Can we trust the New Testament as a historical document?
Many people do not believe that the Bible is a reliable document of history. To choose this, however, the Bible is very trustworthy as a historical document. If we were to look at a chart that compared the biblical documents with other ancient documents, we would see that the Bible is in a class by itself regarding the number of ancient copies and their reliability. Please consider the chart below
| Author1 | Date Written |
Earliest Copy | Approximate Time Span between original & copy |
Number of Copies |
Accuracy of Copies |
| Lucretius | died 55 or 53 B.C. | 1100 yrs | 2 | ---- | |
| Pliny | 61-113 A.D. | 850 A.D. | 750 yrs | 7 | ---- |
| Plato | 427-347 B.C. | 900 A.D. | 1200 yrs | 7 | ---- |
| Demosthenes | 4th Cent. B.C. | 1100 A.D. | 800 yrs | 8 | ---- |
| Herodotus | 480-425 B.C. | 900 A.D. | 1300 yrs | 8 | ---- |
| Suetonius | 75-160 A.D. | 950 A.D. | 800 yrs | 8 | ---- |
| Thucydides | 460-400 B.C. | 900 A.D. | 1300 yrs | 8 | ---- |
| Euripides | 480-406 B.C. | 1100 A.D. | 1300 yrs | 9 | ---- |
| Aristophanes | 450-385 B.C. | 900 A.D. | 1200 | 10 | ---- |
| Caesar | 100-44 B.C. | 900 A.D. | 1000 | 10 | ---- |
| Livy | 59 BC-AD 17 | ---- | ??? | 20 | ---- |
| Tacitus | circa 100 A.D. | 1100 A.D. | 1000 yrs | 20 | ---- |
| Aristotle | 384-322 B.C. | 1100 A.D. | 1400 | 49 | ---- |
| Sophocles | 496-406 B.C. | 1000 A.D | 1400 yrs | 1 | ---- |
| Homer (Iliad) | 900 B.C. | 400 B.C. | 500 yrs | 643 | 95% |
| New Testament |
1st Cent. A.D. (50-100 A.D. | 2nd Cent.
A.D. (c. 130 A.D. f.) |
less than 100 years | 5600 | 99.5% |
It should be obvious that the biblical documents, especially in the New Testament documents, are superior in their quantity, time span from original occurrence, and textual reliability. The question is not into documents a reliably transmitted to us. In the question is whether or not the biblical documents record actual historical accounts.
The Bible is a book of History
It could be said
that the
Bible is a book of history -- and it is. The bible describes
places,
people, and events in various degrees of detail. It is
essentially
an historical account of the people of God throughout thousands of
years. If you open to almost any page in the Bible you will
find a
name of a place and/or a person. Much of this can be
verified from
archaeology. Though archaeology cannot prove that the Bible
is the
inspired word of God, it has the ability to prove whether or not
if some
events and locations described therein are true or false. So
far,
however, there isn't a single archaeological discovery that
disproves the
Bible in any way.
Nevertheless, many
used to
think that the Bible had numerous historical errors in it such as
Luke's
account of Lysanias being the tetrarch of Abiline in about 27 AD
(Luke
3:1). For years scholars
used this
"factual error" to prove Luke was wrong because it was common
knowledge
that Lysanias was not a tetrarch, but the ruler of Chalcis about
50 years
earlier than what Luke described. But, an archaeological
inscription
was found that said Lysanias was the tetrarch in Abila near
Damascus at
the time that Luke said. It turns out that there had been
two people
name Lysanias and Luke had accurately recorded the facts.
Also, the walls of Jericho have been
found,
destroyed just as the Bible says. Many critics doubted that Nazareth
ever existed,
yet archaeologists have found a first-century synagogue
inscription
at Caesarea verified its existence. Finds have verified
Herod the
Great and his son Herod Antipas. The remains of the Apostle
Peter's
house have been found at Capernaum. Bones with nail scars through the
wrists and
feet have been uncovered as well demonstrating the actuality of
crucifixion. The High Priest Caiaphas' bones have been
discovered in
an ossuary (a box used to store bones).
There is, of course, a
host of
archaeological digs that corroborate biblical records such as
Bethsaida,
Bethany, Caesarea Philippi, Capernaum,
Cyprus, Galatia, Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, Athens, Corinth,
Ephesus,
Rome, etc. For more on this see,
Archaeo=
logical
Evidence verifying biblical events and places.
- An inscribed
stone was
found that refers to Pontius Pilate, named as Prefect of
Judaea.=92 (The New Bible Dictionary, (Wheaton,
Illinois:
Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.; 1962.)
- Luke 3:1, "Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea..."
- "A decree of
Claudius
found at Delphi (Greece) describes Gallio as proconsul of Achaia
in ad
51, thus giving a correlation with the ministry of Paul in
Corinth (Acts
18:12)." (The New Bible Dictionary)
- Acts 18:12, "But while Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews with one accord rose up against Paul and brought him before the judgment seat."
- Excavations
have revealed
a text naming a benefactor Erastus which may be a reference
relating
to the city-treasurer of Rom. 16:23. (The New
Bible
Dictionary)
- Rom. 16:23, "Gaius, host to me and to the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer greets you, and Quartus, the brother."
- At Ephesus
parts of the
temple of Artemis have been uncovered as is mentioned in Acts
19:28-41.
(The New Bible Dictionary)
- Acts 19:28, "And when they heard this and were filled with rage, they began crying out, saying, "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians."
- "It is known that Quirinius was made governor of Syria by Augustus in AD 6. Archaeologist Sir William Ramsay discovered several inscriptions that indicated that Quirinius was governor of Syria on two occasions, the first time several years prior to this date...archaeology has provided some unexpected and supportive answers. Additionally, while supplying the background behind these events, archaeology also assists us in establishing several facts. (1) A taxation-census was a fairly common procedure in the Roman Empire and it did occur in Judea, in particular. (2) Persons were required to return to their home city in order to fulfill the requirements of the process. (3) These procedures were apparently employed during the reign of Augustus (37 BC=96AD 14), placing it well within the general time frame of Jesus=92 birth."2
- "The historical trustworthiness of Luke has been attested by a number of inscriptions. The91politarchs=92 of Thessalonica (Acts 17:6,8) were magistrates and are named in five inscriptions from the city in the 1st century ad. Similarly Publius is correctly designated pro=B5tos (=91first man=92) or Governor of Malta (Acts 28:7). Near Lystra inscriptions record the dedication to Zeus of a statue of Hermes by some Lycaonians, and near by was a stone altar for91the Hearer of Prayer=92 (Zeus) and Hermes. This explains the local identification of Barnabas and Paul with Zeus (Jupiter) and Hermes (Mercury) respectively (Acts 14:11). Derbe, Paul=92s next stopping-place, was identified by Ballance in 1956 with Kaerti H=FCy=FCk near Karaman (AS 7, 1957, pp. 147ff.). Luke=92s earlier references to *Quirinius as governor of Syria before the death of Herod I (Luke 2:2) and to *Lysanias as tetrarch of Abilene (Luke 3:1) have likewise received inscriptional support." (The New Bible Dictionary.)
There are many such archaeological verifications of biblical events and places. Is the Bible trustworthy? Absolutely! Remember, no archaeological discovery has ever contradicted the Bible. Therefore, since it has been verified over and over again throughout the centuries, we can continue to trust it as an accurate historical document.
________________
1.
This chart was adapted from three
sources:
1) Christian Apologetics, by Norman Geisler, 1976, p. 307;
2) the
article "Archaeology and History attest to the Reliability of
the
Bible," by Richard M. Fales, Ph.D., in The Evidence Bible,
Compiled by
Ray Comfort, Bridge-Logos Publishers, Gainesville, FL, 2001, p.
163; and
3) A Ready Defense, by Josh Mcdowell, 19, p.
45.
2.
(Habermas, Gary R., The Historical Jesus: Ancient Evidence for
the Life
of Christ, (Joplin, MO: College Press Publishing Company)
1996.)
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