Examples of historical evidence for the Bible

The Bible regales some fantastic accounts of world-shattering events and life-changing miracles. However, outside of the Bible, evidence for claims of these events is limited. This is in large part due to the fact that the Bible is so old. 

Not much remains from the ancient world during which the Bible stories took place. There is historical evidence of the existence of cities and locations mentioned throughout the Bible, but this doesn’t validate the existence of certain characters or major events. However, there is some evidence that does validate major characters. For example, there is reliable evidence that Jesus lived in this world as the Gospels claim he did:

Early texts outside of the Bible mention Jesus

Not too shortly after the time around which we believe Jesus to have lived, we see some early texts from Roman historians and political figures referencing Jesus. One of the most famous accounts is that of Jewish historian Flavius Josephus.

We’ve learned much about first-century Palestine and Roman rule of this region from the histories of Josephus. In fact, he mentions Jesus in his histories and even writes about witnessing the death of James, the brother of Jesus. This latter event is debated among some scholars as to whether the translation was mishandled by Christian scribes, but the fact remains that Josephus does mention Jesus more than once and that if we take the rest of his accounts seriously, we should take it seriously that he believed he was writing about a real man, even if he didn’t believe in Jesus’ divinity. 

Pontius Pilate existed

This is important to mention because only a few texts other than the Bible mention Pilate. In A.D. 64, Roman historian Tacitus mentions Pilate: 

The persons commonly called Christians [were] hated for their enormities. Christus, the founder of the name, was put to death by Pontius Pilate, procurator of Judea in the reign of Tiberius.

 — Tacitus, “Annals of Imperial Rome”

This text appears to verify the existence of Pilate without refute from an early Roman perspective. However, for a long time there was no archaeological evidence for Pilate’s position as governor in Judea. Until a recent discovery in history.

In the 1960s, a team of archaeologists discovered a stone outside of an ancient Roman theater in Israel commissioned by King Herod around 10 B.C. On this theater was a dedication stone that named Pilate and his position. 

There could be room to believe that the stone was placed after the stories of Jesus, but it appears to have been set in stone (literally) as a genuine dedication to a ruler, not as an offhand reference to a fictional character. 

Centerpoint Church is ready to walk with you on your faith journey

At Centerpoint Church in the Tampa, Florida, area, we know it can be hard to have faith sometimes. We love to explore historical evidence for the Bible and for God.We hope to meet you at one of our three services on Sunday morning to talk with you if you have questions about the historical validity of the Bible or if you would just like to grow in your personal faith.