Preview of “Prove It” Series:
Week 1 – God exists
Week 2 – The Bible is credible
Week 3 – Jesus rose from the dead
Week 4 – Christianity is the one true religion
What is the Bible?
The Bible is a collection of 66 different documents
The Bible was written by approximately 40 different authors
The Bible was written over a period of approximately 1500+ years (1446 BC – AD 95)
The Bible was written in three different languages: Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek.
The Bible deals with the most controversial subjects on earth
Despite all of this the Bible is perfectly harmonious
Are these real people and places?
“The Bible is bunch of fairy tales”
Examples of History outside the Bible
- Babylonian siege and captivity of Jerusalem
- Josephus verifies real life existence of Herod the Great, Caiaphas, Pontius Pilate, James “the brother of Jesus,” Felix, Festus, and even Jesus
“John, that was called the Baptist…was a good man, and commanded the Jews to exercise virtue, both as to righteousness towards one another, and piety towards God, and so to come to baptism…Herod, who feared the great influence John had over the people…sent [John] a prisoner, out of Herod’s suspicious temper, to Macherus, the castle I before mentioned, and was there put to death.” (Antiquities, 18:116-119)
“At this time there was a wise man who was called Jesus. And his conduct was good, and (he) was known to be virtuous. And many people from among the Jews and the other nations became his disciples. Pilate condemned him to be crucified to die. And those who had become his disciples did not abandon his discipleship. They reported that he had appeared to them three days after his crucifixion and that he was alive…” (Antiquities of the Jews, 18:63-64, from a surviving manuscript in Arabic)
Examples of History outside the Bible
- Babylonian siege and captivity of Jerusalem
- Josephus verifies real life existence of Herod the Great, Caiaphas, Pontius Pilate, James “the brother of Jesus,” Felix, Festus, and even Jesus
- 30 sources outside of the Bible attest to more than 100 facts regarding Jesus’ life
Examples of History outside the Bible
- Babylonian siege and captivity of Jerusalem
- Josephus verifies real life existence of Herod the Great, Caiaphas, Pontius Pilate, James “the brother of Jesus,” Felix, Festus, and even Jesus
- 30 sources outside of the Bible attest to more than 100 facts regarding Jesus’ life
- Archeological findings have never proven the Bible to be in error
Are the words we read really their words?
“The Bible has been translated so many times, we don’t even know what was originally written.”
(Progression line by line)
| Author | Date written | Earliest copy | Time Span | # of copies |
| Pliny | A.D. 61-113 | A.D. 850 | 750 yrs | 7 |
| Plato | 427-347 B.C. | A.D. 900 | 1200 yrs | 7 |
| Aristotle | 384-322 B.C. | A.D. 1100 | 1400 yrs | 49 |
| Homer (Iliad) | 900 B.C. | 400 B.C. | 500 yrs | 643 |
| New Testament | 1st Cent. A.D. (A.D. 50-100) | A.D. 130 | less than 100 years | 5600 |
“The Church decided which books are in the Bible”
The church fathers identified legitimate eyewitness testimony
When we read the New Testament we are reading the unaltered writings of real people who really saw Jesus.
Why would they die for something they knew was a lie?
