Evidence in history

Home Written sources=20 outside the Bible Reliable=20 documents? Real = people; real=20 places: evidence from Archaeology Something to=20 die for? The = Bible=20 itself Back = to=20 start

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Real people, real places - Evidence from Archaeology

Web=20 sites
Books

Someone wrote to this web site recently saying

I find it funny that you claim archaeological = evidence=20 supports the bible. It's actually a well known fact that = archaeology is=20 the Achilles heel of religion...

They could hardly have been more wrong. In fact there is so = much=20 archaeological evidence supporting the historical accuracy of the = Bible=20 that our problem has been how to make it easily accessible on = these pages.=20 This page is a kind of 'home page' for the archaeological evidence = -=20 expect us to add more to it as time goes on.

photo: BiblePlaces.com

People

Lysanius=20 - ruler of Abilene Nicodemus=20 and the ben Gurion family Mary, Martha=20 and Lazarus The=20 crucified man Simon of=20 Cyrene The Pilate=20 inscription Sergius=20 Paulus inscriptions Erastus=20 the treasurer of Corinth Gallio the=20 governor of Corinth

Places

Nazareth

Where=20 Jesus grew up?=20

Capernaum

Peter's=20 house the=20 synagogue=20

Tiberias

The 'Jesus=20 boat'=20

Jerusalem

the=20 temple warning notice the pool=20 of Bethesda Stone=20 water jars The pool=20 of Siloam The Burnt=20 House - AD70=20

Caesarea

Herod's=20 capital=20

Derbe in = Turkey

The city of=20 Derbe=20

Ephesus in Turkey =

worship=20 of Artemis Demetrius=20 the silversmith=20

Corinth in = Greece

the=20 synagogue the judgment=20 seat meat=20 sacrificed to idols Gallio the=20 governor Erastus=20 the treasurer

Written evidence outside the Bible

The Roman=20 historian Tacitus The Roman=20 governor Pliny The=20 Roman historian Suetonius The=20 Babylonian Talmud The=20 Jewish historian Josephus The=20 letter of Mara Bar-Serapion a letter=20 of divorce a=20 promissory note Legal=20 documents

3D"Greek

Evidence in the Bible

Who=20 wrote Luke and Acts? Luke's=20 accurate use of titles Is = Luke's=20 gosepl historically reliable? Evidence=20 & Paul's journeys=20

There is a growing mass of evidence from archaeology that the = Bible=20 accounts deal with real people living in real places. But what can = this=20 evidence from archaeology do?

It might disprove something in the Bible documents. = If the=20 Bible was false, we would expect new archaeological discoveries = to do=20 this. In fact, there is no known case where archaeology = decisively disproves the Bible. This itself is strong evidence = for the=20 truth of the Christian message.=20
It could provide direct confirmation of what the = Bible=20 says. We would expect that in many cases there is no direct=20 archaeological evidence one way or the other, and this is what = we find.=20 However, there are some cases where archaeology does provide = direct=20 confirmation, and we have listed some of them on this site.=20
It can provide background information that helps us = to=20 understand what the Bible documents say.

The examples above either provide direct confirmation of = something in=20 the Bible, or provide background information that helps us to = understand=20 what the Bible says.

Other Archaeological discoveries

The NIV Study Bible includes a chart listing more than thirty = major = archaeological=20 finds relating directly to the New Testament. These = include=20 Herod's temple and winter palace, an early synagogue in Capernaum, = the=20 pool of Siloam, an inscription about Pontius Pilate, and many=20 others. The 'Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels'[i] has a 13-page article on 'Archaeology and = Geography'=20 listing archaeological information about the background to various = places=20 mentioned in the Gospels.

See also the Century One Dead Sea = Scrolls=20 site
Back to=20 top

When were the New Testament Documents written?

Jesus was probably crucified in spring AD 30. In 'Are = the New=20 Testament Documents Reliable?' professor F F Bruce says that = the=20 writing of the New Testament was complete by about 100 AD at the=20 latest.

However, the Gospels may all have been written significantly = earlier=20 than that. (For example, they could all be dated before the Romans = destroyed Jerusalem in AD 70.) In any event, they were written = within one=20 lifetime of the events they described. When they were written, = many people=20 were still living who remembered the events described.

Written sources

Not only that, but scholars today generally agree that at least = some of=20 the Gospels (particularly Matthew and Luke) used earlier written = sources -=20 sources which go back even closer to the events they describe. = Some of=20 Jesus's teaching may even have been written down while he was = still=20 alive.

For much of the New Testament, we do not have any independent = evidence=20 one way or the other. However, the writers claimed that they = were=20 writing accurate history, and they claimed that what they wrote = was based=20 either on first hand experience or on careful research.

Eye-witness testimony

A number of small touches in the Gospel accounts sound like the = recollections of eye-witnesses. (For example, John's Gospel chapter 12 verse 3, in an = account of Mary=20 anointing Jesus's feet, says 'the whole house was filled with=20 fragrance.'). These touches do not appear to have any = theological=20 significance - nothing is made of them. So why are they = there? =20 The simplest explanation is that the writers included them because = that is=20 how they remembered things happening. Anyone who has tried = to write=20 accurately about something they have not experienced first hand = knows how=20 difficult this is. You get all kinds of details wrong. Of = course,=20 some of the details do not matter, but others are important.

So if the New Testament documents had been made up much later = (as=20 scholars have sometimes claimed), we would expect that many of = their=20 incidental details would not be accurate, and that as our = knowledge of=20 western Asia in ancient times grew, we would discover more and = more=20 discrepancies.

In fact, exactly opposite has happened. As more = archaeological=20 evidence has been discovered, the accounts in the New Testament = have been=20 confirmed again and again. This tends to show that they = really are=20 based on the testimony of eye-witnesses.

Conclusion

Although archaeology cannot prove that the Bible's accounts are = true,=20 it certainly does not disprove them, and recent archaeological = discoveries=20 have tended to confirm the accuracy of many background details in = the=20 Bible narratives. This in turn tends to support both = their=20 historical reliability, and the claim that they are based on the = testimony=20 of eye-witnesses. (It is very difficult to fake the appearance of = being an=20 eye-witness if you do not really know first-hand what you are = writing=20 about.)
Back=20 to top

Back to = 'Confident in the Truth'

[i] 'Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels', IVP = 1992, edited=20 by Joel B. Green, Scot McKnight, and I. Howard Marshall

Web sites

Web sites can appear, disappear, and change their addresses - = specially=20 on less well-established sites. If you cannot find the article you = want,=20 try looking for the title of the article using a search engine, = e.g. Google.com. If you find any of = these=20 articles have moved, we would really appreciate it if you could let us = know.=20

This site records the results of nineteen = seasons of=20 archaeological research at Capernaum, the town where Jesus made = his=20 home.

Although not mentioned in the New Testament, Sepphoris is an = important=20 archaeological site. It was a major town in Galilee, four miles = from=20 Nazareth, built by Herod Antipas during the time when Jesus was a = young=20 man. As Jesus followed Joseph's trade of a carpenter, he would = almost=20 certainly have worked on the vast building project so close to = home. It=20 may be that when the work on the new town came to an end, Jesus = took this=20 as his moment to start his public ministry.

Books

Is the New Testament Reliable?

A look at the historical evidence
Paul Barnett, = InterVarsity=20 Press 1986
Barnett looks at the early non-Christian = evidence for=20 Jesus, the question of how accurately the New Testament = documents=20 have been transmitted to us (i.e. whether we can be = confident that=20 what we read is what the original authors wrote), the = testimony of=20 two of the key figures behind the New Testament (John and = Peter), as=20 well as that of Matthew, Luke, and Paul's relation to the = historical=20 Jesus. He also tackles the question of the miracles in the = New=20 Testament accounts, including the birth narratives. Finally = he looks=20 at the historical reliability of the Acts of the = Apostles.
Paul=20 Barnett is bishop of North Sydney, Australia.
Order=20 from the UK
Ord= er=20 from the USA

The Historical Reliability of the Gospels

Craig Blomberg, InterVarsity Press 1987
This = book is a=20 one-volume, popular level summary of the Gospels Research = Project of=20 Tyndale House, Cambridge, published in the six-volume = 'Gospel=20 Perspectives' series. Seven main sections deal with = traditional=20 approaches to the reliability of the Gospels; New methods in = Gospel=20 Study; Miracles;Contradictions among the Synoptic Gospels? = (Matthew,=20 Mark, Luke); Problems in the Gospel of John; The Jesus = tradition=20 outside the Gospels; Questions on historical method. The = sections on=20 the historical study of the Gospels are very helpful indeed. = The=20 section on the miracles, although helpful, is not as=20 strong.
Craig Blomberg is assistant professor of New = Testament at=20 Denver Seminary.
Order=20 from the UK
Ord= er=20 from the USA

The New Testament Documents- Are They Reliable?

F F Bruce, IVP
This is a classic that has not lost any = of its=20 punch. Bruce explores:Why the historical reliability of the = New=20 Testament documents matters; The dating of the New Testament = documents, and testimony to their origins; What makes up the = New=20 Testament canon, and why (i.e. why certain books are = included in the=20 New Testament and others are not); The reliability of the = Gospels;=20 Miracles; The importance of Paul's evidence; The writings of = Luke;=20 More Archaeological evidence; The Evidence of Early Jewish = Writings;=20 The Evidence of Early non-Jewish writers.
F F Bruce = (1910-1990)=20 was Rylands professor of Biblical Criticism and Exegesis at=20 Manchester University, England.
Read=20 it on the Internet
Order=20 from the UK
Ord= er=20 from the USA

Discoveries from Bible Times

Professor Alan Millard
Subtitled 'Archaeological = treasures=20 throw light on Bible times'
This beautifully illustrated, = academically accurate, and popularly accessible book is a=20 combination of two earlier titles, 'Treasures from Bible = Times'=20 (about archaeology and the Old Testament) and 'Discoveries = from the=20 Time of Jesus' (about archaeology and the New = Testament).
Alan=20 Millard is Rankin Professor of Hebrew and Ancient Semitic = Languages=20 at the University of Liverpool.
Order=20 from the UK

Evidence & Paul's Journeys

An historical investigation into the travels of the = apostle=20 Paul

By Jefferson White, Parsagard Press 2001

One of the most important questions we can ever ask is = whether=20 Christianity is historically true. The purpose of this book = is to=20 look at just how persuasive the evidence is in one = particular area -=20 the travels of the Apostle Paul, as they are recorded in the = New=20 Testament book of Acts, and also as incidental light is = thrown on=20 them by comments in Paul's letters. 'Evidence & Paul's = Journeys'=20 is highly recommended for anyone who wants to = understand=20 the reliability of the historical accounts in the New = Testament.

Go here for=20 a detailed review

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