84 Reasons Why The Doctor Told The Truth

If the Bible is historically accurate, it should match up with historical events. The best place to test whether the Bible is historically accurate is in the New Testament book of Acts.

Acts is a historians goldmine. Within its 28 chapters, Luke “provides details that only an eyewitness could provide, [which is exactly] the type of testimony we have throughout much of the New Testament” Geisler and Turek report. In the book of Acts, Luke constantly displays an amazing ability to provide knowledge of different locations, names, weather patterns, local customs, and historical circumstances that only an eyewitness would have been able to report. In the first century, there wasn’t GPS, Google Maps, or SIRI to tell you where you were, how to get home, or what was the quickest route to some desired location, rather Luke meticulously and accurately lays out his travel logs for all of us to criticize and test for authenticity.

84 Reasons Why Luke Told the Truth

In his book, The Book of Acts in the Setting of Hellenistic History, classical scholar and historian Colin Hemer chronicles Luke’s historical accuracy by going through the second half of Acts verse by verse. Hemer identifies 84 facts that have been confirmed by historians and archaeologists throughout the years.

Hemer records that Luke correctly:

1. names the natural crossings between correctly named ports (Ac. 13:4-5)

2. identifies the proper port (Perga) as the direct destination of a ship crossing from Cyprus (Ac. 13:13)

3. records the proper location of Lycaonia (Ac. 14:6)

4. documents the unusual, but correct, “declension of the name Lystra” (Ac. 14:6)

5. identifies the language spoken in Lystra – Lycaonian (Ac. 14:11)

6. reports two gods known to be so associated – Zeus and Hermes (Ac. 14:12)

7. records the proper port, Attalia, which returning travelers would use (Ac. 14:25)

8. maps out the appropriate approach to Derbe and then Lystra from the Cilician Gates (Ac. 16:1; cf. 15:41)

9. uses the proper form of the name Troas (Ac. 16:8)

10. records the place of a conspicuous sailors’ landmark, Samothrace (Ac. 16:11)

11. reports the proper description of Philippi as a Roman colony (Ac. 16:12)

12. documents the right location for the Gangites River near Philippi (Ac. 16:13)

13. associates Thyatira as a center of dyeing (Ac. 16:14)

14. used the proper designations for the magistrates of the colony (Ac. 16:22)

15. records the proper locations (Amphipolis and Apollonia) where travelers would spend successive nights on a journey (Ac. 17:1)

16. identifies that there was a synagogue in Thessalonica (Ac. 17:1)

17. uses the proper term (‘politarchs’) that were used for the magistrates in Thessalonica (Ac. 17:6)

18. implies that sea travel is the most convenient way of reaching Athens, with the favoring east winds of summer sailing (Ac. 17:14-15)

19. reports the overwhelming presence of idols in Athens (Ac. 17:16)

20. references that there was a synagogue in Athens (Ac. 17:17)

21. depicts the Athenian life of philosophical debate in the Agora (Ac. 17:17)

22. uses Athenian slang for Paul (spermologas, Ac. 17:18) as well as the court (Areios pages, Ac. 17:19)

23. characterized the Athenian people (Ac. 17:21)

24. described an altar to an ‘unknown god’ (Ac. 17:23)

25. documented the reaction of Greek philosophers that denied the bodily resurrection of Christ (Ac. 17:32)

26. titled a member of the courts – Areopagites (Ac. 17:34)

27. identifies a Corinthian synagogue (Ac. 18:4)

28. classifies Gallio as proconsul and a resident in Corinth (Ac. 18:12)

29. documented the bema (judgement seat), which overlooked Corinth’s forum (Ac. 18:16-28)

30. reports the name Tyrannus as attested from Ephesus in first-century inscriptions (Ac. 19:9)

31. records of well-known shrines and idols of Artemis (Ac. 19:24)

32. attests to the “great goddess Artemis” (Ac. 19:27)

33. identifies that the Ephesian theater was the meeting place of the city (Ac. 19:29)

34. gives the title grammateus for the chief executive magistrate in Ephesus (Ac. 19:35)

35. offers the proper title of honor neokoros, authorized by Romans (Ac. 19:35)

36. recordes the name which designated the goddess (Ac. 19:37)

37. uses the proper term for those holding court (Ac. 19:38)

38. uses the plural anthupatoi, perhaps a remarkable reference to the fact that two men were conjointly exercising the functions of proconsul at this time (Ac. 19:38)

39. records the “regular” assembly, as the precise phrase is attested elsewhere (Ac. 19:39)

40. uses the precise ethnic designation, beroiaios (Ac. 20:4)

41. implements the ethnic term Asianos (Ac. 20:4)

42. recognized the strategic importance that was assigned to the city of Troas (Ac. 20:7ff)

43. identifies the dangers of the coastal trip in this location (Ac. 20:13)

44. records the sequences of places (Ac. 20:14-15)

45. uses the appropriate name for the city as a neuter plural (Patara) (Ac. 21:1)

46. reports the appropriate routes that pass across the open sea south of Cyprus, which was favored by persistent northwest winds (Ac. 21:3)

47. determined the suitable distance between the cities (Ac. 21:8)

48. records a characteristically Jewish act of piety (Ac. 21:24)

49. comments on the Jewish law regarding Gentile use of the temple area (Ac. 21:27) – Archaeological discoveries and quotations from Josephus confirm that Gentiles could be executed for entering the temple area. One inscription reads, “Let no Gentile enter within the balustrade and enclosure surrounding the sanctuary. Whoever is caught will be personally responsible for his consequent death.“ YIKES!

50. reports of a permanent stationing of a Roman cohort (choloarch) at Antonia to suppress any disturbances at festival times (Ac. 21:31)

51. identifies the flight of steps used by the guards (Ac. 21:31, 35)

52. records the common way to obtain Roman citizenship at this time (Ac. 22:28)

53. reports of the tribune being impressed with Roman, rather than Tarsian, citizenship (Ac. 22:29)

54. identifies Ananias as being the high priest at this time (Ac. 23:2)

55. informs us that Felix was the governor at this time (Ac. 23:24)

56. reports that the natural stopping point on the way to Caesarea was Antipatris (Ac. 23:31)

57. reminds us whose jurisdiction Cilicia was in at the time (Ac. 23:34)

58. records what the provincial penal procedure was during this time (Ac. 24:1-9)

59. records the name Porcius Festus, which agrees with Josephus (Ac. 24:27)

60. reports the right of Roman citizen to appeal to Caesar (Ac. 25:11)

61. describes the correct legal formula (Ac. 25:18)

62. uses the characteristic form of reference to the emperor at the time (Ac. 25:26)

63. documents the best shipping lanes at the time (Ac. 27:5)

64. reports the common bonding between Cilicia and Pamphylia (Ac. 27:4)

65. remembers the principal port to find a ship sailing to Italy (Ac. 27:5-6)

66. tells us of the slow passage to Cnidus because they were in the face of the typical northwest wind (Ac. 27:7)

67. shows us that they took the right route to sail, in view of the winds (Ac. 27:7)

68. documents the locations of Fair Havens and the neighboring site of Lasea (Ac. 27:8)

69. reports that Fair Havens was a poorly sheltered road stead (Ac. 27:12)

70. describes a noted tendency of a south wind to change suddenly to a violent northeaster, the well-known gregale (Ac. 27:13)

71. records the nature of a square-rigged ship, having no option but to be driven before a gale (Ac. 27:15)

72. gives us the precise name and place of this island – Cauda (Ac. 27:16)

73. documents the appropriate maneuvers one would take for the safety of the ship in its particular situation (Ac. 27:16)

74. records that on the fourteenth night the sailors sensed they approaching land. This is a remarkable calculate that was based on a compounding of estimates and probabilities and was ultimately confirmed by experienced Mediterranean navigators (Ac. 27:27)

75. uses the proper term for the Adriatic Sea, that was used during that time (Ac. 27:27)

76. uses the precise term, bolisantes, for taking soundings and records the correct depth of the water near Malta (Ac. 27:28)

77. records a position that suits the probable line of approach for a ship released to run before an easterly wind (Ac. 27:39)

78. reports the severe liability on guards who permitted a prisoner to escape (Ac. 27:42)

79. describes the local people and superstitions during that time (Ac. 28:4-6)

80. uses the proper title for the chief official of the island, protos tes nesou (Ac. 28:7)

81. documented that Rhegium was a refugee location for those awaiting a southerly wind that would carry them through the strait (Ac. 28:13)

82. records Apii Forum and Tres Tabernae as correctly placed stopping places for people traveling the Appian Way (Ac. 28:15)

83. reports the appropriate means that Roman soldiers used for those in custody (Ac. 28:16)

84. documents the conditions of Paul’s imprisonment (Ac. 28:30-31)

Luke told the truth.

The list above showcases 84 historically confirmed facts that Luke records in the last half of the book of Acts. This overwhelming amount of historically verified facts must lead us to the only logical conclusion: Luke was telling the truth. This list shows us that we can trust the book of Acts and base our lives off it.

Doctor Luke was not recording legendary or mythological tales about how the early church began, expanded, and gained momentum throughout the known world. Instead, he recorded verifiable facts that have been confirmed by historians and archaeologists time and again. One archaeologist and classical scholar, William M. Ramsay, began his own investigation of the book of Acts with great skepticism, but ultimately he changed his mind because of the historical discoveries he was finding, based off of the book of Acts. Ramsay said that,

Miracles in Acts

In addition to the 84 historically confirmed details in the book of Acts. Luke also records a total of 35 different miracles. For example, Luke attributes the following miracles to his main subject, the Apostle Paul:

• Acts 13:11 – Paul miraculously blinds a man.

• Acts 14:8-10 – Paul heals a cripple man due to his faith.

• Acts 16:18 – Paul exercises a women with an evil spirit.

• Acts 19:11-20 – Other people tried to do the same miracles that Paul did, but the evil spirits overpowered them.

• Acts 20:9-10 – Paul raises Eutychus from the dead after falling out of a window.

• Acts 28:8-9 – Paul heals the father of Publius and then the rest of the island.

None of the 35 miracle accounts recorded in Acts, including the six mentioned above, have any sign of legendary or mythological elements, embellishments, or extravagances that a skeptical person would naturally claim when miraculous accounts are told within the Scriptures. Instead, every miracle that Luke records is told with the same level-headed, detail oriented efficiency that describes the rest of the historical narrative. Since Luke has been tested and proven reliable on 84 different points of accountability, we must conclude that the 35 miraculous accounts are reliable as well.

Why would Luke so painstakingly provide trivial details such as wind directions, water depths, shipping lanes, and peculiar town names, but not be accurate when it come to important events like miracles? He wouldn’t. In fact, “It is nothing but pure anti-supernatural bias to say that Luke is not telling the truth about the miracles he records.” (Geisler, 260) Luke, as a historian, has been proven to be trustworthy on so many different accounts that it actually takes more faith to not believe in the miracles and events he records than it does to believe in them. Simply stated, the doctor told the truth.

Sources

The Book of Acts in the Setting of Hellenistic History by Colin J. Hemer. I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist by Norman L. Geisler and Frank Turek.

Further Study

The Popular Handbook of Archaeology and the Bible: Discoveries That Confirm the Reliability of Scripture by Joseph Holden & Norman Geisler

Eisenbrauns – is a website that “[specializes] in the ancient Near East and Biblical studies since 1975”