Discovery #4 – Putting it all Together

We have been throwing out a lot of information lately. Why is archaeology so important to understanding the Bible as History?

“The role of modern archaeology since its inception in the middle of the nineteenth century has been very instrumental in lending credibility to the history of the Bible. But it can’t tell us everything. What limitation does archaeology have as it relates to the Bible?

“Archaeology cannot restore the spiritual significance to an event. The hand of God (intervention) is a faith position—reasonable and historically possible—but not the conclusion of an archaeological observation, per se.

“For example, archaeology can determine that the walls of Jericho collapsed outward, but it cannot know whether God acted to push them out. Archaeology can confirm the historical destruction of Jericho at the time, but it cannot say whether the city’s destruction was a judgment of God on the Caananites. Likewise, archaeology cannot answer the questions whether God gave the Israelites instructions on how to conquer Jericho, or whether Sodom and Gomorrah’s destruction was the result of God’s act of Judgment. (on Jericho, see Joshua 6 and Hebrews 11:30; for Sodom and Gomorrah, see Genesis 19 and Luke 17:28-30),” (Surprised by Faith Study and Discussion Guide, pg.34).

Why is archaeology so important to us in our examination of the Gospels? Not because it proves Jesus is God’s son, but because it helps to confirm that the Gospels are historical records of events which actually occurred, and not merely legends. The more archaeology uncovers, the more evidence we have to confirm that the Gospels are eyewitness accounts of what Jesus said and did. How does archaeology demonstrate that the Gospels are not legendary accounts?

“Consider this quote from Surprised by Faith (p.46): ‘Christian teaching about Jesus’ life, death and resurrection originated and was accepted in Jerusalem, where the people [as eyewitnesses] were in the best position to know whether or not it was true, and where accepting it could cost them dearly.’

“Legendary accounts about events and people have never been shown to originate and be accepted as historically true within the same generation in which events occurred or the people lived. Since the New Testament Gospels have been shown to be eyewitness accounts, it is virtually certain that they are not legends. This is especially true when the records were tested on eyewitness opponents of early Christianity who lived in the same area and were in the best position to know whether or not they were true. This is the same conclusion of A.N. Sherwin-White, an internationally recognized historian:

…[F]or these stories to be legends, the rate of legendary accumulation would have to be ‘unbelievable’; more generations are needed…[E]ven the span of two generations is too short to allow legendary tendencies to wipe out the hard core of historical fact (A.N. Sherwin-White, Roman Society and Roman Law in the New Testament, p.190).

“The discovery of first century manuscripts of the New Testament also supports the historical reliability of the New Testament,” (SBF-SDG, pg.35).

The facts of the matter are that the people in the New Testament–including Jesus Christ Himself–as well as the places and the events therein described are historically verified by extra-biblical sources. The early dates of some NT manuscripts that contain these historically verified people, places, and events make it virtually impossible that the history of the New Testament is legendary. This allows us to come to the very certain conclusion that the New Testament is a historically reliable document. Couple that information with what we learned in the Discovery #3 series that very, very little of the New Testament text has changed since it’s original writing, and we are confronted with an extremely accurate picture of what Jesus Christ said and did.

So, what did Jesus Christ say and do, and why should I care? Stay tuned…