<<< Click here to Email your question >>>

*Here’s a link to the questions already answered

Q: Adam & Eve were the 1st man/woman.  Able/Cain were were their sons.  Who were the people Cain thought might kill him, because he killed Able?  And where did they come from?

Were they not off spring of Adam/Eve, therefore brothers/sisters of Cain/Able?   -Chuck

A: Chuck, we actually dealt with that very question a couple of years ago. Here’s a link to the post:

“Who Was Cain Afraid Of?”

Here’s links to all of the Christmas related Q & A’s from our archives:

1.  First the Christmas story itself:

The Christmas Story: Where is it in The Bible?

2.  There seems to be a lot of interest in the ‘Wisemen’ (Magi) that visited Jesus:

-Re: The Wisemen and the First Christmas

-Who Were the Wisemen?

-Are the Wisemen Really Buried in Cologne?

-Were There Really Four Wisemen?

Q; I recently read somewhere that the bones of Paul the Apostle were found? Is that true, where?

A: There was a recent claim that ‘bone fragments’ of the Apostle Paul were found and confirmed. However I believe that the story is somewhat questionable and lacking in real proof. <<Here’s a link to an article I’ve written on the subject>>

Q: There was much to do about some sort of burial crypt of James the Brother of Jesus being found. Then Some scholars claimed it was a fake—what ever happened to that deal?

A:  The jury is literally still out on that issue. A trial over the authenticity of the James ‘the brother of Jesus’ Ossuary is still going on in Israel. The evidence against the Ossuary has been found to be suspect. However that does not necessarily mean that the artifact is authentic though for me the evidence is leaning in that direction.

By the way, it was not a crypt in question but an Ossuary with writing on the side designating it as containing the bones of James the Brother of Jesus. An Ossuary is a stone box where bones of the dead were traditionally deposited in ancient Judea. (See the picture above)

N.T. scholar Ben Witherington is one of the experts on this issue, here’s his most recent update: <<The Dead Shall Have Their Say– More on the James Ossuary>>

Q:  Is the Ark of the Covenant really in Ethiopia? Someone told me that last week.

A:  The Ethiopians have a long tradition that it is, however the Ethiopian Church authorities will not let scholars inspect the Ark in their possession or even look at it for that matter. You probably heard about it because it was recently in the news. <<Here’s a link to an article I wrote on this issue>>

Q: Dear brother, Where is in the bible, that Sabbath keeping change to Sunday keeping. Under whose authority is this change. Thank you. God bless.

A:  Here’s our article on the issue published a couple of years ago:

Sunday or Sabbath Worship?

*Top

The following are articles for the Easter season from our archives:

1. -Easter Question: Did Jesus Really Rise from the Dead?

Here’s a great article by William Lane Craig, professor of philosophy at Talbot School of Theology in La Mirada, California.

He looks at the facts concerning the resurrection of Jesus–a timely pursuit for the Easter season:

“To answer the question of Jesus’ resurrection from a historical standpoint, we must first determine what facts concerning the fate of Jesus of Nazareth can be credibly established on the basis of the evidence and second consider what the best explanation of those facts is. At least four facts about the fate of the historical Jesus are widely accepted by New Testament historians today.”

<Read the Whole Article>

2. -Who Really Killed Jesus?

3. -The Reactions of the Criminals Crucified with Jesus -Some Discrepancies?

4. -Jesus: “Today You Will Be With Me In Paradise”

5. -Still Celebrating Easter?

6. -Jesus- Who Do You Say He Is?

*Top

(-Shrine of the Three Magi via Wikipedia)

Q:  Is it true that the bones of the Three Wise Men are buried or supposedly buried in the cathedral in Cologne?  Thanks, Don

A:  Yes, a Cathedral in Cologne, Germany does claim to be the final resting place for the Wisemen– Shrine of the Three Kings at Cologne Cathedral. However, the origin and disposition of the relics can only be traced back to 344 AD at Constantinople, therefore the historicity can not be verified. It is an unlikely possibility since the first mention of the relics is in the 4th century and the real Wisemen undoubtedly would have died in the first century.

Bottomline- This tradition is uncertain at best with the lack of earlier documentation.

<Here is our previous article about the Wisemen>

Q:  Was Paul the apostle the same person as the Paul who wrote the Gospel according to Paul?  Praise the Lord! Thank you, Gene

A:  Paul the Apostle did not write a separate gospel per se. Over the years Bible scholars have come to refer to the teaching and theology found in the Pauline epistles as ‘Paul’s Gospel’.

Also, many scholars over the years have written books exploring the teachings of Paul and have called their books something similar: ‘Paul’s Gospel’, Gospel of Paul’, Gospel According to Paul’ and etc. Go to Amazon.com and do a book search and you will see what I mean.

There are even some who claim that Paul used the Gospel of Luke and quoted from it possibly in I Tim. 5:18 (Luke 10:7) and I Cor.11:23-25 (Luke 22:19-20) –therefore have called the Gospel of Luke, ‘Paul’s Gospel’. However, most scholars believe that the Gospel of Luke-Acts was written after I Corinthians and Paul may have been quoting from oral traditions.

There is even a recent writing available on the Internet called “The Gospel of Paul” written by an anonymous fellow named Paul. It is written in scriptural style and identified as: “a true story, written by a true believer with a passion for Christ”.

Here is what the original Paul the Apostle says about the gospel he taught:

“I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.” (Galatians 1:11-12)

“For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ; for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”  (Romans 1:16)            *Top