I realize that in order to believe in the Bible you must have a certain amount of faith.  But the Bible has also been proven to be accurate on many occasions.  This document has been written for all the people who don't believe in the Bible and think that it is all a bunch of "Myths and Stories".  In this document I will discuss some of the things that have been discovered that validate the Bible and prove once and for all that the Bible is not full of "Myths and Stories" but it is a accurate and historical book.

Is there any confirmation of Biblical events from written sources outside the Bible?

• One of the most documented Biblical event is the world-wide  flood described in Genesis 6-9.  There have been documents found from several cultures which describe a massive flood.  The Sumerian King List, found in modern day Iraq, lists 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.  The Bible tells us that men lived as old as 930 years old (Gen. 5:5).  The 11th tablet of the Gilgamesh Epic speaks of an ark, animals taken on to 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.  Other cultures tells of tests for immortality involving food, similar to the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.
• Sumerian tablets record the confusion of language as we have in the Biblical account of the Tower of Babel (Gen. 11:1-9).  The Babylonians had a similar account in which gods destroyed a temple tower and "scattered them abroad and made strange their speech."
• Campaign into Israel by Pharaoh Shishak (1 Kings 14:25-26), recorded on the walls of the Temple of Amun in Thebes, Egypt.
• Fall of Samaria (2 Kings 17:3-6, 24; 18:9-11) to Sargon II, king of Assyria, as recorded on his palace walls.
• Defeat of Ashdod by Sargon II (Isaiah 20:1), as recorded on his palace walls.
• Fall of Nineveh as predicted by the prophets Nahum and Zephaniah, recorded on the tablet of Nabopolasar.
• Fall of Jerusalem to Nebuchadnessar, king of Babylon (2 Kings 24:10-14), as recorded on the Babylonian Chronicles.
• Fall of Babylon to the Medes and Persians (Daniel 5:30-31), as recorded on the Cyrus Cylinder.
• Freeing of Captives in Babylon by Cyrus the Great (Ezra 1:1-4; 6:3-4), as recorded on the Cyrus Cylinder.
• The existence of Jesus as recorded by Josephus, Suetonius, Thallus, Pliny the Younger, the Talmud, and Lucian.
• Forcing Jews to leave Rome during the reign of Claudius (A.D. 41-54)(Acts 18:2), as recorded by Suetonius.

How reliable is the Bible?

Over the years many people have questioned the Bible for its historical reliability.  These critics have taken the position that the Bible cannot be trusted unless we have corroborating evidence from other sources.  This standard is far different when analyzing ancient documents without a religious element and are considered to be accurate, unless there is evidence to show that they are not.  The Bible has remained unchanged for thousands of years and archaeology has demonstrated accuracy of the Bible since the mid 1800's.  Here are some examples.

• The discovery of the Ebla archive in northern Syria on the 1970s has shown the Biblical writings concerning the Patriarchs to be valid.  Documents written on clay tablets from around 2300 B.C. demonstrate that personal and place names in the Patriarchal accounts are genuine.
• The Hittites were once thought to be a Biblical legend, until their capitol and records were discovered at Bogazkoy, Turkey.
• Many thought the Biblical references to Solomon's wealth were greatly exaggerated.  Recovered records from the past show that wealth in antiquity was concentrated with the king and Solomon's prosperity was entirely feasible.
• 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 Khorsabad, Iraq.
• 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.  Tablets were found showing that Belshazzar was Nabonidus's Son who served as coregent in Babylon.

If you still do not accept the Bible as God's perfect word then there is no denying the great philosophies that are contained within the Bible.  If you read the Bible just for philosophical reasons there is no doubt that it will change your life.