Historical evidence is very reliable. Nobody can prove or disprove what happened in the ancient past, all we can do is examine the evidence. In order to do that, we must consider these two factors:

1. Any proof of historical accounts is based on the evidence that exists regarding that account.
2. The evidence comes only from ancient documents, manuscripts and physical remains. The whole history of mankind we know today comes from documentary evidence.

One disadvantage is, however, the fact that the original manuscripts don’t exist anymore. So, how do we know that what we know today is based on real facts? Well, in school I remember learning about Julius Caesar, Plato, Homer and his Iliad. Is there any doubt today that these historical figures actually did live? Their existence and accounts come from the documents and manuscripts. However, let’s consider the evidence. First of all, none of the original manuscripts regarding these figures exist anymore. And we must also consider the time lapse between the manuscripts we do have and the time the actual accounts took palace.

-The earliest manuscripts regarding the existence and life of Julius Caesar are dated 1000 years after he lived. And there are only a total of 10 manuscripts in existence.

-The earliest manuscripts regarding the existence and life of Plato are dated 1300 years after Plato lived. And we have 7 manuscripts to support it.

-The earliest manuscripts regarding the existence and life of Homer are dated 500 years after Homer lived. And there are 643 manuscripts in existence.

-The earliest manuscripts regarding the New Testament of the Bible alone are dated only 35 years after the last Book, the Book of Revelation was written, And there are 5300 Greek manuscripts in existence.

Furthermore, the manuscripts of the Death Sea Scrolls contain fragments of almost every book of the Old Testament. They are dated around 150 B.C. only about 200 years after the last event of the Old Testament took place.

There is no other book in the world that has so many manuscripts to support the accounts and events that took place, like the Bible.

When all the manuscripts available are put together and compared with the Bible that we have today, we get over 99.5% of what we consider as original manuscripts.

The Bible is a book that actually contains 66 books in one. They were written over a period of 1500 years by 40 different authors. They lived in 3 different continents (Europe, Africa and Asia). The writing are in 3 different languages (Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic) and cover many controversial topics. Yet, they all wrote on one common theme and said the same thing.

What are the odds of getting even 10 people from the same city, same culture, same educational level, speaking the same language, apart from each othr, never talking to each other and write one book alone regarding one topic, say, the meaning of life, and that their final book would be totally in agreement with each other? ZERO.

As a final note: Dr. Nelson Glueck, the greatest modern authority on Israeli archeology said, “no archeological discovery has ever controverted a biblical reference… archeology continues to confirm a clear outline or in exact detail historical statements in the Bible.”