History – Page 4 – Evidence for Christianity

It has been proved that Gilgamesh is older than Genesis. How can you say that we are not sure which came earlier?

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

Question: I was trying to get some quality, unbiased information regarding the evidence for Christianity when I stumbled across your piece on Genesis possibly being written by four different groups. https://www.evidenceforchristianity.org/index.php?option=com_custom_content&task=view&id=4962 I have to say, if your objective is to prove your side of the story than surely you will need to provide some evidence […]

Is the theory that Hebrew descends from Greek (Joseph Yehuda) correct?

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

Question: I am very iffy about this book that someone has mentioned to me which is titled Hebrew is Greek by Joseph Yehuda. This book is really hard to find, but the basic idea is that the Hebrew and Arabic languages are descended from the Greek language. I did research on the author, and what […]

Please explain the prophecy in Isaiah 45:14 about Cyrus, much of which was actually done by Cambysses?

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

Question: I was hoping you could answer my a question on Isaiah 45:14. It seems to say that Cyrus the Great would gain tribute or conquer Egypt, Cush and the Sabeans (which I believe are Ethiopians). But Cyrus the Great never conquered Egypt. Rather Cyrus’ son Cambyses invaded Egypt and conquered Egypt. He then tried […]

Is there any evidence outside the Bible for the tearing in two of the curtain when Jesus died (Mark 15:38)?

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

Question: In Mark 15:38 it says that the Temple curtain was torn in two from top to bottom. Is there any historical evidence that this actually happened: Either in some Jewish texts or some other credible writing outside of the New Testament? Answer: As far as I know there is not other written source confirming […]

How do you respond to a Rabbi's claim that the Jews are God's people (and therefore Judaism is the correct religion) because of their history?

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

Question: I am a Jew who lives in Israel, in recent times I began to wonder why my way, Judaism, is true. I talked with some rabbis, and their best claim against the other religion was that Judaism has survived thousands years. Despite all of the pogroms, anti-Semitism and the Holocaust, even though they were […]

Is there any evidence Bethlehem was occupied during the Herodian Period (when Jesus was born)?

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

Question: I recently read a report prepared by an archaeologist from the Israeli Antiquities Authority which stated that Bethlehem could not have been occupied during the Herodian Period (the time of the birth of Jesus Christ) because no ruins or other archaeological evidence from that period had been found in or around Bethlehem. He did […]

Many skeptics claim that Nazareth did not even exist in the first century. Is this claim true?

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

Question: I recently read a report prepared by an archaeologist from the Israeli Antiquities Authority which stated that Nazareth could not have been occupied during the Herodian Period (the time of the birth of Jesus Christ) because no ruins or other archaeological evidence from that period had been found in or around Nazareth. He did […]

Why was the field called the field of blood? (Matt 27:8) Is it because Judas died there?

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

Question: Why was the field called the field of blood (Matthew 27:8)? Is it because it was bought with blood money or because Judas died there? Answer: Because the Bible does not answer this question, we are left to make reasonable speculations. First of all, it is almost certainly not called this because Judas died […]

Who is the person that invades all those countries in Dan 11:40-45? Is this event still in the future because the Angel says 'and at that time' and then talks about the waking of the dead to everlasting life or shame?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Bible Interpretation, Daniel, General, History .

Question: Who is the person that invades all those countries in Dan 11:40-45? Is this event still in the future because the Angel says ‘and at that time’ and then talks about the waking of the dead to everlasting life or shame? Answer: I answer this in my book "Daniel, Prophet to the Nations." You […]

Esther 8:17 says people from other nationalities became aJews. Is that possible?

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

Questions: I have 3 questions regarding the interpretation of scripture. The first is in Esther 8:17 it states the following, "And many people of other nationalities became Jews because fear of the Jews had seized them." From my understanding in Jewish tradition, people from other nationalities (Gentiles) could not become or convert to Judaism. The […]

How do I respond to my cousin who claims Jesus is a myth?

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

Question: My cousin is an atheist and I had high hopes that he would read your article "How do I respond to the claims of parallels between heathen god/man myths…" and have new insight. However, this was his response "This article is because he says so it’s true. He doesn’t really make an argument to […]

How could Domitian subdue Galba if Galba was killed by Otho amd how could Domitian subdue Otho if Otho killed himself? (a reference to Daniel 7)

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

Question: How could Domitian subdue Galba if Galba was killed by Otho amd how could Domitian subdue Otho if Otho killed himself? I’m confused. Answer: I am not sure where you are getting your information. However, I assume you have read material critical of the prophecy in Daniel 7. This is the prophecy which predicted […]

How could Ashkenaz, Minni and Ararat conquer Babylon (Jer 51:27) if they had already been conquered or if they never even interacted with Babylon (Ashkenaz)?

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

Comment: In Jer. 51:27 it says that Ararat,Minni and Ashkenaz will attack Babylon. But the kingdom of Ararat(Urartu) was conquered by the Medes in 612-590. The Minni (Mannaeans) were conquered by the Medes in 612 and Ashkenaz is the ancestor of Germanic people they never attacked Bablyon. J Response: Do you have a question? What […]

What are the ten horns/kings that came out of the fourth beast in Daniel 7:8?

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

Question: What are the ten horns/kings that came out of the fourth beast in Daniel 7:8? Answer: The ten horns in Daniel 7:7 are the first ten kings/emperors of Rome. I know this because the angel interpreted the vision for Daniel in Daniel 7:23-24. "The fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on the earth, […]

Is Jeremiah 33:18 (there will always be Levites offering sacrifices before me) literal?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Bible Interpretation, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, History, Prefigures and Foreshadows, Types .

Question: Is Jeremiah 33:18 literal? Does it mean that the Levites will always offer sacrifices. How can this be if we are under the New Covenant? Also in Ezekiel 26:12 is this a prophecy about Alexander or is it about Babylon plundering Tyre? If it is Babylon, how could that be if Nebuchadnezzar got no […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Are the four gospels historical documents? Is there any historical proof of Jesus from the first century?

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

Question: Are the 4 Gospels writen by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John historical documents? Can you send historical or any proof of Jesus from the first century when your N.T. claims the miracle worker, crucified and resurrected Jesus was here on earth? Answer: What do we know about Jesus from extra-Biblical sources? Let me list […]

Please comment on the New TEstament and Surah 19 with regard to the birth of John and Jesus

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

Question: I have a question I hope you will kindly answer. I need an expert Bible opinion about the similarity of this Quranic passage that deals with the birth story of Jesus to that account we find in Luke. Thanks for taking my question seriously. Editor’s note: The passage from Surah 19 of the Qu’ran […]

Is it true that Domitian demanded Christians to offer a sacrifice?

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

Question: (note, this is actually a series of two questions and responses) We’ve been studying the book of Daniel here in Athens, GA. I’m teaching a lesson to the women, primarily using information from your book. In studying what information I could find online about Domitian, I could not find anywhere that he demanded disciples […]

The evidence that Jesus lived is very weak, but we can prove the Exodus (comment from a Jewish critic of Christianity)

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

Question: Speaking with a Jewish acquaintance about Jesus and this was his response…..not sure how to respond just yet but will research it more. Would love your thoughts. Note: Answers are interspersed with the claims of this person. Criticism/claims are in black italics, responses are in blue. "Romans. They recorded all kinds of insignificant details […]

What is the evidence that Quirinius was governor of Syria at the time Jesus was born? How does this relate to the question of Jesus' divinity?

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

Question: I am a student at Florida Christian College writing a paper on Chapter 3 of Richard Dawkins Book "The God Delusion." In his book he makes a claim that there is no historical evidence for the divinity of Christ. I was wondering, as I read from your article, that Quirinius had two different office […]

How do you respond to a Wikipedia claim that all modern scholars believe Judaism evolved from polytheism?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Archaeology and the Bible, Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, General, History, Other Religions, Reliability of the Bible, Supposed Inconsistencies in the Bible .

Question: I was reading some Wikipedia articles about early Israel and came across and interesting section regarding the origin of Yahweh http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_ancient_Israel_and_Judah#Religion Ill let you read it but I’m adding quotes from it that I was hoping you could respond to. "It is generally accepted among modern scholars that the narrative of […]

Can we be sure that Babylonia Sanhedrin 43a in the Talmud is about Jesus of Nazareth?

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

Question: I’m am reading your book,"Reasons for Belief" and I had a question on p.38… Can we be sure about Babylonia Sandhedrin 43a in the Talmud is refering to Jesus of Nazareth? Do we have any Jewish sources confirming that it is Jesus of Nazareth? The Talmud certainly fits very well with what we know […]

Luke has Jesus’ birth in 6 AD when Quirinius was governor of Syria, while Matthew has it before 4 BC when Herod died. How do you resolve this apparent contradiction?

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

Question:A lot of anti-Christian biblical skeptics often use this objection to the Bible: “The Bible tells the story of Jesus being born when Herod was king (Matthew) and traveling to Bethlehem (Luke) for the census as if the two accounts were compatible but, they are actually ten years apart. Luke has Jesus born at the […]

Where and when did the Catholicism begin?

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

Question: Catholicsm is a tradition which has been passed for a long time. Where was its origin and the approximatly when did it begin? Answer: I will assume you are talking about the Roman Catholic Church. There is also the Eastern Orthodox Catholic Church and the Coptic Catholic Church. These names are in a sense […]

What is the background of the Essene religious group?

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

Question: What is the underlying issue that influenced the formation of the Essene religious group? Answer: It is hard for us to trace the roots of the Essene group. As far as I know, its history is not well known at all. We know quite a bit about the history of the Pharisees, a bit less […]

Are there any extra-biblical sources on the life and work of Jesus of Nazareth? What are those sources?

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

Question: Are there any strong extra-biblical sources for the life/works of Jesus of Nazareth? Can you give me the authors/sources? The answer is an emphatic yes. We have at least nine non-Christian sources on Jesus in the first and early second century. There are, of course, dozens of Christian sources on the life of Jesus […]

How do you respond to the Zeitgeist video and its claim that Jesus is a myth?

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

Question: A friend sent me this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNf-P_5u_Hw, about this movement Zeitgeist, I was looking for information about them. They believe that Jesus is a mythical story. What do you think about this? Is there any information that I can read and give to my friend that suport the existence of Jesus versus this video? Answer: I […]

How should I respond to a friend who does not believe Jesus existed, saying Tacitus, Josephus and oral tradition are not reliable?

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

Question: Hello, I had recently been in a discussion with someone who doubts the historicity of Jesus. When I tried to tell him that his facts were wrong by pointing out to videos on youtube about his historicity, he tried to counter with this: "I’ve seen plenty of those videos before. They never have all […]

Regarding Old Testament prefigures and foreshadows: how much evidence is there that these things really happened (Abraham, Moses, etc)? Actually there are nine really good questions here. Lots of stuff!

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

Question: 1. Regarding foreshadows, how much historical evidence is there for existence of many of the early prefigures and foreshadows; and for the accuracy of the biblical accounts? For example, are there any other known accounts regarding Moses and the Exodus, the existence of Abraham, Isaac, Joseph, Melchizedek? Obviously I realise these are very early […]

Do we need historical evidence outside the Bible to establish the historicity of Jesus?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Archaeology and the Bible, General, History .

Question: Is contemporary evidence required to establish the historicity of a person from ancient history, such as Jesus Christ or Alexander the Great? I was wondering if contemporary evidence (besides the Bible) is required to establish authenticity of an ancient historic figure. Answer; I suppose that whether contemporary evidence is required will depend on the […]

Why does Josephus not mention any of the miracles Jesus worked?

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

Question: Hey, I love your website…I’ve found it very resourceful. I have a couplequestions that have been brought up that I can’t seem to give an answerfor. First, I’ve heard and read what Josephus had to say about Jesus. Hementions him, true. But, someone asked me, "If Josephus took the time toaccount to mention Jesus, why […]

How do we know about exact years from ancient times (for example Artaxerxes' decree in Daniel being 458 BC)

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Archaeology and the Bible, Daniel, General, History .

Question: How can historians be sure about specific years in history? For example, how did you find the decree of Artaxerxes (the king to issue first instruction to rebuild Jerusalem) to have taken place in 458 BC specifically? I don’t think the Bible mentions these dates. Is there a special way or a tool for this? Answer: There are some […]

Does Daniel make a historical error in Daniel 11:36-45 with regard to Antiochus Epiphanes as critics claim?

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

Question: I have a friend who believes that Daniel 11 gets Antiochus’ death incorrect. Is this true? I tend to believe he is wrong however I don’t know the history all that well. Here is what he gave me http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_11 The second paragraph speaks about details of his death and how they do no match up with what […]

Were Daniel and Esther contemporaries (a question about Darius)

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

Question: I am studying the timelines in the Bible regarding the lifetime of both Daniel and Esther for a school project and I’m hoping to get all my facts straight. I am confused about the dates from my research and was hoping for some clarity. When I research the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, I find that […]

What evidence is there for Jesus outside the Bible?

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

Question: What evidence for Jesus is there outside the Bible? Answer: Let me supply a set of notes I just put together for a class I am teaching on the subject this weekend. They may not be fully edited, but the notes are fairly complete. John Oakes Extra-Biblical references to Jesus: 1. Tacitus, Roman historian […]

How did Abraham and Isaac know the Philistines if they did not live in Canaan until 1200 BC?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Archaeology and the Bible, General, History .

Question: The Philistines did not come to Palestine until circa 1200BC at the time of the invasion of the Sea Peoples. How did Abraham & Isaac come to meet them? Answer: I do not know. Believe it or not, I had never noticed this, which is surprising to me. The evidence, as you point out, […]

If Tacitus and Seutonius do not mention the persecution of the church under Domitian, how can we be sure it even happened?

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

Question: I read "Daniel, Prophet to the Nations" recently and was quite awestruck by the prophesies! I’ve been reading online that the Christian persecution under Domitian was historically uncertain and debated. Although the early church fathers routinely mention Domitian, the persecution is seemingly absent from the writings of Tacitus and Suetonius (and other Roman historians). […]

What about Acharya's claim that Pliny, Seutonius, Josephus and others do not reliably prove Jesus was a real person?

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

Question: I just read an article that puts forth some pretty convincing evidence that places the validity of Pliny the Younger, Tacitus, and Suetonius and a few other well known historians that many apologetics use to help confirm the existence of Chirst into question. Just wondering what the names of the other non-christian scholars are to […]

Whis is it that people do not accept the obvious conclusion that the bilblical Joseph is the Imhotep of Egyptian history?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Archaeology and the Bible, General, History .

Question: I wonder just how much evidence some scholars need. What reasoning is required to decide that these two men (Imhotep and Joseph) were not one and the same? What are the odds that any two of the facts are about these two would be identical? What about three, four or five? Well there are even […]

Questions: Does Daniel prophesy the future? Meaning of 1 Cor 11? What about Calvinism? What about falling away?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Bible Interpretation, Daniel, End Times, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, History, Prefigures and Foreshadows, Theology and Doctrinal Questions .

Note; Each of four questions is followed by an answer, so there are four separate Q & As below. Question #1: I noticed on your power point concerning prophesy that when talking about Daniel’s vision of four beasts you referred to ancient kingdoms I thought this vision referred to the end times or does it have a […]

Exodus does name the Pharaoh. Some say this makes it impossible to verify the story–that the story is not reliable. Any help on this?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Archaeology and the Bible, General, History .

Question: My question is do we have any answer to the question of the Pharaohs in Genesis/Exodus that some say no names so no way to verify. and because of no names no reliability. Any help on this? Answer: A good question. For whatever reason, the fact is that Exodus does not name the Pharaoh […]

How do you see the fulfillment of the prophecies of Nebuchadnezzar conquering Egypt and the Nile drying up? If the Bible's prophecies are not reliable, then is that not like the Koran or rhe Book of Mormon?

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

Question: (a very long one!!!) The books of the Bible are written by people claiming inspiration from God. Many people claim inspiration from God or supernatural forces. Muslims claim the Koran is divinely inspired, Mormons claim their Book of Mormon is divinely inspired, and I am sure many pagan sects say that their "book of […]

What year did Jesus get baptized?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, History .

Question: What year did Jesus get baptised? Answer: We cannot say with absolute certainty the year Jesus was baptized, but using biblical data we can give a date with an uncertainty of one year or, at most two or three years. To establish the date of the baptism of Jesus, one must first establish the […]

Is there any evidence outside the Bbile that Jesus was a real person?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, History .

Question: Is there any evidence outside of the Bible that Jesus was real? Answer: A number of non-Christian historical sources mention Jesus of Nazareth, from as early as the late first century AD. This includes Jewish historian Josephus, the Jewish OT commentary known as the Talmud, and Roman historians, especially Tacitus and Seutonius. These writers […]

Why is it that Finkelstein and Silberman, in "The Bible Unearthed" flatly declare that the exodus and the conquest of Canaan never happened?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, History .

Why is it that the latest book published on the archeology of Palestine, namely "The Bible Unearthed" by Finkelstein & Silberman flatly declares that the Exodus and the conquest of Canaan never happened ? Answer: You will have to ask them. I have enough trouble explaining why I say what I say, never mind taking […]

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?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Archaeology and the Bible, Daniel, General, History, Reliability of the Bible .

Editor’s note: Since this article was written, a new paper which appears to identify Darius the Mede as Cyaxares II the Mede has been published. This appears to more or less settle the question. We recommend you read this paper. It is at http://www.academia.edu/9787699/Darius_the_Mede_A_Reappraisal Question: Why is it that “The Cambridge History Of Judaism” knows nothing […]

How are you so confident that hostages were taken by Nebuchadnezzar in 605 BC (Daniel 1:1) when no other source mentions this?

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

Question: How, John, can you state so confidently that hostages were taken and that some items from the temple were taken." This clearly is what you would like to be able to establish in order to be able to clear up the conflict between 2 Kings 24:1 and Daniel 1:1. The author of Daniel transfers things that […]