Evidence for the Bible

Last week in the sermon I gave evidence for the reliability of the Bible, focusing mainly on manuscript evidence for the New Testament. Both in the date between the events and when the manuscripts are dated, and in the number of manuscripts we have, the Bible is the most well documented ancient text when compared with other ancient texts from sources our society would deem as historical. Even skeptical and atheist scholars admit this fact.

Another way the Bible is often confirmed as reliable is through archaeology. Here are three finds that confirm evidence for the Bible as both historical and truthful:

1. Discovery of the Pool of Siloam. The Pool of Siloam is mentioned in the book of John and was thought of as a place where healings occurred. Jesus tells a man born blind in John chapter 9 to go wash in the Pool of Siloam and he came back healed. In 2004 archaologists discovered the remains of the pool of Siloam in Jerusalem. Check out http://www.bible.ca/archeology/bible-archeology-pool-of-siloam.htm for more info.

2. Herod's tomb. Archaeologists had been looking for Herod's tomb for a long time. They found it in 2007. Herod was the Roman ruler at the time of Christ's birth. Herod's death is dated to 4 BC. Check out http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/05/070508102841.htm for more info. on this grave site.

3. At Megiddo, an Israeli city, remains on an ancient church were found with three inscriptions. One of the inscriptions read that a table was donated by a woman named Akeptous with the following words , "In memory of the God Jesus Christ". The remains of the temple are dated to the third century, that is between 200-300 A.D. This discovery disproves the current skeptical view put out in movies such as the DaVinci Code that the early Christians did not worship Jesus as God and that his divinity was "invented" at the council of Nicea in 325 AD. The early Christians worshiped Jesus as God, and that is exactly why they were persecuted by the Romans. You can find pictures of the Megiddo inscription at http://www.armageddonchurch.com/?Translation_of_Megiddo_mosaics

These are just some examples of recent archaeological discoveries that confirm the reliability of the scriptures. Amen.