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Items Posted In December, 2022

Historicity of King Hezekiah
King Hezekiah bulla

Posted on December 29, 2022 by

Categories: Historical Evidence

Confirmation of the existence of the ancient Biblical King Hezekiah has been found.  This discovery has been called “one of the most important archaeological discoveries in Israel of all time.” This discovery shows five monumental, new royal inscriptions describing King Hezekiah of Judah, which include dozens of lines and hundreds of letters.  These inscriptions have now been deciphered. King Hezekiah Inscriptions Gershon Galil, a former chairman of the University of Haifa, said the inscriptions mention the name of Hezekiah and document some of the major events during the first seventeen years of his reign.  These events include the water project… Read More »

Secular Eyewitnesses to Christ
Jerusalem

Posted on December 26, 2022 by

Categories: Archaeology, Biblical History, Biblical Names, Historical Evidence

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I have discussed several ancient secular eyewitnesses to Christ in another post evaluating the historicity of Scripture from a broad perspective.  In this article, I am going to concentrate on the evidence substantiating the historicity of Christ. The historicity of Christ is, after all the most important question that must be answered regarding all of Scripture. As Paul said, if the Resurrection of Christ did not happen, then Christians are deluded and, above all, to be pitied.  If Christ did not exist, then neither did the Resurrection. I will only evaluate secular, extra-Biblical sources for the historicity of Christ to avoid… Read More »

The Time of Christ’s First Coming
The Tomb of Daniel is located in Iran but is also venerated by Muslims.

Posted on December 14, 2022 by

Categories: Uncategorized

The time of Christ’s first coming to the day was predicted centuries before.  That is quite a statement, and yet it is true. First-century Jews were looking for the Messiah who would fulfill all the prophecies from the Old Testament.  They knew the time was near when he had to appear.  But how did they know this? Daniel and his Most Famous Prophesy Daniel was a young man carried off to Babylon in 586 BC when King Nebuchadnezzar captured Jerusalem.  Daniel was a very righteous man and received a revelation concerning the timing of the Messiah’s coming.  This is very… Read More »

Christ Types
Bible Image

Posted on December 12, 2022 by

Categories: Historical Evidence

Christ Types and Ancient Old Testament Figures The previous blog post showed how Christ demonstrates the characteristics of many mythical deities of multiple civilizations.  While the characteristics of mythical deities are often fanciful and not meant to be historical, those of Christ are what might be expected from a historical figure. This short post shows how many ancient historical figures were actual “types” of Christ.  That is, these historical figures illustrate many of the characteristics of Christ and are a foreshadowing. The following figures are contained within the Old Testament.  The books which contain the stories of these ancient figures… Read More »

Christ the Myth
The resurrection of Christ is at the center of Christianity; if not true, then Christianity is false.

Posted on November 29, 2022 by

Categories: Philosophical

Skeptics often opine that Christ is not real but propose Christ the myth.   They suggest the Christ narrative is copied from a long line of other “gods” that have preceded Christ in time.  There has been a history of gods and goddesses in ancient civilizations, each with specific characteristics that made them appealing to ancient peoples.  These deities had diverse responsibilities.  Some were for fertility, crops, various sicknesses, and celebrations, among many others.  Skeptics object that out of all the gods and goddesses throughout ancient history, why should we believe Christ is a real “god”? Skeptics support their conclusion by… Read More »

Roman Toleration
Rome wanted to secure peace with its conquered peoples rather than costly wars.

Posted on November 26, 2022 by

Categories: Philosophical

Roman toleration of religions and practices of its conquered populations was much greater than in previous empires.  Most ancient civilizations would prohibit other religious practices, for example, and force conquered peoples to accept the gods of their conquerors.  His message would have been severely suppressed if Christ had been born into any of these intolerant nations. Roman Toleration The Romans differed from prior empires in allowing their conquered population more autonomy.  Rome wanted peace throughout its Empire and came to the practical conclusion that they would need some tolerance to have this peace. Rome, at its peak, conquered nations on… Read More »

Roman Postal Service
Ancient Rom had a postal service to carry government and sometimes private mail across the empire.

Posted on November 25, 2022 by

Categories: Philosophical, Uncategorized

Whatever we may all feel about the postal service is very important to our daily way of life.  We get all manner of communication through the mail.  In America, we get postal service six days a week, and considering the amount of mail that is processed, the whole thing works amazingly well. Such has not always been the case in world history, of course.  Mail service had to wait to develop adequate roads and security for an effective postal service. Mail service likely started with the Egyptians as early as 2000 BC, but the Persians are credited as the first… Read More »

Roman Roads
Roman roads allowed the Christian gospel to spread throughout the ancient Roman world.

Posted on November 24, 2022 by

Categories: Philosophical

Roman roads helped the message of Christianity spread throughout the Roman Empire more quickly and efficiently.  Building an integrated road system throughout the Empire did not happen with serious planning.  It also required much time and treasure to build a road system where there was none. One reason for this extraordinary building effort was that roads enabled quicker movement of Roman soldiers throughout the Empire wherever needed.  Peace throughout the Roman world allowed resources to be reallocated from war to infrastructure improvement.  But it also enabled Christian missionaries to spread the Good News more quickly. History of Transportation Throughout the… Read More »

Roman Rule Set the Stage
The Pax Romana was a time of relative peace in the Roman Empire allowing the Christian message to spread throughout the known world.

Posted on November 22, 2022 by

Categories: Philosophical

The Roman rule set the stage for the expansion of the Christian message.  It conquered vast areas of the known world, leading to temporary peace throughout its kingdom  This time of peace enabled the Christian message to spread throughout the known world. According to legend, the twin brothers Romulus and Remus fought it out over the founding of Rome.  Romulus eventually won after he killed his brother and became the first King of Rome in 753 BC.  Initially, Rome was conquered by the Etruscans and was ruled by a series of seven Kings until 509 BC. The last king, Lucius… Read More »

Right On Time
clock to measure time

Posted on November 19, 2022 by

Categories: Biblical History, Philosophical

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Christ arrived right on time – not too soon or too late.  If Christ had come to Earth earlier or later, the Christian message probably could not have permeated the world as it did.  Many factors had to come into play to enable the message to spread out – not just any time would do. We will show that Christ came at the best time for his message to take hold, spread throughout the world, produce converts of the most ruthless barbarians, and finally, change the lives of billions for the better. Right on Time for a Message to Spread… Read More »

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