The Bible is Reliable

If the Bible is reliable it should be accurate in all of its historical references. If someone could prove that it is historically inaccurate it would cast doubt on the rest of its claims. Does the Bible align itself with facts, dates, and people who lived at the time it was written? Josephus was a first century historian. In his Jewish Antiquities he referred to Jesus and his half-brother James. “Annus convened the judges of the Sanhedrin and brought before them a man named James, the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ and certain others.” References like this, from 1st century historians outside the Bible, support its reliability. The Bible does not read like a myth. Myths are usually vague e.g., Once upon a time in a far away place … . That’s not the way the Bible reads. The Bible is rooted in history. It speaks of countries and nations and fortified cities and the kings that ruled over them. It chronicles the succession of rulers and often dates events (e.g., Nehemiah 2:1 In the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes … ). The Bible contains geological references about rivers and mountains and bodies of water and islands and roadways. It also describes palaces and houses and buildings and walls and the materials that were used to build them. Unlike mythical stories, it is possible to stick a shovel in the ground and dig up artifacts that verify the historical accuracy of the Bible. Archaeology continues to confirm the historical accuracy of the Bible and has never produced one contradiction. In the 19th century skeptics criticized the Bible because it described a nation called the Hittites. The skeptics called it the “Hittite Myth” because at that time no secular evidence existed for that nation. But in 1906 archeologists discovered the capital city of the Hittites and concluded that the Hittites did exist as a powerful nation. At one time skeptics said that Bible was historically inaccurate because of it’s statements concerning Belshazzzar. At that time there were no secular historical records that listed this ruler. But in 1853 archaeologists found an inscription in Ur which confirmed that Belshazzer reign with his father. U.S. News and World Report published an article that read “New finds cast fresh light on the Bible.” The sub-headline read “From Mount Sinai to the Dead Sea, examination of historical artifacts is producing some real surprises about the origins of religious beliefs.” The article reads “A wave of archeological discoveries is altering old ideas about the roots of Christianity and Judaism and affirming that the Bible is more historically accurate than many scholars thought. For example, until recently most scholars dismissed the Biblical cities of Sodom and Gomorrah as legendary. Now, two highly regarded American archeologists believe that they may have found the remains of these cities plus three other settlements referred to in Genesis as the cities of the plain. The ruins were where the Bible indicated they would be within a few miles of the Dead Sea. Moreover, at least three of the cities appear to have been destroyed by fire, which the Bible says was reigned down by God in vengeance and the cities are estimated to be destroyed about the same time, in 2300-2400 B.C.” Do you remember when Jesus said to the Pharisees – “If my disciples don’t testify of me the rocks will cry out.”? Today people are trying to suppress the testimony about Jesus and the archeologists are discovering that the rocks are crying out to give testimony to the Lord Jesus Christ.