Reliability of the Bible – Evidence for Christianity

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?

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)

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, […]

How should we, as Christians, respond to textual criticism which points out “doubtful” verses? Should we be afraid?

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

Question: I’m new to your website. I only have three questions: 1. How should we, Christians, react to textual criticism and to what extent we should believe their opinion about the Bible? 2. How should we react to several textual criticism opinion that some Bible verses are “doubtful”? 3. Should we be afraid? Answer: A […]

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?

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 […]

Daniel is a forgery because its author was very ill-informed about history (for example about Belshazzar in Dan 5). Your response?

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

Question: I read that: Book of Daniel is forgery because his author was very ill-informed about history. He said: Belshazzar succeed Nebuchadnezzar as his son (Daniel 5; cf. Daniel 7:1 and 8:1). But Belshazzar was neither his successor nor his son; and abundant contemporary records show he was never King of Babylon, but only served […]

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.

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 […]

None of the prophetic books came from the 8th or 7th centuries BC. These prophets are fictional characters, as is proved by the fact that they are not quoted in Kings and Chronicles. Response?

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

Question: Dr. John, recently it has been claimed that nothing in the prophetic books came from the 8th and 7th centuries and that the prophets are fictional characters created by post-exilic authors who produced an imaginative history for the Jewish community of their time. It is also confirmed by the fact that books of Kings […]

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.

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 […]

Isn’t the Bible supposed to be perfect? Should it not have exact quotes from Jesus? But there are many errors in the text. Explain, please.

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

Question: This question came from my atheist friend. I recommended him to read at your website and books, but he was curious regarding your answer on certain textual variations, particularly your response that “No, Christianity doctrines are affected by these variations” in your website. He asked back that: 1.) Isn’t God supposed to preserve His […]

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

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?

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 […]

Please comment on an article I found posted which claims that Mark did not write Mark, Matthew did not write Matthew and John did not write John

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

Question: Dr Oakes, can you view this article: https://talesoftimesforgotten.com/2021/09/17/heres-how-we-know-the-canonical-gospels-were-originally-anonymous/ This came from a historical scholar it seems. She tried to refute an apologist regarding the gospel’s names and authors. But I found several of her interpretation are quite forced (Like the Mark verses she cited) and how she said Didache and Didascallia just got accepted without […]

In the first century Palestinian world, the testimony of women was not accepted, but the resurrection of Jesus is founded on such female witnesses. Does this mean the resurrection is a hoax?

John Oakes wrote in General, Miracles, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible, Resurrection of Jesus .

Question: In the world of 1st century Palestine, a woman’s testimony was not recognized as legally binding BUT the Jesus resurrection account is built on the testimony of women. Does that mean it’s a hoax? Answer: Absolutely it does NOT mean that the gospel message is a hoax. Who said that? How sad is it […]

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?

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?

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’ […]

Josephus and Tacitus are not reliable sources on the crucifixion of Jesus. They only make vague references to rumors. The NT authors had no ability to know the truth about the crucifixion.

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

Question: My friend says: Josephus and Tacitus are not reliable sources of Jesus’ Crucifixion. They presented vague references based on rumours. NT authors had no ability to know what the truth was. What should be Christian reply? Answer: I think you had better find a more reliable source than this “friend” who says this rather […]

Jesus had no traits of a king who would save the Jews from their enemies as the OT prophets anticipated. Why were these prophecies fabricated?

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

Question: Jesus had no traits of a King who would save Jews from their enemies as the OT prophets anticipated. Why are these prophecies fabricated? Answer: I assume that this criticism is coming from a Muslim source. You begin with an erroneous premise, which makes your question a nonsense question. I will share with you […]

Did Daniel accept the worship of himself by Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 2:46?

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

Question: Did the prophet Daniel accept worship in Daniel 2:46? ‘Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face and paid homage to Daniel, and commanded that an offering and incense be offered up to him.’ (Daniel 2:46) Answer: That is a good question. I can answer it in one of two ways. One way involves me […]

There was no OT canon until the second century BC, giving great opportunity for Jewish scribes to amend the writings. How do we know our received OT is inspired?

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

Question: There was no proper canon or collection of the writings of the Old Testament, until the time of the Synagogue under the Maccabees, which was only about 200 years before the appearance of Jesus. Up to this period, the “Holy books” were scattered and liable to be altered or amended just as priests might […]

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

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?

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?

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?

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.

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 […]

Does Origen deny Jesus is a carpenter based on a textual variant of Mark 6:3?

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

[note: since this question was posted a friend of EFC sent a letter clarifying the issue. His work is posted after this Q & A] Question: I want to ask you, sir, regarding the textual variation of Mark 6:3. Some early manuscripts said son of carpenter. Between “carpenter” or “son of carpenter”? This one was […]

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

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 […]

How do you explain content in the Bible by editors, superscriptions and even updates, if these books are inspired? What about books which do not even have a named author?

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

[Editor’s note: In this one the questions are interspersed, in italics, between the four questions] Questions: I have some points to discuss: 1. The Major and Minor Prophets of the Bible contain a significant amount of data from other persons, namely, editors and others whose words were added without acknowledgement. Those additions include materials such […]

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

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 […]

Is the covenant with Abraham everlasting? If so, why do Christians not practice circumcision?

John Oakes wrote in Bible Interpretation, General, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible, Supposed Inconsistencies in the Bible .

Question: What is the Abrahamic covenant mentioned in Genesis 17:7, 17:13 and 17:19? What aspect of the Abrahamic covenant is everlasting? Why don’t Christians practice circumcision if the Abrahamic covenant is everlasting? Answer: I wish that this was a simple question with a simple answer. One difficulty here is that the Jewish concept of the […]

Is there any solid evidence that the prophecy in Isaiah 53 predates Christ?

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

Question: Is there any proof of Isaiah 53 predating Christ? I’ve heard carbon 14 testing for the Isaiah Scroll could be inaccurate as the parchment could be reused and paleographic dating might be unreliable. David: There is a boat load of evidence for the Book of Isaiah predating Christ. Perhaps the most obvious is the […]

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.

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 […]

Jeremiah 30:8-9 and Ezekiel 34:23-27 talk about a king who will rescue the Jews from those who enslaved them. Jesus obviously did not fulfill this prophecy. Is this made up?

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

Question: Jer. 30:8-9 and Ezek. 34:23-27 clearly speaks about a king who will rescue the Jews from the hands of those who enslaved them. Obviously, Jesus did not fulfill these prophecies. Are these prophecies are made-up? Response: You say that Jesus “obviously” did not fulfill these prophecies. Forgive me, but this is not obvious at […]

The Old Testament prophesies a king from David’s descendants to deliver them, but Jesus was not such a king. This proves the visions are false. Response?

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

Question: My friend says: During the Babylonian exile, the Jewish scribes created “oracles of glorious future” for comforting the Jews that a king from David’s descendants would deliver them from slavery but the truth is: Jesus is not a king according to those so-called oracles. If those visions/oracles had been genuine, then the Jews would […]

What are reasonable dates for the authorship of the Aramaic and Hebrew sections of Daniel?

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

Question: I’ve written questions to you before about Jeremiah. I’m now studying Daniel and have found questions regarding the language. Daniel is written in Aramaic and Hebrew. There are different arguments about the Aramaic. Some say it is quite young – 300BC and later. Others claim it is much older. The Hebrew I think is […]

Why are the words and thoughts of humans included in God’s word along with “thus says the Lord”?

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

Question: Why do writers of the Bible blend God’s words i.e. “thus says the Lord” with human words such as speeches and human histories? Answer: A good question. The Bible has several different genres of literature, depending on what God is trying to accomplish. Sometimes he wants to simply speak to us directly. Then he […]

An [Muslim] author at a web site I was searching said that several entire books have been removed from the Bible. What is your response?

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

Question: This person claims that there have been entire books removed from the bible. https://quranicwarners.org/gospel They all seem legitimate. What’s your opinion? Answer: It is hard to know exactly how to respond to this article, because the author is not specific as to which “entire books” were removed from the Bible. If he does not specify […]

I have heard apologists say that the oldest manuscript of the Odyssey of Homer is from 2200 years after the original. Is that true?

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

Question: I have heard apologists say that the oldest manuscript of the Odyssey of Homer is from 2200 years after it was written. I am preparing to teach a class on the reliability of the Bible in which I want to make the point that the biblical manuscripts are more reliable than any other famous […]

Is there any archaeological evidence that verifies the death of 185,000 Assyrian troops at Jerusalem in 2 Kings 19?

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

Question: Is there any archaeological evidence verifying the event of an angel killed 185,000 Assyrian troops, which was written in 2 kings 19? I think a mass discovery of 185,000 dead bodies would be overwhelming. Answer: The answer is yes and no. Let me explain. The specific thing you are looking for has not been […]

How can I be sure of life after death when we don’t see it, nor do we have people who return and tell us it is true?

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

Question: How can I be sure of life after death when we don’t see it nor we don’t have people who return and tell. So is life after death only a fanciful creation of believers for sake of not being afraid of death or is it for sure that it exists? Besides, Stephen Hawking said […]

Did Moses lie to Pharaoh when he said that Israel would only go into the desert for three days and then come back? Did God participate in this lie?

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

Question: Why did Moses give Pharaoh the impression the children of Israel would only go to wilderness to worship 3 days then return? Was He lying? Did God participate in this by commission or by omission? Answer: I had to think about this one for a while. To be honest, I am not absolutely sure […]

Did Paul clearly state that Jesus is God in the seven letters he clearly wrote?

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

Question: In the seven letters that Paul clearly wrote, did he write that Jesus is God? In other words, did he teach that God existed in the form of three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Can you give me verses for this? Answer: To be honest, I do not want to answer this question. […]

How do you respond to the claim that the story of Moses’ being placed in a basket is borrowed from the story of Sargon I, from 2400 BC?

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

Question: Recently an unbeliever raised an objection against the reliability of the biblical accounts, he said that the account of Moses in which he was placed in a basket on the river by his mother had been a copy of the biography of Sargon of Akkad, a Mesopotamian monarch around 2400 BC. The account of […]

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

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?

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?

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?

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? […]

My Muslim friend tells me there are several prophecies in the Old Testament that failed, such as Ezekiel 26:7-17, Haggai 2:21-13 and Zechariah 4:6-7. Your response?

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

Question: My Muslim friend says: There were a number of oracles delivered by recognized prophets which did not come true. For example, Ezekiel predicted the destruction of Tyre by Nebuchadnezzar (Ezek. 26:7-14), but he himself later acknowledges that the king’s siege of the city was UNSUCCESSFUL (Ezek. 29:17-20). Both Haggai’s (2:21-23) & Zechariah’s (4:6-7) glorious […]

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

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 […]

Philo, a Jewish philosopher, lived from 20 BCE to 50 CE. He never mentioned the crucifixion. Why do we believe Josephus who mentioned Jesus long after he lived, but ignore Philo?

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

Question: Philo (c. 20 BCE – 50 CE) did not mention the crucifixion of Jesus or the 3 hours’ darkness although he was contemporary of Jesus. Christians present Josephus and Tacitus as Non-Christian proof of Crucifixion but they wrote long after Jesus. What’s your response? Answer: We have no idea of whether Philo ever mentioned […]

Is there solid evidence that Old Testament prophecies such as those in Deuteronomy, Isaiah, Nahum and Jeremiah were given before the events prophesied?

John Oakes wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, Daniel, General Apologetics, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: Is there evidence that Old testament prophecies like those in Deuteronomy, Isaiah, Nahum, Jeremiah etc. were made prior to the events they prophesied? Answer: Yes, of course. Many of the prophecies in the Old Testament certainly were fulfilled after the prophecies were written down. However, there are also Old Testament prophecies–especially in Jeremiah and […]