Trial of the Century

1
Trial of the Century

Ossuary - James the brother of Jesus
Source - Biblical Archeological Review
2
Weighing the Evidence

• Ancient Writings Copies From Original
  Agreement
• Aristotle Poetics 5 1,400 yrs ---
• Homer's Illiad 643 500 yrs 95
• Plato 7 1,200 yrs ---
• New Testament 24,000 50 yrs 99.8

3
Weighing the Evidence

• Internal Evidence - relation of the writer to
  the account eye-witness
• External Evidence - historical events in the
  text people, places, etc.
• Evidence "in spite of itself" - not
  flattering but true statements or events

4
Weighing the Evidence

• Secular Historian Accounts
• Thallus (52AD)
• Cornelius Tactitus (115 AD)
• Pliny the Younger (112 AD)
• Roman Emperor Trajan (112 AD)
• Talmud (70-200 AD)
• Josephus (37-97 AD)
• Source - Evidence that Demands a Verdict - J.
  McDowell

5
Weighing the Evidence

• What Does This Have to Do With Our
  Faith?
• 1) Look at the evidence outside of the Bible
• - Acts 1728 Romans 120-21
• 2) It is another piece to the puzzle
• 3) It is a beginning point for outsiders
• 4) It leads us to the Word - 1 Peter 315