Archaeology Helps to Confirm the Historicity of the Bible
by Sheri Bell
Artifacts Help Scholars Validate Scripture!
Archaeology, a relative newcomer among the physical sciences, cannot “prove” the Bible is true. But archaeology has provided exciting and dramatic confirmation of the Bible’s accuracy.
Per Yale archaeologist Millar Burrows, an expert on the Dead Sea scrolls who was a professor emeritus at Yale Divinity School, archaeology has “unquestionably strengthened confidence in the reliability of the Scriptural record.”
Whole books are not large enough to contain all the finds that have bolstered scholastic confidence! Isn’t it comforting — and compelling — to know that so much evidence points to the Bible as being trustworthy?
Let’s look at just a few examples of how historical artifacts have validated Luke’s New Testament writings.
~ Archaeology Supports the Amazing Accuracy of Luke’s Gospel ~
Archaeology has absolutely confirmed historical detail that Luke included in his Gospel. Luke’s primary focus in this book is meticulously showcasing who Jesus was — and what He came to do. He did so with facts, not fanciful detail.
At one time, however, scholars thought that Luke had entirely missed the boat regarding the events surrounding the birth of Jesus (Luke 2:1-3). Critics argued that there was no census, that Quirinius was not governor of Syria at that time, and that everyone did not have to return to his ancestral home. But archaeological discoveries show that the Romans had a regular enrollment of taxpayers and also held censuses every fourteen years. This procedure began under Augustus. Further, we find that Quirinius was, indeed, governor of Syria around 7 BC. It is supposed that he was governor twice, once in 7 BC and again in AD 6 (the date ascribed by Josephus.) A papyrus found in Egypt gives directions for the conduct of a census.
Concerning Luke’s ability as a historian, Sir William Mitchell Ramsey, one of the greatest archaeologists to have ever lived, said, after 30 years of study, that, “Luke is a historian of the first rank; not merely are his statements of fact trustworthy…this author should be placed along with the greatest of historians.”
As seen in the light of archaeological evidence, the New Testament reflects the conditions of the second half of the first century AD, not the conditions of any later date. Historically, it is of the greatest importance that this has been so effectively established…