QUESTION: I have a question concerning the following passage:  “It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing […]

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QUESTION: I’ve recently watched a debate between Bart Ehrman and Daniel Wallace about the reliability of The New Testament text. Bart Ehrman brought up a point that the Acts of the apostles or Acts was transmitted in two different editions. I was wondering have you ever read the edition that’s different from our Acts in […]

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Question: I am getting hit with this subject more often. The bassist in my band who I basically live with when on tour sent me this video after a long talk we had on the tour bus. There are a lot of claims with no evidence to back it up however I think it’d be great […]

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QUESTION: Have you read Sigmund Freud’s Moses and Monotheism? Freud suggests that Moses was actually an Egyptian, based on the origin of his name, and that Judaism was passed down from Egyptian monotheistic beliefs. Apparently most Egyptologists hold this to be true. Could you tell me about the historical accuracy of the claim that Moses […]

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Question: I know Yahoo Answers isn’t a very reliable source, so I am asking you about an answer that was  there. Someone commented on a question that was asked. The question was ” Where were the Gospels written?” One of the answers was “Tons of people compiled, copied and translated and edited the gospels all […]

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Question: Does this not give you something to think about ?  [editor’s note: some personal info about where the questioner got this info and generated the question is left out here] Bruce wrote: “There are texts which may have lacked the Prayer of Forgiveness on the Cross in Luke (so like Luke to invent this in the […]

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Question: How is it that when God makes creation beautiful to the eye it is considered godly but when we value beauty to the eye, it isn’t considered godly? (prov 31:30, 1st peter 3:3) Or when God wants to build an entire city, New Jerusalem, with diamonds and gold ( revelations 21) it is considered […]

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Question: Have you ever noticed that neither Luke nor Acts makes any reference to the doctrine of savation by the bloood of Christ ? Answer: Yes, I have noticed that Luke does not mention this doctrine, although I would dispute that it is not found in Acts. I believe that it has been claimed that […]

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Question: I was reading this verse:  The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life.They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus’ resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people.  (Matthew 27: 52-53)   I believe this statement to be true in that the dead […]

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QUESTION: I have a question about this article http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/chris_sandoval/daniel.html#forgeries. In paragraph 7 of the section called religious forgeries the writer writes “We read in the Book of Daniel that God’s angels ordered the venerable prophet Daniel to “shut up” and “seal” his book (Daniel 8:26; 12:4,9). Perhaps the author meant us to understand that Daniel […]

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QUESTION: I know I’ve asked you questions regarding to the different OT translations and transmissions (Septuagint, SP, MT), however I’ve recently been troubled by two somewhat different positions on the accuracy of the transmission. Emmanual Tov a leading scholar on the dead sea scrolls and textual critic recently came out with a book “Textual Criticism […]

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Question: I found interesting article on findings in Khirbet Qeiyafa.  May I ask, what is your opinion about that, is it another archeological proof of Bible historicity,  or just a hoax? http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/History/Early+History+-+Archaeology/Cultic_shrines_time_King_David_8-May-2012.htm Answer: No, this is the real thing. This is a very exciting discovery. Garfinkle is a highly respected archaeologist and this find will […]

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QUESTION: I’m having trouble believing that every single word in the Bible is true. I do know that Jesus’ resurrection is true and can be proven to a certain degree historically and that the creation of the universe can also be proven to a certain degree with scientific data and theories. But I’m having a […]

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QUESTION: Just to understand: The Bible says Jesus spent three days and three nights in the tomb” However, if he died on Friday, it only spent two nights and two days in the tomb. Could you explain please? Anne: I have already answered this question at the site.  I am copying and pasting for you. […]

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Comment:    (editor’s note:  This is a follow-up to a question about supposed contradictions in Mark 16 about Mary Magdalene and the resurrection accounts.  In the earlier letter I establish that all the gospels agree Mary Magdalene was the first see that the resurrection had happened.) I do agree that every account aside from the Mark […]

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Question: I really appreciate the time you take to read and respond these emails (which I believe does not give you anything in return but I believe you do it for Christ).  I need an advice from you.  I have been a kind of person who looks to validate things. I have followed a lot […]

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QUESTION: I have a question regarding to the ending of Mark. I understand that the evidence for Mark’s ending is scant, however I don’t understand why the scribe that wrote the passage would insert this statement “he appeared first to Mary Magdalene” when clearly in Matthew and Luke Jesus appears to others before Mary Magdalene. […]

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Question: I am referring to one of the powerpoint presentations at the web site (Reflections on the Passion of Christ).  It indicates that the decree of Artaxerxes (Ezra Chapter 7) was issued around 458 BC. I am impressed with the overall insight into the prophecy (Daniel Chp 9).  However, how did you reach the conclusion that […]

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Question: Is there any evidence against the theory that the book of Daniel was written by two people or multiple people? Also I assume that you know about the discovery of Daniel’s three friends in a list of Babylonian officials.  I was wondering why Daniel’s name was not found in the list of Babylonian officials, […]

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Question: I was wondering if you had any information regarding the following topic “Has the Bible been changed.”   I would guess, through cross referencing all the manuscripts over the past centuries, we would be able to identify what has been changed within the text.   Do you have any sources of info/studies for this? I would […]

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Question: When were the Gospels written? I saw something on the History Channel that said that the first Gospel was Mark and was written 40 years after the death of Jesus and that the other three Gospels copied Mark’s Gospel and added to it. If this is true, how accurate could they be if they […]

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Question: Christ said that knowing Him = knowing the father. But allow me to give you an example that my mind can not seem to harmonize with respect to the characteristics of God:   2nd Samuel 6:1-7    6 When they came to the threshing floor of Nakon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark […]

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Question: When I was reading in 1 Corinthians 7, I noticed that Paul said a rather peculiar thing. He said “To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord)…” (verse 12). What does this mean? If the words that followed this were “not [from] the Lord” then wouldn’t that mean that it was not inspired? Answer: […]

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QUESTION: I have a two part question regarding to the Peter’s denial of Christ. First, did Jesus tell Peter that he would disown him three times at the Mount of Olives (Mark and Matthew) or before they went to the mount of olives during the last supper (Luke and John)? And the 2nd question is […]

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Question: I am a Christian from Turkey.  Grace to you.  I couldn’t understand the connection between 1420 BC. and the letters of Tel el Amarna. In an article at your site you say that; “The letter is addressed to Akhnaton, which implies it was written somewhere between 1387 and 1366 BC. This fits well with […]

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QUESTION: I have yet another question regarding to a so called contradiction. The scripture I have a question on is 1 Corinthians 15:3-8. I know that this creed dates back to no more than 3 years after Jesus rose from the dead, but I do have three questions regarding the creed. First why does it state that […]

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Question: I was reading about the transfiguration in Matthew and I realized that Peter seems to know immediately that the two shining figures with Jesus are Elijah and Moses.  How did Peter know what Elijah and Moses looked like since no one in the first century would know what they looked like and there were […]

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A response to question below about how NT writers knew what Jesus said in the garden. What about Herod’s words or the Pharisees with Judas? Question:  Since I regularly “surf” your site, I read your answer on page https://www.evidenceforchristianity.org/index.php?option=com_custom_content&task=view&id=5648 and it raised few thoughts in my head that I wanted to share with you and ask […]

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How do you respond to claims that Matthew (2:15) takes Hosea 11:1 out of context? What about Matthew 2:18 (weeping in Ramah)? Question: First I would like to mention that I am a Christian and am very grateful for your “questions and answers” section. I catch myself spending hours reading your answers for fun. I […]

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Who wrote 1st Kings? Why is Revelation not included in Codex Vaticanus? (many more) Question: Who wrote the books of kings? What is the evidence? Why is it that the vaticanus codex does NOT have the book of Revelation? Did the human part of Jesus worship the divine part of Jesus? The rabbit chews the […]

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Question: Here’s a difficult question, and one I’ve been struggling with for a while. Is it possible that the Gospel of John contains certain sayings ascribed to Jesus that he didn’t actually say? I realize that this question sounds like it implies an attack on Biblical Inerrancy, but that problem can be avoided by making […]

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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 […]

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Question: How would you respond to the apparent contradiction between the epistle of Galatians, and Acts. Paul highlights his trip to Arabia and specifically states that he did not go up to Jerusalem (Galatians 1:17) , however Luke reports nothing about Arabia and states that Paul went to Jerusalem just a couple of days after […]

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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 […]

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Question: I have a lot of trouble when presented with "picky" questions about numbers, names, or even localities of the Bible events. Some of them are raised by people I talk to, and some of them are mine, when trying to read the Bible deeper and have a better understanding of God’s word. As for […]

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Question: Any thoughts on the contradiction between John having Jesus as crucified on the eve of Passover and the other gospels on Passover itself? Answer: This is a somewhat complicated question. There is no doubt that John tells us Jesus was crucified on the eve of the Passover. It was also the day before a […]

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Question: In leviticus 11:20-23 it said that the Israelites could not eat any flying creeping thing that is on all fours. What was God refering to when he means flying creeping on all fours? I can’t find any creeping flying animal or insect that is on all fours. Answer: Scholars will agree that Leviticus 11:20-23 […]

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Question: In the Septuagint it states that Methuselah was 167 when he begot Lamech. But that would mean that Methuselah living up to 969 would have survived the flood. The Bible states only 8 people were on the ark. Is there any earlier Old Testament text that gives Methuselah a different age when he begot […]

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Question: What’s your response to people who claim the hallucination hypothesis and state that Paul had a lot of guilt towards persecuting the Christians which eventually led to his hallucination? And how would you interpret the verse in Matthew 2:3 "When King Herod heard this he was disturbed and ALL Jerusalem with him"? Thanks! Answer: […]

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Question: How did the Philistines get 30,000 chariots in 1 Sam 13:5? Is there any evidence that this is a copyist error? Answer: The answer is that the Septuagint and Syriac translations have 3000 rather than 30,000 chariots. Both are very early translations of the Old Testament which were made many hundreds of years before […]

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Question: I have a friend who claims that there are biblical prophecies within both the Old and New Testament that have not come to pass as of yet. Though I am aware that not all biblical prophecy hasn’t been fulfilled, what are the basic rules for interpreting it? Should we focus on how Jesus had, […]

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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 […]

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Question: When did Jesus meet Simon? Was it when Peter’s brother Andrew asked Him to come see the Messiah (John 1:35-42)? Was it when Jesus healed Peter’s mother in law (Luke 4:38-43)? Or was it next to the sea of Galilee (Mark 1:14-20)? Thanks! Answer: Jesus met Simon (later known as Peter) when Simon’s brother […]

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Question: I am stuck on Daniel 7:26-28. It seems to say that after the defeat of Domitian that Jesus sets up his dominion on earth and that the dominion would be everlasting and that the saints would possese the kingdom. But Jesus never came it 96 A.D? Answer: The Kingdom which Jesus established is the […]

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Question: How would you interpret the formal contradiction in Mathew’s citation (Matt 2:6) of Micah 5:2? Matthew states that Bethlehem is by no means the least among the rulers of Judah, and Micah states that Bethlehem is small among the clans or rulers of Judah.Thanks! Answer: Here is a literal, word-for-word translation of the Greek […]

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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 […]

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