Amazing Evidence

The historicity of the Old Testament can be gauged by the accuracy of textual transmission, confirmation of hard evidence by archaeology, and documentary evidence through archaeology.

An amazing evidence of the accuracy of textual transmission is found in the discovery of scripture in the caves of Qumran. Copies of the book of Isaiah, 1,000 years older than the extant Masoretic scrolls from A.D. 916 were found in the Dead Sea Scrolls. These Qumran copies proved to be 95% the same as the newer copies. The 5% difference was only in obvious pen slips and spelling variations that did not affect the message whatsoever (McDowell, TNE, 78).

Archaeology has never disproved the Bible; on the contrary, many times it has revealed the Bible to be accurate despite contemporary belief. The fire and brimstone described as the demise of Sodom and Gomorrah is archaeologically evident in the geographical area of those infamous cities. It is believed that bitumen, ignited by bituminous pitch by the burning of an oil basin beneath the Dead Sea, hurled down upon those cities. Layers of sedimentary rock have been permanently molded together as a verifiable archaeological testament to the event (McDowell, TNE, 94, 95).

The Bible is accurate and absolutely contains verifiable evidence of its truth.

McDowell, Josh. The New Evidence that Demands a Verdict. Nashville: Thomas Nelson

Publishers, 1999