Freedom’s Statement of Faith

Archaeological and External Evidence for the Bible

Archeology consistently confirms the Bible!

Archaeology and the Old Testament

• Ebla tablets—discovered in 1970s in Northern Syria. Documents      written on clay tablets from around 2300 B.C. demonstrate that personal      and place names in the Patriarchal accounts are genuine. In use in Ebla      was the name “Canaan,” a name critics once said was not used at      that time and was used incorrectly in the early chapters of the Bible. The      tablets refer to all five “cities of the plain” mentioned in Genesis 14, previously assumed to have been mere legends.
• Greater proportion of Egyptian words in the Pentateuch (first five      books) than in rest of the Old Testament. Accurate Egyptian names: Potiphar      (Gen.39), Zaphenath-Paneah (Joseph’s Egyptian name, Gen. 41:45), Asenath      (Gen.41:45), On (Gen. 41:45), Rameses (Gen. 47:11), Oithom      (Exodus 1:11).
• Finds in Egypt are consistent with the time, place, and other      details of biblical accounts of the Israelites in Egypt. These include      housing and tombs that could have been of the Israelites, as well as a      villa and tomb that could have been Joseph’s.
• Confounding earlier skeptics, but confirming the Bible, an      important discovery was made in Egypt in 1896. A tablet—the Merneptah      Stela—was found that mentions Israel. (Merneptah was the pharaoh that      ruled Egypt in 1212-1202 B.C.) The context of the stela indicates that      Israel was a significant entity in the late 13th century B.C.
• The Hittites were once thought to be a biblical legend, until their      capital and records were discovered in Turkey.
• Crucial find in Nuzi (northeastern Iraq), an entire cache of      Hittite legal documents from 1400 B.C. Confirms many details of Genesis,      Deuteronomy, such as: (a) siring of legitimate children through      handmaidens, (b) oral deathbed will as binding, (c) the power to sell      one’s birthright for relatively trivial property (Jacob & Esau), (d)      need for family idols, such as Rachel stole from Laban, to secure      inheritance, (e) form of the covenant in Deuteronomy exactly matches the      form of suzerainty treaties between Hittite emperors and vassal kings.
• Walls of Jericho—discovery in 1930s by John Garstang. The walls      fell suddenly, and outwardly (unique), so Israelites could clamber over      the ruins into the city (Joshua 6:20).
• In 1986, scholars identified an ancient seal belonging to Baruch,      son of Neriah, a scribe who recorded the prophecies of Jeremiah (Jer.      45:11).
• In 1990, Harvard researchers unearthed a silver-plated bronze calf      figurine reminiscent of the huge golden calf mentioned in the book of      Exodus.
• In 1993, archaeologists uncovered a 9th century B.C. inscription at      Tel Dan. The words carved into a chunk of basalt refer to the “House of      David” and the “King of Israel.” And the Bible’s version of      Israelite history after the reign of David’s son, Solomon, is believed to      be based on historical fact because it is corroborated by independent      account of Egyptian and Assyrian inscriptions.
• It was once claimed there was no Assyrian king named Sargon as      recorded in Isaiah 20:1, because this name was not      known in any other record. Then, Sargon’s palace was discovered in Iraq.      The very event mentioned in Isaiah 20, his capture of Ashdod, was recorded in the      palace walls! Even more, fragments of a stela (a poetic eulogy)      memorializing the victory were found at Ashdod itself.
• Another king who was in doubt was Belshazzar, king of Babylon,      named in Daniel 5. The last king of Babylon was Nabonidus      according to recorded history. Tablet was found showing that Belshazzar      was Nabonidus’ son.
• The ruins of Sodom and Gomorrah have been discovered southeast of      the Dead Sea. Evidence at the site seems consistent with the biblical      account: “Then the Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and      Gomorrah—from the Lord out of the heavens.” The destruction debris      was about 3 feet thick and buildings were burned from fires that started      on the rooftops. Geologist Frederick Clapp theorizes that that pressure      from an earthquake could have spewed out sulfur-laden bitumen (similar to      asphalt) known to be in the area through the fault line upon which the cities      rest. The dense smoke reported by Abraham is consistent with a fire from      such material, which could have ignited by a spark or ground fire.

Archaeology and the New Testament

• The New Testament mentions specific individuals, places, and      various official titles of local authorities, confirmed by recent      archeology. Luke sites exact titles of officials. (Titles varied from city      to city so they are easily checked for accuracy.) Lysanias the Tetrarch      in Abilene (Luke 3:1)—verified by inscription dated 14-29 A.D. Erastus,      city treasurer of Corinth (Romans 16:23)—verified by pavement      inscription. Gallio—proconsul of Achaia (Greece) in A.D. 51 (Acts 18:12). Politarchs (“city ruler”) in Thessalonica (Acts 17:6). Chief Man of the Island on Malta (Acts 28:7). Stone Pavement at Pilate’s headquarters (John 19:13)—discovered recently. Pool at Bethesda— discovered in 1888.      Many examples of silver shrines to Artemis found (Acts 19:28). Inscription confirms the title of the city as “Temple      Warden of Artemis”. Account of Paul’s sea voyage in Acts is “one      of the most instructive documents for the knowledge of ancient      seamanship.”
• Census of Luke 1. Census began under Augustus approximately every      14 years: 23-22 B.C., 9-8 B.C., 6 A.D. There is evidence of enrollment in      11-8 B.C. in Egyptian papyri.
  • Problem: Historian Josephus puts Quirinius as governor in Syria at       6 A.D. Solution: Recent inscription confirms that Quirinius served as       governor in 7 B. C. (in extraordinary, military capacity).
  • Problem: Herod’s kingdom was not part of the Roman Empire at the       time, so there would not have been a census. Solution: it was a client       kingdom. Augustus treated Herod as subject (Josephus). Parallel—a census       took place in the client kingdom of Antiochus in eastern Asia Minor under       Tiberius.
  • Enrollment in hometown? Confirmed by edict of Vibius Maximus,       Roman prefect of Egypt, in 104 A.D. “…it is necessary for all who       are for any cause whatsoever way from their administrative divisions to       return home to comply with the customary ordinance of enrollment.”
• Opinion of Sir William Ramsay, one of the outstanding Near Eastern      archeologists: “Luke is a historian of the first rank; not merely are      his statements of fact trustworthy; he is possessed of the true historic      sense; he fixes his mind on the idea and plan that rules in the evolution      of history, and proportions the scale of his treatment to the importance      of each incident. He seizes the important and critical events and shows      their true nature at greater length…In short, this author should be      placed among the very greatest of historians.”
• Diggers recently uncovered an ossuary (repository for bones) with      the inscription “Joseph Son of Caiaphas.” This marked the first      archaeological evidence that the high priest Caiaphas was a real person.      According to the gospels, Caiaphas presided at the Sanhedrin’s trial of      Jesus.

External References to Jesus and the Christian Church.

• Josephus. Born to priestly family in A.D. 37. Commanded Jewish      troops in Galilee during rebellion. Surrendered, and earned favor of      Emperor Vespasian. Wrote 20 books of Antiquities of the Jews.      Refers to John the Baptist (killed by Herod) and to James, the brother of      Jesus (condemned to death by stoning by the Sanhedrin). He referred to      Jesus in his Antiquities 18:63. The standard text of Josephus reads as      follows:

“About this time lived Jesus, a wise man, if indeed one ought to call him a man. For he was the achiever of extraordinary deeds and was a teacher of those who accept the truth gladly. He won over many Jews and many of the Greeks. He was the Messiah. When he was indicted by the principal men among us and Pilate condemned him to be crucified, those who had come to love him originally did not cease to do so; for he appeared to them on the third day restored to life, as the prophets of the Deity had foretold these and countless other marvelous things about him, and the tribe of the Christians, so named after him, has not disappeared to this day.” (Josephus—The Essential Works, P. L. Maier ed./trans.).

Although this passage is so worded in the Josephus manuscripts as early as the third-century church historian Eusebius, scholars have long suspected a Christian interpolation, since Josephus could hardly have believed Jesus to be the Messiah or in his resurrection and have remained, as he did, a non-Christian Jew. In 1972, however, Professor Schlomo Pines of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem announced his discovery of a different manuscript tradition of Josephus’s writings in the tenth-century Melkite historian Agapius, which reads as follows:

“At this time there was a wise man called Jesus, and his conduct was good, and he was known to be virtuous. Many people among the Jews and the other nations became his disciples. Pilate condemned him to be crucified and to die. But those who had become his disciples did not abandon his discipleship. They reported that he had appeared to them three days after his crucifixion and that he was alive. Accordingly, he was perhaps the Messiah, concerning whom the prophets have reported wonders. And the tribe of the Christians, so named after him, has not disappeared to this day.”

Here, clearly, is language that a Jew could have written without conversion to Christianity. (Schlomo Pines, An Arabic Version of the Testimonium Flavianum and its Implications [Jerusalem: Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, 1971.])

According to Dr. Paul Maier, professor of ancient history, “Scholars fall into three basic camps regarding Antiquities 18:63: 1) The original passage is entirely authentic—a minority position; 2) it is entirely a Christian forgery—a much smaller minority position; and 3) it contains Christian interpolations in what was Josephus’s original, authentic material about Jesus—the large majority position today, particularly in view of the Agapian text (immediately above) which shows no signs of interpolation. Josephus must have mentioned Jesus in authentic core material at 18:63 since this passage is present in all Greek manuscripts of Josephus, and the Agapian version accords well with his grammar and vocabulary elsewhere. Moreover, Jesus is portrayed as a ‘wise man’ [sophos aner], a phrase not used by Christians but employed by Josephus for such personalities as David and Solomon in the Hebrew Bible. Furthermore, his claim that Jesus won over “many of the Greeks” is not substantiated in the New Testament, and thus hardly a Christian interpolation but rather something that Josephus would have noted in his own day. Finally, the fact that the second reference to Jesus at Antiquities 20:200, which follows, merely calls him the Christos [Messiah] without further explanation suggests that a previous, fuller identification had already taken place. Had Jesus appeared for the first time at the later point in Josephus’s record, he would most probably have introduced a phrase like “…brother of a certain Jesus, who was called the Christ.”

• Early Gentile writers, referred to by Christian apologists in 2nd      century.
  • Thallus—wrote a history of Greece and Asia Minor in A.D. 52.       Julius Africanus (221 AD), commenting on Thallus, said: “Thallus, in       the third book of his histories, explains away the darkness [during the       crucifixion] as an eclipse of the sun—unreasonably, as it seems to me       [since the Passover took place during a full moon.]“
  • Official Roman records of the census, and Pontius Pilate’s       official report to the Emperor. Justin Martyr wrote his “Defense of       Christianity” to Emperor Antonius Pius, referred him to Pilate’s       report, preserved in the archives. Tertullian, writing to Roman       officials, writes with confidence that records of the Luke 1 census can still be found.
• Roman historians
  • Tacitus—Greatest Roman historian, born 52 A.D., wrote a history of       the reign of Nero in 110 A.D. “…Christus, from whom they got their       name, had been executed by sentence of the procurator Pontius Pilate when       Tiberias was emperor; and the pernicious superstition was checked for a       short time only to break out afresh, not only in Judea, the home of the       plague, but in Rome itself, .. ” (Annals 15:44)
  • Suetonius—AD. 120. In his Life of Claudius: “As the       Jews were making disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus, he expelled       them from Rome.”
  • Pliny the Younger—Governor of Bithynia in Asia Minor, wrote the       emperor in A.D. 112 about the sect of Christians, who were in “the       habit of meeting on a certain fixed day, before it was light, when they       sang an anthem to Christ as God.”

What we believe about God’s Word (Our Owners Manual for Life)

The Trinity

We believe that there is one living and true God who eternally exists in three persons; The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. All three are equal in power and glory.

• God (God the Father)
  We believe that God is the creator and ruler of the universe. He has eternally existed in three personalities: The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. These three are co-equal and are one God. Gen. 1:1,26,27; 3:22; Psalm 90:2; Matt. 28:19; 2 Corn. 13:14; 1 Peter 1:2.

• Jesus Christ (God the Son)
  We believe that Jesus Christ is co-equal with the Father. Jesus lived a sinless human life and offered Himself as a perfect sacrifice for the sins of all people by dying on a cross. He arose from the dead after three days to demonstrate His power over sin and death. He ascended to Heaven’s glory and will return again someday to earth to reign as King of kings and Lord of lords. Isaiah 9:6; Matt. 1:22-23; John 1:1-5, 14:10-30; 1 Corn.15:3-4; Romans 1:3-4; Acts 1:9-11; 1 Tim. 6:14-15; Titus 2:13; Heb. 4:14-15.

• The Holy Spirit (God the Holy Spirit/Ghost)
  We believe that the Holy Spirit/Ghost is co-equal with the Father and Jesus. He is present in the world to make men aware of their need for Jesus Christ. He also lives in every Christian from the moment of salvation. He provides the Christian with power for living, understanding of spiritual truth, and guidance in doing what is right. He gives every believer a spiritual gift when they are saved. As Christians we seek to live under His control daily. John 16:7-13, 14:1617; Acts 1:8; 1 Corn. 2:12, 3:16; 2 Corn. 3:17; Gal. 5:25; Eph. 1:13,5:18.

The Bible

We believe that the Bible is God’s Holy Word to us. Our Owner’s Manual for life. The Bible was authored by God and written by human writers under the supernatural guidance of the Holy Spirit. It is the supreme source of truth for Christian beliefs and living. Because it is inspired by God, it is the truth without any mixture of error. Psalm 12:6, 119: 105, 160; Pro. 30:5; 2 Tim. 1:13,3:16; 2 Peter 1:20-21.

Human Beings

We believe that people are made in the spiritual image of God, to be like Him in character. People are the supreme object of God’s creation. Although every person has tremendous potential for good, all of us are marred by an attitude of disobedience toward God called sin. This attitude separates people from God and causes many problems in life. We are by nature separated from God and responsible for our own sin. Gen. 1:27; Psalm 8:3-6; Isa. 53:6, 59:1-2; Rom. 3:23.

Salvation

We believe that salvation is God’s free gift to us but we must accept it. We can never make up for our sin by self-improvement or good works. Only by trusting in Jesus Christ as God’s offer of forgiveness can anyone be saved from sin’s penalty. Only when we turn from our self-ruled life and turn to Jesus in faith are we saved. Eternal life begins the moment one receives Jesus Christ into his or her life by faith. Rom. 3:23, 6:23, 5:8, 10:9-10, 13; Eph. 2:8-9; John 14:6, 1:12; Titus 3:5; Gal. 3:26; Rom. 5:1.

Eternal Security

We believe that because God gives us eternal life through Jesus Christ, the true believer is secure in that salvation for eternity. If you have been genuinely saved, you cannot lose it! Our salvation is maintained by the grace and power of God, not by self-effort of the Christian. It is the grace keeping power of God that gives us this security not an act of works. John 10:29; 2 Tim. 1:12; Heb. 7:25, 10:10, 14; 1 Pet. 1:3-5.

Eternity

We believe that people were created to exist forever. We will either exist eternally separated from God by sin, or eternally with Him through forgiveness and salvation. Those who do not receive, by faith, the free gift of salvation from God will be forever separated from Him in a place called Hell. Those who do, by faith, receive this free gift will forever be in God’s presence in a place called Heaven. Heaven and Hell are real places of eternal existence. John 3:16, 14:17; Rom. 6:23,8:17-18; Rev. 20:15; 1 Corn. 2:7-9.

About Ordinances

We believe the Bible teaches that there are two things Jesus told us to do that would help us to remember what He did, and identify us with Him: BAPTISM: A symbolic act whereby a Christian is immersed (Covered) in water in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. Baptism is an outward testimony to an inward event in the life of an individual. LORD’S SUPPER: A symbolic act of obedience where Christians partake of bread and juice (Fruit of the vine) remembering the death of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Matt. 3:13-17; 14:22-26; Luke 3:31-22; 22:19-20; Acts 2:41-42; 16:30-33; 1 Corinthians 10:16, 21.

About Marriage

We believe that marriage is the uniting of one MAN and one WOMAN in covenant committed for a lifetime. It is God’s unique gift to reveal the union between Christ and His church and to provide for the man and the women in marriage the framework for intimate companionship, the channel of sexual expression according to biblical standards, and the means for procreation of the human race. Genesis 1:26-28; 2:15-25; 3:1-20; Deuteronomy 6:4-8; Matthew 5:31-32; 18:2-5; Ephesians 5:21-33; 2 Timothy 5:8,14; Titus 2:3-5

About Stewardship

We believe that God is the source of all blessings, temporal and spiritual; all that we have and are is because of Him. Because of our debt to God we are under obligation to serve Him with our time, talents, and with our treasures. According to the Bible, we as Christians should contribute our means regularly with a cheerful heart and a grateful attitude. Genesis 14:20; Malachi 3:8-12; Matthew 6:1-4; 19-21; 25:14-29; Luke 12:16-21; 16:1-13; Acts 2:44-47; 5:1-11; Philippians 4:10-19; 1 Peter 1:18-19

For More Information Please Visit:
The Canadian National Baptist Convention
Westcoast Baptist Association