Evidence from Archaeology

The Reliability of the Gospels -- 3 EEvviiddeennccee ffrroomm AArrcchhaaeeoollooggyy One method for confirming the reliabi- dicts the Bible picture; everything lity of the gospel accounts is to found so far confirms the idea that the compare them with archaeology. Gospels are accurate records. As one Surely, we can simply look at the scholar has said: “The critics of the gospels, find a corresponding archaeo - 19th century have been completely logical dig and compare the two. overturned by the archaeologists of Sadly, it isn’t as simple as this, par - the 20th century” . ticularly as many incidents in the gospels would leave no trace. The Real Places feeding of the five thousand, for example, would leave only footprints Let’s look at some examples. The first and crumbs, and these would not be is a place mentioned in the Gospel of preserved for archaeologists to disco- John which has been found by archae - ver. Archaeology finds the remains of ologists. buildings and inscriptions. Unless an event is commemorated in an inscrip - Now there is in Jerusalem by the tion it is unlikely that any traces would Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called be preserved (the one exception is a Bethesda, which has five roofed colon - battle where one might find arrow - nades (John 5:2). heads – but there are no battles in the New Testament). This is part of a passage which describes a healing miracle that Jesus Consistent Evidence carried out near this pool. The descrip - tion of the pool is very similar to that of However, there are elements of the pagan healing sanctuaries dedicated Gospels that can be confirmed or dis - to the Greek god Asclepius. In the credited by archaeology. There are nineteenth century critics used to hold accounts which give a good descrip - this up to ridicule as a major error tion of some place where an event made by John. After all, who would took place, there are references to build a pagan healing sanctuary right known individuals and there are next to the temple in Jerusalem? Then descriptions of customs and lifestyle the pool was found. It has been exca - at the time of Jesus. This brings a vated several times, and the solid second problem, which is that archae - conclusion is that it was a healing ologists have not yet discovered sanctuary with five colonnades. everything that could be found and The critics held onto their theory for some things never will be found. a long time. Through the first half of Nevertheless, Israel is one of the the twentieth century commentaries most excavated countries in the world, on John’s gospel were written which and there is a considerable amount of indicated the supposed allegorical evidence from the time of Jesus. What meaning of the building and assured is interesting is that none of it contra - the reader that the place never really 132 nd Year 7 existed. For a whole century after the discovery of the remains by archaeologists, the sceptical critics continued to ignore the evidence and declare that the Gospels were wrong. Most scho- lars at last accept the very close correspondence between the New Tes- tament and the archaeology of the period, but many sceptics still use the writings of the earlier critics in an attempt to attack Christianity. The significant point here is an inci- It is notable that John’s Gospel men- dental detail: the water jars were made tions a wide range of places in of stone. This was not common prac- Jerusalem, places like Gabbatha or tice in the ancient world. Water jars Lithostratos (John 19:13), Golgotha were overwhelmingly made of earthen- (John19:17), the pool of Siloam (John ware. However, in Judea and Galilee 9:7,11) and the Temple precincts (e.g. this was not the case. Under the Law John 10:23). These have all been of Moses, if an earthenware jar found by archaeologists. became unclean it could not be used again and had to be broken; a stone Real Lives jar only had to be washed clean and could then be used again. Thus stone Some of the people in the Gospels are jars were used instead. This fact is also known from archaeology. An clear from excavations in Judea and inscription in Caesarea records the Galilee; here alone jars were made of dedication of a temple to the Emperor stone. The details of the Gospels are Tiberius by Pontius Pilate the governor. correct. An ossuary (a box containing the This is important because the Jewish bones of dead people) found in War of 66–73 AD destroyed the com- Jerusalem belonged to Caiaphas, the munities in Judea and Galilee. After 70 High Priest, and probably contained AD the inhabitants were Gentiles who his bones, along with bones from other did not speak Aramaic and did not members of his family. The tomb of follow the Jewish law. The lifestyle Herod the Great, king at the time of changed and nothing of the old way of Jesus’ birth has also been found, but life was remembered. The details of so far his coffin has not been discov- life are recorded accurately in spite of ered. this. But the most striking results of The correspondence between archaeology are the illumination of tiny archaeology and the Gospels is start- points of lifestyle. For example, consid- lingly good. It tells us that the Gospel er the miracle of turning of water into writers had an accurate knowledge of wine in Cana. life and events in Judea and Galilee at the time of Jesus, and that they wrote Now there were six stone water jars those details into their records. This is there for the Jewish rites of purifica- good evidence for the reliability of the tion, each holding twenty or thirty Gospels. gallons (John 2:6). John Thorpe 8 Glad Tidings.

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