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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New Testament as a historical document?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Bible is very trustworthy as a historical document.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

193

----

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,
Archaeological
Evidence verifying biblical events and places.

An inscribed stone was
found that  refers to Pontius Pilate, named as Prefect of
Judaea.’  (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–AD 14), placing it well
within the general time frame of Jesus’ birth."2

"The historical
trustworthiness of Luke has been attested by a number of inscriptions.
The ‘politarchs’ 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 proµtos (‘first man’) 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 for ‘the Hearer of Prayer’ (Zeus) and
Hermes. This explains the local identification of Barnabas and Paul with
Zeus (Jupiter) and Hermes (Mercury) respectively (Acts
14:11). Derbe, Paul’s next
stopping-place, was identified by Ballance in 1956 with Kaerti Hüyük
near Karaman (AS 7, 1957, pp. 147ff.). Luke’s 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, 1993, 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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Bible

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