The Bible has no historical competence and is only good for
propaganda purposes. Why do Christians insist it is historically accurate?
You are not the first to doubt the historicity of the Bible. There have been many scholars of past generations to make the same claim. They have said things like: Pontius Pilate did not exist; the Hittites (a race of people mentioned as far back as the book of Genesis) did not exist; cities and people written about in the Bible have no corroboration in history, etc.
What we have come to know is that almost every objection of past scholars has been substantiated by archaeology. For example, in 1961 part of a pillar was found in an excavation in Caesarea, Israel. An inscription on the pillar named Tiberius (a Roman Caesar) and Pilate. In Tel Dan in the mid 1990’s, a stone was uncovered that, for the first time outside the Bible, mentioned the “house of David.” I could give you many more examples.
Sir William Ramsey wrote one of the best books on this subject. He left England a hostile scholar, bent on discrediting Luke’s writings. (Luke was the author of the gospel of Luke and the book of Acts). His book, titled St. Paul the Traveler and Roman Citizen (a Baker Book House, 1949 reprint, based on his 1894 lectures), confirmed the full accuracy of the customs, locations, and governing titles Luke mentioned. He concluded, “Great historians are the rarest of writers…[I regard Luke] among the historians of the first rank” (pp. 3-4).
You are not the first to doubt the historicity of the Bible. There have been many scholars of past generations to make the same claim. They have said things like: Pontius Pilate did not exist; the Hittites (a race of people mentioned as far back as the book of Genesis) did not exist; cities and people written about in the Bible have no corroboration in history, etc.
What we have come to know is that almost every objection of past scholars has been substantiated by archaeology. For example, in 1961 part of a pillar was found in an excavation in Caesarea, Israel. An inscription on the pillar named Tiberius (a Roman Caesar) and Pilate. In Tel Dan in the mid 1990’s, a stone was uncovered that, for the first time outside the Bible, mentioned the “house of David.” I could give you many more examples.
Sir William Ramsey wrote one of the best books on this subject. He left England a hostile scholar, bent on discrediting Luke’s writings. (Luke was the author of the gospel of Luke and the book of Acts). His book, titled St. Paul the Traveler and Roman Citizen (a Baker Book House, 1949 reprint, based on his 1894 lectures), confirmed the full accuracy of the customs, locations, and governing titles Luke mentioned. He concluded, “Great historians are the rarest of writers…[I regard Luke] among the historians of the first rank” (pp. 3-4).
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