Firstly, great emphasis is given that the contents of this series are intended to give Biblical information and insights on some of its contents. They are not intended to scare or offend anyone. It is one’s prerogative to read and never be shoved into one’s throat.
This piece is a simple sharing of bible passages. It doesn’t endorse any specific faith, religion, denomination, system of beliefs or theology aside from those in the bible.
It is in the “exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and worship, without discrimination or preference” as provided by The Philippine Constitution that this article was made.
If you find them scary, intimidating or offensive, please feel free to take them with a grain of salt and regard them like a badly written movie script.
The bible and biblical stories are backed up by science, logic and history
This series would like to give proofs that the incidents, stories, and prophecies mentioned in the bible are facts, not fiction, because they are either supported or cannot be cleanly disputed by science, history, and logic.
Biblical reliability enhanced by immunity to changes
There’s a saying change, along with death, are the only permanent things in life. While change applies to many situations, it is not to several biblical stories.
When the bible told stories, incidents and prophecies, during its time, the truth these laid out then are immune to changes bound to happen. This immunity to change makes them still factual, both during the time they were told and today.
160The entirety of Your word is truth, And every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever. Psalm 119:160, NKJV
8But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. Galatians 1:8, NKJV
35Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away. Matthew 24:35, NKJV
The support of advance knowledge of today to some of these stories, incidents and prophecies makes one cannot simply ignore this book and its contents, especially those concerning spiritual and supernatural matters that could adversely affect humans’ future.
Here are some stories from bible that are backed up by todays science, logic or history
For more, Click to go straight to specific topic:
Support for bible stories and events
Noah, the Ark and the flood
Support for the biblical prophecies
Jews refusing their Messiah and gentiles grafted in came to fruition
Support for the bible itself and other textual contents
Discovery of a lead tablet at Mt. Ebal, Israel
Decoding of the Ein Gedi scroll
Support for bible stories and events
Noah, the Ark and the flood
The story of Noah and the great flood is one of the most popular stories in the bible. The full story can be found in Chapters 6-8 of Genesis.
Modern science confirms the ark can float
According to The Bible, God instructed Noah to build an ark which was 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high. The recommended main material for this life-saving boat is “gopher” wood.
By dimension, the ark’s length was six times its width and ten times its height.
14Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch. 15And this is how you shall make it: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. Genesis 6:14-15, NKJV
This boat would have to carry pairs/groups of animals that cannot survive in water for the duration of the flood.
Another condition also being considered is the ark not intended to move through water like many modern ships today. It had only to float and preferably maintain a stationary position.
Would a boat of this dimension under the conditions it will undergo be able to withstand the stress of waves from the flood waters and float without being destroyed?
Here are two studies made that will conclude the will float and save the animals in it:
1. A study by physics students at the University of Leicester have found that the ark would have indeed been able to float with all of the animals on board.
This was reported by several news outfits including the Business Insider on April 3, 2014 with the author saying Noah’s Ark Would Have Floated With 70,000 Animals If Built By Dimensions In The Bible, and by the Smithsoniam Magazine on April 4, 2014 which stated that the dimension concept would definitely work.
2. A study published at the future science leaders website suggested that a straight angled ark would float in a laboratory setting.
Support for biblical prophecies
Jews refusing their Messiah and gentiles grafted in came to fruition
One of forecast Jesus made was salvation will be available to everybody, that its not only Israel which will be saved. Gentiles will also be called and grafted in to God’s family:
The whosoever
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16, King James Version
The Parable of the Great Supper
16Then He said to him, “A certain man gave a great supper and invited many, 17and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, ‘Come, for all things are now ready.’
18But they all with one accord began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it. I ask you to have me excused.’ 19And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them. I ask you to have me excused.’ 20Still another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’
21So that servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind.’ 22And the servant said, ‘Master, it is done as you commanded, and still there is room.’ 23Then the master said to the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. 24For I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper.’ ” Luke 14:15-24, NKJV
The Other Sheep
15[Jesus Speaking]As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. 16And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd. John 10:16, NKJV
Wild olive branches grafted into a cultivated olive tree
Here is Paul confirming what the parable and the other sheep meant in his speech to the believers in Rome:
16[Paul speaking to gentiles] For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches. 17And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree Romans 11:16-17, NKJV
Gentiles and Jews now share same opportunities
And here’s confirmation that the grafted in branches is as special as the original branches:
29[Paul speaking to gentiles] for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable. 30Just as you who were at one time disobedient to God have now received mercy as a result of their [Jews] disobedience, 31so they too have now become disobedient in order that they too may now receive mercy as a result of God’s mercy to you. 32For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all. Romans 11:29-32, NIV
It is well-known that the Jews believe their Messiah is still to come. Judaism didn’t recognize Jesus as their Messiah and still do today The Jews for Judaism made this clear with their six reasons why Jews don’t believe in Jesus post in their website.
The Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs seconded this with a post in their website claiming “Contrary to the common belief in Judaism that the Messiah has yet to come, in Christianity the Messiah has already arrived”.
Meanwhile, avenues have been sprouting for Jesus to be introduced to different people and cultures in other parts of the world.
A post in evolution-outreach.biomedcentral.com categorized Christian organizations in four major categories: Roman Catholics, Protestants, Orthodox, and Anglicans. If these large categories or denominations are further subdivided, there are more than 30,000 Christian organizations (groups, branches or denominations) worldwide.
While there are major differences in major doctrines of these denominations, all of them made major contributions in spreading the invitation of salvation throughout the globe as they made the bible a key basis of their basic belief systems. Their expansion throughout the years paved way for the bible to be preached in various places.
These avenues historically connects right after the apostles death as the Catholic Church claims its bishops to be the successors to Jesus’s apostles and the Church’s leader, the Pope, to be the sole successor to Saint Peter.
The spread of the bible’s contents through Catholicism came into full play in 313 when Emperor Constantine I legalized Christianity.
According to History of the Christian Church, Volume III: Nicene and Post-Nicene Christianity, Protestantism started as early as the fourth century through Jovinian. He is considered a Protestant forerunner who attacked monasticism, ascetism and believed that a saved believer can never be overcome by Satan.
It was in October 31, 1517 that Protestantism gained major public notice when Martin Luther allegedly nailed his Ninety-five Theses on the door of the All Saints’ Church in Wittenberg,
According to The Orthodox Church by Kallistos Ware, this sector started when Paul and the Apostles traveled extensively throughout the Roman Empire, including Asia Minor, establishing churches Jerusalem and the Holy Land, Antioch, Ethiopia, Egypt, Rome, Alexandria, Athens, Thessalonica, Illyricum, and Byzantium.
The Orthodox sector benefited and started to spread rapidly following the conversion of Emperor Constantine I and his legalization of Christianity.
According to John Godfrey, the most famous and beautiful legend of all related to the conversion of Britain is that of Joseph of Arimathea, who is said to have arrived in Britain with twelve companions in the year 63. According to this tradition Joseph brought with him the Holy Grail, and built at Glastonbury the first British church.
It is noted that the Church of England, the Church in Wales, the Church of Ireland and the Scottish Episcopal Church in Great Britain could have started this early because these churches have direct and unbroken history stretching back to the pre-Reformation with the Anglican Communion.
For some reason, these groups sparked several outside the Jewish community to accept the God of the bible as the one, true God and Jesus as savior and way to heaven.
The evolution-outreach.biomedcentral.com post further disclosed that The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Factbook on the world’s population listed the following estimates of the world’s Christians as of October 2008: total world population 6,706,993,152; Christians 2,234,770,118 (33.32% of world total); Roman Catholics 1,139,518,136 (16.99%); Protestants 387,664,204 (5.78%); Orthodox 236,756,858 (3.53%); Anglicans 83,837,414 (1.25%).
Many will surely argue not all of these numbers are true believers and they are entitled to their opinion.
However, this is not about what a true believer is. It is about the fulfillment of a biblical prophecy. The availability of salvation to everybody and the grafting in of gentiles is fulfilled because included in these estimates, as well as those who have past away ahead became true, genuine believers of Jesus.
As seen, the refusal of the Jews to believe in Jesus still exists and the number of gentile believers in Jesus continues to grow as prophesied by the Lord.
Jesus declares the gospel will be preached to all world and nations
Jesus made this prophesy during his Mount of Olives discourse:
14And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come. Matthew 24:14, NKJV
There is no doubt many would agree the gospel, through different Christian pastoral and church sermons, gathering ceremonies and world-wide missions, have been told to people who never knew God, Jesus, and the Israelis through the years.
The following features are do not debate about who a true Christian. It is about the word of God made known and accessible around the world.
Here are a few major historical events that will show how the intensity of the spreading of the gospel continuously progressed throughout the years:
Emperor Constantine ignites spread of Christianity in Europe:
Constantine (A.D. 280 – 337) is the leader who, with his forces, allegedly saw a cross of light in the sky, along with the Greek words for “In this sign conquer.” and dreamed Christ reinforced the message.
The emperor then marked the Christian symbol of the cross on his soldiers’ shields and when he triumphed at Milvian Bridge, he attributed the victory to the god of the Christians.
Constantine later issued the Edict of Milan, together with Licinius, the eastern emperor. The edict granted “to the Christians and others full authority to observe that religion which each preferred.”, effectively ending prosecution of Christians by the roman empire.
Here’s a feature on Constantine winning battles to ignite preaching of the gospel freely:
Milvian Bridge 312 – Rise of Christianity
Support for the bible itself and other textual contents
Discovery of a lead tablet at Mt. Ebal, Israel
On March 24th, 2022, Dr. Scott Stripling, with the Associates for Biblical Research, held a press conference in Houston, Texas to announce a major find from the archaeological excavations at Mt. Ebal in Israel.
Stripling, an archaeologist, and his team discovered a folded lead tablet while wet sifting through discarded material from a past excavation on Mt. Ebal. The excavation was done in the 1980s and revealed an altar described in Deuteronomy 27 and Joshua 8.
Written inside of the folded tablet are claims of earlier known Hebrew characters (dating to the late bronze age) and the earliest mention of the name of God.
This discovery is labeled by some as something that could be as consequential as the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls.
The tablet found at this altar site, which only measures approximately 2 cm., was taken to a lab in Czech Republic where it was scanned to reveal ancient Hebrew writing.
It was revealed that the writing was a formulaic curse, in ancient Hebrew, consisting of 40 letters. The writing reads:
“Cursed, cursed, cursed – cursed by the God YHW. You will die cursed. Cursed you will surely die. Cursed by YHW – cursed, cursed, cursed.”
The tablet and subsequent inscription are believed to be dated to the Late Bronze Age, which would make it the oldest known proto-Hebrew inscription ever discovered in Israel and prove that the Israelites were literate when they entered the land of Canaan, and therefore could have written the Bible as some of the events it documents took place.
The results and implications of this archaeological find are currently subjected to peer review. The official publication of this finding is scheduled upon completion of the review and will include more details concerning the artifact and its contents, methods of dating, and epigraphical evaluation, including releases of the scans themselves.
Early analysis from multiple leading experts seem to corroborate his team’s findings. The individuals conducting the peer review, tests, and evaluations are well-qualified, as are the labs carrying out the excavations.
Decoding of the Ein Gedi scroll
The En-Gedi Scroll is an ancient Hebrew parchment found in 1970 at Ein Gedi, Israel.
Although multiple scrolls had been in the hands of archaeologists since their unearthing, no one dared to open them due to the danger of destroying the entire thing because of the scrolls’ being charred and brittle having been badly damaged by fire.
In 2015, scientists scanned them using X-ray-based micro-computed tomography, a 3D version of the CT scans hospitals use to create images of internal body parts and resulted to one of the scrolls being deciphered.
The discovery of readable passages inside the scroll made it the earliest evidence of a biblical text in its standardised form.
The passages are from the first eight verses of Leviticus and were found to be 100 percent identical to the version of the Book of Leviticus that has been in use for centuries.
The discovery offer proofs that the information contained in the bible today is the same as that was said before.
This is, at the same time, the first physical evidence the Hebrew Bible that’s in use today is at least 1,500 years old.
Both Independent (Scientists finally read the oldest biblical text ever found) and Sci News (En-Gedi Scroll Finally Deciphered and Scientists Decipher 1,500-Year-Old Hebrew Scroll) reported on the discovery.
Purpose of the bible
The bible made clear what kind of book is it. It is intended for those who want eternal life. It is not a medical, science, logic or history book. Many tend to forget this.
You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life. John 5:39-40, New King James Version
It also made its theme clear. While there are many tales narrated by the bible, one thing remains clear from start to finish: Humans caught in a crossfire between powerful adversaries and one of them, a loving God, is offering redemption/salvation.
The bible says the devil rebelled and continues to rebel against God and dragged humans along to be involved in this godly battle he started.
7And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, 8but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. Revelation 12:7-8, NKJV
…she [Eve] took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband [Adam] with her, and he ate… And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” So the Lord God said to the serpent…I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed…. Genesis 3: 6, 14-15, NKJV
12Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. Luke 8:12, NIV
God’s love and the danger posed prompted Jesus to come to earth and provided everyone a way to get out of the mess.
16For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16, NKJV
8He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. 1 John 3:8, NKJV
These verses encapsulates what the new testament is for. If you are encourage by these verses, you are invited to search the bible deeper and find out more about Jesus and his teachings.
Conservative approach
The presence of spirits and unexplainable events and multiple scientific, medical, and logical reasons that supports the bible and its authors’ credibility project a possibility that God do exists. If you are still unconvinced of the existence of God despite these proofs, being conservative might be the best alternative here.
Accountants describe conservatism as selecting the option that would show the worst possible financial standing of a business entity when two or more unproven alternatives are available. This is to remove the user of the account’s output be exposed to a bigger risk in case the worst possible scenario happens.
As it stands, the risk of not believing in and obeying God far outweighs the benefits of doubting his existence. It might be best to act conservatively, believe what the bible says, until you have absolutely proven that there is indeed no God nor hell.
By: Armando M. Bolislis
If you are inspired and want to give Jesus a try, continue a deeper search of the bible, especially the New Testament. This will show you how to become his disciple. Always ask the Holy Spirit for guidance in your search.
If you feel the want or need to belong to a Christian church or organization, find one that preaches the Word of God and will help you improve your relationship with Christ and lead you to his eternal promises.
The theologies and doctrines about faith contained in this article are solely from God through the bible. The author is just an instrument used to spread the word for the glory of God. The personal opinions and suggestions on issues outside of biblical coverage from the author doesn’t necessarily reflect the stance of Baguio Herald Express management and staff.