Archeology: Supporting the Authenticity and Reliability of the Bible

Introduction to Archeological Evidence

How can Christians know that the Bible is reliable? The Christian faith hinges on the reliability of the Bible. If the Bible is unreliable, then the entirety of the Christian faith is called into question. We can look at many different aspects to determine the reliability of the Bible but one of the best ways to look at the Bible is through archaeology. It is important when talking about archeology to distinguish between proof and evidence.

Evidence verse proof

Some people claim they need proof the Bible is reliable through archeology, but this is a misunderstanding. “Proof” validates an idea. Meaning an idea cannot be believed until “proof” is supplied. Proof is important when talking about logic and mathematics, but it is very difficult to apply this to archeology. Evidence is a better way to think through the reliability of the Bible and archeology. Evidence gives support. Archeology is evidence that gives support to the accuracy of the Bible. This distinction is important because if “proof’ was required for events then many events would be disbelieved as there is not archeological “proof.” In fact, some events have very little archeological evidence to support them, but we still believe those events happened. It is impossible to verify every event through archeology but there is a lot of archeology that does support the Bible.

Reliability of New Testament: New Testament Archeological Finds

To support the New Testament and Jesus’s life, we have found the burial place of the high priest Caiaphas that was present for Jesus’s trial. Not only have we found that, but we also have documents of a census taken around the time of Jesus that shows a census was relatively common during that era. This is not the census from Luke 2, but it does show that during that time in history, census taking was not uncommon. Also, archaeology has helped confirm the way crucifixion was done which is accurately reflected in in the Gospel accounts. The gospel accounts are accurate in its description of crucifixion and the process of crucifixion which helps support the accuracy of the event.

Old Testament Archeological discoveries

Not only are New Testament events verified as historical, but many Old Testament events are supported as well. It is almost impossible to find specific archeological evidence for individual events, but it is possible to find archeology that does help lend its support towards Biblical stories. A perfect example of this is inscriptions verifying that Nebuchadnezzar existed. Nebuchadnezzar is mentioned many times throughout the Bible in which he is a Babylonian King that took over much of the known world. Nebuchadnezzar, according to the Biblical account, conquered Jerusalem and initiated the Babylonian exile which is documented in 2 Kings. The Bible verifies many events accurately, such as the conquering of “the Egyptian Pharaoh Neco at the Battle of Carchemish (2 Kgs 24:7; 2 Chr 35:20; Jer 46:2)”.[1] This event is documented in the Bible and is believed by secular scholars as being an event that did occur. Not only this, but Daniel 4:30 talks about Nebuchadnezzar being a great builder: which is supported in several, non-biblical accounts, such as the Ishtar Gate that was excavated in the early 20^th century and currently is reconstructed in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin. Josephus claims that Nebuchadnezzar created the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, which is one of the seven ancient wonders of the world (Against Apion 1.134–41). This does not prove the Biblical account, but it does help support the Biblical account.

[1] Elliot Ritzema, “Nebuchadnezzar,” ed. John D. Barry et al., The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016).

Reliability of Bible: Dead Sea Scrolls

One of the most significant discoveries of archaeology, the Dead Sea Scrolls changed the conversation regarding the accuracy of the Bible. Up until the finding of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the most recent manuscripts of the Old Testament were dated to around 900 AD. This means that all the copies of the Bible were based off of writings from 900 AD. The Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in 1948 in which thousands of manuscripts the Bible were uncovered. Some of these manuscripts date back all the way to 300 and 400 BC. This means that we found manuscripts that were written 1000 years before the earliest ones we had at that time. When comparing the manuscripts from 900AD to that of 300 BC there were relatively no changes. Any of the slight changes were from manuscript copying. For 1000 years, the Bible did not change in content, and we can hold to the fact that our Bible is still the same that it was all the way back when it was written.

All of these different archeological discoveries do not prove the Bible but help support the Biblical account as they help support the reliability of the Bible. There are many more different Archeological artifacts that help support the reliability of the Bible that will be shared here (link) in the future.

What Now?

Research further Archeological evidence for the accuracy of the New Testament.
Study Old Testament history to recognize how God worked in the past.
Research the Dead Sea scrolls to see how they support the reliability of the Bible.
Read through the gospels recognizing that it can be trusted to see who Jesus was.