External, Ancient Evidence in Support of the New Testament by Harry Stark

If you've been on social media to share the Christian good news, you've likely encountered people who claim we have little or no ancient evidence in support of the New Testament. To the contrary, we have an abundance of ancient Christian and non-Christian sources in support of Jesus' social environment, peers, life, ministry, crucifixion, resurrection, …

Geological, Astronomical, and Historical Reasons for the Date of Jesus’ Crucifixion

Can we estimate the date of Jesus’ crucifixion? Yes, we can. The ancients have left us with multiple historical, geological, and astronomical reasons to support April 3 of 33. Let’s begin with Jewish expectations. 10. In the 6th century B.C., the prophet Daniel predicted the fates of four kingdoms while he was exiled by the …

Comedy of Errors: 1988 C14 Dating of the Shroud of Turin

“It’s a well-known fact that scientists can produce whatever result they want. If you believe that passionately in something, you can steer the results. My God, we’ve all been guilty of that.” – Physicist Harry Gove, who was involved in carbon dating the Shroud of Turin in 1988 On September 22, 1988, the New York …

Bible Contradiction Refuted: Time Reckoning in the Gospels

Different versions of the English Bible refer to the time reference in varying ways. In the NIV, more specific time references are given than in other versions, which refer to the third, sixth, or ninth hours. Jewish people didn’t have watches as we do, so they divided 12-hour days into 4 “hours” or quadrants and …

When and By Whom Were the Gospels Written?

Skeptics often call into question the dating of the Gospels, making the claim that they were written by “anonymous” authors “decades” or even “centuries” after Jesus was crucified. Yet we have much evidence to discount such assertions. Anonymous authors The names of the Gospels to whom the Gospels are attributed include two apostles (Matthew and …

When and WHY Did the Sanhedrin DEMOTE Daniel the Prophet?

In the Christian Bible, Daniel is listed with the Prophets, yet in the Jewish Tanakh, Daniel is listed in the Writings (Kesuvim), not in the eight books of the Prophets (Neviim). The Jewish Tanakh is divided into three categories: the five books of Moses (Torah): Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy; the eight books of the …