Blog: Debunking Deconstruction – Is the Bible Actually Reliable? Part 1: Historicity.

It’s very unlikely you will do any “series” since you’ve failed so far. – Club Schadenfreude on my post I Argued with an Atheist…

It’s here everyone.

The series that Vel from Club Schadenfreude doubted I would do that I’ve been teasing for two weeks now is finally here. Originally, this series was just going to be me debunking all of her counterarguments to Christianity, but I had a better idea. Why not do my best to debunk all of the most common counterarguments presented by deconstructors on the Internet and explain some other common questions about Christianity? So here we are.

If you’re a former Christian who has deconstructed your faith and you’ve stumbled across this post, welcome.

If you’re a Christian or someone who’s in the process of deciding whether or not this whole Jesus thing is worth it, welcome.

If you’re just a bystander who’s neutral and is just reading this for fun, welcome. All are welcome to take a seat, read this series (and other posts on here, I don’t just talk about Christianity), and leave their thoughts in the comments (though please be respectful and don’t spam).

I’m starting with this topic of “Is the Bible reliable?” because the Bible is what we Christians base (or are supposed to base) our faith on. It is where we get our information about God and if we want to even begin to argue against the most common claims leveled at God as reason for deconstructing the faith, we first need to figure out if we can even use the Bible as a good source of information. To prove that it is, I’ll first be looking at the historical proofs for the Bible because the Bible is not just a religious book that we get our information about God from. It’s also a historical book, documenting the creation of man, the history of Israel, and the life of Jesus (which, before you say that Jesus didn’t exist, just note that His existence was documented by early historians, satirists, government officials, and even today’s atheistic historical scholars agree that he was a real person). Once we look into these historical proofs (and we’re finding more and more of them), we can then start to understand why the Bible is reliable. Some historical proofs provided by archeologists and historians are as follows:

1. The Dead Sea Scrolls (which were discovered in 1947) are ancient manuscripts the include almost every book from the Hebrew Bible (except for Esther), with the most frequently appearing ones being Psalms, Deuteronomy, Isiah, Genisis; other religious writings such as the Community Rule, the War Scroll, and the Thanksgiving Hymns; and Apocryphal texts such as Ben Sira, the Book of Tobit, and the Epistle of Jerimiah. Though many of these books are not found in the Biblical Canon, they provide valuable insight into the religious beliefs and practices of the Jewish people of the Second Temple era and show how well the scribes copied each book.
2. The Tel Dan Inscription (discovered in 1993) mentions the “House of David” which shows that King David was a real person, not a myth, and corroborates passages from 2 Kings about Ahab and his son, Jehoram.
3. The Rosetta Stone’s discovery, though not related to the Bible, has helped scholars read Egyptian hieroglyphics, helping them understand historical contexts mentioned in the Bible.
4. The Babylonian Exile has been supported by archaeological evidence in the form of Cuneiform Tablets from Babylon that provide insight into the lives of Judahite exiles, including records of ration lists and business transactions; the Lachish Letters which date to just before the conquest of Jerusalem which include a letter from an officer in command at Lachish who expressed fear of the approaching Babylonian forces; and the Mount Zion Excavations which have uncovered layers of ash, arrowheads, Iron Age potsherds, lamps, and jewelry from that period, suggesting destruction from the Babylonian Siege consistent with what’s described in the Bible.
5. The Hittite Empire’s existence has been confirmed over the course of the 20th century, with archaeologists uncovering things like tablets from Kultepe, which contain trade records between the Assyrians and the Hittites; the discovery of Hattusa, the capital of the Hittite Empire, with the excavation site revealing city walls, temples, palaces, and royal archives containing thousands of cuneiform tablets; Yazilikaya which contains rock carvings depicting Hittite kings and gods; and the Treaty of Kadesh, one of history’s earliest peace treaties signed between the Egyptians and the Hittites, having multiple copies.
6. Hezekiah’s Tunnel has been found in Jerusalem, built during the reign of King Hezekiah to protect the city’s water supply during the Assyrian siege. It’s also called the Siloam Tunnel.
7. The Moabite Stone (discovered in 1868) contains an inscription by King Mesha of Moab that mentions the Israeli king Omri and provides an account of Moab’s rebellion against Israel.
8. The Merneptah Stele is an ancient Egyptian inscription dating to 1219 BC and mentions Israel, making it one of the earliest extrabiblical references to Israel and suggests that that group was present in Canaan.
9. Excavations at Zanoah have uncovered artifacts and structures dating back over 3,200 years which align with the biblical timeline of the Israelites’ journey to the promised land.
10. The Biblical account of the Exodus mentions places like Pithom and Ramses, corresponding to Pi-Ramesse and Pi-Atum, which were in use during the Ramesside Period.
11. Finds in Avaris (Goshen) align with the biblical description of the Israelites living in that area and archaeologists have found mass graves dating to that period traditionally associated with plagues, suggesting a sudden and catastrophic event. The city of Pi-Rameses (located in the Nile Delta) was also the capital of Egypt during the reign of Pharaoh Rameses II, and was abandoned around 3,200 years ago, possibly due to environmental disasters that could be linked to the 10 Plagues.
12. In 2009, the seal of King Hezekiah was found in Jerusalem and bears his name and iconography.
13. The ancient city of Tyre has been excavated and have revealed evidence of sieges, coinciding with Ezekiel 26, which talks about how Tyre would fall at the hands of Nebechanezzer.
14. The Pool of Bethesda has been found in Jerusalem which is where Jesus famously healed a paralyzed man in John 5:2.
15. The Pilate Stone bears an inscription mentioning Pontius Pilate, confirming him to have been a real person.
16. The James Ossuary bears an inscription reading: “James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus,” potentially providing evidence for the existence of Jesus’s family.
17. The Caiaphas Ossuary is believed to contain the remains of Caiaphas, the high priest who played a key role in the trial of Jesus.
18. The Nazareth Inscription is a marble tablet found in Nazareth containing an edict from Ceaser prohibiting grave robbing.
19. Excavations in Capernaum have discovered a house believed to be the home of the Apostle Peter, being identified by its unique structure and inscriptions referring to Peter.
20. The remains of a synagogue in Capernaum lines up with where Jesus is said to have taught, dating back to the 4th century, built on top of an earlier synagogue where Jesus is said to have taught.
21. An ossuary found in Jerusalem bears an inscription that mentions Alexander, the son of Simon of Cyrene, who is the guy who carried Jesus’ cross.
22. The Pool of Siloam was discovered in 2004 and its location and structure directly correlates with the biblical description and is where Jesus healed a blind man in John 9:7.
23. The Gallio Inscription has helped scholars date Paul’s stay in Corinth, as Gallio is mentioned in Acts 18:12-27 as the proconsul of Achaia.
24. The Shroud of Turin, though surrounded by controversy as to it’s origin, was first documented in 1352 where it was first displayed in France before being moved to Turin, Italy a little over 200 years later, though it has been seen in medieval art created centuries earlier. In 1988, it was dated to have been created during the medieval period, however, new studies using techniques such as wide-angle-X-ray scattering have dated the shroud’s material to 2000 years ago, aligining with the time of Jesus. The linen cloth also bears the front and back image of a man who suffered physical trauma consistent with the crucifixion, including thorn marks on his head, lacerations from being whipped on his back, and nail wounds in his wrists and feet. The image has been confirmed through testing to be human blood, not paint, and the man’s blood type is type AB, which is commonly found in the Middle Eastern population, especially in Jews, which aligns with the historical context of Jesus. The image is also on the surface fibers of the cloth and not the deeper ones, further suggesting that it was not created by chemicals or physical contact, but rather radiation, especially since the shroud faintly has an X-ray effect, showing details inside the body, which no natural phenomenon could do.
25. The discovery of the Garden Tomb in the 19th century, though not Jesus’ actual tomb, gives us an idea of what Jewish tomb were like and how hard it would be for Jesus to get out.
26. The account of the tomb being found empty being first provided by women, whose testimony was not highly regarded at the time adds credibility to the story, because if the disciples were lying, they wouldn’t want to include a woman’s testimony because it would discredit them.
27. Well-recorded post-resurrection appearances were seen by different people, in various locations, at different times, usually in groups. People cannot hallucinate the same thing at the same time, lending more credibility to the story. The transformation of the apostles from fearful, everyday Joes to bold men proclaiming the gospel even under threat of death suggests that they actually saw Jesus.

These are just some examples of archaeological finds that prove the historicity and reliability of the Bible, and I encourage you to look into them yourself.

Until next time,

M.J.