NIV Quest Study Bible: Is There Any “Secular” Evidence to Support the Bible’s Claims?

Bible Gateway Blog ^ | September 2, 2019 | Jonathan Petersen

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Although the Bible is not an ancient history textbook, it does report events that have been confirmed by other historical works. Consider the following examples:

• Archeological digs and ancient Assyrian records confirm the Bible’s portrayal of King Sennacherib’s invasion of Judah (2 Kings 18:13–19:37).
• Until recent excavations at Tell Mardikh uncovered tablets mentioning Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:1–29), scholars dismissed the existence of both cities as a biblical legend.
• The Hittites were also considered a biblical legend until their capital and records were discovered in modern-day Turkey.
• The palace of King Sargon, an Assyrian ruler mentioned in Isaiah, was uncovered in Iraq. The events recorded in Isaiah 20 were even recorded on the palace walls.
• In 1947, the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls (which are copies of almost the entire Old Testament) confirmed how accurately the Bible was copied from 200 BC to AD 1200.
• Greek and Jewish writers (e.g., Pliny, Tacitus and Josephus) supported the Bible’s claims that Jesus really lived, that he was executed between AD 26 and AD 36 and that he was worshiped as God.
• Many of the details of the New Testament — including facts about Pontius Pilate, the census recorded in Luke 2, the death of Agrippa I, the execution of Ananias the high priest, and the crucifixion of Jesus are also mentioned in other historical works.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

PING!

[firebrand]

What about all the prophecy that has come true?

[CondorFlight]

Google “Sinai inscriptions”, and then select “images” from the menu.

Those were inscribed by slaves working in the mines in sinai. They are in Hebrew, and mention such things as Moses, etc.

[circlecity]

To some degree various portions of the Bible very much are ancient history textbooks. In fact, over a hundred years of constant archeological research has proven the Bible is a reliable and to a large degree the ONLY historical text for this area for the period of time covered.

[Fungi]

Of course! The historicity of the Bible is without question. A bloody shame the same cannot be said about that fairy tale called the koran.

[Bob434]

Yes plenty- several ‘secular’ writers back then documented events- Even roman officials would document certain events-

[SkyDancer]

Several cites cited in the Bible have been found when secularists said they didn’t exist.

[George from New England]

Too bad there is no historical proof that HELL !! exists.

[George from New England]

“Until recent excavations at Tell Mardikh uncovered tablets mentioning Sodom and Gomorrah”

And even as we learn more about these destruction truths, we have a society that is IN OUR FACES with everything LGBTQ.

[zerosix]

The Lord tells us over and over in both the OT and especially in the NT, that men (read all humans) love the darkness and hate the light, so it is more and more of them loving it in our world today!

We’ve been warned but failed to heed our many teachings so much so today that we become pariahs in our own society, yet I remember being taught that this world is not my home.

I am reminded in my bible that I will be tested and that Jesus didn’t come to preach to the healthy but to the sick, that the sickness He sought to heal wasn’t so much of men’s physical infirmaries but to heal men’s souls. Some will listen and be healed, others will not and will hate the truth and those who offer it with love.

[JudgemAll]

Indeed, the prophecies of the fall and re-rise of Israel as a result if their sins.

God even made that prophecy living in Hosea, as a constant upheaval, by comparing the way his wife would comit adultery on him and the way Israel would.

Ever since then the family has been destroyed by sin in exact si ilar way as a means for people to remember Israel for those who are intimate with the tragedy as God would inspire it in them.

In fact, the Crucifixion follows the very divorce court model morphing into a criminal inquiry, something very common nowadays with men put in prison for child support they refuse to pay to the adulterous woman wasting it with her pimps instead of spent in representation of God for the children.

[TalBlack]

Too bad there is no historical proof that HELL !! exists

Well, there is, the same Bible says Jesus Himself went there.

[righttackle44]

Too bad there is no historical proof that HELL !! exists.

There is. And it took place in real history.

In Luke 16:19-31, Jesus himself tells a story about a rich man who is in hell.

Some believe, because they have been falsely taught, that the account is a parable. But it does not have the earmarks of a parable. The story contains a name, the man Lazarus, and tells of a rich man who, Jesus says, in hell.

The KJV says that the man is in hell. The Greek word Jesus uses is hades, spelled ᾅδῃ, in the Greek of the New Testament. Strong's Concordance says about the word: [hádes]. . . properly, the "unseen place," referring to the (invisible) realm in which all the dead reside, i.e. the present dwelling place of all the departed (deceased); Hades.

Of the place, Jesus says that it is a place of horrid torment ("I am tormented in this flame.""), that is separated from wherever Father Abraham is by a great, fixed gulf of some kind.

Jesus makes it pretty clear that the rich man is there for eternity, with no comfort, and pain.

The Son of God has warned us in an account of a real place about three real men.

[sauropod]

As I have written to you before, abandon the NIV.

Stick with the NKJV. Preferably a MacArthur study Bible.

His study notes are invaluable.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

I use NLT (Charles Swindoll Study Bible).

[trebb]

Apologetics makes good use of other sources to add credence to the Bible.