions. Question: I stumbled upon a website known as “RationalWiki” which lists supposed unfulfilled prophecies of the Bible which deeply trouble me in my understanding of the Bible. The most difficult of […]

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wrote in Anthropology, Archaeology and the Bible, General, History, Reliability of the Bible .

Editor’s note:  The person making this inquiry included material found from a web site.  This material is included, unedited, after my response. Question: I have some questions concerning archaeology and the Bible. 1.) Why is there such an absence of evidence concerning anyone mentioned in the Bible prior to Solomon or David, there is virtually […]

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wrote in Apocrypha, Archaeology and the Bible, Daniel, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, History, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: I am writing to ask you a quick question: a Christian friend of mine shared his conviction that Daniel was not truly written  by Daniel, but was written some time in the second century BC.  I would like to know what are the arguments for and against this view, and the same for the […]

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wrote in General, History, Other Religions .

Question: Can you speak on ancient Kemetic religion versus Christianity?  Is there any connection between the two?  Was one inspired by the other? Answer: I do not know very much about the Kemetic religion.  Apparently, it is a modern phenomenon.  There is no evidence of Kemetism before the 1970s.  I already said that I do […]

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wrote in Church History, General, History, Reliability of the Bible .

Question:  Is there historical evidence that the apostle Paul was a real person?  Posted on May 12, 2013 by John Oakes wrote in Church History, General, Questions and Answers, Reliability of the Bible.   You gave no evidence for Paul being a real person.  I’ve searched and have yet to find any historical information outside of […]

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wrote in Church History, General, History, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: In the works of Celsus recorded by Origen, Celsus tells of a Jew he obtained certain information from concerning the possibility that Mary was impregnated by a solider named Panthera. In addition the Talmud records an individual named Jesus ben Pandera or Pandira. Does this affirm that the Jews knew who Jesus’ biological father […]

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wrote in Archaeology and the Bible, Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, General, History, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

QUESTION: Recently I was browsing an article on Wikipedia titled “History of ancient Israel and Judah” and I read some passages I extracted and wanted to know of you could tell me if there is any actual historical credibility to them. 1 The religion of the Israelites of Iron Age I, like the Canaanite faith […]

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wrote in Anthropology, Archaeology and the Bible, General, History, Q & A .

Question: Do the ethnic depictions of biblical figures matter?  I had a discussion with someone regarding an allegedly “white-washed and racist” depiction of biblical figures in a recent movie. Putting aside Hollywood or possible racial agendas, do we really need to be concerned about what color Bible characters are depicted as? Or could history provide […]

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

QUESTION: Other than in the Bible, do we have any historical evidence that Jesus’ body was put in a tomb by Joseph of Arimathea and that Pilate placed guards around the tomb? Answer: The simple answer is no.  We do not have external confirmation of this particular historical event.  What we have is the record […]

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wrote in Bible Interpretation, Daniel, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, History, Q & A .

Question: We have met in Berlin.  This is a topic that seems to have stuck with me since being a teenager (I am 34 now) and I would be very glad if I could have some exchange with you on this.  To equate the first three empires of Daniel 2 as Babylon, Medo-Persia and Greece is beyond […]

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wrote in Archaeology and the Bible, General, History, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: To your knowledge have there been any artifacts found in Herod’s tomb? Also, has there been archaeological/historical evidence found, out side of the Bible, of Joshua? Answer: A treasure trove of artifacts was found in Herod’s tomb. Here is a very brief introductory list, found at a web site (http://www.globaltravelerusa.com/artifacts-from-the-royal-room-inside-king-herods-tomb-on-display-at-jerusalems-israel-museum/) describing a museum special […]

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wrote in Archaeology and the Bible, General, General Apologetics, History .

Question: Dear Dr. Oakes, while Googling the use of maritime drogues (a storm drogue is “a device external to a boat, attached to the stern and used to slow the boat down in a storm and to keep the hull perpendicular to the waves”), I found a link to a page at your site entitled […]

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wrote in General, History, Reliability of the Bible .

QUESTION: This is probably a very common question, but concerning the census of Quirinius during the birth of Jesus. Luke does not use the term Legatus for Quirinius or Pontius Pilate, so how can we be sure that Quirinius was not being mentioned as governor? Was Quirinius translated as a governor due to his superior […]

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wrote in Bible Interpretation, Daniel, End Times, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, History .

QUESTION: Hi Dr J.  I have just clipped your interpretations of the four parts of the great statue in Daniel for my study: nice summary. But I have been struggling with the origin of the two beasts in Rev 13:1,11. Antichrist-beast comes from the sea – apparently the disorganised nations (whatever they are); but what […]

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wrote in Church History, General, History, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: I was just wondering if you could answer some of these questions. Keep in mind I don’t expect you to answer every single question but maybe a couple answers would help. I recently compiled most of the complaints from a very unusual website called Jesusneverexisted.com. Honestly at the end of the day none of […]

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wrote in General, History, Philosophy, Social Issues .

Question: I was trying to do some research on the claims that the founding fathers of the United States either believed in God and or were Christians.   I understand that the founding fathers were guided by secular ideas, and self, class, or state interests. Do most scholars believe that the fathers were deists, while other scholars […]

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wrote in Archaeology and the Bible, General, History, Other Religions .

Question: I have a roommate who I am reaching out to.  He said that the origin of the word “Christ” comes from the Indian God Chrisna [sic. he means Krishna] (didn’t give the exact spelling) and that ancient monasteries have record of Jesus coming from Judea. He quoted John 10:34. Where it says we are […]

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wrote in Archaeology and the Bible, General, History, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: There is some information on the Old Testament I found through an atheist and I think it’s very interesting.  It hasn’t harmed my faith but it did raise some interesting questions. http://www.theology.edu/ugarbib.htm This link implies that the God we know as God YHWH is actually a remnant of Canaanite mythology which was as you […]

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wrote in Archaeology and the Bible, General, History, Reliability of the Bible .

QUESTION: I really need help on the following-I was on a website recently that claims that Aaron’s feast day of the golden calf that is said to have occurred in around 1446 BC in Exodus was copied from a events that took place within the same time period (between 17-15 century BC) by a group […]

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wrote in Archaeology and the Bible, General, History, Reliability of the Bible .

Comment: I am currently reading your book “Reasons for Belief”. I’m not that far into yet but I wanted to point out that the passage that you use from Josephus to support the miracles of Jesus is considered to be a Christian interpolation and therefore not reliable. From what I understand, several passages from Josephus […]

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wrote in Archaeology and the Bible, General, History, Reliability of the Bible .

QUESTION: I would like to know about the accusations against the Bible. 1. The fallacies and inconsistancies that people claim are there… 2. How accurate do we know the Old Testament to be historically speaking. Response: It is impossible for me to answer the first question because it is too broad to address. What I […]

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