Ans. The word “star” could have meant any light in the sky. One could imagine that an angel held a light before them for them to follow, and the nearest descriptive term would have been the word “star.”"

6. Matthew and Luke both portray the temptation in the wilderness as a dialogue between Jesus and Satan. Since there were no witnesses, who recorded this dialogue?

Ans. This statement makes the assumption that Jesus never told anyone of the event.

7. Since there were no Christians present at Jesus’ trial before the Sanhedrin, who recorded the event?

Ans. How do you know that there were no Christians present? Why would the trial only have been recorded by a Christian?

8. If Pontius Pilate was made to judge Jesus guilty of anti-Roman political unrest, why weren’t his followers also arrested—or at least questioned?

Ans. Pontius Pilate was not abstractly interpreting the law, but attempting to placate the Jews who were clamoring for the Savior’s death.

9. And why does Pilate—according to the gospel of John—run back and forth like an errand boy between the Jews outside his palace and Jesus inside? This would appear to be utterly inexplicable behavior for the imperious ruler of a Roman province.

Ans. The imperious ruler of a Roman province was not all that imperious. We must remember that we have only the very sketchiest of accounts of the momentous events of those days, and that we are almost completely ignorant of the actual social climate and political intrigues of that day. Those things cannot be judged according to our own experience of justice, morality and other social mores.

10. When Pilate and Jesus were alone, who recorded their conversations?

Ans. They both could have.

11. Mark, Matthew, and Luke claim the sun went dark for three hours upon the death of Jesus. Why does no non-Christian writer of the time mention such a remarkable and readily observable event? Astronomers do acknowledge that there was an eclipse of the sun on 24 November in 29 AD—during Tiberius’ reign. But if this is the darkening the gospels refer to, then they are wrong about the crucifixion occurring during the time of Passover.

Ans. The sun can be darkened by many means. It would not have to have been a world-wide phenomenon. As one possibility, the local cloud and dust cover could have been so thick as to completely block out the sun, and it could have been so localized that it would not have been experienced by any except those in the immediate vicinity.

12. Why, in all the writings of Paul, does he (1) describe Christ as the Messiah who died and was resurrected at some unspecified time and place in the past but does not connect him with Nazareth, Jerusalem, or Bethlehem; (2) never cite the authority of Jesus for any of his (Paul’s) ethical pronouncements; (3) never describe any of the miracles allegedly worked by Jesus; and (4) never mention the trial before Pilate? In short, does Paul know anything concrete about the “historical Jesus” of whom the evangelists wrote?

Ans. Those are the kind of questions that only Paul could answer.

13. In Mark 10:12 Jesus declares that if a woman divorces her husband and then remarries, she commits adultery. This is peculiar to say the least, since in Palestine at that time only men could obtain a divorce. It suggests that the author of Mark was not in Palestine during Jesus’ lifetime. That is, it suggests that the author of Mark was not an eyewitness to the events he recounts.

Ans. Another person asked this question not long ago. Here is my reply to that question.

The information given in Matthew 5:32 and 19:9 is extremely limited. Without knowledge of the laws and customs of the society of that time, and the covenant of marriage solemnized by the holy priesthood in the early church, it is impossible to make a judgment on the specifics of the verses in question.

This much we can say, however. The practices of the church in the time of the Savior's earthly ministry, and in the days of the restoration both came into being by revelation from God. If they are different from one another in any particular, they are both right and correct for the time and age in which they were revealed. It would be very hazardous to impose the same rules of conduct on two societies as disparate as the world ruled by the Romans in the time of Christ into which society the early church was required to exist and the society in which the church exists today. It appears that without more information on the subject, we must withhold judgment. Elder Bruce R. McConkie had the following to say on the subject:

"As here recorded, our Lord's teachings about marriage and divorce are fragmentary and incomplete. They can only be understood when considered in connection with the law of celestial marriage as such has been revealed anew in modern times. These same general principles governing eternal marriage were known to and understood by the disciples in Jesus' day and also, in part at least, by the Pharisees. But the accounts here preserved by both Matthew and Mark of the Master's discussion on marriage and divorce are so condensed and abbreviated that they do not give a clear picture of the problem. Modern scriptural exegetes need the same background and knowledge possessed by those who engaged in the original discussion" (Bruce R. McConkie, Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, Vol. 1, p 546).

14. During the “seven days” God gave Noah to collect examples of each species, did Noah voyage to Australia, South America, the Arctic, etc.? If not, how is it that today we have animals such as the koala, the kangaroo, the yak, the llama, etc.?

Ans. The flood occured in 2348 b.c. At that time the earth’s land mass was all in one piece. The earth was not divided until the days of Peleg. Peleg was born in 2247 b.c.—100 years after the flood, and he lived for 239 years.

So Noah didn’t go out and round up the animals like a cowboy. Under the influence of the Almighty, they came to him.

15. Genesis 7:20 states that the flood consisted of a “fifteen cubit” increase in the water level. Considering that a cubit represented 18-22 inches, that means that the water rose a maximum of 27.5 feet. How did such a small rise succeed in covering all the “high hills” and “mountains” with water?

Ans. Again, the flood occurred before the continents were divided. We have no idea of the topology of the earth before its division in the days of Peleg.