The Historical Reliability of the Bible

☼ Exhibit #16: The New Testament is Historically Reliable - How Reliable are the Bible Texts?

There are numerous archaeological and historical confirmations for the New Testament as well. The books of Luke and Acts are like treasure maps for archaeological expeditions because of the large numbers of locations, rulers, and travel routes that are recorded. As with the Old Testament, a overview of discoveries is presented, and discussed.

Summary of the New Testament Archaeological Confirmations

History and science and the Bible Below is a table of some of the evidences which support the historical reliability of the New Testament. Entries in italics were not discussed in detail and are added for completeness. Click on the link in the table to jump to the detailed description of the archaeological find.

Archaeological evidence for the New Testament
Discovery	Location	Evidence/Inscription	Significance
Excavated house of Peter	Capernaum	first century house church	Peter’s house in Capernaum
Ossuary of Caiaphas	Jerusalem	“Joseph son of Caiaphas”	Bones of Caiaphas the High priest
Fragment of plague with inscription	Caesarea Maritima	“Pontius Pilatus, Prefect of Judea ”	Confirms Pilate as governor
Bones of crucified man	Giva’at ha-Mitvar	Bones of crucified man	Confirm crucifixion details
Pool of Bethesda	Jerusalem	Pool with 5 porticoes	Confirms John 5:2
Pool of Siloam	Jerusalem	Pool with inscription	John 9:7-11
Slab with “ordinance of Caesar”	Nazareth	Strict prohibition against disturbing of graves	Confirms early Christian claims of resurrection
Galilean boat	Sea of Galilee	first century fishing boat	Corroborate gospel accounts
Golden Gate	Jerusalem	Ancient gate under current Golden gate	Mark 11:11?
Slab of limestone in pavement	Corinth	“Erastus in return for his aedileship…”	Romans (16:23), 2 Timothy (4:20)
Temple inscription	Damascus	“Lysanias the tetrarch”	Luke 3:1
Dated Greek inscription	Delphi	“Lucius Junios Gallio…Achaia”	Acts 18:12-17

Archaeological Evidence for the New Testament

An overview of the evidences per topic:

Biblical Archaeological finds for the New Testament
House of Simon Peter	Bones of Caiaphas	Pilate inscription
Bones of a crucified man	Pool of Bethesda	Erastus, treasurer in Corinth

Distinguished Roman historian A. N. Sherwin-White concludes about the writings of Luke:[1]

“For Acts the confirmation of historicity is overwhelming.… Any attempt to reject its basic historicity even in matters of detail must now appear absurd. Roman historians have long taken it for granted.”

American Biblical archaeologist and Middle Eastern scholar William F. Albright writes:[2]

“The excessive skepticism shown toward the Bible by important historical schools of the eighteenth- and nineteenth centuries, certain phases of which still appear periodically, has been progressively discredited. Discovery after discovery has established the accuracy of innumerable details, and has brought increased recognition to the value of the Bible as a source of history.”

[1] A. N. Sherwin–White, Roman Society and Roman Law in the New Testament, page 189.

[2] W.F. Albright, The Archaeology of Palestine (1960), pages 127-128.

6. Historical Reliability of the Bible (3)

☼ Exhibit #16: The New Testament is Historically Reliable - How Reliable are the Bible Texts?

Summary of the New Testament Archaeological Confirmations

Archaeological evidence for the New Testament

Biblical Archaeological finds for the New Testament