Dr. John Oakes is teaching a two-part lesson on the role of the Holy Spirit in the lives of Christians for the Iglesia de Cristo in Guadalajara, Mexico.  The class will be in English, but translated into Spanish.  Materials are posted here:  Holy Spirit Notes    El Espiritu Santo PPT    La Obra del Espiritu […]

Dr. John Oakes is  now leading a church planting in Merced, California.  Please join us 11:00 Sundays at 500 Buena Vista Ave., Merced or on zoom at 342-225-5971 pw 857096.  Also, join us for midweek devotional Wed. 7:30 at UC Merced Rm GLCR 120 or the same zoom. Also, visit our website at www.mercedchurch.com. 4/30  […]

Dr. John Oakes is teaching a short series of classes on the Church for the Merced Christian Church and the Alpha Omega Club April – June, 2025.  Notes, PPTs and audio will be posted here.    The Church Notes    The Church PPT  The Church Audio I     The Church Audio II You May […]

Question: When doing apologetics research I like to compare my pro theist view with a different opinion so I can see with one has more merit. Usually this brings me to Reddit, which is known for being a cesspool of toxic atheism. Sadly they don’t really give me any actual information to work with, they […]

Question: Dear doctor, I’ve been doing apologetic and history research and I wanted to ask you about Yahweh being a Midianite deity that Moses eventually adopted into their worship. Apparently this is the scholarly consensus. Does this theory have any proof? Why is it the scholarly consensus? Is there even any evidence or is it […]

Question: According to Christianity, the sacrifices mentioned in the Pentateuch are replaced by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, after which no sacrifice can take place, but the historical fact is that the followers of Jesus Christ went on participating in the sacrificial system of the temple in Jerusalem until its destruction in 70 […]

Dr. John Oakes gave a lecture titled “The Bible and Evolution” at UC Merced 2/28/2025.  He presented the idea that evolution is a viable scientific theory, but that the evidence points very strongly to the conclusion that the process is not a fully natural, random one, but that God has intervened at various times and […]

Dr. John Oakes is teaching a class on Church History for the West Coast School of Ministry this Spring.  All notes, PPT and audio will be posted here: Church History Notes Notes     Church History PPT    Church History I Audio    Church History II    Church History III    Church History IV    Genesis […]

Dr. John Oakes is teaching a seven-week class on Christian Theology at UC Merced, Wednesday nights at 7:30 in Rm GLCR 120, beginning on 2/5/2025.  For those not in the Merced area (most of you!), I will be posting the notes, power point and audio here: Christian Theology Notes     Christian-Theology Merced     Christian Theology […]