Unearthing The Truth: What Archeologist And Historians Have To Say
The wealth of material that is available for determining the wording of the original New Testament is staggering: more than fifty-seven hundred Greek New Testament manuscripts, as many as twenty thousand versions, and more than one million quotations by patristic writers. In comparison with the average ancient Greek author, the New Testament copies are well over a thousand times more plentiful. If the average-sized manuscript were two and one-half inches thick, all the copies of the works of an average Greek author would stack up four feet high, while the copies of the New Testament would stack up to over a mile high! This is indeed an embarrassment of riches.
Daniel B. Wallace-Founder Of The Center For The Study Of New Testament Manuscripts
On the whole … archaeological work has unquestionably strengthened confidence in the reliability of the Scriptural record. More than one archaeologist has found his respect for the Bible increased by the experience of excavation in Palestine. Archaeology has in many cases refuted the views of modern critics.”
Millar Burrows, Professor of Archaeology, Yale University
It may be stated categorically that no archaeological discovery has ever contraverted a biblical reference.
Nelson Glueck Archaeologist, President of Hebrew Union College 1947 until Death
The excessive scepticism shown toward the Bible by important historical schools of the eighteenth-and-nineteenth centuries, certain phases of which still appear periodically, has been progressively discredited. Discovery after discovery has established the accuracy of innumerable details, and has brought increased recognition to the value of the Bible as a source of history
William F. Albright Pioneered The American School of Oriental Research, Jerusalem
Archaeology has confirmed countless passages which had been rejected by critics as unhistorical or contrary to known facts.
Joseph P. Free Founder of Near East Archaeological Society
I began with a mind unfavorable to it [Acts], for the ingenuity and apparent completeness of the Tubingen theory had at one time quite convinced me. It did not then in my line of life to investigate the subject minutely; but more recently I found myself often brought into contact with the Book of Acts as an authority for the topography, antiquities, and society of Asia Minor. It was gradually borne in upon me that in various details the narrative showed marvelous truth.
Sir William Mitchell Ramsay Scottish Archaeologist, Authority on History of Asia Minor
For Acts the confirmation of historicity is overwhelming. . . . Any attempt to reject its basic historicity must now appear absurd. Roman historians have long taken it for granted.”
A.N. Sherwin-White, Academic, Ancient Historian. President of Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies
The evidence for truthfulness and historicity of the Bible continues to mount up as never before. Just when skepticism seems to be making the most noise, we are being flooded with an overwhelming amount of real, hard evidences that demand a verdict…Never has any previous generation seen the amount and significance of evidences that are now available to us today
Walter Kaiser Jr: Old Testament Scholar, Distinguished Old Testament Professor and Former Preseident Gordon-Conwell
The Bible is the most textually supported piece of literature from the ancient world. This is because thousands of biblical manuscripts offer scholars the best opportunity (in numbers of manuscripts, accuracy of the transmitted text, and earliness of manuscript dates to reconstruct the English editions of our Old and New Testaments
Joseph M. Holden, Norman Geisler: Popular Handbook of Archaeology and the Bible
The Dead Sea Scrolls Validate Accuracy Of Bible
It may now be more confidently asserted than ever before that the Dead Sea discoveries have enabled us to answer this question of the reliability of the Old Testament text in the affirmative with much greater assurance than was possible before 1948.
F.F. Bruce: British Biblical Scholar; University of Cambridge
No one could consistently argue that the Bible’s authenticity is in doubt unless he is willing to doubt all other works of antiquity, because they are far less substantiated
Josh McDowell and Bill Wilson, A Ready Defense
Some of the Qumran biblical texts are dated hundreds of years before Christ and closely parallel the corresponding portions of the Masoretic Text, which dates from AD 800 to 1000. The differences found are only minuscule and do not alter the meaning of the text in any way.
The Popular Handbook of Archaeology and of the Bible Discoveries That Confirm the Reliability of Scripture
Scholars have estimated that approximately 95-plus percent of the Isaiah text is identical to the later Masoretic Text, from which the English Old Testament is translated. The remaining 5 percent disagreement is attributed to minor scribal mistakes and differences that affect no major doctrine.
John C. Trever PhD Archaeology Yale University
On the whole such evidence as archaeology has afforded thus far, especially by providing additional and older manuscripts of the books of the Bible, strengthens our confidence in the accuracy with which the text has been transmitted through the centuries. (Burrows, WMTS, 42)
The Meticulous Preservation And Copying Of The Bible
The New The New Testament is the most accurately copied book from the ancient world. For it survives in more copies, earlier copies, and more reliable copies than any other work from antiquity
Joseph M. Holden, Norman Geisler: The Popular Handbook of Archaeology and the Bible
The real concern is with a ‘thousandth part of the entire text
A.T. Robertson: New Testament Scholar; Word Pictures In The New Testament
The work of the copyists of the NT [New Testament] was, on the whole, done with great care and fidelity
Jack Finegan: Professor Emeritus of New Testament and Archeology; Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, California , Encountering New Testament Manuscripts (Eerdmans, 1974)
The amount of what can in any sense be called substantial variation, is but a small fraction of the whole residuary variation, and can hardly form more than a thousandth part of the entire text [of the New Testament]
We desire to make it clearly understood beforehand how much of the New Testament stands in no need of a textual critic’s labors
Westcott and Hort: The New Testament in the Original Greek, Macmillan, 1881, vol. 1. p2
The vast majority of textual variants are wholly uninteresting except to specialists. Almost anyone who has spent time with the textual apparatus is amazed at how little the vast majority of variants affect the meaning of the text.
Daniel Wallace: Director of the Center for the Study Of New Testament manuscripts
In contrast with these figures [about non-Christian Roman writers], the textual critic of the New Testament is embarrassed by the wealth of material. Furthermore, the work of many ancient authors has been preserved only in manuscripts that date from the Middle Ages (sometimes the late Middle Ages), far removed from the time at which they lived and wrote. On the contrary, the time between the composition of the books of the New Testament and the earliest extant [existing] copies is relatively brief . . .
Bruce M. Metzger: The Text of the New Testament; Its Transmission, Corruption, and Restoration
The interval then between the dates of original compostition and the earliest extant evidence becomes so small as to be in fact negligible, and the last foundation for any doubt that the Scriptures have come down to us substantially as they were written has now been removed.
Sir Frederic Kenyon: British paleographer and classical scholar
It is reassuring at the end to find that the general result of all these discoveries and all this study is to strengthen the proof of the authenticity of the Scriptures, and our conviction that we have in our hands, in substantial integrity, the veritable Word of God
Sir Frederick Kenyon
Of the variant readings there are only 50 of real significance, and there is no “article of faith or a precept of duty which is not abundantly sustained by other and undoubted passages, or by the whole tenor of Scripture teaching
Philip Schaff: Theologian and Ecclesiastical Historian
I conclude from my studies that there is not a single important Christian doctrine at stake in the very minor textual issues.
John Oakes: Evidence For Christianity
The proof that the copies of the original documents have been handed down with substantial correctness for more than 2,000 years cannot be denied. That the copies in existence 2,000 years ago had been in like manner handed down from the originals is not merely possible, but, as we have shown, is rendered probable by the analogies of Babylonian documents now existing of which we have both originals and copies, thousands of years apart, and of scores of papyri which show when compared with our modern editions of the classics that only minor changes of the text have taken place in more than 2,000 years
Dr. Robert Wilson: Princeton University Liguist ;A Scientific Investigation of the Old Testament
Did You Know?
Private copying of the Hebrew Scriptures, the scrolls that were used for the purposes of public worship, teaching, and other Jewish functions were copied by professional copyists.
Joseph M. Holden;Norman Geisler. The Popular Handbook of Archaeology and the Bible: Discoveries That Confirm the Reliability of Scripture
The term sopher or “Scripture specialist,” is mentioned in the Bible 64 times refers to one who was a skilled writer or copyist. It also referred to someone who “knows the Scriptures” or “one who is schooled in the Scriptures.”
Joseph M. Holden;Norman Geisler. The Popular Handbook of Archaeology and the Bible: Discoveries That Confirm the Reliability of Scripture
Judaism unwaveringly employed the rule that the Torah was not be copied from memory. The written Torah was to be transmitted ted in written form and therefore must be copied down from a written source (known today as a Vorlage). This rule was emphatically enforced and was never to be breached. The copyist was not permitted mitted to create a manuscript without a Vorlage in front of him.
Joseph M. Holden;Norman Geisler. The Popular Handbook of Archaeology and the Bible: Discoveries That Confirm the Reliability of Scripture
Copyist were required to read the Hebrew texts out loud as they wrote them down.
Monks were chastised with various penances for making mistakes in the text or showing even simple signs of negligence, such as not handling writing tools responsibly.
Joseph M. Holden;Norman Geisler. The Popular Handbook of Archaeology and the Bible: Discoveries That Confirm the Reliability of Scripture
Special rules directed the scribes in their work of copying the Scriptures. For example, before they could write the covenant name of God, translated into English as “Jehovah,” they were required to wash their hands, use a special brush or pen dedicated only to writing that name, and then wash their hands after finishing writing the word. They were extremely careful to copy the words exactly, because the Scripture was the Word of God. They even devised a special means to count the number of words on a single panel to determine if the text had been copied accurately.
Ham, Ken ; Hodge, Bodie. How Do We Know the Bible is True?
The Bible Has Far More Textual Evidence Than Any Other Ancient Work
There is no body of ancient literature in the world which enjoys such a wealth of good textual attestation as the New Testament.
FF Bruce: The Books and the Parchments
How many manuscripts of the New Testament do we have today? It is a very large number that has not remained static—it grows even larger as new discoveries are made. Accordingly, researchers and historians are constantly revising their estimates. Without question, the New Testament boasts the best-attested manuscript transmission when compared with other ancient documents. The bibliographical test validates and confirms that the New Testament has been accurately transmitted to us through the centuries. (Jones, BTU)
Think about this: of just the 5,800+ Greek New Testament manuscripts, there are more than 2.6 million pages. Combining both the Old and New Testament, there are more than 66,000 manuscripts and scrolls. A stack of extant manuscripts for the average classical writer would measure about four feet high; this just cannot compare to the more than one mile of New Testament manuscripts and two-and-a-half-miles for the entire Bible. (Wallace, lecture at Discover the Evidence, Dec. 6, 2013)
To be skeptical of the resultant text of the New Testament books is to allow all of classical antiquity to slip into obscurity, for no documents of the ancient period are as well attested bibliographically as the New Testament
John Warwick Montgomery
The Reliability of Bible Places, People, and Events
With modern scholarship making more and more advances in the field of Old Testament studies, a wealth of evidence has been discovered that corroborates the historical reliability of the Old Testament at many levels
Popular Handbook of Archaeology and The Bible; Discoveries That Confirm the Reliability of the Bible
The geography of Bible lands and visible remains of antiquity were gradually recorded until today more than 25,000 sites within this region and dating to Old testament times in their broadest sense have been located
Donald J. Wiseman: Biblical Scholar, Archaeologist, Kings College London
Thanks to modern research we now recognize the Bible’s substantial historicity. The narratives of the patriarchs, of Moses, and the exodus, of the conquest of Canaan, of the judges, the monarchy, exile and restoration, have all been confirmed and illustrated to an extent that I should have thought impossible forty years ago.
Dr. William F. Allbright: American archaologist, philogist, and expert on ceramics
There are 26 kings mentioned in the Hebrew Old Testament, and the spelling of the names of all but three are virtually identical to what has been deciphered in inscriptions written by the kings themselves.
Joseph M. Holden;Norman Geisler. The Popular Handbook of Archaeology and the Bible: Discoveries That Confirm the Reliability of Scripture
Luke is a historian of the first rank; not merely are his statements of fact trustworthy…this author should be placed along with the very greatest of historians….Luke’s history is unsurpassed in respect of it’s trustworthiness
Sir William Ramsay: Scottish Archaeologist, Foremost authority of his day on history of Asia Minor
Mathmaticians and Bible Prophecy… Go Figure!
(1) Some time before 500 BC, the prophet Daniel proclaimed that Israel’s long-awaited Messiah would begin his public ministry 483 years after the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem (Daniel 9:25-26). He further predicted that the Messiah would be “cut off,” killed, and that this event would take place prior to a second destruction of Jerusalem. Abundant documentation shows that these prophecies were perfectly fulfilled in the life (and crucifixion) of Jesus Christ. The decree regarding the restoration of Jerusalem was issued by Persia’s King Artaxerxes to the Hebrew priest Ezra in 458 BC, 483 years later the ministry of Jesus Christ began in Galilee. (Remember that due to calendar changes, the date for the start of Christ’s ministry is set by most historians at about AD 26. Also note that from 1 BC to AD 1 is just one year.) Jesus’ crucifixion occurred only a few years later, and about four decades later, in AD 70 came the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus.
(Probability of chance fulfillment = 1 in 105.)
(2) In approximately 700 BC, the prophet Micah named the tiny village of Bethlehem as the birthplace of Israel’s Messiah (Micah 5:2). The fulfillment of this prophecy in the birth of Christ is one of the most widely known and widely celebrated facts in history.
(Probability of chance fulfillment = 1 in 105.)
(3) In the fifth century BC, a prophet named Zechariah declared that the Messiah would be betrayed for the price of a slave—thirty pieces of silver, according to Jewish law-and also that this money would be used to buy a burial ground for Jerusalem’s poor foreigners (Zechariah 11:12-13). Bible writers and secular historians both record thirty pieces of silver as the sum paid to Judas Iscariot for betraying Jesus, and they indicate that the money went to purchase a “potter’s field,” used—just as predicted—for the burial of poor aliens (Matthew 27:3-10).
(Probability of chance fulfillment = 1 in 1011.)
(4) Some 400 years before crucifixion was invented, both Israel’s King David and the prophet Zechariah described the Messiah’s death in words that perfectly depict that mode of execution. Further, they said that the body would be pierced and that none of the bones would be broken, contrary to customary procedure in cases of crucifixion (Psalm 22 and 34:20; Zechariah 12:10). Again, historians and New Testament writers confirm the fulfillment: Jesus of Nazareth died on a Roman cross, and his extraordinarily quick death eliminated the need for the usual breaking of bones. A spear was thrust into his side to verify that he was, indeed, dead.
(Probability of chance fulfillment = 1 in 1013.)
(5) The prophet Isaiah foretold that a conqueror named Cyrus would destroy seemingly impregnable Babylon and subdue Egypt along with most of the rest of the known world. This same man, said Isaiah, would decide to let the Jewish exiles in his territory go free without any payment of ransom (Isaiah 44:28; 45:1; and 45:13). Isaiah made this prophecy 150 years before Cyrus was born, 180 years before Cyrus performed any of these feats (and he did, eventually, perform them all), and 80 years before the Jews were taken into exile.
(Probability of chance fulfillment = 1 in 1015.)
(6) Mighty Babylon, 196 miles square, was enclosed not only by a moat, but also by a double wall 330 feet high, each part 90 feet thick. It was said by unanimous popular opinion to be indestructible, yet two Bible prophets declared its doom. These prophets further claimed that the ruins would be avoided by travelers, that the city would never again be inhabited, and that its stones would not even be moved for use as building material (Isaiah 13:17-22 and Jeremiah 51:26, 43). Their description is, in fact, the well-documented history of the famous citadel.
(Probability of chance fulfillment = 1 in 109.)
(7) The exact location and construction sequence of Jerusalem’s nine suburbs was predicted by Jeremiah about 2600 years ago. He referred to the time of this building project as “the last days,” that is, the time period of Israel’s second rebirth as a nation in the land of Palestine (Jeremiah 31:38-40). This rebirth became history in 1948, and the construction of the nine suburbs has gone forward precisely in the locations and in the sequence predicted.
(Probability of chance fulfillment = 1 in 1018.)
(8) The prophet Moses foretold (with some additions by Jeremiah and Jesus) that the ancient Jewish nation would be conquered twice and that the people would be carried off as slaves each time, first by the Babylonians (for a period of 70 years), and then by a fourth world kingdom (which we know as Rome). The second conqueror, Moses said, would take the Jews captive to Egypt in ships, selling them or giving them away as slaves to all parts of the world. Both of these predictions were fulfilled to the letter, the first in 607 BC and the second in AD 70. God’s spokesmen said, further, that the Jews would remain scattered throughout the entire world for many generations, but without becoming assimilated by the peoples or of other nations, and that the Jews would one day return to the land of Palestine to re-establish for a second time their nation (Deuteronomy 29; Isaiah 11:11-13; Jeremiah 25:11; Hosea 3:4-5 and Luke 21:23-24).
This prophetic statement sweeps across 3,500 years of history to its complete fulfillment—in our lifetime.
(Probability of chance fulfillment = 1 in 1020.)
(9) Jeremiah predicted that despite its fertility and despite the accessibility of its water supply, the land of Edom (today a part of Jordan) would become a barren, uninhabited wasteland (Jeremiah 49:15-20; Ezekiel 25:12-14). His description accurately tells the history of that now bleak region.
(Probability of chance fulfillment = 1 in 105.)
(10) Joshua prophesied that Jericho would be rebuilt by one man. He also said that the man’s eldest son would die when the reconstruction began and that his youngest son would die when the work reached completion (Joshua 6:26). About five centuries later this prophecy found its fulfillment in the life and family of a man named Hiel (1 Kings 16:33-34).
(Probability of chance fulfillment = 1 in 107).
(11) The day of Elijah’s supernatural departure from Earth was predicted unanimously—and accurately, according to the eye-witness account—by a group of fifty prophets (2 Kings 2:3-11).
(Probability of chance fulfillment = 1 in 109).
(12) Jahaziel prophesied that King Jehoshaphat and a tiny band of men would defeat an enormous, well-equipped, well-trained army without even having to fight. Just as predicted, the King and his troops stood looking on as their foes were supernaturally destroyed to the last man (2 Chronicles 20).
(Probability of chance fulfillment = 1 in 108).
(13) One prophet of God (unnamed, but probably Shemiah) said that a future king of Judah, named Josiah, would take the bones of all the occultic priests (priests of the “high places”) of Israel’s King Jeroboam and burn them on Jeroboam’s altar (1 Kings 13:2 and 2 Kings 23:15-18). This event occurred approximately 300 years after it was foretold.
(Probability of chance fulfillment = 1 in 1013).
Since these thirteen prophecies cover mostly separate and independent events, the probability of chance occurrence for all thirteen is about 1 in 10138 (138 equals the sum of all the exponents of 10 in the probability estimates above). For the sake of putting the figure into perspective, this probability can be compared to the statistical chance that the second law of thermodynamics will be reversed in a given situation (for example, that a gasoline engine will refrigerate itself during its combustion cycle or that heat will flow from a cold body to a hot body)—that chance = 1 in 1080.
Some Other Pretty Smart People
Over 40 kings of Israel and Judah are mentioned in the prophetic and historical books of the Bible, and all of these have been verified and found to be listed in the correct order when checked against historical records of surrounding nations
Joseph M. Holden;Norman Geisler. The Popular Handbook of Archaeology and the Bible: Discoveries That Confirm the Reliability of Scripture
I believe the Bible is the best gift God has ever given to man. All the good of the Savior of the world is communicated to us through the Book. But for it, we could not know right from wrong.
Abraham Lincoln
We account the scriptures of God to be the most sublime philosophy. I find more sure marks of authenticity in the Bible than in any profane history whatsoever.
I have a fundamental belief in the Bible as the Word of God, written by those who were inspired. I study the Bible daily
Sir Isaac Newton
The Bible shows the way to go to heaven, not the way the heavens go
Galileo Galilei : Father of Observational Astronomy
It is impossible to rightly govern a nation without God and the Bible
George Washington
The Bible is one of the greatest blessing bestowed by God on the children of men. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth without any mixture for its matter.
John Locke British Philosopher, Oxford academic
Hold fast to the Bible. To the influence of this Book we are indebted for all the progress made in true civilization and ti this we must look as our guide in the future
Ulysses S. Grant
The Bible is worth all the other books which have ever been printed
Patrick Henry
It the Bible had said that Jonah swallowed the whale, I would believe it
William Jennings Bryant
The Bible must be considered as the great source of all the truth by which men are to be guided in government as well as in all social transactions
Noah Webster