The Reliability of the Book of Acts

I am so encouraged to discover with you the reliability of the information found in the book of Acts. You see, Acts is a historical book recounting the events that took place in the early formation of the Church.

It records real events, real people, real places and real political systems that were present within that culture. For those who think that the Bible is merely a bunch of folklore stories, the documented reliability of Acts goes far to dispel such a claim.

Fantasy genres of literature may have people places and events, but they are not documented. For example, the planets of Hoth or Dantoine in the Star Wars saga are made up. The town of Hobbiton in the Shire was birthed in the mind of J.R.R. Tolkien. However, the book of Acts is nothing like the aforementioned.

We know the geographical examples throughout the book are real places, they are not the result of the Authors imagination. From Jerusalem to Antioch to Lystra and Derbe and further onto Athens, these are actual places where the events took place.

Real people did real things. We have proof outside of the Bible to collaborate the accuracy that these were real people. Governor Felix is well documented to the point that we know very closely the dates that he was in power.

There is a vast amount of evidence concerning Paul being in Ephesus. In Chapter 19, Luke describes Paul being placed in front of a hostile crowd in the theater. This theater has been excavated and restored, so we know that this was a real place. The reason the people were upset with Paul was that his message was threatening to the Goddess named Artemis that they worshiped. There are physical examples of this idol to authenticate the story.

Accurate political systems are mentioned in the book as well. For example, we see the Areopagus mentioned in Athens were Paul confronts the Epicureans with the gospel by explaining that this is the unknown God that they held as part of their worldview. These philosophies and institutions are well documented in the history of Greek culture.

So, when you look at the big picture of collaboration, it helps to confirm the accuracy of the Bible. I am so glad that the New Testament early church documentation does not start out with a statement something like…” A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.

For further study on this topic, check out this video.

Digging for Truth: The top ten discoveries for the Apostle Paul