Bible and History | History and Bible

It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write to you an orderly account... Luke 1:3 

So begins Luke's Gospel. It 's important we recognize that when he wrote his record of Christ's life, it was an "orderly account." In other words, Luke did his homework. He gathered facts, transcribed testimonies, and nailed down historical details about Jesus and the people surrounding Him before putting it all into print. Luke wasn't just a writer, he was a historian, and his commitment to historical accuracy is another important proof that the biblical record is totally reliable.

Why is that so important? It's important because some people look at the Bible as nothing more than a collection of tall tales and myths that have no basis in history. They think the scriptures are a "free for all" that don't hold much weight when it comes to reality. In their minds, the Bible is a fictional notch below "real" historical writings.

God perfectly anticipated this type of thinking by allowing a historian like Luke, who wrote both the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts, to account for more than half of the New Testament! In Luke's writings, we're given historical details that either make or break the credibility of the biblical record.

For example, in Luke 2:1-2, we're told that Caesar Augustus imposed a tax throughout the Roman Empire while a man named Cyrenius ruled over Syria. That's very specific, and for centuries there were critics who used this detail to argue against the Bible's accuracy because records showed that Cyrenius had ruled over Syria at a later date.

But in the late 1800's, Scottish archeologist and scholar William Ramsay discovered that Cyrenius had actually ruled over Syria twice, and the first reign would have coincided exactly with the time of Augustus' census. Moreover, historical records reveal that these taxations occurred once every fourteen years, and that this tax-cycle would have fallen on the year Christ was born, which is what takes place in the rest of Luke Chapter 2.

Historical facts aren't the enemy of the Bible or those who believe it. They're a valuable ally.

borrowed.............................