[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"\u002Farticles\u002Fjust-the-facts":3,"\u002Farticles\u002Fjust-the-facts-surround":81},{"id":4,"title":5,"author":6,"bibleBooks":8,"body":10,"columnName":64,"date":65,"description":16,"extension":66,"image":67,"meta":68,"minRead":69,"navigation":70,"path":71,"postType":72,"publication":73,"publicationUrl":67,"seo":74,"stem":75,"topics":76,"__hash__":80},"blog\u002Farticles\u002Fjust-the-facts.md","Just the Facts",{"name":7},"Dave Faust",[9],"",{"type":11,"value":12,"toc":61},"minimark",[13,17,20,23,47,50,53],[14,15,16],"p",{},"The evolutionist Aldous Huxley once said, \"Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.\" Unfortunately, many people never have confronted the multitude of facts that support the truthfulness of the Bible.",[14,18,19],{},"For example, the medical doctor who wrote the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts has earned wide respect for his historical and geographical accuracy, and strong evidence supports the beloved physician’s precision time after time. According to Bible scholar Norman Geisler, altogether “Luke names 32 countries, 54 cities, and nine islands without making a single error” in geographical placement, and he uses correct titles for a wide variety of government officials, like “governor” and “tetrarch” (Luke 3:1), “politarch” or “city official” (Acts 17:6), and “protos” or “chief official” of the island (Acts 28:7).",[14,21,22],{},"A few years ago I decided to put the Bible to my own historical test. I read through the book of Acts and jotted down references to people or events that might have some corroboration outside the New Testament. Then I spent several hours in a library reference room, checking to see whether other ancient historians backed up Luke’s testimony. What I discovered strongly reinforced my conviction that the Bible is telling the truth. Here are some examples:",[24,25,26,30,38,41,44],"ol",{},[27,28,29],"li",{},"Candace, queen of the Ethiopians (Acts 8:27), is mentioned by the ancient writer Strabo, who says she was “ruler of the Ethiopians in my time—a masculine sort of woman, blind in one eye.”",[27,31,32,33,37],{},"Luke says a severe famine occurred during the reign of Emperor Claudius (Acts 11:27, 28). The Jewish historian Josephus, who lived from about A.D. 37 to 100, writes that “when Claudius was emperor of the Romans…so great a famine ",[34,35,36],"span",{},"came"," upon us.”",[27,39,40],{},"Josephus also describes Herod Agrippa’s gruesome death (Acts 12:19-23) in gory detail. The Bible says the king was struck down and eaten by worms because he accepted worship instead of giving praise to God. Josephus says the king didn’t rebuke his flatterers when they called him a god, and “a severe pain also arose in his belly, and began in a most violent manner.”",[27,42,43],{},"The Roman historical biographer Seutonius notes that the emperor Claudius expelled the Jews from Rome because they “constantly made disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus” (perhaps a reference to Jesus Christ). This fits with Acts 18:2, where Luke observes that “Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome.”",[27,45,46],{},"Acts 24:24 mentions Governor Felix and his wife, Drusilla. The Roman historian Tacitus mentions them as well and adds that Drusilla was “the granddaughter of Cleopatra and Antony.” Everyone has heard of Antony and Cleopatra, but did you realize their granddaughter is mentioned by name in the Bible?",[14,48,49],{},"In Bible lands today, you can visit archaeological sites that illustrate how the message of the Bible intertwines with historical events. Wade through Hezekiah’s tunnel, first mentioned in 2 Kings 20:20. View the more than 2,000-year-old Isaiah scroll found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, which provides important evidence for the text of this ancient book. Sit in the great theater in Ephesus mentioned in Acts 19:29. Walk through the marketplace in Corinth where members of the Corinthian church shopped, and stand on the Areopagus in Athens where Paul preached.",[14,51,52],{},"The Bible’s historical accuracy offers impressive evidence that the Book deserves our trust.",[14,54,55,56,60],{},"Editor's note: This article is adapted from ",[57,58,59],"em",{},"Taking Truth Next Door"," by David Faust (Standard Publishing, 2004).",{"title":9,"searchDepth":62,"depth":62,"links":63},2,[],"First Look","2004-09-19","md",null,{},3,true,"\u002Farticles\u002Fjust-the-facts","column","The Lookout",{"title":5,"description":16},"articles\u002Fjust-the-facts",[77,78,79],"Biblical Theology","Church Leadership","Spiritual Formation","v3Aj6Oa3w8rnHgPIRkGKjg76yFb3YDhqXeSeA8ruzQI",[82,86],{"title":83,"path":84,"stem":85,"description":83,"children":-1},"Just Like Me","\u002Farticles\u002Fjust-like-me","articles\u002Fjust-like-me",{"title":87,"path":88,"stem":89,"description":90,"children":-1},"Keep Them Together","\u002Farticles\u002Fkeep-them-together","articles\u002Fkeep-them-together","Do you \"have it all together\"? The concept of togetherness often appears in Scripture. \"All the believers were together and had everything in common\" (Acts 2:44). \"I pray that you . . . may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ\" (Ephesians 3:17, 18). \"Let us not give up meeting together\" (Hebrews 10:25)."]