Other Religions – Page 2 – Evidence for Christianity

According to the Jewish document Megillah 14b, there were eight prophets who are not considered prophets by Christians. Why not?

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

Question: A Jewish friend of mine says: According to Megillah 14b, eight prophets, who were also priests, descended from Rahab the prostitute, and they are: Neriah; his son Baruch; Seraiah; Mahseiah; Jeremiah; his father, Hilkiah; Jeremiah’s cousin Hanamel; and Hanamel’s father, Shallum. None of them are considered prophets by Christians except Jeremiah. If Christians are […]

Christian Zionists claim that the modern state of Israel is a fulfillment of biblical prophecy. Where is the king who should be ruling them?

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

Editor’s Note: This question comes from a Muslim, which might explain the tone of the question. Question: 1. The Christian Zionists claim that the modern Israelite state is made according to the Biblical prophecies for e.g., Ezek. 37:21-22, but the problem is: where is that king who will rule over them? Did all Jews return to Israel? […]

What purpose did the “oracles against the nations” in Amos, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel serve other than consoling the Jews?

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

Question: Amos, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel allegedly received “Oracles against Nations”, but what purpose do they have other than consoling Jews? On the one hand, God used foreign nations to punish Israelites, then on the other hand, God wants to punish them without giving them a chance of repentance. Although the Israelites continuously mocked Moses, […]

In the Babylonian Talmud Zechariah 1:18-21 is interpreted as four different Messiah-figures. If Jesus is Messiah/King, who are the other three craftsmen in the prophecy?

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

Question: According to Jewish tradition, four messianic figures, called the Four Craftsmen, from a vision found in the Book of Zechariah (Zech.1:18-21). The four craftsmen are discussed in the Babylonian Talmud Suk. 52b. which identifies these four craftsmen as Messiah ben David, Messiah ben Joseph, Elijah, and the Righteous Priest. My question is: If Jesus […]

Jeremiah 33:17-18 foretells things which have never happened, as there is no temple and no Jewish king. Your response?

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

Question: Jeremiah Ch. 33:17-18 foretold false things which have not happened, because there is no temple that exists and no king lineage runs on. What’s your response? Answer: The person making this statement (I assume it is not you and that you are finding this at a Muslim anti-Christian website) does not know what they […]

Why are the prophetic words of Jonah, mentioned in 2 Kings 14:25, not included in the Bible? What about 2 Chron 33:10,18?

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

Question: Why does the Bible not record the words of Jonah referred to in 2 Ki 14:25? What about prophets/seers alluded to in 2 Chr 33:10, 18? Hosea prophesied more than 80 years but only small quantity survived. Why? Answer: My Bible is already about 1150 pages long. If the Scriptures were to record all […]

There is evidence that the Jews tampered with the Masoretic Hebrew text of the Old Testament to favor a non-Christian interpretation. Your view?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Apocrypha, Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, Daniel, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Other Religions, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible, Versions of the Bible .

Comment: I have some comments regarding accuracy of biblical texts and the importance of genealogies in the Bible in response to your reply to my question: Which is correct on the time Adam to Abraham–the Masoretic text or the Septuagint? [Editor’s note: Here is the article: https://evidenceforchristianity.org/which-is-correct-on-the-time-from-adam-to-abraham-the-masoretic-text-or-the-septuagint/ There were statements made in the article that weren’t […]

Why do Jews and Christians translate Daniel 9:25 differently? Jews translate Moshiach as the anointed one, and Christians as Messiah.

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

Question: Why do Christians and Jews have different interpretations for the meaning of the word “Moshiach” in Daniel chapter 9 verses 25-26? Why do Jews translate “Moshiach” as “the anointed one” but Christians translate it as the word “Messiah”? Answer: If we transliterate the Hebrew word Moshiach, we get Messiah. If we translate it, we […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 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 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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

How do you assess the Messianic Jewish Movement? What can we learn and what are their errors?

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

Question: How do you assess the Messianic Jewish movement – what are the things we can learn from them and where are they in error? Answer: I am sure you do not need me to tell you, as you already know, that we can learn from any sincere-minded group of believers, even if we do […]

If the Jews had uncorrupted prophetic books, then why are they blamed for rejecting Jesus?

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

Question: If Jews had uncorrupted prophetic books, then why are they blamed for rejecting Jesus, albeit they expected what they were told by canonical prophets? It was not their fault but their prophets who spoke overwhelming promises. What do you say? Answer: In John 5:39 Jesus called out the scribes and Pharisees because, as he […]

Is it true that the Gospel of John had multiple authors and that it borrowed the idea of logos from pagan writers?

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

Note: This is a rather long question with a relatively short answer. Question: Recently I found some interesting claims about the Gospel of John. These are quotations of the Muslim critic Misha’al Al-Kadhi and his references to Christian scholars, that should bring doubt about the Gospel of John: 1. “Even at that, it is recognized […]

A Muslim critic says when Christians mention 6000 NT manuscripts this is a great exaggeration because 94% of them are after the eighth century. Is this true? Should Christians be concerned?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, General Apologetics, Other Religions, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: I watched a debate between a Muslim and a Christian. The New Testament has by far more number of Greek/other manuscripts. The Muslim debater said that 94% of these manuscripts come 9th century onwards. It wasn’t clear if he was referring to the Greek manuscripts alone or every manuscript we have of the New […]

Which is the more reliable translation of Zechariah 12:10, the Jewish Tanakh or the typical Christian translation (pierced vs. slain)

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Bible Interpretation, Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, General, Other Religions, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible, Versions of the Bible .

Question: I’ve been comparing some “Messianic passages” from the Tanakh (the Hebrew Bible) to the corresponding verses in our Christian Bible (KJV, NKJV, NASB). And I’ve noticed that, in many passages, the Tanakh translation differs significantly from our OT/NT translations. Psalm 22, Isaiah 53, and Zechariah 12, for example, are quite different in the Tanakh, […]

The Quran is 100% perfect, whereas the Bible has many errors. We (Muslims) can enjoy reading the Quran without having to worry about whether it is authentic or not. Response?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, General, Other Religions, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: Dr Oakes, how do you respond to Muslims’ argument such as this: “Even if your Bible is 99,5% accurate, the Quran is more. It is 100% accurate. Unlike your Bible that have forgery verses added and changed many times, the Quran didn’t have anything like this and perfectly preserved from the start. All our […]

The Quran is God’s verbatim word. It does not have “human words,” like the Bible. Isaiah 53 and Daniel 9 are not prophecies. This is misinterpretation.

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

Question: Dr. John, Bible Expert Mr. Naveed Khan writes: The Quran consists of God’s verbatim. It does not have “human words” or “interpretations” like the Bible. Christians misinterpret the Jewish scriptures and try to show that Isaiah 53 or Daniel 9 were fulfilled prophecies, but the truth is: they are misinterpretations, nothing else. Moreover, Christians […]

Jesus is not of the “David Lineage” through Solomon, as required by 2 Sam 7:14 and 1 Chron 17:11-14. Therefore he is not the Messiah. Also, he did not build a “third temple” as prophesied in Ezek 37:26-28.

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

Question: Jesus is not from the “David Lineage” and he did not fulfill the Hebrew scriptures. Proofs are: 1) Messiah must be a descendent of David through his son Solomon (2 Sam. 7:14; 1 Chr. 17:11-14, 22:9-10, 28:4-6) but Luke 3:31 describes the lineage of David’s son Nathan, not Solomon. 2) Ezekiel (37:26-28) said “he […]

What is your response to Muslims who say that the Qur’an is inspired because it contains poetry of inimitable quality?

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

Question: How would you respond to the following Muslim claim made in https://www.islamic-awareness.org/quran/miracle/ijaz ‘The Qur’an in many places challenges the people to produce a surah like it. It appears that the Christian missionaries who call the challenge irrelevent or an utterly subjective criterion are pretty much unaware of how the Arabic poetry and prose compares with […]

Israel (singular) is called God’s servant in the Old Testament but sometimes Jesus is called God’s servant. This is confusing. Also, can God be his own servant?

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

Question: Israel, in the singular, is called God’s servant throughout the Bible, for e.g. Isa. 45:4; 48:20; 49:3; Jer. 30:10. Also, note that in Jer. 30:17, the servant Israel is regarded by the nations as an outcast, forsaken by God, as in Isa. 53:4; Jer. 46:27-28; Ps. 136:22, a messianic reference. Also, given the Christian […]

Can you respond to a Muslim claim that the early church did not believe Jesus was God and that Constantine changed this?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, General, Other Religions, Q & A .

Question: Dr Oakes, can you view this article: https://quranandbibleblog.com/2022/01/02/what-did-the-ante-nicene-church-fathers-believe-about-jesus/ What did the Ante-Nicene Church Fathers Believe About Jesus? بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْم What did the Ante-Nicene Church Fathers Believe About Jesus? Read as PDF “…but of His Son the Master said thus, Thou art My Son, I this day have begotten thee. A… quranandbibleblog.com This came […]

Surely there is life on other planets out there. Does this not make Christianity seem man-made. Why did Jesus come here an not to other planets?

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

Question: I just had a thought… and it’s disturbing me… Outer space is so vast, there must be other life out there. Now… what are the odds that Jesus came to THIS planet, out of all of them? Why not others? Think about it. There are so many other planets out there, there must be […]

If Jesus’ crucifixion was so evident, why did some early Christian sects deny it–saying it was Simon of Cyrene or Judas Iscariot who was crucified?

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

Question: If Jesus Crucifixion was so evident then why some early Christian sects denied it? Some said: Simon of Cyrene was crucified. Some said: Judas Iscariot was crucified. Some said: someone substituted him. What is your response? Answer: This is a flat-out, blatant lie. Plain and simple. There is absolutely no truth to this claim, […]

Barrabas was crucified instead of Jesus of Nazareth due to confusion created by God. What is your response?

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

Question: Barabbas, who is also called “Jesus Barabbas”, was crucified instead of Jesus of Nazareth due to confusion created by God. What is your opinion? Answer: My opinion is that this is one of the most far-fetched and outrageous proposals about Jesus I have ever heard about. Jesus’ mother Mary was at the cross. Jesus’ […]

Rabbi David Kimchi says Isaiah 53 is the “Words of the Other Nations.” They are not Isaiah’s words. What is your response?

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

Question: Radak (Rabbi David Kimchi) explains Isaiah 53 except for the final two verses, as the “Words of the Other Nations”. These words are not Isaiah’s words. Evidently, this is recorded to understand the view of the Gentile Nations at that time. What is the Christian response? Answer: It should not surprise anyone that a […]

Does the Old Testament include anonymous prophecies, as a Muslim critic claims?

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

Question: I asked on chabad.org this: How did Rabbis know that Isaiah 8:19-20 belongs to Beeri and Micah 3:12 to Uriah? Are there any other instances of anonymous prophecies in prophetic books? I got the following answer: “I could not find any other examples. There may be more, but I don’t know them and have […]

A Muslim says that according to Midrash (Levit. Rabba 15) Isaiah 8:19-20 is actually written by Hosea’s father Beeri. This proves that Isaiah is not the pure words of the prophet. Your response?

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

Question: According to Midrash (Levit. Rabba 15), Hosea’s father, Beeri, was also a prophet, and fragments of his prophecies are preserved in Isa. 8:19-20. It means that works ascribed to well-known Prophets include anonymous portions. On the other hand, Megillah 15a says: when the name of a Prophet’s father is recorded, the latter, too, probably […]

My Muslim friend says there is no evidence from the first century that Christians believed Jesus is God. Is this true?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, Church History, General, Other Religions, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: A Muslim friend proposed this to me: I have seen this “issue” before and I haven’t done a proper investigation into it. He said there’s no evidence to support Jesus’ divinity in the first century. I believe (although I am yet to see) that there is evidence of early Christians in first century honoring […]

There are many biblical prophecies of the Messiah which do not fit Jesus. Your response?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Bible Interpretation, Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, Church History, Daniel, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, History, Other Religions, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible, Supposed Inconsistencies in the Bible .

[Editor’s note: This is a series of challenges from a Muslim regarding Jesus to be the fulfillment of Old Testament messianic prophecies. My answers are interspersed among the questioner’s examples in italics] Claim: There are many biblical prophecies which do not fit into Jesus, for e.g. Response: Whether Jesus fulfilled all potential messianic prophecies is […]

If Isaiah is such a great prophet, why do we know nothing of his personal life and character? Obadiah, Joel and Nahum as well.

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

Question: If Isaiah was the greatest prophet in Israelite history from David to the exile, why are his character and personal life not known to us? Same with Obadiah, Joel, Nahum who are obscure figures. Answer: I can tell you have been hearing from Muslim critics, as this is the latest “fad” criticism of the […]

A Muslim web site claims that only 50% of the New Testament is reliable. Your response? What about their evidence for the Qur’an?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, General, Other Religions, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: Sir, can you view this article: http://mquran.org/content/view/9181/16/ This comes from an anonymous Muslim apologist website written in 2006. He said that the New Testament is unreliable and the 99,5% number that Christian apologists used in their argument are not valid. He claimed that apologists just cite other apologists and only 50% of the gospel are […]

Does the word almah in Isaiah 7:14, which means young woman, not virgin, imply that this is a messianic prophecy?

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

Question: I am Christian, but am also a very skeptical person. I always challenge what I believe for the sake of truth and if it is truth it will stand. I would like to ask about Isiah 7:14. There is a lot of discussion about the use of the word “almah“. Does it imply virginity […]

How should a Christian respond to the Muslim criticism that Ezekiel 23 uses pornographic language?

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

Question: How should we understand Ezekiel 23? How should we respond to a Muslim who states that this passage is pornographic (especially Ezekiel 23:19-21) and uses pornographic language? How should we respond to a Muslim if he challenges us to read this passage in a sermon or in front of a child? Are all parts […]

The Qur’an says the same thing as the Jewish prophets in many cases. What is the Christian response to this criticism?

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

Question: The Koran says the same things that God said to the Jews which the Major and Minor Prophets proclaimed. For e.g. 1) Hearts hardened (compare Quran 2:74 with Ezek. 3:7, Zech. 7:12) 2) Be Kind to orphans & don’t shed each other’s blood (compare Quran 2:83-84 with Isa. 1:17, 59:7) What is the Christian’s […]

What writings should be considered God’s word? Revelation only comes from an angel, so the Quran and Hadith are God’s word, but the Bible is man’s word.

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

Question: What writings should be called God’s word? The words which are literally said by God himself? Muslims claim that the Koran contain God’s words, not the words of Muhammad. His words are separately recorded in Hadith. Christians claim that every word in the Bible is inspired but the fact is: there’s difference between revelation […]

A Muslim friend asks that if thousands of followers witnessed Jesus’ crucifixion (which he says was a hoax), why did they not try to save him? Did they have no guts?

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

Questions: My Muslim friend says: The Major and Minor Prophets echoed the words of pagans i.e. God has wife, God has sons & daughters. The New Testament authors followed them and create God’s-Son in the form of Jesus to attract Roman public. Also, if thousands of people witnessed his crucifixion (which is a hoax) and […]

Muslims criticize the Bible for having polytheistic descriptions of God, such as his hands, his hair, his children and even his wife (Hosea 2). How do you respond to this criticism?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in General, General Apologetics, Other Religions, Q & A, Theology and Doctrinal Questions .

Question: Muslims says: God does not beget nor he has wife nor he has bodily form but prophetic books contains polytheistic concepts about God for e.g. 1. God has bodily form (Dan. 7:9) 2. God has sons & daughters (Isa. 43:6) 3. God treats Jerusalem/Israel as Wife (Isa. 54:5, Hos. 2:2). What’s your response? Answer: […]

New Testament authors manufactured prophecies about Jesus! For example, Matthew 2:23, John 7:38-39. What is your response?

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

Questions: The NT authors manufactured prophecies about Jesus by twisting OT passages out of context to make them say things the original authors never intended. For e.g. (1) The murder of children by King Herod was not prophesied in Jeremiah 31:15 because Jeremiah was describing the deportation of Israelites from Ramah a century before his […]

The story of Putana sent to kill Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita is similar to that of Herod trying to kill Jesus. Could the Bible writers have derived this story from the Bhagavad Gita?

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

Question: In the Bhagavad Gita there is the story about Putana being sent to kill Krishna, which seems very similar to the story of King Harold of the Bible being sent to kill Jesus. Could the Bible have derived this story from Bhagavad Gita, or the other way around? You also have mentioned that Bhagavad […]

By the Bible’s own standard of false prophets, the Old Testament includes false prophets. Your response?

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

[Editor’s note: This question is part of a series which are a believer passing along criticisms of Christianity from his Muslim friend] Question: My Muslim friend replied to me about your points that: 1) If presumably Daniel or Ezekiel talked about an earlier event, it doesn’t mean that whole book is reliable. Unless scrolls of […]

Muhammad had 17 scribes. The OT prophets were written posthumously and had no recorded scribes. The Bible is not reliable! Response?

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

Question: Muslims says: Quran was written down in its entirety at the time of Muhammad’s death and the Sira (prophetic biography) of Muhammad lists the names of 17 scribes of the Quran. By distinction, the prophetic books of OT were posthumous writings and scribes are not even named. What happened to prophetic scrolls during Exile? […]

The writings of several of the prophets were destroyed by the ruling class of the Jews. What is your response?

Dr. John Oakes wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, General, Other Religions, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: The writings of several prophets were destroyed by the ruling class of the Jews. According to Justin Martyr, the Jews have omitted sayings by Jeremiah and Ezra, as well as the words “from the wood” after “The Lord reigns” in Psalm 95(96):10 (Dialogue with Trypho, 71-73). It means Jews were NOT honest keepers of […]

Muslims claim that Muhammad did a miracle of “splitting the moon,” and that NASA supports this idea. Your response?

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

Question: A Muslim started to debate with me about evidences of Islam, and he immediately shared a link which shows 19 convincing proofs of splitting of moon by Muhammad (a supposed miracle of Muhammad). Actually I almost lost my Christian Faith after reading the website he provided–it really contains shocking empirical evidences of splitting of […]

Is Sura 41:11-12, which talks about a layer of the sky offering protection talking about the ozone layer? Is this an example of the Qur’an being “scientific?”

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

Question: I have a question about Surah 41:11-12. It says the nearest heaven was made for protection. Does that mean the Qur’an is describing the earth’s atmosphere/ozone layer protecting it? Is it a scientific fact? Answer: It sounds like you have been looking at the web site of a Muslim apologist. What we need to […]