Is the Bible true? Is there evidence to support the Bible? Did Jesus really live? Is there any truth behind the Bible? Read on to find out!
Many people think the Bible is folklore, fantasy, or just some writings random dead people made up to mind control the world. The truth is that there is factual evidence as to its authenticity. As it turns out, there are ways to prove the Bible. Read on and decide what you think…
Reason 1: Remember the story of David and Goliath? David was a shepherd boy who killed the giant with a slingshot. For years, scholars believed that David, who according to the Bible later became a king of Israel, did not exist. In 1993, archaeologists discovered a stone slab dating to the ninth century B.C. that features the “Tel Dan Inscription,” a carving that references the house of David. (http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-artifacts/artifacts-and-the-bible/the-tel-dan-inscription-the-first-historical-evidence-of-the-king-david-bible-story) It commemorates the victory of an Aramaen king against David and his forces. The slab gives backing to the authenticity of biblical accounts about him because it proves that David lived, was a king, and was a founder of a kingly dynasty, and not a literary figure invented by biblical scholars or a folk hero. While the experts disagree as to whether David was a traditional type of ruler, or a tribal chief, and exactly which lands comprised his kingdom, they do agree that the Tel Dan inscription is one of the top biblical archaeological finds in the world.
Reason 2: Ostensibly, Jesus went to the cross to pay for the sins of the world. How exactly this happened and what it means is something different for every person. But what proof do we have that it happened? Could it be that a piece of the actual cross used to crucify Him still exists? (http://www.ccel.org/ccel/wace/biodict.html?term=Helena,%20St.,%20mother%20of%20Constantine%20the%20Great) Well, there is! Housed in the Hagia Sophia museum in Istanbul, a fragment of the cross used to crucify Him is preserved over a beautiful altar. There are various stories as to how it was found in Jerusalem. One legend has it that Emperor Constantine’s mother, Helena Flavius, became a Christian and traveled to Jerusalem to find it. She had a dream that lead her to begin to dig at night on the hill of Golgotha, where Jesus was crucified. She found the cross, nails and all, and took part of it back to Constantinople. She reportedly threw one of the nails into the sea during their voyage back, hoping it would calm a heavy storm that was rocking the ship; it worked—the storm immediately dissipated.
Reason 3: The crown of thorns worn by Christ at His crucifixion was found by Helena, as well. (http://www.catholictradition.org/Passion/crown-thorns3.htm) A piece of the crown is also on display at the Notre Dame cathedral in France. One has to only look at the 3 inch long thorns and wonder what Jesus really went through. Jesus’ suffering, or His passion, is demystified when one sees the horrible things He endured. Whether you worship Him or not, this relic points to the fact that Jesus was a real, true-to-life, historical person who lived and died.
Reason 4: In the last several years, the idea of intelligent design has become widely accepted in society. While Darwinism is still considered a theory, intelligent design is taught as a fact. So, we ask, how come? Was there a bunch of vain people sitting around who decided they were far, far, far too smart to be descended from apes? In reality, the incredible logic and harmony of the universe and human beings points to a creator. (http://www.livescience.com/11316-top-10-intelligent-designs-creation-myths.html) Sure, which god or gods was responsible for it is a topic of hot debate, yet those who read the Bible know that this theory is fully supported by scripture. In the book of Genesis, we are given a detailed account of the order in which the earth and its inhabitants were created. Surely we are all familiar with the words, “God created the heavens and the earth.” Need we say more?
Reason 5: Human life is derived from clay, say researchers from Cornell University. (http://www.foxnews.com/science/2013/11/06/new-study-suggests-man-came-from-clay-as-bible-suggests/?intcmp=related) The clay absorbs liquids like a sponge and acts as the perfect place for chemicals to react with one another to form proteins, DNA and eventually living cells, researcher Dan Luo reported. A humorous story says that a scientist challenged God to a man-making contest. God agreed. The scientist bent down to gather some dirt together to make a human being, and God said, “Hey, that’s my dirt!” Oh, well.
Reason 6: Along the same lines, all human beings share a common ancestor, scientists say. The notion that we share a common ancestor hearkens back to the book of Genesis which says that Adam and Eve are the parents of all mankind. Francis Collins, who led the Human Genome Project, stated that, “The study of DNA — the hereditary material — has enabled the study of human origins to achieve a level of detail Darwin never could have imagined. The decoding of the entire DNA sequence of humans — the Human Genome Project, which I had the privilege of leading — along with the genomes of dozens of other vertebrates has been a rigorous test of whether the data actually fits a model of evolution from a common ancestor. And the evidence is overwhelming.” (http://biologos.org/blog/evolution-and-the-imago-dei) So, maybe, the elitists who insist we aren’t descended from apes are right after all.
Reason 7: For years, scholars have searched for practical explanations for the parting of the Red Sea, which allowed the Israelites to travel across it to escape the pursuing Egyptian armies. There are various Internet rumors about chariot wheels found in the sea, all of which supports the notion that the Egyptians pursuing the Israelites left the wreckage of their chariots in the sea when it closed over them. While this may or may not be true, National Geographic scientists have discovered a practical explanation for the parting, that being a shifting in the plates of the earth’s crust that caused a “walkway” through the Red Sea. (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/07/060719-red-sea-parts.html) The plates, which have been splitting apart for 30 million years, shifted recently at the site of Afar, Ethiopia, near the southern end of the sea. Plates move and stretch apart due to rips in the surface of the earth that are caused by injections of magma, or molten rocks, into the crust of the earth.
Reason 8: Another compelling reason to believe what the Bible says involves the prophecies contained within it that have come true. For example, the scripture verse Isaiah 51:3 says, “The LORD will surely comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; he will make her deserts like Eden, her wastelands like the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the sound of singing.” (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=isaiah+51%3A3&version=NIV). Israel is currently a leading producer of agricultural products such as fruit and vegetables; they also have a tree preservation program, as well as a sophisticated irrigation system. Together, these facts reveal what the prophet Isaiah said all along: Israel’s deserts bloom today! ((http://www.moag.gov.il/agri/English/Subjects/agricultural_tourism/default.html))
Reason 9: Remember the movie Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark? Well, modern day ark hunters believe the Ark of the Covenant, a chest that contains the tablets of the Ten Commandments, is said to be in a small church in the highlands of Ethiopia. (http://www.smithsonianmag.com/people-places/keepers-of-the-lost-ark-179998820/?no-ist) The church, which never allows the ark to be seen publicly, claims that it is tended by virgin monks who are never allowed off the church grounds until the day they die. Legend has it that Menelik I, the son of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, traded a fake ark with the genuine one in Israel and brought it home with him to Ethiopia. Dramatic, yes, false…we aren’t so sure.
Reason 10: In the Bible, Jesus claimed that before His return to the earth (what some call His “Second Coming”) there would be great signs in the heavens. Revelation, the book of the Bible dedicated to future prophecy, says in its twelfth chapter, “A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its heads. Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born.” (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=revelation+12&version=NIV) Do you know that constellations will be arranged in that exact format on September 23, 2017? The woman represented is the constellation Virgo, the virgin. She is “clothed” by the light of the sun. During this time, the moon is under the feet of Virgo. Mars, Venus and Mercury align with the constellation Leo, effectively “crowning” Virgo, while the constellation Draco, or the dragon, is positioned at her legs. Jupiter, or the king star, comes out of Virgo, thus completing a heavenly pageant first foretold by the Bible over 2,000 years ago. (http://watchfortheday.org/1260tetrad.html)
Conclusion: God doesn’t hold unbelief against us; rather, He holds a lack of faith against us. Hopefully, this will enable you to view the Bible differently and at least, to let you know that there is more to it than you previously thought. And if not, at least you have some interesting information to chew on!
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