How can we have the “exact words” of Jesus, e.g. during His interrogation by Pilate or when He prayed alone in Gethsemane, when none of his disciples/followers were present to hear His very words? Answer: First of all, we do not have the “exact words” of Jesus in our Bibles. The reason for this is […]
Questions: (second question is below) 1. Out of 500 billion galaxies we can’t be the only life in the universe and how does that affect mankind and a savior? Answer: First of all, this question based on an improvable assumption. Why, logically, is it seemingly impossible that the earth could contain the only life in […]
Question: Why would God decide to kill someone for picking up sticks on the Sabbath (Number 15:32-36) but then Jesus, who “being the very nature, God ” allow his disciples to pick grain during the Sabbath? In the first example, the Israelites themselves had no idea what to do when someone picked up sticks during […]
Question: Some believe that John the apostle was indeed not the author of 1 John, 2nd John, and his Gospel. Some declare that it was LIKELY that John “the elder” was the writer if these pieces of scripture. They say and I quote “This would explain those passages in the gospel that speak about the […]
QUESTION: Is there historical evidence that the apostle Paul was real? I have come across talk on the internet saying that there is no real evidence that Paul ever existed. I would appreciate it if you can shed some light on this. Thanks and God bless. Answer: Yes, there is historical evidence that Paul was […]
Comment: Shalom, Revelation 22:7 King James Version (KJV) 7 Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book. Revelation 22:20 King James Version (KJV) 20 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. QUICKLY= GREEK TACHU = SWIFT-QUICK. Matthew 28:7 […]
Question: Do you have any good sources to find the truth out about Zoroaster and the claims that it predates Christianity and we stole a lot of our claims from them including a resurrected Lord? If you could in brief give an answer as well, I would appreciate your time. Answer: First of all, there […]
QUESTION: Hello Dr. Oakes, I was wondering why – with all of the biblical and secular evidence of Jesus actually existing – do atheists contend there is new evidence that Jesus’ existance may not be true? Is this just another attempt to try and prove there can be no God or is there some new […]
QUESTION: I would like to know about the accusations against the Bible. 1. The fallacies and inconsistancies that people claim are there… 2. How accurate do we know the Old Testament to be historically speaking. Response: It is impossible for me to answer the first question because it is too broad to address. What I […]
QUESTION: How do we know that Satan didn’t write the Bible? How do we know that the true religion isn’t Buddhism for example and the Old and New Testament are the works of a devil/demon/Satan trying to trick us into doing wrong things like stoning adulteresses and non-believers? Satan could reveal himself as Jesus, claim […]
Question: I have been reading at your site which I have found to be very intresting and informative…. I noticed a little there on the Gnostic gospels. My question is…since there is no proof that the main 4 gospels..Matthew Mark Luke and John..are legitimate .. I was wondering where you get the information on the […]
Suggestion: Hi, please do read the doctoral thesis by the late Thomas Herron in which he presents a persuasive argument for re-dating 1 Clement to just before 70 AD. There are of course explosive implications if 1 Clement was pre 70 AD – for example if Clement is quoting at least one of the gospels […]
Question: I wanted to ask you a question in regards to the book of Daniel. The LXX [editor’s note: this is the Septuagint Greek version] version of the book of Daniel has three additional passages, “The Prayer of Azariah and Song of the Three Holy Children, the stories of Susannah and the Elders and Bel […]
Question: My 7 year old son has recently become interested in the Bible and has been reading some of Genesis on his own. He asked me about the biblical ages in Genesis and how people can live 800, and 900 years. I said I thought it could have been that God gave longer lives at […]
Question: God created all of us, yes? That means He chose you exactly as you are and not a slightly different you (maybe one with different color eyes or slightly quicker to anger or any tiny variation). When David says “you knit me together in my mother’s womb” is he not saying this? Therefore how could […]
Question: Hi, John! I have some questions about discoveries. Tell me, please, if I am not right. 1. This tablet now in Germany – http://ferrelljenkins.wordpress.com/2012/02/08/evil-merodach-562-560-graciously-freed-jehoiachin/ 2. This tablet now in London (from your PDF) – text from tablet: [In] the seventh year, the month of Kislev, the king of Babylonia mustered his forces and marched […]
Question: How do we understand the Book of Jonah? Was he really swallowed by a whale/fish/something else? How did he survive for three days in whatever it was? Is this just one of those things we must just understand as a miracle? Answer: According to the writer of the Book of Jonah, when Jonah was […]
Question; I want to ask you about the one discovery – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hezekiah%27s_Tunnel Is this the real tunnel from the Bible or not? Could you give me, please, a good web site about Bible discoveries? Answer: Yes, this is almost certainly the same tunnel which, according to 2 Kings, was constructed under Hezekiah in about 705 […]
Editor’s Note: This is a series of interactions with a person who is obviously a Muslim making a typical argument against Isaiah 7:14 as a messianic prophecy. See below for further arguments from this person. Question: If you say that the Hebrew word in Isaiah 14 means a virgin and that it is a dual prophecy, […]
Question: I have “heard” that there are other letters Paul wrote that are not in the Bible. For example, there was a Third letter to the Church of Corinth that was not included in the Bible — Why not? Answer: It is hard to respond to the general question about “other letters.” There are many […]
Question: The order of the fig tree being cursed is different in different gospels. How can you explain this apparent contradiction? Answer: As you stated in your email, “The order of the fig tree being cursed is different in different gospels.” Ultimately, your question (I take it) is: Is there a contradiction between Matthew 21:10-22 […]
Question: Why are there different lists of apostles in different gospels? Answer: The principle reason that there are three different lists of the apostles is that the gospels are independent accounts of the life of Jesus. If they were identical, then why would there be four gospels? If one writer copied from another, then the […]
Question: Was the flood over the whole world or just part of it? Answer: I have previously answered a similar enough question that I will copy and past below. Let me add just a couple of thoughts. The Old Testament is not a careful, scientific analysis of events in the past. We […]
QUESTION: What does Romans 6:23 mean in comparision to 1 John 5:17? Answer: I can see how someone might see a possible contradiction between Romans 6:23 (The wages of sin is death) and 1 John 5:17 (there is a sin which does not lead to death). However, if you read Romans 6:23 completely and look […]
Question: I would like to claim that God is consistent in everything but I wonder why an eternal God outside of time would use pretty strong language such as “detestable” and “unclean” denouncing certain foods (Leviticus 11) and then decide to change it and say everything is clean (Acts 10) in the New Testament. Why […]
Question: (editor’s note: This question is a follow-up to earlier ones. Some unedited earlier correspondence is below) I am now starting to have more confidence in the Scripture, and starting to see truth from error. So you’re saying Prof. Ehrman is on one side and that side is to work against God, and this is […]
Question: I just want to give you this link and see if you can answer some of the claims Ehrman has. This video was the reason I started to have doubts in my faith. Could you maybe give some information on the claims in this audio? I am farther in my faith now, thanks to your explanations! It seems […]
Question: If the Bible is correct then why did the prophecy in Ezekiel 29:17-20 fail? We know that Ezekiel made this prophecy in about 571 BC, and Nebuchadnezzar’s invasion of Egypt in 568 BC failed? Nebuchadnezzar was suppose to conquer Egypt according to those verses – “Behold, I will GIVE the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar […]
Question: What is the name of the person who received the message of Jesus from Theophilus? Editor’s note: This letter is coming from a Muslim who is trying to show that one cannot trust Luke because we do not even know who the book was written to. This will explain some of the answer below. […]
Challenge: I CHALLENGE you to prove to me that GOD and his son are ONE GOD. This is something you can NEVER do. Be a man and accept my CHALLENGE. HOW CAN GOD AND HIS SON BE ONE GOD? Response: I am sorry, but I get the very strong sense that you simply want to […]
Question: Since the orignial writings where inspired by God, but we can’t have the 100% perfect translation what would be the best Bible to read that would be closest to the Greek and Hebrew text? What is different between the the manuscripts we have compared to the original writings? Any numbers wrong ? Are there any […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Question: I was going over the passage in Luke 6:46 (the wise and foolish builder) and I realized that my foundation in God isn’t as strong as I would like. I feel like every time I have a question or doubt my faith is shaken. I know that the usual response to building a stronger […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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. […]
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 […]
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 […]
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. […]
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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