Many Convincing Proofs

In winning atheists and doubters to Christ, we must be willing to use apologetics to help them believe. Jesus appeared to
Thomas and helped him overcome his doubts (John 20:24-31). The demon-possessed boy’s father exclaimed in Mark 9:24, “I
do believe, help me overcome my unbelief.” In Acts 17:2-3, Paul reasoned for 3 weeks with the Thessalonians, proving from
the Old Testament Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ. In Acts 26:25 he told King Agrippa that his message was “true and
reasonable.” The book of Acts begins with Luke’s assertion that Jesus “gave many convincing proofs that he was alive” (Acts
1:3). Below are 7 simple studies that can help bring someone to faith in Jesus (studies 4-6 are all on science and the Bible. The
scientific studies are particularly complex, but they are rewarding for people with a scientific background. Even if you don’t
understand all the concepts, you can read them to someone, or photocopy them and let them consider and research these points
themselves. For further research on this topics, consult the excellent web site (www.ceecgod.org).

1. Christian living.
2. Prophecy.
3. The Resurrection.
4. The Wisdom of Men.
5. Science in the Bible and Evolution, the Fossil Record
6. Evolution, the Cell, and Irreducible Complexity
7. Archaeology.

STUDY 1: CHRISTIAN LIVING

The simplest way to get someone to believe is to expose them to the message of Christ. When they hear it, they are amazed.
When they live it out, they see it is true. When they see others with faith, they are inspired to believe.

1. Read the Bible and You Will Believe.

Ro 10:17 We get faith when we hear the message of Christ.
Jn 20:24-31 Thomas wanted proof. Jesus had him touch his hands and feet and probe the wound in his side. Though we
cannot do this, the miracles written in the Scriptures are recorded so that we may believe and follow Jesus!
Lk 24:13-32 They had hoped Jesus was special. But his death disappointed them. He rebuked them for not believing
prophecy. They noted that their hearts had been burning within them (v.32) while he opened the Scriptures to them. In the
same way, our faith grows when someone studies the Bible with us!

2. Choose to Obey and You Will Believe.

Jn 7:16-17 If we choose to do God’s will, we will know whether or not the Bible is from God.
Jn 8:31-32 If we hold to the teachings then we will know the truth and be set free from sin.
Mt 28:16-20 Some doubted. Jesus solution was to give them the great commission! He got them sharing their faith, and so
their faith was strengthened. Try it—you will like it!

3. Fellowship With Believers and You Will Believe.

Phm :6 When we are active in talking about our faith with others (non-believers, and in fellowship with other believers), we
get a full understanding of our blessings in Christ.
2 Co 3:1-3 Paul did not need a letter of recommendation; the Christians at Corinth were living testimony to the power of his
ministry and message.
Jn 13:34-35 Our love shows the world that we are from Jesus.
Jn 17:20-23 Our total unity shows the world that Jesus came from God!
Ac 8:26-31 Philip asked the eunuch if he understood what he was reading; the eunuch said he needed someone to explain it!

4. Pray and You Will Believe.

Ac 10:30-31 God heard Cornelius prayers and sent an angel!
1 Ki 8:41-43 Solomon asked God to answer even the foreigners’ prayers, to give them faith in God.
Example: seeing Fred Scott healed of bone cancer in 1985; seeing young Joseph Kanu healed of meningitis in 1996; etc.
When we see God answer our prayers, we know that there is a God.
STUDY 2: PROPHECY

When the early Christians preached, and when they studied with people, it was prophecy that they would emphasize. In Ac
8, Philip explained to the eunuch about Jesus from the Isa 53 prophecy. Again in places like Ac 17:3 and 28:23, Paul used
the Scriptures to show that the Messiah had to be like Jesus, who suffered. Let's look at a few powerful OT prophecies
about Jesus and the kingdom that can build our faith.

Mic 4:1-3. In the last days, God will establish his kingdom from Jerusalem, and it will impact the whole world.
Mic 5:2. A ruler of Israel, whose origins are of old, will come from Bethlehem.

Jer 31:31-34. God is planning a new covenant with people, where they can have a personal relationship with him.

Da 2:36-45. Nebuchadnezzar had a dream. Four kingdoms—Babylon, Medo-Persian, Greek, and Roman. During the last
kingdom, God's eternal kingdom will be set up (vv.44-45).
Da 7:13-14. One “like a son of man” (Jesus called himself this—Lk 18:8). Led into God's presence; given all authority;
worshipped by all; everlasting dominion; every nation worshipped him!

Isa 7:14. The virgin will have a child, called, "God with us."
Isa 9:1-2. God will honor Galilee of the Gentiles with a great light (all the apostles were from Galilee—Ac 2:7).

OPTIONAL (if there is time):

Isa 11:1-5. A righteous man will come from the line of Jesse.
Isa 42:1-4. God will put his Spirit on his servant, who'll never give up till he establishes justice on earth.

Isa 52:13-53:12. The most famous prophecy, written 700 years before Jesus, confirmed by the Dead Sea Scrolls. Highlights:
 52:14 Disfigured appearance.
 52:15 Impact on kings.
 53:2 Not a worldly success.
 53:3 Rejected by men.
 53:4 Carried sorrows and sicknesses; considered cursed by God.
 53:5 Pierced and crushed for our sins, so we could be healed.
 53:6 God laid on him the sin of ALL. We are all sinners.
 53:7 Silent when attacked.
 53:8 Unfairly taken away and killed.
 53:9 Assigned to die with wicked (thieves), with rich in death (buried in Joseph of Arimathea's tomb).
 53:10 All this was God's plan, yet he will see his offspring.
 53:11 After his suffering, he'll see light, and many will be justified from sin.
 53:12 God will exalt him with the great—he bore the sin of many. He prayed for the transgressors (like the thieves on
their crosses).

Zec 3:8-9. Joshua (Jesus) was symbolic of the future, when God would remove the sin of the land in a single day.
Zec 12:10-11,13:1-2. God will pour out a spirit of grace; people will look on the one they have pierced and weep (Lk 23:27
—
weeping women). That day a fountain of forgiveness will be opened!

Ps 22:1,6-18,22-24,30-31. Another famous prophecy, which Jesus referred to on the cross (Mt 27:45-46), written 1000
years before his life!
 vv.6-8 Insulted and mocked by the crowd—"He trusts in God."
 vv.12-13 Surrounded by angry people.
 vv.14-15 Failing heart, exhausted, thirsty and dying—crucifixion had not even been invented when this was written!
 vv.16-18 Bones distended; gambling for his clothing.
 vv.22-24 This same guy praises God in the congregation! God saved the suffering one.
 vv.30-31 Future generations will hear about the Lord and proclaim his righteousness.

Ps 31:5. "Into your hands I commit my spirit." Jesus said this as he died (Lk 23:46).
Ps 69:19-21. Gall and vinegar for his thirst (Mt 27:48,Jn 19:28-29).

Joel 2:28-32. God will pour out his spirit on all people. They'll prophecy. All who call on God will be saved (Ac 2).

There are other prophecies as well. But these are enough. Remember, Jesus was arrested and condemned by his enemies.
Ac 13:27. “Yet in condemning and killing him they fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every sabbath.” He could
not have arranged for his life and death to fulfill all these prophecies. God did it. What do you think ?
STUDY 3: THE RESURRECTION

Today we will look at logical evidence why Christianity is true. For this study, we will not assume the Bible is the word of
God. Rather, we will accept it as a historical book written 20-60 years after Jesus' death. Over 40,000 early manuscripts of
the New Testament exist, and these point to the dates 50-95 A.D. for its writing. Also, historical verses like Luke 3:1 and
others have been archeologically confirmed. It could be that the Bible is a lie, or a legend, but we know it was written
within the lifetime of Jesus.

1. The Basis of Christianity: the Resurrection. 1 Co 15:12-19. Q: What does it say here about the resurrection? [Without
it, our faith is useless, we are still in sin, our preaching is useless, etc.] C: Without the resurrection, Christianity falls. It is
not a philosophy, but a historical religion.

2. The Prediction: Lord, Liar, or Lunatic? Jn 2:18-22. C: Here Jesus clearly predicts after 3 days his resurrection. But
they thought he was talking about the physical temple.

Mt 26:59-61. C: Here at the trial, they refer mistakenly to this "3-day" prediction. This was a public event Matthew couldn't
lie about. Clearly, Jesus' prediction of resurrection was well known (Mt 16:21).
Mt 27:61-66. C: Jesus' prediction was so well known they had to guard the tomb, a historical fact. Mary saw where he was
buried (v.61). The tomb had a big stone in front of it. Thus Jesus was not a Gandhi. He was the Lord, or a liar/lunatic. He
was not simply a "good" teacher.

3. His Death. Jn 19:31-34. C: Jesus was tortured in many ways on the cross. Some German scholars suggested in the 19 th
century that he did not die. Historically, no one has ever survived a biblical crucifixion. Also, we can see here the soldiers
checked to see if Jesus was dead and even poked him with a spear to make sure. These were professional killers, they should
know. And the blood and water (v.34) is medical evidence that the pericardium (sac around heart) had filled with water after
Jesus' heart had ruptured. So he was dead.

4. The Empty Tomb. Mt 28:11-15. Q: What did the Jews and Christians agree on? [Jesus' body was missing from the
tomb.] C: Either the disciples stole it, or someone other than the disciples stole it.

Mt 26:56, 69-75. C: The disciples were afraid when he was arrested—they ran away. Also note how Peter denied him.

5. The Stolen Body. C: Perhaps someone other than the disciples stole it, and the disciples out of wishful thinking
hallucinated. Then we can trust their writings as honest, but naive.

Lk 24:36-43. C: Hallucinations don't eat fish. This was no hallucination. If the body was stolen, it had to be the disciples.
Q: Why do people lie? [To get out of trouble, make money, get good reputation, etc.] C: People do not lie to bring trouble
on themselves. Let's look at these "body-stealers."

Ac 4:3, 12-13. C: The fearful Peter is now saying there is just one way to God (v.12) to the people who have arrested him!
He and John are noted for their courage (v.13), in spite of being ordinary. Something has changed these men.

C: Let's look at the writings of Paul, a man not involved in the original "conspiracy" to steal the body. He was a persecutor
of the church till he saw Jesus (Ac 9, Ac 22, Ac 26) on the road to Damascus.

1 Co 4:8-13. C: This is the lifestyle of the apostles: hunger, pain, and hardship. John died in exile on the island of Patmos
after being tortured. All the others died martyrs' deaths, in poverty, after preaching Christ for a lifetime. Q: Do people live
and die, in poverty and suffering, preaching love, all for a lie? Wouldn't they give up the lie once it cost them?

1 Co 15:3-8. C: Of first importance: Jesus died for our sins. Suppose I hit you and then bought you an ice cream. Would
we be even? [NO.] In the same way, good deeds cannot pay for our sins. We can't slap God with our immorality and then
buy him ice cream by helping a poor person. We need a saviour (v.3).

C: There were many witnesses to the resurrection. Once even 500 people saw it (v.6). Why would Paul lie about this? It
would be easier just to say that only a small group privately saw Jesus. By saying 500 had seen him, Paul opens himself up
to challenge. He said this because it is true!

CONCLUSION: The evidence is overwhelming. The followers of Jesus lived and died not for a philosophy (like those in
Kashmir or Punjab), but for a historical fact. They did not die for a lie. This is the truth.

Q: What will you do about it? Live like a disciple, from now on!
STUDY 4: THE WISDOM OF MEN Page 1 of 2

1 Co 1:18-31. This passage challenges the attitude of intellectuals. Intelligence and education are not what life is all about.
Indeed, later in the book Paul writes, “knowledge puffs up, but love builds up” (1 Co 8:1). God chose foolish, uneducated,
unschooled, ordinary things (Ac 4:12-13) to shame the wise, so that his power might be evident. This study on “The
Wisdom of Men” is for the philosophers, those who have worldly ideal systems. It is not for every atheist, but some might
find it helpful and convicting.

1. Famous Last Words. Many intelligent people have propounded atheism for much of their lives. Yet their dying words
reveal much about truth in this world.

Cesare Borgia, the statesman, said, “During the course of my life I have made provision for everything, but I forgot about
death. Now I must die completely unprepared.”

Sir Thomas Scott, former president of the British House of Lords, said his last words to his doctor, “Until this moment I
thought there was neither God nor hell. Now I know both are a reality.”

Voltaire, the famous cynic, had a terrible end. His nurse said, “For all the money in Europe I would not want to relive that
evening. He cried for forgiveness the whole night.

David Hume, the atheist, desperately shouted his last words, “I am in the flames!”

King Charles IX, said as he died, “My soul, my soul, what will become of you?”

Jaroslawski, former president of the International Atheist Movement was heard to say to his children, “Please burn all my
writings. Behold, the Holy One! He has been waiting for me a long time. He is now here!”

Sir Winston Churchill whispered, “What a fool I have been.”

Jagoda, former secretary of the Russian Secret Police, cried “There is a God. He’s going to punish me for all my
wrongdoing.”

Lenin died in mental derangement, imploring chairs and tables for forgiveness.

Jesus said, “It is finished…into your hands I commit my spirit.”

2. Bible-Believing Scientists.

There have been a number of very famous scientists who were believers in the Bible. These men founded key scientific
disciplines, yet knew there was a God behind their work. Louis Pasteur’s work was the beginning of bacteriology and
modern food processing. Sir Isaac Newton initiated calculus and dynamics. Johannes Kepler founded the study of celestial
mechanics, including the orbits of the planets in the solar system. James Clerk Maxwell founded electrodynamics, and
Michael Faraday worked on electromagnetics. Robert Boyle’s work is the foundation of modern gas dynamics theories, and
Gregor Mendel was a pioneer in genetics. Some of the most intelligent, innovative scientists of modern history believed
there was a God!

3. The Truth About Intellectuals.

Some of the world’s most influential intellectuals and leaders have been atheists. Let’s examine their lives and backgrounds
and see where their ideas lead.

A. Charles Darwin. He wrote “The Origin of Species” in 1859 while not an atheist.
 History of insanity in his own family, authoritarian father.
 Ran away, suffered from depression.
 Semi-invalid for the latter part of his life.
By 1871, when he wrote “The Descent of Man,” he was anti-Christian. He was very influential as he popularised evolution
by explaining a mechanism for it (random mutation and natural selection). His basic idea was right—one species gives rise
to another.
STUDY 4: THE WISDOM OF MEN Page 2 of 2

B. Joseph Stalin.
 Father was drunkard, who beat wife and him. Knifed to death when Joseph was 9.
 He was scarred by smallpox, just 5’4” tall. He had deformity in arms and toes.
 His mother sent him to seminary, but he became an avid believer in Darwinism.
 He said, “Mercy and patience are weak and stupid.”
 He was a totalitarian who brutally executed at least 20 million people.

C. Frederich Nietzsche.
 Talked about the concept of the “superman.” Was vehemently anti-Christian. Believed “God is dead,” and with him,
morality.
 Dad died when he was 4; mum was a priest.
 He became a homosexual, contracted syphilis, went mad.
 A woman hater—“Thou goest to woman—don’t forget your whip.” His motto, “Be hard and live dangerously.”
 Believed there is no good or evil, since there is no God. Predicted 20 th century would be the bloodiest in mankind’s
history.
 In “Antichrist” he wrote, “I call Christianity the one great curse, the one enormous and innermost perversion, the one
great instinct of revenge, for which no means are too venomous, too underhand, too underground, and too petty.”

D. Adolf Hitler.
 A Jew-hater, he wanted intellectual backing for his ideas and found them in Nietzsche.
 He considered Africans to be half-apes.
 Useful equation: DARWIN + NIETZSCHE = NAZI
 Hitler took Nietzsche’s logic to its legitimate conclusion. He said, “I freed Germany from the stupid and degrading
fallacies of conscince and morality…we will train young people before whom the world will tremble. I want young
people capable of violence—imperious, relentless, and cruel.”
 In Mein Kampf, he combined this with Darwinian theory, saying, “If nature does not wish that weaker individuals
should mate with stronger, she wishes even less that a superior race (like the Germanic race) should intermingle with an
inferior (like the Jewish race). Why? Because, in such a case her efforts, throughout hundreds and thousands of years,
to establish an evolutionary higher stage of being, may thus be rendered futile.”
 The Auschwitz concentration camp in southern Poland was part of his legacy. There his commandant Rudolph Hoess
oversaw the execution of 12,000 people a day. One room contains 14,000 pounds of women’s hair taken from bodies
leaving the gas chambers, used to make sacks.

E. Sigmund Freud.
 “Father of psychoanalysis.”
 He hated his father; as a young boy saw his mother naked, became fascinated with incest and competition with his
father.
 He had a recurring dream of having sex with his mother, murdering his father. Assumed all society has this desire.
 Smoked 20 cigars/day at age 79. Was a drug addict and severely depressed.

F. Jean-Jaques Rousseau.
 Spontaneity—if it feels right, do it! “Whatever I feel to be right is right. Whatever I feel to be wrong is wrong.”
 Get back to naure; narcissist; masochist; exhibitionist.
 Abandoned all 5 of his kids to institutions, where they died. Believed the state should educate kids.

G. Shelley (American poet).

 Believed in utopia, no private property.
 Believed in wife-swapping; though he wouldn’t swap his. Drove her to suicide, abandoned his 7 kids.
 Defaulted on his loans, was convicted of forgery.

H. Karl Marx.
 Believed in no private property—communism.
 Was racist, believed in volence and terrorism if necessary.
 His personal finances were a mess; he was hot-tempered and a drunkard, hated his father.
 Millions have died in his name.

Col 2:8. The lives of these men are one reason we listen to this verse—we do not want to be led astray by the hollow and
empty philosophy of this world, but by the rich and perfect truth of Jesus.
STUDY 5: SCIENCE IN THE BIBLE & EVOLUTION, THE FOSSIL RECORD Page 1 of 2

Note: studies 5 & 6 borrow freely from the Science & Religion appendix of Douglas Jacoby’s “The God Who Dares.”
They also quote frequently from Michael Denton’s “Evolution: a Theory in Crisis,” and Michael Behe’s “Darwin’s
Black Box.” These are excellent books on evolutionary issues.

1. Science in the Bible.

The Bible is not written as a science book, but rather from a phenomenological point of view. The Bible describes physical
phenomena as they appear, not as they are. For example, it speaks of the sun rising, yet we know scientifically that it is the
earth’s rotation around the sun that makes it look like the sun is rising. But from man’s viewpoint, the sun rises, and so the
Bible records it that way. The Bible’s goal is not to teach science; it is to impart spiritual truth, and so it must be read with
this principle in mind.

Nonetheless, when the Bible does touch on scientific phenomena, it is strikingly accurate. In Amos 5:8 and Job 36:27, the
water cycle of evaporation and precipitation is accurately described. In Genesis through Deuteronomy, many medical
principles are embedded in the hygienic laws for the Israelites—principles which have only been understood in the last few
hundred years! For example, circumcision (Ge 17:10), reduces penile cancer, and the blood clotting factor is strongest on the
8th day (Ge 17:12). Leviticus 13 talks about quarantining diseased persons, a practise only popularised in the 17 th century
A.D. Genetic principles were at work in Jacob’s experiment with Laban’s livestock in Ge 30:37-43. The book of Genesis
contains other scientific assumptions that have been agreed by modern scholars. For example:

 Definite beginning. Until the 1960s, many scientists believed the universe had always existed. Astronomers’ work has
shown that it all started in a “big bang” at a definite point in time, just as Genesis asserts.
 Original conditions on earth unsuitable for life. God had to create the right conditions—which we see in Genesis.
 Orderly progression of creation. God started small & simple and worked his way up from there.
 The “seed” of women. Ge 3:15 speaks of this. Yet ancient peoples did not believe women had seeds, rather that they
provided a moist environment for man’s seed to grow. About 100 years ago it was proven that women indeed produce eggs
(seeds).
 Accurate ark dimensions. The physical dimensions of the ark in the Bible meet modern oceangoing specifications! The
other ancient flood accounts do not describe seaworthy vessels.

The Bible’s accuracy on scientific matters is in sharp contrast with books like the Qur’an, which states that the sun and stars
revolve around the earth (21:33). Pieces of the sky fall, with deadly effect, in 34:9 and 52:44. Shooting stars protect
galaxies from evil spirits (15:18).

Obviously, the miracles in the Bible violate “scientific” laws as we understand them. That is why they are miracles! But a
closed scientific system that disallows any event that cannot be explained by its own laws is an incomplete system. For
example, Newtonian physics explains much for large objects and slow speeds, but it breaks down at high speeds and small
sizes, as quantum mechanics and relativity start to come into effect. To assume that the designer of our system of laws, God,
cannot work around these laws is arrogant, and it goes against the grain of scientific history. Scientific discoveries have
always rendered past understanding of the world obsolete, and so yesterday’s “miracle” is today’s technology (satellites,
airplanes, telephones, motion pictures, for example).

One difficult Old Testament teaching that seems to go against modern science is the incredible longevity of people before the
flood (Ge 1-5), where lifespans reached nearly a millenium in some cases! Yet it is arguable that the conditions on earth for
long life were ideal at that time, with disease virtually unknown, and a perfect world in a non-decayed state. It is very
possible that man’s sin and stress affected his genetic make-up, and hence his longevity, and that the flood introduced huge
ecological changes that greatly reduced man’s lifespan. Modern medical advances are uncovering many of the secrets of
life; perhaps in a few hundred years “biblical” lifespans will again come into vogue, and people will no longer doubt the
Scriptures records on this point.
STUDY 5: SCIENCE IN THE BIBLE + EVOLUTION, THE FOSSIL RECORD Page 2 of 2

2. Evolution: the Fossil Record.

Charles Darwin popularised the theory of evolution by proposing a mechanism for it—that nature chooses superior mutated
species to survive in greater numbers over others, and eventually they swamp the gene pool, and a new, modified species
emerges over time. While there is much evidence that organisms adapt to their environment and change over time, there is
virtually no evidence that single-celled creatures evolved by natural selection into the complex forms of life we see today.
Indeed, in a summary of the debate of Darwin, D.J. Tice (Ambassador magazine, 8/1996) observed, “The fossil record does
not show constant, gradual change in organisms; it shows species that stay almost exactly the same throughout their
existence, often through millions of years, and it shows radical new features and forms—the egg, feathers, the mammalian
eye, fishy, whales and dolphins, insects, flowering plants, and many more—appearing suddenly, and fully formed, with
precious few if any “transitional forms” to suggest the kind of slow, constant development that Darwinism predicts.”

Another amazing discovery that illustrates the flaws of Darwinian evolution was the 1938 discovery in the Indian Ocean of a
modern day coelacanth. This creature had been thought to have been extinct for a hundred million years. Yet compared
with 100-million year-old coelacanth fossils, the creature was identical. No evolution, no improvement, in spite of 100
million years of survival! The coelacanth also was interesting because some evolutionists had theorised, from the fossils,
that it was a “missing link” between fish and amphibians. Yet the internal organs of the living coelacanth were totally like
those of fish, showing that one of the few supposed “missing links” that had been discovered was no missing link at all
(Denton, Evolution: a Theory in Crisis, pp. 179-180).

In the same book (p.158), Michael Denton observed, “In the decades immediately following the publication of The Origin of
Species, it was widely believed that eventually the missing links would be found and the theory of evolution confirmed.
Hence the search for them became something of an obsession; word of new fossil discoveries was greeted with considerable
excitement.”

This desire for fossil confirmation of Darwin’s theories ultimately resulted in the famous Piltdown hoax. The “Piltdown”
hoax illustrates how much faith is really involved in modern evolutionary theory and techniques. Around 1912-13 a British
paleontologist allegedly found “the missing link,” a skull of what came to be known as “Piltdown man.” This link provided
fossil “proof” of a chain leading from apes to men. More than 500 books and doctoral theses were written about this subject,
until 1953, when it was proven that it was all an elaborate hoax. The jaw of an orangutan and the skull of a modern man had
been stained and filed to appear old, and planted in a pit for convenient discovery! If 500 intelligent books and papers could
be written about a bogus skull, we need to wonder how strong are the foundations of evolutionary science.

Not only was Piltdown false, but Denton summarises the state of fossil research to this day: “The discoveries in the Burgess
Shale and in the Ediacaran Hills are only two examples of what has been the universal experience of paleontology…while
the rocks have continually yield new and exciting and even bizarre forms of life…what they have never yielded is any of
Darwin’s myriads of transitional forms. Despite the tremendous increase in geological activity in every corner of the globe
and despite the discovery of many strange and hitherto unknown forms, the infinitude of connecting links has still not been
discovered and the fossil record is about as discontinuous as it was when Darwin was writing the Origin…members of each
major group appear abruptly, unlinked to other groups by transitional or intermediate forms. Already at their first
appearance, although often more generalised than later representatives, they are well differentiated and already characteristic
of their respective classes. The virtual complete absence of intermediate and ancestral forms from the fossil record is today
recognised by many leading paleontologists as one of its most striking characteristics.” (Denton, pp. 162, 164, 165).

The lack of fossil evidence strikes at the heart of Darwinism, and is strong testimony to the existence of God. We believe
that it is God who created all matter and life, and that he intervenes at various times, in various ways, to create new species
with a sudden burst of activity. The complex organs and processes that we see in life all around us could only have
developed with a large number of simultaneous, beneficial changes happening to a more primitive organism all at the same
time. For example, reptiles seem to be descended from amphibians, yet the amniotic egg, present in reptiles, would require 8
unique simultaneous innovations, perfectly calibrated, if it were to have come from amphibian equivalents (Denton, pp. 218-
219).

Conclusion: The Bible is not a science book. Yet its teachings are scientifically accurate. Amazingly, proponents of
Darwinism ignore scientific evidence in propounding their theory. Evolution is not evidence of a random, chaotic universe
with no God. The fossil record does not support random mutation and natural selection as the method of evolution, but rather
the biblical concept of unique, created species. Study #6 treats these scientific issues in even greater depth.
STUDY 6: EVOLUTION, THE CELL, and IRREDUCIBLE COMPLEXITY Page 1 of 4

1. Evolution and Irreducible Complexity.

Nature is full of complex machinery that is irreducibly complex in its design. This is strong evidence of the existence of
God, and of the inadequacy of Darwin’s theories. Indeed, in The Origin of Species, Darwin said, “If it could be
demonstrated that any complex organ existed which could not possibly have been formed by numerous, successive, slight
modifications, my theory would absolutely break down.” An irreducibly complex system is one in which the altering of any
of the components of the system would render the system useless and non-functional. An irreducibly complex system, like a
mousetrap, could not arise by the gradual change of each of its components, because earlier systems would have been non-
functional, and hence eliminated by natural selection under Darwin’s theory. An irreducibly complex system could only
exist if every component was simultaneously designed and changed to work together with every other component. The
probability of simultaneous beneficial mutations of a variety of components, all working together, is extremely small if the
mutations are random. Of course, if a designer (God) caused the mutations, all together at the same time, a new, functional
biological machine could exist.

In Darwin’s Black Box, Michael Behe studies irreducibly complex systems. He says (p. 73), “In summary, as biochemists
have begun to examine apparently simple structures like cilia and flagella, they have discovered staggering complexity, with
dozens or even hundreds of precisely tailored parts…As the number of required parts increases, the difficulty of gradually
putting the system together skyrockets, and the likelihood of indirect scenarios plummets. Darwin looks more and more
forlorn. New research on the roles of the auxiliary proteins cannot simplify the irreducibly complex system. The
intransigence of the problem cannot be alleviated; it will only get worse. Darwinian theory has given no explanation for the
cilium or flagellum. The overwhelming complexity of the swimming systems push us to think it may never give an
explanation.”

Blood clotting is another extraordinarily complex system in mammals, one in which a variety of enzymes and proteins
interact to coagulate blood when an animal (or human) is cut. There are more than 20 specially-designed proteins that
sequentially interact in the blood-clotting process. If any one of these proteins is removed from the sequence, clotting will
not work. For example, if the blood clotted when there was no cut, animals would die from massive inappropriate clotting.
Or once the bleeding is stopped, if the animal’s blood kept on clotting (coagulating), eventually it would have no blood left.
Each of these functions is turned on and off by enzymes that are specially designed to work with one another. The chance of
even a portion of this extraordinarily complex biological system developing through random mutations would take 100s of
billions of years according to probability theory, considerably longer than the universe has been known to exist!

Similarly, vesicular transport of materials within the cell is an amazing process, as is the activity of antibodies in the blood.
The human eye and kidney are amazingly complex machines. If any component of these machines is gradually altered, they
will no longer work. Their complexity, and the way all the parts work together, mean that these organs could not possibly
have evolved through random mutations and natural selection. Only intelligent, coordinated, non-random, beneficial
mutations could have produced these structures. The fossil record confirms this—intermediate species and structures are
simply non-existent. New species, with new organs and systems, appear suddenly. This sudden appearance squares well
with the intervention of God in the creative process. Just as in Israel’s history God periodically actively intervened (though
he was always working behind the scenes, as he is today!), so in creation God has periodically intervened to create new
species, which ultimately culminated in man, his greatest creation.

The basic design of bacterial cells is also strong evidence for an intelligent designer, God. Even the most primitive bacterial
cells are exquisitely complicated. As Denton notes (p. 250, 264), “Molecular biology has shown that even the simplest of all
living systems on earth today, bacterial cells, are exceedingly complex objects. Although the tiniest bacterial cells are
incredibly small, weighing less than 10 -12 grams, each is in effect a veritable micro-miniaturised factory containing thousands
of exquisitely designed pieces of intricate molecular machinery, made up altogether of one hundred thousand million atoms,
far more complicated than any machine built by man and absolutely without parallel in the non-living world. Molecular
biology has also shown that the basic design of the cell system is essentially the same in all living systems on earth from
bacteria to mammals. In all organisms the roles of DNA, mRNA and protein are identical. The meaning of the genetic code
is also virtually identical in all cells. The size, structure and component design of the protein synthetic machinery is
practically the same in all cells. In terms of their basic biochemical design, therefore no living system can be thought of as
being primitive or ancestral with respect to any other system, nor is there the slightest empirical hint of any evolutionary
sequence among all the incredibly diverse cells on earth…The complexity of the simplest known type of cell is so great that
it is impossible to accept that such an object could have been thrown together by some kind of freakish, vastly improbable
event. Such an occurrence would be indistinguishable from a miracle.”

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STUDY 6: EVOLUTION, THE CELL, and IRREDUCIBLE COMPLEXITY Page 2 of 4

Proponents of evolution without God sometimes compare it to technological developments. A letter in Nature observed,
“The brief history of aircraft technology is filled with branching processes, phylogeny and extinctions that are a striking
counterpart of three billion years of biological evolution.” Yet Denton observed, “The analogy is false. At no stage during
the history of the aviation industry was the design of any flying machine achieved by chance, but only by the most rigorous
applications of all the rules which govern function in the field of aerodynamics. It is true…that ‘wide bodied jets evolved
from small contraptions made in bicycle shops, or in junkyards,’ but they did not evolve by chance.” Jets were intelligently
designed, with the designers using earlier inventions as a beginning point for their creative activity.

2. The Amazing Single Cell.

The sheer complexity of a single cell, when closely examined, is powerful evidence of an immensely intelligent, creative,
and wise designer—our God. Denton (pp.328-329) takes us into this fascinating world,

“Perhaps in no other area of modern biology is the challenge posed by the extreme complexity and ingenuity of biological
adaptations more apparent than in the fascinating new molecular world of the cell. Viewed down a light microscope at a
magnification of some several hundred times, such as would have been possible in Darwin’s time, a living cell is a relatively
disappointing spectacle appearing only as an ever-changing and apparently disordered pattern of blobs and particles which,
under the influence of unseen turbulent forces, are continually tossed haphazardly in all directions. To grasp the reality of
life as it has been revealed by molecular biology, we must magnify a cell a thousand million times until it is twenty
kilometres in diameter and resembles a giant airship large enough to cover a great city like London or New York
[Independence Day!]. What we would then see would be an object of unparalleled complexity and adaptive design. On the
surface of the cell we would see millions of openings, like the port holes of a vast space ship, opening and closing to allow a
continual stream of materials to flow in and out. If we were to enter one of these openings we would find ourselves in a
world of supreme technology and bewildering complexity. We would see endless highly organised corridors and conduits
branching in every direction away from the nucleus and others to assembly plants and processing units. The nucleus itself
would be a vast spherical chamber more than a kilometre in diameter, resembling a geodesic dome inside of which we could
see, all neatly stacked together in ordered arrays, the miles of coiled chains of DNA molecules. A huge range of products
and raw materials would shuttle along all the various assembly plants in the outer regions of the cell.

We would wonder at the level of control implicit in the movement of so many objects down so many seemingly endless
conduits, all in perfect unison. We would see all around us, in every direction we looked, all sorts of robot-like machines.
We would notice that the simplest of the functional components of the cell, the protein molecules, were astonishingly
complex pieces of molecular machinery, each one consisting of about three thousand atoms arranged in a highly organised 3-
D spatial conformation. We would wonder ever more as we watched the strangely purposeful activities of these weird
molecular machines, particularly when we realised that, despite all our accumulated knowledge of physics and chemistry, the
task of designing one such molecular machine—that is one single functional protein molecule—would be completely beyond
our capacity at present and will probably not be achieved until at least the beginning of the next century. Yet the life of the
cell depends on the integrated activities of thousands, certainly tens, and probably hundreds of thousands of different protein
molecules.

We would see that nearly every feature of our own advanced machines had it analogue in the cell: artificial languages and
their decoding systems, memory banks for information storage and retrieval, elegant control systems regulating the
automated assembly of parts and components, error fail-safe and proof-reading devices utilised for quality control, assembly
processes involving the principle of prefabrication and modular construction. In fact, so deep would be the feeling of deja-
vu, so persuasive the analogy, that much of the terminology we would use to describe this fascinating molecular reality
would be borrowed from the world of late 20 th-century technology.

What we would be witnessing would be an object resembling an immense automated factory, a factory larger than a city and
carrying out almost as many unique functions as all the manufacturing activities of man on earth. However, it would be a
factory which would have one capacity not equaled in any of our own most advanced machines, for it would be capable of
replicating its entire structure within a matter of a few hours. To witness such an act at a magnification of one thousand
million times would be an awe-inspiring spectacle.”
STUDY 6: EVOLUTION, THE CELL, and IRREDUCIBLE COMPLEXITY Page 3 of 4

3. The Anthropic Principle.

Not only is life amazingly complex, but the design of our universe is amazingly balanced to allow the complex molecules
that form life to exist. Carbon, for example, is vital to life. As noted on the internet
(www.airtime.co.uk/users/station/physlaws.htm), “Carbon nuclei begin to be formed in the cores of stars towards the ends of
their lifetimes when all the hydrogen fuel there has been burnt into helium-4. A carbon-12 nucleus is made from the near-
simultaneous collision of three of these helium-4 nuclei. Actually, what happens is that two helium-4 nuclei merge to make
beryllium-8, but beryllium-8 is so unstable that it lasts only 10 -17 of a second, and so a third alpha particle (which is what a
helium nucleus is) must collide and fuse with the beryllium nucleus within that time. Not only is this triple encounter a
relatively unlikely event, but any such unstable beryllium nuclei ought to be smashed apart in the process. Therefore, it
should be expected that carbon itself (and consequently all heavier elements) would be rare in the universe…However, the
efficiencies of nuclear reactions vary as a function of energy, and at certain critical levels a reaction rate can increase sharply
—this is called resonance. It just so happens that there is a resonance in the three-helium reaction at the precise thermal
energy corresponding to the core of a star. And, as a result, carbon is abundant in the universe after all. If the excited state
of carbon-12 necessary for this resonance to work had been just 5% less energetic, then the reaction would not occur, and
there would be no carbon, no heavier elements, and no life.”

A similar precision is required with many other natural phenomena for life to exist. The strong force, for example, would
have to vary only 20% or so for nucleosynthesis in stars to produce only hydrogen. The difference in mass between a proton
and neutron is 1/1833 the mass of a proton. A slight deviation in this number could have led to a radically different number
of neutrons in the universe, again with the result that life would not appear. The amazing coincidences in the physical world
that lead to life being possible are known as the “anthropic principle.” In discussing this, Steven Hawking, eminent
Cambridge physicist, has said, “The odds against a universe like ours emerging out of something like the Big Bang are
enormous. I think there are clearly religious implications whenever you start to discuss the origins of the universe.” ( A
Quest For a Theory of Everything, Steven Hawking, p. 93.)

God's kind provision for us is evident in so many things we take for granted. The earth is just the right distance from the sun
—too close, and we'd burn, too far, and we'd freeze. Animals breathe out carbon dioxide, which is absorbed by plants and
trees, which give out oxygen, which animals can breathe! Mothers have breast milk as long as kids need it, so even a poor
child has a chance at good health. If we get injured, our bodies "know" how to heal themselves—blood clots, wounds heal,
bones re-grow. The universe exists on a knife’s edge; life exists on a knife’s edge. God has arranged for things to work out
perfectly so that life can exist and be sustained and develop, and one day seek a relationship with its creator.

4. Symbiosis and Intelligent Adaptation.

Nature is full of amazing symbiotic relationships. There are ants that live in trees, nourished by them and protecting them
from predators. Lichens are formed by an alliance between algae and fungi. There are anemones who live on crabs, sharing
the crab's food, and stinging potential predators. There are birds that live alongside large mammals like the hippopotamus,
eating the insects and parasites on their skin. It is amazing the way many flowers rely heavily on bees and other insects, who
eat their nectar and spread their pollen allowing them to reproduce. Micro-organisms live in the guts of goats and help them
digest their food. The universe around us is not some incredible cosmic accident; rather, it reflects the creativity and kindness
of our incredibly loving maker.

As we look at examples of symbiosis, we can see how things work together, which is evidence of an intelligent adaptive
capability built into living creatures. Living creatures are able to make intentional, beneficial changes in their structure that
allow them to take advantage of other creatures in their local environment. The rapidity with which these adaptive changes
occur, as well as the incredible stability that we observe in other existing species, are powerful evidence of a designer which
gave creatures this adaptive ability, rather than a continual random process of mutation and natural selection. Consider one
species of yucca plant. It is pollinated by a small beetle, which uses specially modified mandibles to bore a hole in the yucca
flower, where it lays its eggs. The beetle carries those mandibles for its whole life, but uses them only for one purpose, one
that benefits both species. The beetle gets an ideal home and food for its young and the yucca gets pollinated.

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STUDY 6: EVOLUTION, THE CELL, and IRREDUCIBLE COMPLEXITY Page 4 of 4

Parasites have an extraordinary life cycle. Denton observes (p.221), “The life history of some parasites, which are in
themselves astonishing enough, often involve what amounts to a number of metamorphoses. Consider the life cycle of the
liver fluke. The adult lives in the intestine of a sheep. The eggs hatch, giving rise to small ciliated larvae which can swim
about in water. If the larvae are lucky they find a pond snail: they must do this to survive, for the snail is the vehicle for the
next stage in the life cycle of the liver fluke. Having found a snail, the larvae finds its way into the pulmonary chamber or
lung. Here it loses its cilia and its size increases. At this stage it is known as a sporocyst. While in this condition it buds off
germinal cells into its body cavity which develop into a second type of larvae known as rediae. These are oval in shape,
possessing a mouth and stomach and a pair of protuberances which they use to move about. The rediae eventually leave the
sporocyst, entering the tissue of the snail, after which they develop into yet another larval form known as cercaiae which
appear superficially to resemble a tadpole. Using their long tail these tadpole-like larvae work their way through and
eventually out of the snail and onto blades of grass, where each larva sheds its tail and encases itself in a sheath. Eventually
they are eaten by a sheep. Inside the sheep they find their way to the liver where they develop sexual organs and mature into
the adult state. They finally leave the sheep’s liver and migrate to the intestine where they mate and so complete their
extraordinary life cycle…In the case of many of the more dramatic invertebrate metamorphoses not even the vaguest attempts
have been made to provide hypothetical scenarios explaining how such an astonishing sequence of transformations could have
come about gradually as a result of a succession of small beneficial mutations. As leading parasitologist Asa Chandler
admitted: ‘It would be difficult, if not impossible, to explain, step by step, the details of the process of evolution by which
some of the highly specialised parasites reached their present condition.’”

These amazing symbiotic and parasitic relationships we see in nature are again evidence of an extremely sophisticated design
and adaptation mechanism pre-built into life. How did creatures get this adaptivity? God.

Conclusion: Nature is phenomenally complicated and infinitely fascinating. Physical and chemical systems tend to decay
and chaos under normal conditions. Yet the living world is beautifully and elegantly ordered. We believe God is the one who
did it. He is not far from us, and he wants us to seek him. What do you think?
STUDY 7: ARCHAEOLOGY Page 1 of 4

2 Pt 1:16. Peter knew the difference between stories and reality when he spoke about Jesus. The Bible is not a story-book,
but a historical account of spiritual events.
Lk 1:1-5. Luke was a physician. His account in the book of Acts (which he also wrote) is well-regarded as a history of that
period. The Greek used in this first passage of Luke is also widely admired for its eloquent beauty, reflecting the education
of its author. Why am I saying all this? To show that Luke is an intelligent, thinking man whose writing about Jesus can be
trusted.

“Eyewitnesses,” “carefully investigated,” “orderly account,” and “certainly” all reflect the fact that Jesus Christ's life is not a
legend or an exaggerated fairy tale. He is a fact of history: Either Jesus' story is TRUE or FALSE. Jesus' life was set in a
historical setting. The TIME: King Herod's reign. The PLACE: Judea. The PEOPLE: Zechariah & Elizabeth (even their
genealogies are given!).

Luke 2:1-7. The birth of Christ: again, a historical setting. The TIME: Caesar Augustus' reign, time of world-wide census.
Quirinius is governor of Syria. The PLACE: Nazareth, Galilee, Bethlehem (all these towns still exist today).

Luke 3:1-2. The beginning of John’s preaching is tied to local politicians! It is not a legend. All the local rulers were
mentioned—this could only have been written by someone who knew the details, not someone constructing or embellishing a
legend, decades after the fact.

The Bible is a historical book. We’ll never be able to prove the events it speaks about, but there have been many details
discovered by archaeology that prove the Bible is not a legend or a lie. In general, if someone is a liar, they’ll lie about
many things. And so if we uncover historical lies or inaccuracies in the Bible, it undermines the credibility of the miracle
stories. Conversely, if the historical and other details turn out to be accurate, the veracity of the miracle accounts should not
be doubted! Below is an exciting list of archaeological discoveries (mostly from the last 200 years). Many of these can be
found in the archaeology supplement to the Thompson Chain Reference Bible. Others are documented in books like The
Stones Cry Out, by Randall Price, 1997. Biblical Archaeology Review is a skeptical, popular archaeology journal that
also documents many discoveries. The British Library on Euston Road contains a copy of two of the three oldest complete
New Testaments, Sinaiticus and Alexandrinus (Vaticanus, the 3 rd, is in Rome). The British Museum in Russell Square also
has a section on the West Wing of Biblical Archaeology of the Near East, including many famous discoveries described
below. New archaeological discoveries are occurring every year, further strengthening our faith in Christ. Below are 40
powerful archaeological testimonies:

1. The approximately Tell-el Amarna tablets of the foreign office of Pharaohs Amenhotep III-IV of 1413-1358 BC were
written in Babylonian cuneiform, though they were found in Egypt and originated in many countries. This shows there
was a common way of communicating in all these lands, and so people like Abraham (circa 2000-1800 BC) and Moses
(circa 1500-1300 BC) could communicate with different people as they traveled. These tablets mention the “Habiru”
people in letters written to the Pharoah from Canaanite cities like Gezer.

2. Philistine cities like Ashkelon, referred to in the Bible, have been found.

3. In Athens, Mars hill and the Areopagus (Ac 17), where Paul preached, have been found. No remains of an altar
inscription “to an unknown God” were found in Athens, but an identical inscription was found outside of Rome.

4. Cities like Bethany (Mary & Martha’s town), Bethsaida (Philip, Andrew and Peter’s original home town), and
Capernaum have been found. The synagogue where Jesus preached in Luke 4 was uncovered there. Also in Capernaum
they found an early octagonal church, built over a still earlier structure with 2 nd and 3rd-century Christian graffiti on the
walls. The Christians around the 4 th century (320 AD) started building octagonal churches over geographic sites that
were significant in the New Testament. It is likely that the structure under the church was the extended 1 st century house
of Peter’s family in Capernaum!

5. Near Bethlehem can be found Rachel’s tomb, on the road.

6. In Beth Shemesh (a Levitical Old Testament city), a jar handle was found that was inscribed, “belonging to Eliakim,
servant of Jehoiachin.”

7. At Calah, near the Tigris river, a black obelisk set up by Shalmaneser III of Assyria was found, where he spoke of his
conquests and said, “At that time I received the tribute of the inhabitants of Tyre, Sidean, and of Jehu, son of Omri…The
tribute of Jehu, son of Omri: I received from him silver, gold, a golden bowl, a golden vase with pointed bottom, golden
goblets, pictures of gold, bars of lead, staffs for the hand of the king and javelins, I received.” In this obelisk Jehu is
shown kneeling in front of Shalmaneser.
STUDY 7: ARCHAEOLOGY Page 2 of 4

8. At Corinth a limestone block was found saying “Erastus, the commissioner of the city, had paved this plaza at this own
expense.” Paul referred to him in Ro 16:23.

9. In Damascus, a temple has been found, likely to be the temple of Rimmon referred to in 2 Ki 5:17-18, and the one Ahaz
saw in 2 Ki 16:10-13.

10. In 1947 at Qumran, north of the Dead Sea, in Israel, caves were explored in which 1000s of fragments of old scrolls were
found. These scrolls had been hidden there, probably by a Jewish Essene community, around 67 A.D. They included
every Old Testament book except for Esther, as well as many other documents. What is significant about these
documents is that they were composed between the third and 1 st century B.C., and their text is almost identical to the
earliest Masoretic Hebrew texts, dating to the 10 th century A.D. For a long time scholars had questioned whether
Christians had altered the Hebrew Bible, so that the prophecies appeared to predict Christ. Yet these Dead Sea Scrolls,
from before the time of Jesus, clearly show Isaiah 53, Psalm 22, and other prophecies were written well before Jesus
came.

11. At Dibon, once the capital of Mesha, king of Moab, the Moabite stone was found. This stone tells of his rebellion
against the land of Israel (2 Ki 3 speaks of Mesha and the Moabite rebellion, and even contains miracles).

12. At Ebla, which in ancient times was between Egypt and Assyria, over 17,000 tablets were found, the administrative
library of a great civilisation dating to around 2250 B.C. These tablets mention business dealings with the cities of the
plain of Gen 14:2 in order: Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Bela=Zoar. So even the story of Sodom and
Gomorrah has historically provable roots! These tablets also contain the laws of Ebla, including judiciary proceedings—
many of which are similar to the Deuteronomic law (Deut. 22:22-30). The culture and economic prosperity described by
the tablets matches exactly the biblical descriptions of life in the part of the world during patriarchal times (Abraham-
Jacob).

13. In Ephesus they have found the temple of Artemis of the Ephesians, and a theatre that could seat 24,000 people, where
the riot in Ac 19:23-41 must have occurred!

14. Tombs were found outside Jerusalem with the remains of the early Christian community. A coin was found in the tomb,
minted by King Agrippa in 41 A.D. In this family burial cave one Matthias was interred, with the inscription [to] “Jesus,
the Lord.” Another had the inscription, [to] “Jesus…ascended.” Both of these ossuaries had crosses on them. Another
one was found with a cross and the name Bar-saba. Of course, in Ac 1:21-22, Ac 15:22 we read of the Barsabbas family.

15. At Gibeon they’ve found a rock-cut pool, and jar handles stamped “Gibeon,” with biblical names, including “Hananiah.”
In Jer 28:1 we read of Hananiah from Gibeon, and opponent of Jeremiah. This pool is likely to be the one referred to in
2 Sa 2 where Abner and Joab’s men fought and died.

16. Jacob’s well (the same one where Jesus met the Samaritan woman) is still operating, located south of Sychar on the road
from Jerusalem.

17. The ancient city of Jericho has been excavated, and walls that fell around Joshua’s time have been discovered.

18. In Jerusalem, the stone signet of Haggai son of Shebaniah was found (a signet is referred to in Hag 2:23, though we don’t
know who was Haggai’s father according to the Bible). Also found in Jerusalem was Hezekiah’s water tunnel (2 Ki
20:20), connecting the spring of Gihon to the pool of Siloam. Further excavations have discovered a stone entitled “to
the trumpeting place” which was from the temple at the time of Jesus.

19. Khorsabad was the capital of Sargon, king of Assyria, referred to in Isa 20:1. This king had been thought to be mythical
until his palace there was excavated (British Museum). These walls recorded the fall of Samaria (2 Kings 17:3-6, 24;
18:9-11) to Sargon II, king of Assyria, and the defeat of Ashdod by Sargon II (Isaiah 20:1).

20. Lachish is a city that was mentioned in Isa 36:2, when Sennacherib, king of Assyria went from there to besiege
Jerusalem. There is ample archaeological evidence of Sennacherib’s campaign against Judah. An Assyrian prism (the
Taylor prism) recording his conquests (2 Ki 18:13-16) lists dozens of conquered cities, including Lachish, but not
including Jerusalem (which according to Isa 36-37 was miraculously spared from destruction). The ruins of Lachish
have been found, including an Assyrian siege ramp, arrowheads and stone balls used in the attack, and many other
artifacts of the final battle there. In Nineveh, the ancient palace of Sennacherib was discovered, where huge wall reliefs
depicted the entire siege against Lachish, referred to in 2 Ki 18:14, 17. What is remarkable is that with all of his power,
he was unable to conquer Jerusalem, just as the Scripture says. And the annals of Sennacherib’s son Esarhaddon
confirmed that he was assassinated by his own sons, just as it says in 2 Ki 19:37.
STUDY 7: ARCHAEOLOGY Page 3 of 4

21. At Nuzi, in modern Iraq, 20,000 tablets from the 15 th-14th centuries B.C. have been discovered. These were the records
of leading families there for 4-5 generations. Their content parallels many practises described in Genesis:
 Exchange of property—transactions concerning property were recorded and finalised at the city gate (Gen 23:10-18).
 Marriage contracts—a handmaid could be presented to the new bride (Gen 29:24,29).
 Marriage contracts—a childless wife could give her handmaid to her husband to bear him children (Ge 16:3 tells of
Hagar being given to Abraham, and Ge 30:3-6 tells of Bilhah given to Jacob).
 Adoption—childless couples could adopt an heir, like Abraham did with Eliezer of Damascus (Ge 15:2).
 Inheritance—property and leadership could pass to the daughters husband, provided he had the family’s household
gods (Ge 31:30-35, we see Rachel stealing Laban’s household gods).

22. In Samaria, several thousand pieces of ivory that had decorated palace walls and furniture have been uncovered. 1 Ki
22:39 speaks of Ahab’s ivory palace in Samaria, and Am 3:15 and 6:1,4 speak of Israel’s ivory homes and furniture.

23. Thessalonica—in Ac 17:6,8 the magistrates were called “politarchs” by Luke. Scholars hadn’t seen this term in 1 st-
century Greek literature, so they assumed Luke was wrong (or written much later). Yet they found a gate from 1 st
century Thessalonica that lists the term “politarchs” and even gives their names! This was probably the same gate Luke
and Paul saw when they were there.

24. In Galilee, under the mud of the sea of Galilee a 1 st-century boat was recently dug up, noticed when the water was at low
tide. This boat was probably sunk during the Roman attacks on Galilee around 70 A.D., and is similar to the vessels
Jesus and Peter must have used.

25. Quirinius is listed as the governor of Syria in Lk 2:2. A coin has been found dating from 11-4 B.C., placing him as the
proconsul of Syria.

26. At Caesarea, a stone has been found with Pilate’s name on it: “Pontius Pilate, prefect of Judea.”

27. Ezion Geber was a long-lost port city mentioned in the Bible (1 Ki 9:26, 10:22). Eminent archaeologist Nelson Glueck
used the Scriptures to try and pinpoint the city, and he found it during the 1950s!

28. An inscription has been found at Tel Dan, written by Hazael of Aram, saying, “I killed Jehoram son of Ahab, king of
Israel, and I killed Ahaziahu son of Jehoram, king of the House of David” (2 Ki 8:7-15, 9:6-10).

29. Many seals used by the scribes and servants of kings have been found. A 7 th-century B.C. seal is inscribed, “belonging
to Baruch, son of Neriah the scribe.” This seal even has an ancient fingerprint on it! Of course, Baruch, scribe of
Jeremiah, is mentioned at least 32 times in the Bible (Jer 36:4). Another seal belonged to “Gmaryuhu son of Shaphan,”
likely referring to Gemariah son of Shaphan (Jer 36:10). Yet another seal said, “to Jerahmeel [the] king’s son,” who is
mentioned in Jer 36:26. Finally, another was found inscribed “Seraiah son [of] Neriah,” mentioned in Jer 51:59-61.

30. At Deir Allah, an 8th-century B.C. inscription mentioning Balaam (Nu 22) was discovered in red & black ink on plaster.

31. In a Hinnom Valley tomb a silver scroll fragment was found with the priestly blessing of Nu 6:24-26 inscribed on it,
dating to the 6th-century B.C. This is the oldest surviving portion of Scripture.

32. The Stele of Merneptah—from 1230 B.C.—the Egyptian Pharaoh Merneptah talks about raids into Canaan, and
mentions Israel!

33. The most documented Biblical event is the world-wide flood described in Genesis 6-9. A number of Babylonian
documents have been discovered which describe the same flood. The Sumerian King List mentions kings who reigned
for long periods of time. Then a great flood came. Following the flood, Sumerian kings ruled for much shorter periods of
time. This is the same pattern found in the Bible. Men had long life spans before the flood and shorter life spans after the
flood. The 11th tablet of the Gilgamesh Epic speaks of an ark, animals taken on the ark, birds sent out during the course
of the flood, the ark landing on a mountain, and a sacrifice offered after the ark landed.

34. Sumerian tablets record the confusion of language mentioned in the Biblical narrative about the Tower of Babel (Genesis
11:1-9). There was a golden age when all mankind spoke the same language. Speech was then confused by the god Enki,
lord of wisdom. The Babylonians had a similar account in which the gods destroyed a temple tower and "scattered them
abroad and made strange their speech."
STUDY 7: ARCHAEOLOGY Page 4 of 4

35. Campaign into Israel by Pharaoh Shishak (1 Kings 14:25-26), recorded on the walls of the Temple of Amun in Thebes,
Egypt.

36. Fall of Nineveh as predicted by the prophets Nahum and Zephaniah (2:13-15), recorded on the Tablet of Nabopolasar.

37. Fall of Jerusalem to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon (2 Kings 24:10-14), as recorded in the Babylonian Chronicles.
Captivity of Jehoiachin, king of Judah, in Babylon (2 Kings 24:15-16), as recorded on the Babylonian Ration Records.

38. Fall of Babylon to the Medes and Persians (Daniel 5:30-31), as recorded on the Cyrus Cylinder, and the freeing of
captives in Babylon by Cyrus the Great (Ezra 1:1-4; 6:3-4), as recorded on the Cyrus Cylinder.

39. The existence of Jesus as recorded by Josephus, Suetonius, Thallus, Pliny the Younger, the Talmud, and Lucian.

40. Forcing Jews to leave Rome during the reign of Claudius (A.D. 41-54, Acts 18:2), as recorded by Suetonius.

This list of archaeological discoveries is by no means exhaustive, but it gives an idea of the kind of evidence supporting the
historicity of the Bible, and the accuracy of the Scriptures.