Evidence of the Bible can be remembered by the acronym MAPS – manuscript, archaeology, prophesy, statistical probability.
Archaeology
- Ebla archive was discovered in the 1970s. This clay tablet (dated roughly 2300 BC) demonstrated that personal and place names in the Patriarchal (a name used in the NT referring to Abraham, the sons of Jacob and David) accounts are real. For example, “Canaan” was used in the Elba — a name that critics once said was not used at the time and was used incorrectly in the Bible. Ancient customs reflected in the stories of the Patriarchs have been found in tables from Nuzi and Mari, as well.
- Hittites were once thought to be legend until the capital and records of them were found in Bogazkoy, Turkey. It was claimed that there was no Assyrian king named Sargon (Isaiah 20:1) yet his palace was discovered in Khorsabad, Iraq. The event recorded in Isaiah 20:1 (his capture by Ashdod) was recorded on the palace walls. Fragments of the stela memorializing the victory were found at Ashdod itself.
- Jesus’s tomb is still in question. Two locations in Jerusalem have been found (Church of the Holy Sepulchreand the Garden Tomb) but neither have any credibility except for tradition.
- Remains found of Caiaphas in a park, just south of Jerusalem. Caiaphas was the high priest (mentioned in Matthew 26:3 and other locations in the NT) that arrested Jesus (as documeted by Josephus in Antiquities).
- The ossuary of James was reported to be found but the item’s authenticity is in question. The Israeli Geological Survey declared the item authentic but there are still lingerings questsions.
- Three monumental tombs were found in the Persian capital of Persepolis, Iran. King Xerxes (Ahasuerus in the book of Esther, whom the king married), Artaxerxes (Ezra was a scibe of this king (Ezra 7:6) and Nehemiah was a cupbearer (Nehemiah 2:1)) and Darius II (potentially the Darius mentioned in Nehemiah 2:1-9).
- Ruins of Sodom and Gomorrah found southeast of the Dead Sea. Archaeologistics found that buildings used to bury the dead were burned from the roof.
- Text found in Deir Alla, Jordan in 1967 that talks of a prophet named Balaam, son of Beor. Text contains 119 fragments. The text is similiar to the account of Balaam in Numbers.
- Excavation at the site of Jericho shows that there were piles of mud bricks at the base of the mound where the city was built. Everything showed to be completely destroyed by fire except the preserved wall on the north side of the city (potentially the house of Rahab in Hebrews 11:30-31).
- The Sumerian King List is one of history’s first recordings of a great flood. The table divides the kings into two groups — those who rules before a great flood and those after. It is interesting to note that the lifespan, and reigns, of the kings after the flood decreased dramatically, similar to records in the Bible.
- Merneptah Stela found in 1896 in Egypt. This tablet mentioned Israel and indicates that it was a significant entity in the late 13th century BC.
- Entire cache of Hittite legal documents (from 1400 BC) found in Nuzi (northeast Iraq). These documents confirm many details of Genesis and Deuteronomy
- siring of legitimate children through handmaidens
- oral deathbed as well as binding
- power to sell one’s birthright for relatively trivial property (Jacob/Esau)
- need for family idols (such as Rachel stole from Laban)
- form of the covenant in Deuteronomy exactly matches the form of treaties between Hittite kings and vassal kings.
Evidence of the Bible can be remembered by the acronym MAPS – manuscript, archaeology, prophesy, statistical probability.
Secular Writings on Christianity
- Seven things we would know from secular sources:
- Many people worshipped Jesus by 60-70 AD
- Jesus was at least a Jewish rabbi/teacher
- Many believed that Jesus healed people and did exorcisms
- Some believed Jesus was the Messiah
- Jesus was rejected by Jewish leaders and handed over to Pontius Pilate
- Jesus was crucified under Pontius Pilate
- Many saw Christ, in flesh, after the crucifixion
Flavius Josephus was not Christian but a Pharissee — the conservative sect of Sanhedrin consisting of roughly 70 Jews. He was born in 37 AD and wrote much between 60-100 AD. He was a historian during this time, as well. He wrote about the destruction of the temple in 70 AD. He also wrote that Jesus was a martyred leader of sect called Christianity. Josephus wrote about Jesus’s brother, James, being thrown from the temple and stoned in 62 AD because he followed Jesus’s teachings. He also wrote that Jesus was a wise teacher who had lasting followers despite being crucified by Pilate. He stated that Jesus was handed over by Pharisees to the Romans. Josephus talked more about John the Baptist because he played more of a political role than Jesus.
Cornelius Tacitus was a Roman historian that wrote mostly in 80-110 AD. He wrote of the persecution of Christians under Nero. In 64 AD, there was a great fire in Rome. Many historians believe that Nero set fire to the city and blamed the Christians in order to start the persecutions. He also wrote of the wide spread success of Christianity. Tacitus wrote that Jesus was crucified under Pilate and that many died for Jesus.
Pliny the Younger was the governor of Bithynia (northwest Turkey today). He wrote of Christians being arrested who regularly met in the dawn to worship Jesus as God. He also records many of the first church activity. In 111 AD, he wrote that Christian standards were very high and that they worshipped Jesus to the death.
Julius Africanus quotes Thallus and speaks of the darkness that occurred across the land that is mentioned in the Gospels during the crucifixion. He writes much of the history of the Eastern Medditterean world (Trojan war, etc.)
Phlegon was a Greek author during the first century. He wrote that in the 4th of year of the 202 Olympiad (30 AD), it became night around noon so even the stars appeared and an earthquake was in Bithynia.
Jewish Accounts
- Talmud documents the traditions of Jews (30-325 AD). The Talmud was handed down by rabbi’s and is the Jewish book of religion. The book was finished around 500 AD and speaks of Jesus many times:
- Jesus was a healer and a miracle worker (even though his works are contributed to sorcery)
- Jesus was a teacher and had at least 5 disciples
- Not all Jews thought Jesus was a heretic (person who holds controversial opinions)
- Repeats the rumor that Jesus was born of Mary and there were questions around the birth. It was almost as if the Talmud had something to dispute by writing about this topic, but nothing is stated clearly.
Apollonius was a first century author that wrote of Jesus performing exorcisms and healing a young girl.
Evidence of the Bible can be remembered by the acronym MAPS — manuscript, archaeology, prophesy, statistical probability.
Manuscript
Old Testament
- Massoretic Text (900 AD) – earliest complete text of Hebrew OT; very little deviation when compared to Latin and Greek from 100 BC to 900 AD
- Dead Sea Scrolls (discovered 1947; dating 150 BC – 70 AD) – contain copies of OT books dating back to 100 BC and confirmed Massoretic Text
- Septuagint (200 BC; often abbr. LXX) – Greek translation completed by 70 scholars and confirms Massoretic Text. Septuagint contained the apocryphal books and 39 Old Testament canon. Apocrypha was coined by Jerome (discussed later) and refers to ancient set of writings between Malachi and New Testament but not recognized as canonical (inspired by God). — http://www.septuagint.net/
New Testament
- # of manuscripts: over 5,300 Greek manuscripts of NT, 10,000 copies of NT in Latin, 9,300 other early versions totaling 24,000+ manuscript copies of portions of the New Testament (ranking it first in evidence, and Homer’s Iliad being second with 643 documents)
- NT written in 40-100 AD; earliest copy is from 125 AD; gap of 25 years; Homer written in 900 BC; earliest copy is from 400 BC; gap of 500 years
- Collusion (a secret agreement between two or more parties for a fraudulent, illegal, or deceitful purpose) very difficult since manuscripts found in Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Turkey, Greece and Italy
- Several fragments have been dated to within 50-100 years of original documents
- Have nearly complete NT Greek manuscripts within 300-400 years
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- 1) Codex Sinaiticus – found near Mt. Sinai
- 2) Codex Alexandrinus – found near Alexandria in Egpyt
- 3) Codex Vaticanus – located at the Vatican in Rome; 325-350 AD; most of the Bible
Variations are very slight — only spelling phraseology, etc.
Only .5 percent is in question (as compared to 5% of the Iliad)
Other translations: more than 1,000 copies and fragments in Syriac, Coptic, Armenian, Gothic and Ethiopic. Over 8,000 copies of the Latin Vulgate (written by Jerome), with some dating back to the original writing in roughly 400 AD.
John Rylands – fragment of John (John 18) from 130 AD
Bottomer Papyrus – most of John from 150 AD
Chester Beatty Papyrus – found in Dublin; most of the NT from 200 AD
Diatessaron – harmony of the Gospels from 160 AD
Early Church fathers documents quote the entire NT accept for 11 verses.
- All documents were before 200 AD and there were over 32,000 verses quoted.
- Tertullian (160-220 AD) – 7,000 quotes
- Irenaeus (110-200 AD) – 8 books; 1,819 quotes
- Ignatius (70-110 AD) – 15 books
- Polycorp (70-156 AD) – friend of John
- Justin Martyr (133 AD)
- Origen (185-253 AD) – 18,000 quotes
- Cyprian (258 AD) – 1,030 quotes