Reliability of the Bible – Page 2 – Evidence for Christianity

The assembly of the Jews nearly rejected the books of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Ezekiel because they contradicted the Law. They were presented as altered. Your response?

Dr. John Oakes 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 […]

Jesus borrowed from II Esdras 1:30-33, making it inspired Scripture. Your response?

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

Question: Jesus was also a borrower who copied text from the book of II Esdras 1:30-33 and presented it as an inspired word. “I gathered you as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings. But now, what shall I do to you? I will cast you out from my presence. When you offer oblations […]

St. Eucharius (3rd century) said that much of the Holy Scriptures were lost when the Chaldeans attacked the Jews. Is this true?

Dr. John Oakes 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 […]

There is a prophecy about Judas and Jesus in the Ethiopic Bible. Did the Jews remove this from the Old Testament?

Dr. John Oakes 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 […]

Adam Clarke (1831) said that the Jews falsified the OT text again and again. Similarly, Chrysostom (4th century) said that the Jews lost some books through carelessness. Comment?

Dr. John Oakes 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 […]

The Isaiah Scroll from the Dead Sea Scrolls has quite a large number of variations from the Masoretic text–as many as 2600. And that is just Isaiah. Does this not say the OT is poorly copied?

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

Question: Although the Isaiah scroll [Editor’s comment: The questioner is referring to the Dead Sea Scrolls] is similar in structure to today’s book of Isaiah, it contains alternative spellings, scribal errors, corrections, and other variant readings. Strictly speaking, the number of textual variants is well over 2600, ranging from a single letter, sometimes one or […]

Why did Jesus not make an effort to stop the promulgation of the apocryphal or pseudepigraphal books?

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

Question: Why did Jesus not make efforts to stop the promulgation of apocryphal/pseudepigraphal books, for e.g. the apocalypse of Enoch, apocryphon of Ezekiel, apocalypse of Zephaniah, etc.? Answer: A good question. At the time Jesus lived, these books were NOT considered part of the Jewish canon. They were non-canonical but popular spiritual books. Toward the […]

Is it merely Christian bias that caused the Jews to reject Jesus and also for Christians to reject Muhammad?

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

Question: Jesus came to the Jews to show them the right path, which was unacceptable for them. The New Testament tells us that he brought the concept of “God’s Son” or “Human-God” which was not prophesied in the Jewish Scriptures. That’s the reason the majority of the Jews rejected him. Similarly, when Muhammad came to […]

In Ezekiel 38:17 it says that Israel’s prophets prophesied about Gog many times before. Who were these Israelite prophets that Ezekiel spoke about?

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

Question: Ezek. 38:17 mentions the Israelite prophets who prophesied about Gog, but no prophecy earlier than Ezekiel’s prophecy talks about Gog. Then who were those Israelite prophets and why did Ezekiel not name them? Answer: I do not know for sure what prophets Ezekiel is referring to. He does not tell us. However, it is […]

Peter said (Acts 10:43) that all the prophets testified about Jesus, but what about Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah and Obadiah who did not talk about Jesus?

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

Question: Why did Peter boast about Jesus that all the prophets testified about him (Acts 10:43) although they have a meagre record of 15-16 prophets and among them Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Obadiah not talk about Jesus? What is your response? Answer: My response is that all the true prophets of Jehovah did in fact prophesy about […]

What is your response to the Jesus myth believers who claim that Paul believed Jesus was a celestial being who occupied a fleshly body?

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

Question: I often hear Jesus Mythicists arguing that Paul believed Jesus was a celestial being who put on a body of flesh to be crucified by demonic powers in the heavens. Hence I ask: did Paul ever situate Jesus on earth? Answer: First of all, unless you make reference to an actual person who makes […]

Could Jesus have received a proper burial by the Jews, or would he, instead, have been tossed into an unmarked grave?

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

Question: Could Jesus have received a proper burial by the Jews, rather than be tossed into an unmarked grave? Answer: The Jewish perspective is influenced by the passage Deuteronomy 21:23, which is referenced by Paul in Galatians 3:13 and possibly in 2 Corinthians 5:21. Here is the Deuteronomy 21:23 passage: (NIV) “If someone guilty of […]

Hosea had an illicit affair, Ezekiel used filthy language and Isaiah made false prophecies. Your response?

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

Question: Dr. Oakes, After deep study of the prophetic books, I come to the conclusion that, on one hand, the Bible portrays opponents of Jeremiah & Ezekiel as false prophets and blames them for lying, adultery and wickedness and, on the other hand, its accepted prophets did the same things for e.g. Hosea had an […]

Please explain why Nahum (Nah 1:4-6) and Habakkuk (Hab 3:14-15) borrowed from Canaanite/Ugaritic descriptions of Baal.

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

Question: I have a serious question about the Bible’s authenticity. Why did the biblical Prophets borrow characteristics from Canaanite/Ugaritic epic poetry and apply them to Yahweh? For e.g., Nahum (1:4-6) and Habakkuk (3:14-15) describe God as an avenging warrior God similar to Canaanite/Ugaritic storm god Baal. Your response? Answer: First of all, you say this […]

Jesus failed to fulfill Micah 4:1-4 and Isaiah 11:6-9 because he did not bring peace and he did not become a king. Response?

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

Question: Jesus failed to bring universal peace (Mic. 4:1-4; Isa. 11:6-9) because, after him, bloodshed occurred multiple times in Jerusalem. Former dominion was not restored nor was kingship established as predicted (Mic. 4:6-8). What’s your response? Answer: Jesus fulfilled Micah 4:1-4 word-for-word and in detail. He died to establish the Church, which is the Mountain […]

Rabbi Mark Solomon says that we have no way of knowing the authorship of any OT book. All were based on oral teaching. Your response?

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

Question: Liberal Rabbi Mark L. Solomon says: “We have no way of knowing for certain the authorship of any of the Biblical books, including the prophecies in Neviim (Prophets), since they were probably based on oral teaching handed down for generations before being written down by anonymous scribes.” What’s your opinion? Answer: My opinion is […]

The Jewish prophecies are corrupted, and the Jews fabricated the idea of a “King like David.” Your response?

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

Question: Jesus had no need to prove himself Messiah through corrupted Jewish prophecies. Jews fabricated the concept of “King like David”. Those prophecies will neither be fulfilled in the distant future for Jews, not as the Davidic Kingdom will never come to exist. Indeed, Jesus came as Messiah to teach Jews to leave their worldly […]

If the Jewish priests knew the biblical criteria for a true prophet, then why were there so many false prophets in Israel?

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

Question: If the Levites and Priests already knew the criteria for recognizing the true prophet and false prophet (Deut. 13:1-5; 18:21-22), then why did false prophets flourish among Israelites? Why is there no mention of the execution of false prophets by the hands of Levites and Priests? Answer: The answer to this question is really […]

Some say that the miracles in the Bible simply reflect the kinds of myths common at the time, and are therefore not true. Your response? Also, what about Christianity simply being a useful “crutch?”

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

Questions: I’ve got a couple of questions. Some atheists and Jesus-mythers claim that a book like the Bible and the miracles in it are not surprising because during that time such writings and legends were common, with even serious historians like Tacitus adding miraculous or bizarre things to their writings. They say it was very […]

If Mary was a devout woman, then why did she doubt Gabriel when she was told she would give birth as a virgin? Is this evidence of Christian fabrication of Is 7:14?

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

Question: Mary (mother of Jesus) was a devout woman who was well aware of God’s scriptures, then why did she doubt Gabriel about virgin birth, when she already knew the prophecy of Isa. 7:14? Did it mean Christians fabricated the prophecy of Isa. 7:14? Answer: Mary was indeed a devout woman. And we can assume […]

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 […]

Do we have the exact words of Jesus or a paraphrase?

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

Questions: Do we have the exact words of Jesus or a paraphrase? How does it affect the credibility of Jesus’s words?What is your definition or understanding of a contradiction? Did Jesus say to loose and bring one or two animals( a colt and donkey) Thanks Answers: No, we definitely do not have the exact words […]

If Amos, Nahum, Habakkuk, Haggai, Malachi were names of real people, why are they not found elsewhere in Biblical history?

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

Question: If Amos, Nahum, Habakkuk, Haggai, Malachi were names of real people, why are they not found elsewhere in Biblical history? Answer: You are asking the wrong question, in my opinion. Here is the correct question to ask: Are Amos, Nahum, Habakkuk, Haggai and Malachi real people? It is not the job of a historian […]

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 […]

If Matthew was an eye-witness of the gospel events, why did he use 55% of Mark’s material, rather than his own memories?

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

Question: I have learned that about 55% of Matthew’s gospel is just Mark’s material. If Matthew was an eyewitness why would he use 55% of Mark’s gospel? He even uses material from his gospel for events that he witnessed such as the last supper. In the last supper, the last part in Matthew and Mark […]

Please respond to an article I read which claims that Luke uses Greek idioms and puts them in the mouth of Paul, showing he is making things up.

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

[Editor’s note: I got a follow-up question from the same person. The second question and answer are below.] Question: I am a Christian who is going through some doubts about the Bible and I was wondering if you had any insight on the claims made on this article? https://bibleoutsidethebox.blog/2021/07/18/are-stories-in-the-bible-influenced-by-popular-greco-roman-literature/ Thanks [Editor’s note: In the article […]

Both Daniel and Zechariah Ch 9-14 are the product of the Hellenistic era and have no messianic prophecies. Your response?

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

Question: Book of Daniel and Zechariah (Ch. 9-14) are the product of Hellenistic era. Jesus is not prophesied in them otherwise DSS would elaborate it. What’s your response to this criticism? Harrison: These are quite simply false statements. I assume that they are coming from a Muslim source. Muslims have a disingenuous approach to the […]

Jesus did not fulfill Zechariah 9:9 because he is not a “victorious king of Israel.” He also did not bring in universal peace. He is not Messiah.

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

Question: Jesus did not fulfill Zech. 9:9 because a significant part of the verse speaks about the person riding as the “victorious king of Israel”. The passage explains that at that time, universal peace will be established. This is a key feature of the Messianic age, as we see in passages like Isa. 2:4; 11:1-9 […]

How can God allow his Messiah to be the descendant of immoral people like Judah and Tamar or David and Bathsheba?

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

Question: How God can allow his Messiah to be a descendant of immoral people i.e. Judah and Tamar, David and Bathsheba? Hadn’t scribes fabricated these immoral tales? Answer: Good question. One of the beautiful things about Christianity is that Jesus is the descendent of imperfect people. In fact, when Matthew recorded the genealogy of Jesus, […]

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 […]

If the “experts” are right and the Bible is made up, full of errors and has been changed, then how can we trust what historians say about secular history?

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

Question: If so many experts and historians say the Bible is made up, full of errors, and has been changed, etc. then how can we trust what historians say about secular history? Answer: I assume yours is more of a rhetorical question than an actual one. You seem to be making a point rather than […]

Fifteen questions about the reliability of the gospels.

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

Question: 1. If Jesus’s mission was to the lost sheep of Israel, why did he fail in his mission? And why did Jesus prohibit the gfrom being preached to the Gentiles during his ministry but after his ‘resurrection’ tell them to preach the Gospel to the whole world? If Jesus really had made the latter […]

Literalist Christians falsely claim the gospels are eyewitness accounts. In fact they are quintuple hearsay. Your response?

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

Question: Sir, Literalist Christians frequently employ the argument that the gospels represent objectively reliable “eyewitness accounts”, but this contention is disingenuous. The reasons are: (1) Literalist Christians have no way of authenticating any of the gospels. In fact, all four were originally written anonymously. and (2) These gospels constitute unreliable hearsay and not true […]

Please respond to six historical “problems” with the trial and crucifixion accounts in the gospels.

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

Questions: Doctor, There are historical problems in the trial & crucifixion accounts of the Gospels. 1) Passover was a family holiday. Would the entire Sanhedrin (and the high priest) get up and leave their families, first as a group to arrest him, and second, for a trial of a Galilean wonder-worker? According to later Rabbinic […]

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 […]

Prophecies need to be specific. Why hide a messianic prophecy in Isaiah 52-53 in a passage about Israel, causing confusion?

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

Question: Prophecies need to be specific. There was no need to hide the promised messiah within a passage that was also speaking about something else, for e.g. if Isaiah had an intention of speaking about the Messiah, it would’ve been nice had he said it clearly, instead of using the same moniker to identify both […]

How do you explain that Isaiah 53 borrows biographical details from Jeremiah?

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

Editor’s Note: The questioner mentions “Deutero Isaiah.” There is a commonly-accepted scholarly opinion that Isaiah only wrote Ch 1-39, and that Ch 40 onward was written after the exile by another author. This theory is somewhat speculative, but has some reasonable evidence supporting it. The author is assuming presuppositionally that the theory is true. Question: […]

If the gospels are eyewitness accounts, why do Matthew, Mark and Luke just copy each other?

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

Question: If the gospels are eyewitness accounts then why is it clearly evident that Matthew, Mark, and Luke just copied each other? There are so many verses that are exactly the same and that doesn’t make sense if they were based on different eyewitness accounts. If you could help explain this to me that would […]

Andrew Davidson claims that the OT prophetic books were created from scattered fragments of anonymous authors–that they were not written by the prophets such as Isaiah and Jeremiah. Is this true?

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

Question: Andrew B. Davidson (1902) wrote that Scribes were arrangers of the scattered fragments, many of them anonymous, existing in their time. They arranged small anonymous prophecies under general headings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Zechariah, just like all Psalms were gathered together under the name of David. Dr. Oakes, is it possible that anonymous prophecies became part […]

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 […]

Which is correct on the time from Adam to Abraham–the Masoretic text or the Septuagint?

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

[Editor’s Note: This is a two-part question, as the one asking clarified his initial question] Question: Can you explain to me why there is such a difference in the Genesis 5 and 11 chronologies of the antediluvian and post-flood patriarchs? I understand there is about 1380 years difference between the Septuagint and Masoretic translation texts, […]

Why did Matthew copy Mark’s account of the Lord’s Supper, if he was an eye-witness? Is 2 Peter a forgery?

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

[Editor’s note: These are two questions of a similar nature from the same questioner, so are being put together in one article.] Question: Why does it appear that Matthew’s version of the last supper was copied from Mark? They’re so similar and it wouldn’t make sense for Matthew to copy Mark for the last supper […]

If we don’t know who wrote the gospels then why should we trust them? Since their anonymous I don’t know if I can.trust them.

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

Question: If we don’t know who wrote the gospels then why should we trust them? Anyone could have just made them up. I want to be able to trust the gospels but since their anonymous I don’t know if I can. Answer: First of all, we very likely DO know who wrote the gospels. It […]

Your claim that Wisdom (aka Sirach) does not contain messianic prophecy is incorrect. Please consider Wisdom 2:12-20.

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

[Editor’s Note: This is a rather long question with a fairly long response] Question: I read your article “Is Chapter 2 of Wisdom (part of the Apocrypha) inspired prophecy of Jesus?” and wanted to address your points. First, you asked where the Messianic prophecy is. Wisdom 2:12-20 contains a very clear Messianic prophecy: “For if […]

Acharya S. replies to your criticism of the Zeitgeist movie. Her arguments sound good. What is your response?

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

Question: Hello Dr Oakes. I read your articles about the Zeitgeist movie and they did help a lot. However, after viewing a video by Acharya S, she made a rebuttal to not only your claims but the claims by other apologists. She said there are many details that apologists don’t take into consideration when trying […]

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, […]

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

Dr. 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?

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 […]