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The True Gospel Is Built Upon Bible Truth

January 31, 2025 BibleAuthenticity Comments 11 comments

What Is Truth?

Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). The true gospel is built upon Bible truth, “just as truth is in Jesus.” (Ephesians 4:21 NASB). It is not built upon “a different gospel” (Galatians 1:6), or “a different Jesus” (2 Corinthians 11:4 NLT).

In prayer to his Father, Jesus said, “Your word is truth” (John 17:17). Later, “Jesus” said to the Roman governor Pontius Pilate, “I was born and came into the world to testify to the truth” (John 18:36 NLT). Many today have the same cynical, skeptical attitude that Pilate had back then. “‘What is truth?’ Pilate asked” (John 18:37). Skepticism notwithstanding, the true gospel is founded upon Bible truth. read more

Seventy Weeks Prophecy of Daniel — Jesus and History

September 9, 2024 BibleAuthenticity Comments 6 comments

Is the Bible reliable? — Is the Seventy Weeks prophecy of Daniel accurate?

When, and By Whom, Was the Gospel of John Written?

August 9, 2024 BibleAuthenticity Comments 11 comments

John and the Synoptic Gospels (Differences)

Today, critics often assert that the Gospel of John was written in the 100’s CE, not by the apostle John, but by someone, or even multiple writers, who weren’t even born until long after Jesus’ death. These critics, of course, deny the inspiration by God’s holy Spirit (2 Timothy 3:16), “as they do also the rest of the scriptures” (2 Peter 3:16 NKJV). Although the Gospel of John was written anonymously, it is important for us to know when, and by whom, was the gospel of John written, if possible. Every extant manuscript that includes the beginning of the book names John as the writer. Was this “John” someone other than the apostle John? This article investigates and analyzes the facts.

JOHN WAS LITERATE

Critics have claimed that John was an illiterate fisherman. However, this claim is unsupported by any facts. When Jesus “called” John and his brother James to follow him full time, “they . . . were in a boat mending their nets. So they left their father Zebedee in the boat in the boat along with the hired men and followed Jesus” (Mark 1:19,20 NAB). John was involved with his father’s fishing business on the Sea of Galilee, which was lucrative enough to have “hired men”. The Galilee area was an international crossroads, with Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek being spoken, and it is likely that John was fluent in these languages. He likely had business dealings with various people who spoke these languages. read more

Who Wrote the Book of Zechariah, and When?

June 11, 2024 BibleAuthenticity Comments 6 comments

Who wrote the book of Zechariah? And When was it written? Before the sixteenth century, the writership of the book of Zechariah was unanimously believed to have been written by “the prophet Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo,” beginning “in the eighth month, in the second year of Darius” king of Persia, in 520 BCE (Zechariah 1:1 ESV).

Theories of Different Writers

So, who wrote the book of Zechariah? And when was it written? Let’s look at some of the viewpoints about this. read more

Gallio Inscription & the Bema Confirm Historical Accuracy of Acts

May 11, 2024 BibleAuthenticity Comments 0 Comment

The historical accuracy of Acts has been questioned, and asserted to be inaccurate. Many discoveries have confirmed the historical accuracy of Acts, two of which are the Gallio Inscription and the Bema in ancient Corinth.

“Paul stayed in Corinth for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God. While Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews of Corinth made a united attack on Paul and brought him to the place of judgment”—Acts 18:11-12 NIV

The Gallio Inscription, consists of nine fragments found near the Temple of Apollo in Delphi, Greece, in 1908, mentions “Lucius Junius Gallio, my friend, and the proconsul of Achaia.” It is a copy of a letter from Roman Emperor Claudius and indicates that Gallio was the proconsul of Achaia at the time. The inscription further states that Claudius was confirmed Emperor for the 26th time, which dates it to late April/early May of the year 52 CE. read more

Did an Eclipse Cause Three Hour Darkness at Jesus’ Execution?

April 6, 2024 BibleAuthenticity Comments 1 comment

Did a Total Eclipse cause the three hour darkness at Jesus’ execution?

There was a mysterious three hour darkness during the time when Jesus was being executed. What caused this three hour darkness?

“It was now about noon and darkness came over the land until three in the afternoon because of an eclipse of the sun”—Luke 23:44,45 NAB

The way the New American Bible (NAB) renders it,as above, one would think that the cause of the three hour midday total darkness was “an eclipse of the sun.” If the possibility of the supernatural is excluded, an eclipse would naturally be the only possibility. Could this have been an actual eclipse? Let’s examine the gospels very carefully regarding this d event: read more

Do Gospels Contradict About the Earthquake & the Stone Moved?

March 16, 2024 BibleAuthenticity Comments 34 comments

Is there any evidence for the resurrection? — Do the gospels contradict about when the earthquake occurred and the stone was moved at the resurrection of Jesus?

Critics claim that the gospels Matthew, Mark, Luke and John contradict about the time when the earthquake occurred and the stone was moved at the time of Jesus’ resurrection.

“I am struck by a certain consistency among otherwise independent witnesses in placing Mary Magdalene both at the cross and at the tomb on the third day. If this is not a historical datum but something that a Christian storyteller made up and then passed along to others, how is it that this specific bit of information has found its way into accounts that otherwise did not make use of one another? . . . all of our early gospels–not just John and Mark (with Matthew and Luke as well) but also the Gospel of Peter, which appears to be independent of all of them–indicate that it was Mary Magdalen who discovered Jesus’ empty tomb. How did all of these independent accounts happen to name exactly the same person in this role? It seems hard to believe that this just happened by way of a fluke of storytelling. It seems much more likely that, at least with the traditions involving the empty tomb, we are dealing with something actually rooted in history”—Peter, Paul, and Mary Magdalene, p 226, by Bart Ehrman read more

When, and by Whom, Was the Book of Isaiah Written?

February 19, 2024 BibleAuthenticity Comments 2 comments

When was the book of Isaiah written?

“The vision which Isaiah, son of Amos, saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah”—Isaiah 1:1 NAB

Until about the last 250 years, the book of Isaiah was generally accepted by Christians as being written entirely by the prophet Isaiah in the latter part of the 8th century BCE. Nowadays, however, many “scholars” think the book was written by various writers over the course of several centuries, citing factors such as differences in subject matter, style, theology, vocabulary, and the viewpoint that predictive prophesy is impossible. The real reason for this is, however, that they don’t think predictive prophecy is possible. While there are a variety of views about the writership of Isaiah, critics often claim that chapters 40-66 were not written by “Isaiah, son of Amos.” However, careful examination of the book reveals that chapters 36-39 are a historical interlude that concludes the first section of the book, chapters 1-35, and introduces the last section, chapters 40-66. This reveals the unity of the entire book. read more

Advantages of Using Multiple Bible Translations

December 13, 2023 BibleAuthenticity Comments 1 comment

NT canon — Greek manuscript of the New Testament. Is using multiple Bible translations better than knowing Biblical Greek?

Does a person need to know Biblical Greek to understand the New Testament, or is using multiple Bible translations, just as good, or better?

“Get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding”—Proverbs 4:7 NIV

THE ISSUE

“By studying Biblical Greek, you can gain a deeper understanding of the original text and the cultural context in which it was written”—Quora, February 6, 2023

Some Bible teachers and preachers are big on the idea that knowing Biblical Hebrew and Greek (Koine’) is important, even vital, in getting the best understanding of the Bible. While this may have a lot to do with their ego, we must grant that some are very sincere in holding and promoting this belief. It is certainly fine for anyone who has the inclination, the time, the resources, and the opportunity, to do so, that is, to learn Biblical Hebrew and Greek. read more

IS THE BOOK OF JONAH HISTORY OR FICTION?

November 27, 2023 BibleAuthenticity Comments 2 comments

How does the Bible picture the modern church? Critical scholars say the book of Jonah is fiction. “Now the word of Yahweh came to Jonah the son of Amittai” (Jonah 1:1 LSB). However, the book itself presents the account as historical, authentic non-fiction.

CRITICAL SCHOLARS VIEW OF JONAH

Many Protestant and Catholic scholars and commentaries regard the book of Jonah as fiction.

“A light satire, with no prentions to being historical . . . This fictional form is unique in the prophetic tradition”—Catholic commentary on Jonah read more