Reliability of the Bible

/Category Archive for "Reliability of the Bible"

wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Other Religions, Prefigures and Foreshadows, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: The Gospels’ writers fabricated stories about Jesus which have no strong evidence, e.g., the sky grows dark for 3 hours at midday at the crucifixion, an earthquake rips the curtain in the Jewish temple & opens the tombs of the saints, from which dead people resurrect and then appear throughout Jerusalem. This is an […]

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

Question: As stated in the Koran 3:183, the Israelites even killed the prophets who presented a fiery sign from heaven that consumed their sacrificial offerings, but why does the Bible not mention this happening? Answer: This is an easy question.  The Bible does not mention this because it did not happen.  The Qur’an is the […]

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

Question: According to a Muslim Clergy, the current Pentateuch is not reliable because it has immoral stories about Abraham’s relatives which can’t be from God.  Your response? Answer: I am well aware of this charge by Muslims.  My response is that there is no such thing as an immoral story.  There are immoral actions, but not […]

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

Question: Generally speaking, are ancient accounts about events which were written 1-3 centuries after the events they record reliable records of the actual events they record? Answer: Let me give a commo-sense answer, which is that the later an event is recorded after it occurs, the less reliable that account will be.  However, there were […]

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

Editor’s Note: This is a follow-up from an earlier question in which the questioner made claims of Christian borrowing from Zoroastrian sources, and I respectfully asked for actual quotes from which the borrowing occurred. Thankfully, the questioner responded to the request. Question: The NT authors copied elements of Zoroastrianism from the Jews and fit them […]

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

Question: According to a Muslim Clergy, the current Pentateuch is not reliable because it has immoral stories about Abraham’s relatives which can’t be from God. Your response? Answer: I am well aware of this charge by Muslims.  My response is that there is no such thing as an immoral story.  There are immoral actions, but […]

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

Editor’s note: This is a series of two questions and two answers. Question #1: How do we demonstrate to non-Christians the Christian understanding of life after death – that we will either be sent to hell or go to heaven based on whether or not we have accepted God’s gift of eternal life in this […]

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

Question: Is 2 Samuel 7:16 a failed prophecy? “And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.’””  ‭‭2 Samuel‬ ‭7‬:‭16‬ ‭ESV‬‬..I saw a critic claims that this is a failed prophecy, because “houses” and kingdoms do not last forever. Answer: This is in fact a […]

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wrote in Bible Interpretation, Church History, General, Philosophy, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible, Theology and Doctrinal Questions .

Question: Are you a believer in Christian Universalism (restoration of ALL) Apocatastasis rather than Unitarian Universalism? I believe the Bible in the original writings support this. You mention in some of your writings you believe in heaven but don’t mention hell. Hell–meaning eternal, conscious torment for all who don’t believe in Christ. To me that […]

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

Question: Tacticus wrote almost nothing about Jesus – just one small passage. Tacitus only said that Christians in Rome believed such a thing. It does not prove that Jesus was crucified. Further, we do not find any mention of Jesus in Seneca’s (4 BCE – 65 CE) writings and the historian Pliny the Elder (23 […]

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

Question: Can you give me factual references to scriptures/books using which I can use to refute reincarnation theory? I was born in a Hindu family.  However God blessed me and I found my true faith. My entire family is Hindu. I have read Bhagavad Gita and Bible. Both have strongly written verses and theories in […]

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

Question: The editors of the Bible were not interested to preserve the history of Minor Prophets except Jonah. If editors mentioned the histories of Elijah and Elisha, then why were the Minor Prophets were left out? Answer: By “the editors” I assume you mean those who put together the historical books of the Bible.  The […]

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

Questions: 1. I believe there is good evidence for Christianity, but why do so many people not accept it if it’s true? Would a good answer to this question be that Jesus said most people would be condemned? (Matthew 7:13) 2. Does archaeology align well with the Bible? The New Testament is well supported by […]

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

Question: God created humans and other living beings for nothing else but that they could serve him. He did not desire from them any provision or food. It was revealed to the Prophets to not associate any others with God in his Divinity. Didn’t Paul challenge OT teachings and make a mockery of them by […]

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

Question/Comment: The Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS) do not prove the inerrancy or historical accuracy of the Bible. The writings in DSS show a hugely different history than in the Bible. The Genesis Apocryphon is noticeably different from the Bible’s Genesis. Exodus, 1-2 Samuel and Jeremiah are extremely different in the DSS than in the Bible. […]

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wrote in General, Other Religions, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible, Resurrection of Jesus .

Question: You preach everywhere regarding the means of Jesus’ death, but my Muslim friend said to me: “They are spreading lies which will lead them in Hell.”  That would include you. What should be our response? Answer: Your Muslim friend is claiming that when we Christians teach that Jesus died on a cross in Jerusalem, […]

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

Question: In the Gospel of Matthew 11:19, one version says wisdom is justified of her children(KJV) and another version says wisdom is justified by her deeds(ESV). Please explain this variant “children and deeds” Answer: This is a familiar example of a textual variant with a fairly well-understood explanation.  The explanation of the textual variant is found […]

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

[Editor’s note:  This is a two-part question.  The first question needed clarification, which was given, allowing me to give a more nuanced answer to the original] Question: According to Duet. 13:1-3, if a prophet appears among the Israelites and announces a sign and if that sign takes place, and then that prophet orders them to […]

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

Question: According to Philip R. Davies, a British biblical scholar, prophetic books are primarily the product of scribes who imitated the traditional style of intermediaries and wrote for their own interest. Does it mean our prophetic books are fake? Answer: Philip R. Davies is an unbeliever.  He is not a Christian and it is not […]

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

Question: I have been doing a lot of research on Biblical authorship. Recently, I came across an article entitled “A biblical text with ‘new’ facts about Jesus was found — and Christians ignore it.” In this article the authors claimed that Luke wrote a document called “The Dialogue of Jason and Papiscus.” Apparently, it was […]

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

Questions: Could you do an exhaustive defense of Sola Scriptura?  I heard Roman Catholics using arguments, claiming that Sola Scriptura is never mentioned in the Bible.   I also have heard that since the Bible doesn’t give us a list of what is inspired scriptures, we have to look outside to know what is inspired and […]

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

Question: I’ve been hesitant to ask this question because I suspect this would be slightly annoying to do on your part, but here it goes…    I read one of your past Q & As addressing unfulfilled prophecies on rationalWiki: https://evidenceforchristianity.org/can-you-explain-all-the-unfulfilled-old-testament-prophecies-listed-at-rationalwiki/ You may or may not know this, but some authors on rationalwiki have actually posted your […]

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

Question: Did Alice Whealey prove conclusively that Agapius was translating the Syriac edition not of Josephus, but of Eusebius and did she refute the thesis that the Arabic fragment of the Testimonium supports its authenticity? Answer: I have not read Alice Whealy’s discussion of the Testamonium Flavianum in its entirety.  In fact, I have only […]

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

Question: Thank you very much, Dr. Oakes. Thank God I found you. There are also 6 more objections I found and was wondering what you think of these:  [Editor’s Note: This is a follow-up to fourteen previous questions from the same person. The answers are interspersed between the questions.] 15. The historians who supposedly offered […]

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

Editor’s Note:  This is a series of 14 questions, so I disperse my answers after the questions.  Most of these criticisms are already refuted elsewhere at the web site, but since this poor unfortunate believer has been assaulted with so many false claims, I am including answers to all of them below.  My responses are […]

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wrote in General, General Apologetics, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible, Supposed Inconsistencies in the Bible .

Question: As an apologist, how do you always stand by your convictions and beliefs, as so often the arguments put forth to refute the Bible are so strong, rational and logical. Also, there is always the confirmation bias that could influence one’s judgement.  Thank you. Answer: A very good question.  I get literally thousands of […]

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wrote in General, Other Religions, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible, Supposed Inconsistencies in the Bible .

Question: Why does the book of Jeremiah have the appearance of being a medley of unconnected passages which are sometimes in contradiction to each other for e.g. chapter 37:11-21 and chapter 38 are divergent accounts of one and the same course of events? Answer: Part of your description is a reasonable assessment of Jeremiah, and […]

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wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Other Religions, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: Why can’t Jews/Christians prove that the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos, etc. are the amalgamation of exact words of the prophets? Jonah is surely not written by Jonah as it is a historical narrative.  Your response? Answer: It is the nature of ancient documents that no one can ever “prove” the provenance of any […]

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

Question: Up to what percentage can we reconstruct the New Testament text/ content from early church fathers’ quotations/citations?  And I want to know from when in the church’s history did believers start using NT scriptures as a base to preach the Gospel as we do now in our churches. When did Christians start having serious […]

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

Question:  I just read your refutation of Jesus being plagiarized off of previous Mediterranean deities and I must say you cannot believe your own drivel. To argue that it couldn’t be plagiarized because only portions of the stories are similar is beyond ridiculous. I have several questions for you:  1) Was Jesus the first deity born […]

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

Question: How can we be sure that the current books of the Major & Minor Prophets are actual words of the Hebrew Prophets? Christians interpret predictions of Israel’s glorious future fulfilled in the Church, but it’s their interpretation because prophets apparently never meant that. Jews are still looking for fulfilment of the glorious future predictions. […]

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

Question:  The incest story of Lot and his daughters has been borrowed from Zoroastrian traditions of the incest performed between Jam and Jamag, who were brother and sister. Jamag took advantage of the intoxicated state of her brother and had sex with him. What’s your response? Answer: My response is that this is so obviously […]

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

[Editor’s note: This exchange is part of a longer discussion in which the questioner believes that there are literally no mistakes in either the Greek text or in the King James translation of that text.] Comments and Questions: I just wanted to thank you for responding so quickly again and wanted to say a few […]

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

[Editor’s note: The question below is a follow-up from a previous one in which the questioner is quite surprised that a faithful believer would agree that Christians do not have access to a perfect text of the Bible, to which I replied about the textual evidence for the great (but not perfect) reliability of the […]

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

Question: In the thread below the author demonstrates that Israel’s idea of the Arabian tribes of the time was contradictory, and based on a 7th century BC understanding on how they worked. I’ll copy paste the comment here, but I implore you to read the entire thread. The question was “Where does the idea that […]

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

Statement: The incest story of Lot and his daughters is borrowed from Zoroastrian traditions of the incest performed by Jam and Jamag, who were brother and sister. Jamag took advantage of the intoxicated state of her brother and had sex with him. What’s your response? Response: My response is that this is so obviously a […]

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

Question: Authors of prophetic books added their fantasies into God’s word for e.g.  1) Gentiles will come over to Israelites in chains and they will bow down before them (Isa. 45:14). David Guzik affirms this in his commentary.  2) A Gentile nation or kingdom that will not serve Israelites will perish and be utterly ruined (Isa. 60:12).  […]

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

Question: My Muslim husband says:  Why do Jews & Christians not have Hebrew manuscripts from before the Exile or 600 BCE which could verify that the DSS & Septuagint are exact copies of the original text? Why don’t Christians have the original Aramaic Gospel from 30 CE? Answer: Out of respect for the ancient text and […]

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

Question:  There were 12 tribes of Israel, who were given divine scrolls. They were called “Israelites”. Then how can one tribe [Editor’s note: I am assuming the questioner means Judah] represent the whole Israelites and their scriptures when 10 tribes are lost in history and what is the guarantee that the current OT was the […]

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

Question: The only evidence of the Septuagint translation is the pseudepigraphical letter of Aristeas. It says: “six elders out of every tribe of Israel wrote it.” First, 10 tribes of Israelites had already been lost in history a long time ago, before this time, which shows that this story is fabricated. Second, if they wrote, […]

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

Question: My teacher says:  The current Gospels are not reliable because they were written in Greek, whereas the language of Jesus and his followers was Aramaic. Christians don’t have manuscripts from 40 AD in Aramaic. Further, when Titus destroyed Jerusalem in 70 CE, his speech was translated from Roman to Aramaic. It means Greek/Latin was not […]

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wrote in Bible Interpretation, General, Other Religions, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: According to 1 Samuel 15:22, “Samuel said, Does the Lord take pleasure in whole-burnt-offerings and sacrifices, as in hearing the words of the Lord? behold, obedience better than a good sacrifice.” Therefore, the whole story of Jesus’ crucifixion is bogus and God didn’t order Jesus to do it.  Your response? Answer: This statement is riddles […]

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wrote in Apocrypha, Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, General, Other Religions, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible, Supposed Inconsistencies in the Bible .

Question: We are told in the Talmud that an assembly of priests were about to reject the books of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Ezekiel because those writings were contradictory to the Law but a certain Rabbi had tried to reconcile them and they were preserved as “canonical”. Those three books are confessedly presented to us as […]

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

Question: St. Eucharius (3rd Century) said:  “It is evident why we have not remaining the books which the Holy Scriptures approve of, because Judea having been ravaged by the Chaldeans, and the ancient bibliotheque being burnt. There remaining only a small number of the books which at present make up the Holy Scriptures and which were […]

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wrote in Apocrypha, Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, Church History, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

 There is a short prophecy appended to the book of Jeremiah in Ethiopic Bible which August Dillmann translates:  A Prophecy of Jeremiah. And Jeremiah spake thus unto Pashur: But ye all your days fight against the truth, with your fathers and your sons that shall come after you. And they shall commit a sin more damnable […]

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

Question: Adam Clarke (1831) wrote a commentary on Jeremiah 8:8 that:  It is too bold an assertion to say that “the Jews have never falsified the sacred oracles;” they have done it again and again. They have written falsities when they knew they were such.  John Chrysostom (4th Century) wrote in his homily on Matthew 2:23 that:  The […]

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