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, […]
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 […]
[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 […]
Question: The NT authors fabricated stories about Jesus for e.g. (1) Overturning of the tables in the temple & chasing out the money changers (John 2:13-16); Were the gospel writers unaware of the sizeable temple police and Roman guards who were permanently stationed at the temple? Were the temple police & Roman guards unable to […]
Question: Paul said ‘Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh.’ (Philippians 3:2) Why did Paul call his opponents here dogs? What is meant by dogs here? How should we understand the meaning here? Also, how would you explain to someone why it was appropriate […]
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 […]
Question: I have questions related to baptism that are always making me question my faith. Is baptism necessary for entering the kingdom of God?Many say the answer is yes based on what Jesus said in John 3:5. What happens to people who sin even after baptism? Will they be forgiven? And if Jesus was sinless […]
[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 […]
Question: Skeptics say that the Bible is at error because of verses that have Jesus saying that some of you standing here will not taste death until they see son of man coming in his kingdom, Truly I tell you, you will not finish going through the towns of Israel before the Son of Man […]
(Editor’s note: Questions are in italics and answers are in normal type) Questions: It is said that the Gnostic Gospel of the Judas shows a gospel where God (our Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth) is the bad guy and a fascinating contrast from the theology of Nicean Christianity. Early Christianity was diverse, unlike how many […]
[Editor’s note: This question is a follow-up from the class Answering the Hard Questions which we have been teaching the past three weeks.] Question: Hi guys! Thanks for the great apologetics series! I left last session with two questions. One is regarding the use of the “copying error” as a tool for explaining discrepancies between texts. […]
Question: In John 9:39 Jesus says, “For judgment I came into this world.” But then in John 12:47-48 Jesus says “I did not come to judge the world but to save it.” Are these not a contradiction and how do we resolve this? Answer: A great question. I had never noticed this potential contradiction. When […]
Questions: I have 3 questions to ask you. Why did God not do anything when Abraham has a concubine and when Solomon had multiple concubines? What did Jesus mean when he said that if your eye causes to see a women lustfully pluck it out and when a hand causes you to sin cut it […]
Question: My question is this. I have been seeing claims, specifically by atheists and Muslims, that the Christianity that exists today is Pauline. Paul interpolated on everything that Jesus taught, contradicted Jesus’ teachings on the law, and changed the gospel. Their ultimate point is, the critics, that the Christianity we have now is from Paul, […]
Question: I always get confused and I’m also asked by skeptics regarding the first miracle of Jesus and he selecting his apostles. If we read the Synoptics they say that after being baptized Jesus went to wilderness and was tempted by the devil, rejected at Nazareth in a synagogue and then he selected his apostles […]
Question: How can we reconcile the account of Jesus’ anointing at Bethany near the end of his life? Where, when and by whom was Jesus anointed?Was is at a Pharisee’s house as said by Luke, at the house of Simon the leaper, as said by Matthew and Mark, or was it at the house of […]
Question: If the gospels are eyewitness accounts how do we deal with contradictions in them? Most of them can be reconciled but what about things that cannot be reconciled? For example, the denial accounts of Peter differ heavily. Is this not a contradiction? The possible solution would be Peter denied Jesus 6 times and if […]
Question: Can you help me to resolve this problem? “And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid; but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me.” (Acts 22:9) “And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man.” (Acts 9:7) In […]
Question: Can you help me with this supposed contradiction? https://infidels.org/library/modern/j_c_jackson/galilee-or-jerusalem.html [Editor’s note: As you will see below, this is a claim that there is a contradiction between the resurrection accounts in Luke/Acts and Matthew with regard to where and when the apostles went to Galilee and Jerusalem.] Answer The claim is that the post-resurrection accounts […]
Question: How do you explain the background to the textual variant in Mark 1:41 (whether Jesus felt anger or compassion)? It seems that it is very hard to resolve this variant. We can detect and resolve many textual variants easily…but when it comes to Mark 1:41 how do you consider this variant and explain its […]
Question: Why would the women go back to the tomb to spice the body after it was already in the cave? The spices usually were used to mask the smell of the corpse during the burial. Rabbi Tovias Singer says this verse is fake and not true. He adds that Nicodemus was created by John […]
Question: Did God order that 6th commandment be broken when in 1 Samuel 15:3 He ordered the murder of the innocent children and infants (innocent in terms of them not having done the things the Amelikites did that forced God to order their killing). Or am I confusing the definition of murder? The reason I […]
Question: I am doubtful about Jesus’ purification of the temple in John 2:12-25 / Mark 11:15-18, were there two purifications or only one? Answer: There are three possibilities: 1. Jesus never cleansed the Jewish temple and these stories are all just made up in order to create a false narrative about Jesus. 2. Jesus cleared […]
Question: I need help with an apparent contradiction in the gospels, because the disciples’ call is reported differently. In the synoptics they were called one way, and in John another. I would like to know why this discrepancy actually happened? The passages I am having difficulty understanding are in relation to Matthew 4:18-22 (Jesus calls […]
Question: Could you help me to understand this apparent contradiction? Did Jesus ascend to heaven Easter evening (Luke 24:13-52) or forty days later (Acts 1:3-9)? This is one of the apparent bible contradictions which has led many skeptics to say the Bible is not the word of God. But I believe there must be a […]
Question: Can you please explain the variation in the Bible between Mathew 8:28, Mark 5:1, and Luke 8:26-27 with regard to where the miracle took place and the drowning of the swine after casting out demons from a man by Jesus? Mathew places the event in Gadara and Mark and Luke in Gerasa. They are […]
Question: Jesus—who had no sin (Hebrews 4:15)—is said to be “perfected” (Hebrews 2:10). I can’t understand what Jesus was missing. What was still imperfect in him? Answer: The word translated as “perfect” from the Greek in the New Testmanet is teleos or teleon. This word is not identical to the English word “perfect.” It has […]
Question: If Jeremiah 33 15 says that Messiah will sprout up in the days of Israel’s restoration doesn’t this contradict the time of Christ’s appearance? Answer: The timing and meaning of a prophecy is determined by the context. Besides, many of the restoration prophecies in both Jeremiah and Ezekiel are what I call “double prophecies.” […]
Question: Question: If Jeremiah 33 15 says that Messiah will sprout up in the days of Israel’s restoration, doesn’t this contradict the time of Christ’s appearance Answer: The timing and meaning of a prophecy is determined by the context. Besides, many of the restoration prophecies in both Jeremiah and Ezekiel are what I call “double […]
Question: 1 – I’m reading a book where an atheist asks: “How can the heavenly voice at Jesus’ baptism have said both ” You are my beloved Son” (Mark 1:11) and ” This is my beloved Son” (Matt 3:17) at the same time? “ 2 – Why did God order killed the Canaanite children? Are […]
Question: Ephesians 4:8 is a quote from Psalm 68:18, but it is miss-quoted by Paul. The verse in Ephesians says “gave gifts to men,” while Psalms says “received gifts from men”. Please explain. Thank you. Answer: In Ephesians 4:8 it is likely that Paul is quoting the Aramaic Targum rather than the Septuagint. The Aramaic […]
Question: I have three questions: 1- I have searched and found that there is division between scholars about dating the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts. Although some believe that they were written before 62 AD because there is no mention of Paul’s death or destruction of Jerusalem, most scholars believe that they […]
[Editor’s note: This is a follow-up to a question just posted a couple of days ago. I asked the questioner to send specific examples from a rather long article by an atheist who claims that Jesus did not even live at all. The material in italics is the material he asked me to comment on […]
Question: Please help me to understand this apparent contradiction. Jesus said that we must observe every detail of the commandments and precepts of the law of Moses. Jesus said in Matthew 5:19: ” Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the […]
Question: I have recently seen someone try to argue that God has no problem with men raping women. They used a few scriptures to “support” this opinion and each one was unfaithfully paraphrased. However upon looking at these scriptures I noticed that Deuteronomy 22:25 says the man should be put to death, but in verse […]
Question: We read in the gospels that Jesus informed his disciples that he would be resurrected on the third day, but we read also that the disciples at first didn’t believe the resurrection (Luke 24 :11). Isn’t this a contradiction? Isn’t this an evidence against the resurrection? Answer: If the Bible was a whitewashed version of […]
[Editor’s note: This question comes from a believer somewhere in the Middle East and the criticism he/she is reacting to is almost certainly coming from a Muslim critic who teaches that the Bible is corrupt. This will explain part of the response.] Question: I have a question about the inerrancy of Bible. In the first […]
[Editor’s note: This is a follow-up question to one posted just yesterday from the same gentleman. The second question was actually dozens of questions–so much that I informed him I will only answer one of them for now, which is the one below. However, one book recommendation and one scripture reference in my answer only […]
Question: The question I have is about Matthew 24:26. People who reject Paul as an apostle say that this is proof that Paul saw a false Christ on the road to Damascus because Jesus was warning us about anyone who has a vision specifically in the desert is having a false vision. Is there any […]
Question: It is written in the Bible that God never changes. But when you look at the Old and New Testament, God seems to be quite different in the two testaments. It is written that Jesus has always existed. So is it correct to say that God was not changing himself from what He was […]
Question: I was studying this scripture: “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” -1 John 4:18 I feel like this scripture contradicts verses in the Bible that say to fear God. For example: “Show […]
Question: What is the evil spirit that God sent on Saul in 1 Samuel 19:1-10? Why would God send an evil spirit to Saul ? Answer: This is a good question. At first glance, the scene depicted in 1 Samuel 19:1-10 does seem surprising, given what we know about God. It can seem to imply […]
Question: While reading the book of John, I noticed that Jesus drives out the moneylenders out of the temple long before the triumphant entry in Jerusalem. This differs from the other 3 gospels which shows the scene of cleansing the temple just after the triumphant entry. What do you think of this? Answer: There are […]
Question: According to the Bible, we are counted as righteous and will be saved not because of our works but by our faith. On the other hand, James said that faith without works is essentially dead. My question I believe is a pretty common one, asked by non-believers or non-Christians, but I’d like to hear […]
Question: I’m a bit confused about 2 Samuel 21 and need more clarification. David’s oath to Saul is to not kill off his descendants or wipe out his name from his father’s family (1 Samuel 24:21-22). David’s oath to Jonathan is to not ever cut off his kindness from his family (1 Samuel 20:15). Both […]
Question: This question is about the Law of God, which is pretty controversial among the people. In Matthew 5:17-20, Jesus states that He has come to fulfill the teachings of the Law of Moses (the Torah) and the prophets. He also states that “not the least point of the Law will be done away, not […]
Questions: Why would God even create a hell? Why will souls live eternally in damnation? If they don’t make it into heaven, their soul is destroyed. Also, I was reading on your site about Jesus and examples you give for believing He is the Messiah. One is His fulfillment of prophecy. One of the prophecies […]
Question: I have a question about something in the Bible that bothers me. In Genesis 19, Angels come into Lots home. When under attack, Lot offers the men his daughters to, basically rape. I find this hard to understand? Is there any explanation to understand Lots mindset? Answer: I will have to say that this […]
Question: I watched a recent debate (online) between Theist Dr William lane Craig and cosmologist Lawrence Krauss. Krauss’s favorite example seems to be the divine command in the Old Testament for the Israelites to exterminate the Canaanite men, women and children (Deuteronomy 20:7). I would say Krauss and most other atheists use this brilliantly to […]
Question: Hello, thank you for your ministry. I have a question on when Jesus was called Messiah and when Simon was first called Peter. In John 1:41, Andrew tells Peter that Jesus is the Christ, but in Matthew 16:16-17, Peter declares that Jesus is the Christ and Jesus says flesh and blood did not reveal […]
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