With the 2015 ICEC in York Nebraska starting 6/19, we are re-publishing an essay by Dr. John Oakes on the Christian World View. It is copied below and is available as an attachmet here: Apologetics and the Christian World View
Editor’s note: The notes below are from one of the speakers at our 2015 ICEC in York Nebraska June 19-21. Randy was gracious enough to let us post his article before the conference. There is still time to register. Contact Jan Oakes at joakes01@san.rr.com FAITH & REASON Randy Hroziencik 2015 International Christian Evidences Conference […]
Question: What passages in the New Testament portray Egypt as a symbol of “slavery and sin”? Answer: Actually, because of the exile of the Jews in Babylon, the New Testament uses Babylon more often as the symbolic place of sin, and even Rome (Revelation 17:7–18). Examples of Babylon used as a symbol of sin are Revelation 14:8, […]
Question: I have a friend who is Seventh Day Adventist and we constantly debate whether hell is eternal. I show him passage after passage that demonstrates that the Bible teaches everlasting punishment, but he continues to bring up the fact that, for people in hell, their ultimate fate is to be thrown into the lake […]
Editor’s note: This article comes from www.douglasjacoby.com and is written by my good friend Douglas Jacoby. It is used by permission. 18 March 2015 Last year Boko Haram, the West African ultra-radical group opposed to all things western (except guns), kidnapped hundreds of Nigerian schoolgirls. On one of their notorious raids, they carried off sisters […]
Questions: I have a couple of general questions below I wanted to ask: 1.) How can Jesus be a Divine Person when He had a literal human body made of flesh. Wouldn’t His fleshly body violate His divine nature and status? 2.) Why did Jesus have to be a male in physical terms to begin […]
[Editor’s note: The comment and response below are a follow-up to an earlier question and answer in which some terminology produced a bit of a miscommunication. For completeness, the original exchange is below this comment and response.] Comment: I was at a roundtable discussion that included Denis Lamoreaux. I definitely aggree with his thinking on evolution. But […]
Question: My son asked me a question which I didn’t really know how to answer. Is the Sabbath the day we are to go to church and worship together? Or is the Sabbath the day we rest? One of his co-workers told him that Saturday is the day we are supposed to go to church […]
Question: In John 3:13 Jesus tells us that “No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven-the Son of Man.” My question to what Jesus tells us is what happened to those who came and died before Jesus? Also going further into verse 14-15 where it says “Just as Moses […]
Question: Dr. Oakes, I have a question about Isaiah 11. I understand that the chapter is a messianic prophecy, but how do you interpret verse 14? Is it fair to say that this would conjure up images of a restored kingdom of Israel (God) and is symbolic of the breaking in of the kingdom in the […]
Question: Does the word completeness in 1 Corinthians 13:10 refer to the Bible? 1 Cor 13:10 – but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. Answer: There has been much debate about this. I certainly will not settle this debate by my response to you. To me, I believe that he is stating a […]
QUESTION: Why would non-Israelites want to take Yahweh seriously? He’s the god of Israel, of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Each nation had its own god: Dagon, Chemosh,Molech, the Baals and Astartes etc. Yahweh is just one among many gods. A local god. A God of War. Because victory in battle was what they were preoccupied […]
Question: I have a question about 1 Tim 4:1. The passage says that “The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.” Does this mean that demons still exist? My understanding is that demons only existed during the time of Jesus when they […]
Question: What literature will you suggest me to understand the Second Coming of Jesus? Thank you very much. I have already read two books of John Oakes: Reasons for Belief and From Shadow to Reality, they are amazing. God bless you Answer: There is a lot of bad information out there about the second coming […]
Question: I recently looked over an essay from Douglas Jacoby on the doctrine of hell and it has changed my views of what it is. I believe the scriptures are pretty clear on it not being eternal torment although some scriptures are up for debate because of ambiguity regarding the word eternal but nonetheless my […]
Question: I was just wondering if you could answer some of these questions. Keep in mind I don’t expect you to answer every single question but maybe a couple answers would help. I recently compiled most of the complaints from a very unusual website called Jesusneverexisted.com. Honestly at the end of the day none of […]
Question: Have you read questioningpaul.com ? Hab 2 is quite the prophecy about the coming of Shwaul as the”plague of death” and the one who “gathers all the Gentiles unto himself”, etc. Paul never quotes the Torah correctly. Response: I spent some time looking at the document you suggested and found this to be a […]
QUESTION: I am studying with a pre-millenialist who is particularly caught up with Israel, end-times, and the special role of Jerusalem. The materials on Jacoby’s [editor’s note: he is referring to douglasjacoby.com] site recently published on the mass conversion of Israel were timely as well as John Oakes messages on the Kingdom of God. Thanks! […]
Question: Please tell me how do we determine if a certain translation of the bible is reliable or more reliable than others or the most reliable. Thank you very much. Answer: There are more than a dozen really excellent translations into English out there. You can use any one of these and consider them […]
QUESTION: I have tried to convince Jehovah Witnesses that Jesus is God but they interpret differently the scripture. Do you have a different aproach or material about this question? Answer: I address the question of Jehovah Witness teaching in notes and a power point at the web site. I suggest you go to the power point […]
Question: I want to ask about a particular apologetics strategy know as Presuppositional Apologetics. What do you think about it? Do you believe that you presuppose that God exists and that everything the Bible says is true off the bat? Or does it take reasons to reach this conclusion? I recently heard a good explanation […]
QUESTION: I have been a devout follower of Jesus Christ for 22 years. Recently, I have been questioning the validity of Christianity. The Freemasons tell their members that they have made up Christianity and all world religions as a way to better society. When I look at the ancient Sun God worship Mithraism and other forms […]
QUESTION: Where in the Bible do we find Sunday worship to be supported? Answer: I believe you put the question in a wise way. You ask, not “where in the Bible can we prove Sunday worship,” but rather where can we go to support the practice. The strongest support for Sunday worship comes from outside […]
[Note: this query comes from a believer who got these questions from a friend who is Bahai. Question: One of my questions was WHY had not God in the Old Testament chosen for himself, the name Jesus the Christ, but many other names ? In addition, Christ Himself also promises that when he returns, he […]
Editor’s Note: I just posted a Q & A on cremation a couple of weeks ago. Normally, I would not post two in a row on the same topic, but apparently my fairly short answer raised as many questions as it answered, so I am publishing a second question and the follow-up. I suggest that […]
QUESTION: I am studying with a friend who is of the Bahai Faith. We have been having some discussions on Facebook and I wanted to see what is the best way to study with him? One question he has asked me was whether there any proof in the Old Testament that “Elijah was to come […]
Question: I am deeply grateful for your research and teaching for brothers and sisters in the faith. Your web-site and publications have been so helpful, insightful and informative. I have been a Christian for over 21 years now, and your works, and those of other teachers, have proven helpful as tools to help deepen my […]
Question: When Did God give Jesus all authority on heaven and Earth?: After His resurrection, and just before Jesus returned to heaven, He told the disciples, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations…” (Matthew 28:18) Then, in Ephesians 1:20-23 we are told […]
Question: It is almost unreasonable to deny that God has shown some evidence of His existence ( in the resurrection of Christ as prophesied before His time and witnessed afterwards) But, one reason why people don’t believe in God is because He doesn’t seem to answer or guide when there is a physical need (starving […]
Question: I can’t find any solid information on the Old Testament Pseudepigrapha and why these books are not considered inspired scripture. I know they are considered false writings, but why? Are the Old Testament pseudepigrapha and the Old Testament apocrypha consideredto be the same thing? Is the OT Pseudepigrapha just a branch of the OT apocryphal writings? […]
Question: Hello Dr. Oakes. I wanted to ask you a question about studying the Bible with a friend of mine who is a Hare Krishna. How should I approach it? I know a little bit about the religion through talking with him and reading a bit of the Baghavad Gita. I really want him to […]
Question: I am a 20 year old college student from Louisiana and I have been a Christian all my life. There came a time this past summer where I began to question my faith and why I believed what I did. I began searching and instead found a lot of atheist arguments which proceeded to […]
Question: I did not grow up Christian. I was in my forties when I studied the Bible. There is an idea, a concept, that Christians seem to hold on to ferociously that I don’t see in the Bible. Am I missing something? The strong majority of people that I talk to see forgiveness and salvation […]
Question: I recently was won over to a more Evolutionary Creationist (is that what you’d call it? Belief in the Bible and evolution?) philosophy. I’m trying to research more and more as I begin to debate with my strictly Creationist friends. I don’t expect to win them over but I’d like to be able to […]
Editor’s note: Below is a paper submitted by Randy Hroziencik as part of his work on the ARS Apologetics Certificate. It was of a quality we are proud to publish at the web site. “Refuting the Skeptical Case against Fulfilled Messianic Prophecy” Randall L. Hroziencik Prophecy & Christian Apologetics October 2013
Question: Which religion is correct? Answer: Because you sent this question to a web site with the name Evidenceforchristianity.org, it is fairly obvious that we believe that Christianity is the correct religion. I am guessing that there is a more specific question behind this request. Do you have a more specific question about why we […]
Question: This is starting to circulate on the internet. Facebook……etc. I am sure young christians in our congregations may have a hard time with it. Just curious if you guys have heard about it yet. http://uk.prweb.com/releases/2013/10/prweb11201273.htm Response: Ancient Confession Found: ‘We Invented Jesus Christ.’ A new “theory” to explain the genesis of Christianity is making […]
Ancient Confession Found: ‘We Invented Jesus Christ.’ A new “theory” to explain the genesis of Christianity is making the rounds of skeptic websites and will soon appear at a college or university near you. It is found in a recent documentary by Joseph Altwill “The Roman Conspiracy to Invent Jesus” I would like to present […]
Question: I am so happy to share with you that I have enjoyed reading your book ‘Daniel Prophet to the Nations”. I have been confronting some Jehovah Witnesses on the topic of the Coming of the Kingdom of God on earth, and your book on Daniel really helped me a lot. Thank you very very […]
Question: I am a constitutional lawyer representing a non-profit that is opposing the adoption of Next Generation Science Standards. We have a question regarding one of the assumptions used in the standards. I found your power point program on the net that identifies assumptions but did not see this one listed. “Science assumes natural events […]
Question: I’ll keep my question short. If you believe that the 7 day creation is simply figurative, why isn’t everything in the Bible chalked up to being figurative? Was Jesus crucified and rose 3 days layers? Why not 3 billion years? Answer: I would say that for probably 98+% of the Bible it is clear […]
QUESTION: It seems foolish to deny all of the outstanding evidence of evolution and instead believe in a book written 2000 years ago. What grounds is that to make any assumption, yet alone deny a theory with tremendous caches of evidence just because the Bible says so? Please give me insight into how the Bible […]
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: 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: I love to read inspirational biblical quotes, but I was wondering are they sometimes taken out of context. Is it okay to pull a partial scripture out and think it will apply to our daily lives? For example the verse from Jeremiah 29:11 ” For I know the plans I have for you, declares […]
Question: Do we need to keep Sabbath? Which Bible verses supports your answer? Are the Ten Commandments important? Answer: There is no indication in the New Testament that Christians are required to keep some sort of Christian version of the Sabbath. All the evidence from both the scriptures (Acts 20:7 which says that the church […]
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 was reading my Bible this morning and I wanted to ask a questions regarding what I read. I read in Joshua and it was talking about how God said he would harden peoples’ hearts…. As Joshua was going to fight them. Why does God harden or allow peoples’ heart to harden? In the devotional I […]
Question: “I have two questions for you, what is the doctrine of Soul-Sleep and did the thief immediately go to Paradise with Jesus? A friend of mine believes in the doctrine of soul-sleep.” Answer: Thanks for the questions, below are my answers I hope this helps! What is The Doctrine of Soul-Sleep? The (false) doctrine […]
Question: I’ve been reading through Revelation again; this time in my study Bible, and it has incited a question in me that I’ve never thought about before: If God already had angels living with him in heaven before the creation of man, then why do you suspect he created us? My rationale for this has always […]
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