From author and commentator Hal Lindsey:
Several recent archaeological discoveries in Israel have confirmed the veracity
of the Scriptures.
The journal, "International Geology Review," recently
reported on an investigation of earthquake activity around the Dead Sea, just a
few miles east of Jerusalem. Geophysicists studied three core samples taken from
the shores of the Dead Sea that offered evidence of at least two sizable
earthquakes. Their investigation narrowed the dates of those earthquakes to 31
B.C. and sometime between 26 and 36 A.D., during the time when Pontius Pilate
was procurator of Judea.
Scientists from California-based Super Sonic
Geophysical believe the second quake probably occurred around 33 A.D. When
considered with other data, both historical and astronomical, the best estimate
is that it occurred sometime in April of 33 A.D. This would concur with the
Jewish month of Nisan, which indicates it may confirm the earthquake described
in Matthew 27:51. That scripture describes the quake that happened when Jesus,
from the cross, cried out in a loud voice and gave up His Spirit.
Last
year, archaeologists from Tel Aviv University announced the discovery of a
limestone ossuary. An ossuary is a box used for the burial of human bones. This
burial box bore an unusual and detailed inscription. In short, it was positively
identified as the ossuary of Miriam, the granddaughter of Caiaphas, the High
Priest who presided over the trial of Jesus.
And this month, a professor
from Hebrew University uncovered evidence confirming the existence of an
Israelite kingdom centered in Jerusalem around the time of Kings David and
Solomon. The same archaeologist also reported discovering the oldest Hebrew
inscription ever found. On a shard of pottery, the inscription confirms the
existence of a centralized, literate Hebrew kingdom more than 3,000 years ago.
The professor announced that these discoveries prove that David was not a
mythological figure or just the leader of a small tribe.
I think it's
always exciting when archaeological and scientific discoveries confirm the
historical record contained in the Bible. You see, Christianity is different
from other world religions. Most of them can survive their sacred texts being
found to contain conflicting details. What's most important to them are the
broad generalities they teach, not the particulars of their founders' lives. But
Christianity holds itself to such a high standard -- 100% accuracy (a standard
established by God Himself) -- that the details of the life and death of Jesus
Christ are critical to the validity of Christianity's entire message. In fact,
if a single historical fact regarding the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus
Christ is not true, the entire structure of Christianity collapses.
But
the sheer fact that the people who were eyewitnesses to the life, ministry,
death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ were happily willing to sacrifice their
lives rather than deny even the tiniest detail, speaks volumes. And it still
serves to encourage those of us who follow Him 2,000 years later.
But we
don't have to depend on the miracles of modern scientific discovery to affirm
our faith in Jesus Christ. Perhaps the most powerful confirmation of all comes
from the Scriptures themselves. It is absolutely amazing to me how many ways the
Bible confirms its own veracity. From the New Testament writers' indirect
confirmations of each other, to the accuracy of the multiple, parallel accounts
of events, to the eyewitness testimony, to the deathbed testimony, to the
miraculous, exact fulfillment of centuries-old prophecies concerning Christ's
crucifixion, to the lack of denials from leaders of the day, to the willingness
of the witnesses to die for their testimony, the Bible is its own best witness.
No body of literature in all history has been as thoroughly studied,
vetted, picked apart, and argued and debated over as the Bible. Religions have
sprung up to disprove it. Entire doctrines depend on there being a Bible to
reject. Most atheists, rationalists, and humanists can find at least some common
ground with most of the other world religions, but it's the Bible alone that
raises their hackles and fires up their evangelistic fervor.
Given the
weight of all the evidence pointing to both the historical accuracy and Divine
inspiration of the Scriptures, it seems to me that it would be much more amazing
if it WEREN'T all true. The Bible has been under constant attack by the smartest
guys in every generation since it was compiled. If a single thing in the
Scripture were conclusively disproved -- a named person who didn't live, a place
that never existed, an event that didn't take place -- then the Word of God is
broken. Of all the thinkers and philosophers who have lived during the last two
thousand years, not one has been able to claim the title of the man who proved
the Bible wrong. Because it isn't.
