{"product":{"product_id":"1401676707","title":"Evidence That Demands a Verdict: Life-Changing Truth for a Skeptical World","price":"28.49","image_url":"https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41JJfLBmt3L._SL500_.jpg","url":"https://www.amazon.com/dp/1401676707"},"comments":[{"body":"\u0026gt; For a good counter argument, read https://www.amazon.com/Evidence-That-Demands-Verdict-Life-Changing/dp/1401676707\r\n\u0026gt; \r\n\u0026gt; EDIT. I'm not surprised you are all downvoting me, and now I've got an \"lol\" mocking.\r\n\u0026gt; \r\n\u0026gt; At any rate, I have a large collection of theological book, written by scholars, doctors, and even half-crazy people.\r\n\u0026gt; \r\n\u0026gt; If you do not read the other side, you do not understand where they are coming from.\r\n\u0026gt; \r\n\u0026gt; Futher, studying theology is like studying a language, doubles twice as well if you can speak both....\r\n\u0026gt; \r\n\u0026gt; Those are not all my theology books, my books aren't really that organized by topic.\r\n\u0026gt; \r\n\u0026gt; EDIT AGAIN: One final thought -- I had a middle school English teacher tell me a couple things that really resounded with me. One of which was that everyone should have a library. Most people in the modern world that do this keep them digitally, which is awesome. I grew up in the age where that didn't exist. We had books. I have lots of books. Many of them are books that are totally against what I think/believe/accept/like. I read them anyways, because I'd rather not be ignorant debating for or against something I feel strongly about.\r\n\u0026gt; \r\n\u0026gt; And again, if you'd like to be stimulated by a thoughtful counter argument, grab the book I mentioned and read it; there is a reason it has sold millions of copies, you can probably find it at an estate sale for a quarter, and its not because early indoctrination, it's because thought process takes more than a reddit post or a snide personality.\r\n\r\nGood god the  \"I KNOW WHAT IM TALKING ABOUT, SEE, I POSTED PICTURES OF BOOOKS\" argument.  \r\n\r\nOh and you are an idiot to boot... just saying  ","subreddit_name":"SandersForPresident","author":"PM_ME_YO_BUNGHOLE"},{"body":"\u0026gt;I'm gonna go ahead and guess you can't actually defend your assertion.\r\n\r\nYou go on ahead and assume whatever you want.  I got more important shit to do rn, and I can't waste time on yet another reddit debate today.  Convincing you of Christianity's correctness isn't exactly my top priority.  Maybe it should be, but it isn't at the moment.\r\n\r\nIf you really want to know my core reason for believing Christianity is correct, it's because of [this book](https://www.amazon.com/Evidence-That-Demands-Verdict-Life-Changing/dp/1401676707).  Read it, don't read it, I don't care.  I think it would really challenge your worldviews, but it's rather long and intensive, and I highly doubt you'll devote that kind of time to a recommendation from a stranger on Reddit.  So you see, it's really not worth getting into.","subreddit_name":"intj","author":"EagleScout20"},{"body":"There’s an entire field of study, apologetics,  dedicated to answering this question. I recommend the book “Evidence That Demands A Verdict” by Josh McDowell \r\n\r\nhttps://www.amazon.com/Evidence-That-Demands-Verdict-Life-Changing/dp/1401676707/ref=nodl_\r\n\r\nSeeing how the books of the Bible fit together with a central theme and message despite having 40 authors over several hundred years, most of whom didn’t know each other or all of the other writings was very persuasive to me.","subreddit_name":"Christianity","author":"Dan-The-Man-255"},{"body":"Not specific to your request, but this is the apologetics book that a pastor at my Lutheran high school recommended to our faculty and student body: Evidence That Demands a Verdict: Life-Changing Truth for a Skeptical World https://www.amazon.com/dp/1401676707/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_KE5VMDVD3FCF94ZBD7TY?_encoding=UTF8\u0026amp;psc=1","subreddit_name":"LCMS","author":"dawitte"},{"body":"awesome that you bothered to reply to these mate. thats great. I find it interesting that you are a ancient history fan but do not find the bible compelling. Given the proven historical accuracy of the texts i do find the supernatural claims also compelling. There are other things such as, why would the disciples knowingly die for a lie? Books such as \"evidence that demands a verdict\" might be an interesting read for you if you are into history. If you actually want to learn more about why Christianity is still compelling to those who have been exposed to many of the criticisms, this would be a good start. https://www.amazon.com.au/Evidence-That-Demands-Verdict-Life-changing/dp/1401676707","subreddit_name":"TrueChristian","author":"shiftdeleat"},{"body":"Perhaps instead of pretending to believe something you don't, you should start seriously considering whether it's actually believable, instead of relying on your upbringing (there's nothing wrong with that when you're a child, but you're not anymore). If you truly don't think Jesus of Nazareth rose from the dead, don't follow him. Better an honest atheist than a dishonest \"Christian\".\r\n\r\nBut you're still very young. Spend time researching. Start thinking seriously about this stuff. Read books, listen to podcasts, watch interviews. Give yourself plenty of time to figure things out. 16 is a great age to start determining things like this for yourself.\r\n\r\nHere are some resources to get you started:\r\n\r\n[https://bibleproject.com](https://bibleproject.com)\r\n\r\n[https://nakedbiblepodcast.com](https://nakedbiblepodcast.com)\r\n\r\n[https://www.amazon.com/Evidence-That-Demands-Verdict-Life-Changing/dp/1401676707](https://www.amazon.com/Evidence-That-Demands-Verdict-Life-Changing/dp/1401676707)\r\n\r\n[https://www.youtube.com/user/PremierUnbelievable](https://www.youtube.com/user/PremierUnbelievable)\r\n\r\n[https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/entity/author/B001H6NEG8?\\_encoding=UTF8\u0026amp;node=283155\u0026amp;offset=0\u0026amp;pageSize=12\u0026amp;searchAlias=stripbooks\u0026amp;sort=author-sidecar-rank\u0026amp;page=1\u0026amp;langFilter=default#formatSelectorHeader](https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/entity/author/B001H6NEG8?_encoding=UTF8\u0026amp;node=283155\u0026amp;offset=0\u0026amp;pageSize=12\u0026amp;searchAlias=stripbooks\u0026amp;sort=author-sidecar-rank\u0026amp;page=1\u0026amp;langFilter=default#formatSelectorHeader)","subreddit_name":"Christianity","author":"RyanTDaniels"},{"body":"I've already devoted enough time to online religious arguments.\r\n\r\nSo I'll just drop this here.  Read it or don't, I don't really care.  But logic and religion go together just fine if you spend enough time thinking about it and reading different things.\r\n\r\n[https://www.amazon.com/Evidence-That-Demands-Verdict-Life-Changing/dp/1401676707/ref=sr\\_1\\_1?keywords=evidence+that+demands+a+verdict+by+josh+mcdowell\u0026amp;qid=1661059221\u0026amp;sprefix=evodemce+that+d%2Caps%2C104\u0026amp;sr=8-1](https://www.amazon.com/Evidence-That-Demands-Verdict-Life-Changing/dp/1401676707/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=evidence+that+demands+a+verdict+by+josh+mcdowell\u0026amp;qid=1661059221\u0026amp;sprefix=evodemce+that+d%2Caps%2C104\u0026amp;sr=8-1)","subreddit_name":"entp","author":"EagleScout20"},{"body":"[https://www.amazon.com/Evidence-That-Demands-Verdict-Life-Changing/dp/1401676707/ref=sr\\_1\\_1?keywords=evidence+that+demands+a+verdict+by+josh+mcdowell\u0026amp;qid=1661059221\u0026amp;sprefix=evodemce+that+d%2Caps%2C104\u0026amp;sr=8-1](https://www.amazon.com/Evidence-That-Demands-Verdict-Life-Changing/dp/1401676707/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=evidence+that+demands+a+verdict+by+josh+mcdowell\u0026amp;qid=1661059221\u0026amp;sprefix=evodemce+that+d%2Caps%2C104\u0026amp;sr=8-1)","subreddit_name":"entp","author":"EagleScout20"},{"body":"i see. im sorry but that's as much knowledge i have. i can tell you a lot more but again, it would seem biased. i did try to give an extra-biblical source though. i suggest that you read [Evidence That Demands A Verdict](https://www.amazon.com/Evidence-That-Demands-Verdict-Life-Changing/dp/1401676707), im still currently reading it and offers a wide variety of evidence of the resurrection to the reliability of the Old Testament. it defends Christianity through extra-biblical sources, archaeology, and even talks about the nature of truth. warning though, it has about 700+ pages sooo \r\n\r\nas for free will, it's true that there are certain parts of the world that are hostile to Christianity, so the chances of them finding out about it is less likely than those who grew up in a Christian household or in a country that accepts Christianity. i've seen testimonies of people in some of these Christian-hostile countries or countries who literally have no idea about Christianity, come to know Christ because of miracles. Christians also play a big part in reaching these regions of the world of course. God can work in people just as much as He does through miracles. i can give you examples, and there are a lot of testimonies online concerning people meeting Christ in places where Christianity is not known or accepted, but you are looking for a miracle to prove God's existence— why didn't you say so? XDD\r\n\r\nwell why didn't God just put big fat letters in the sky saying, I AM GOD? why didn't He just carve the mountains or the moon and say MADE BY GOD? why didn't He put a stamp into each of our cells saying GOD EXISTS? why doesn't God no longer talk to us the way He talks to people in the Bible? why doesn't He no longer appear like He did in the Bible? \r\n\r\nassuming that God exists, did Adam and Eve obeyed and followed God fully when they were once in a close relationship with Him, literally walking with Him in the garden? did the Israelites who witnessed the parting of the Red Sea, the pillars of cloud and fire, the ten plagues, the falling of the walls of Jericho, the manna from heaven, and many more miracles followed Him and Him alone? did the Pharaoh of Egypt and the entirety of Egypt who experienced the ten plagues turned to God? did the nation of Israel realized that they had just killed their Messiah and turned back to God?\r\n\r\nsee, miracles don't equate following God. if God exists, and He does, He already appeared to so many people, some of which He had directly spoken to and performed miracles but not all of them actually followed Him. the question is, if God shows Himself to you, will you willingly offer up your life to Him? technically, He already is, the fact that you have knowledge of Christianity while others still live without knowing yet means that God has already revealed Himself to you. it's just that you are trying to look for Him in a miraculous way. if God were to directly speak to you right now, proving that He exists in your own standards, then will you follow Him?\r\n\r\nsee, there are only two outcomes once you recognize the existence of God. either you follow Him, or not. God ultimately created you and i to experience His love, it's why He went out of His way to save us. \r\n\r\nand to why God no longer talks to us or appears to us like He did in the Bible, it's cause we have the Bible. of course that's not to say that God can no longer do those things now, but because of His main objective which again is for us to experience His love. and again, even if God does not show miracles, you don't become friends with someone because they have awesome talents or because they are popular. some people become Christians because they want to experience miracles or the supernatural side of it and get disappointed and leave. \r\n\r\nso yeah... i hope you will understand. im sorry this is long again. but i really appreciate you taking the time to read all of my replies :\u0026gt; the best i can do for you in your search for the existence of God is prayer. although, like i said, He's already revealed Himself to you.","subreddit_name":"Christianity","author":"aiannin"},{"body":"Let's try to answer your questions this way:  If the bible is the word of God, then Christianity has to be the true religion (John 14:6; Acts 4:12).  Then all the other religions have to be wrong.  So what objective evidence is there for belief in the bible’s supernatural origin being rational?  Let’s also consider this kind of logic:  If the bible is reliable in what can be checked, it’s reasonable to believe in what it describes that can’t be checked.  So if the bible describes the general culture of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Canaan, Greece, and Rome accurately, then what it reports about specific individuals and their actions that aren’t recorded elsewhere would be true also.\r\n\r\nThe key point about the disciples who reported that they saw Jesus after He rose from the dead is that they died as martyrs despite they could have denied Jesus to save their lives.  That is, who dies for a lie knowing that it is a lie?  That's how apostles were different from (say) ordinary Muslim jihadists of six centuries later.\r\n\r\nAs for the subject of fulfilled prophecy, that's dealt with in detail by Josh McDowell in \"Evidence that Demands a Verdict.\"  It's a much stronger argument than you have summarized above.   https://www.amazon.com/Evidence-That-Demands-Verdict-Life-Changing/dp/1401676707\r\n\r\n\rFor many decades, various liberal higher critics have maintained the Bible is largely a collection of Hebrew myths and legends, full of historical inaccuracies. But thanks to archeological discoveries and further historical research in more recent decades, we now know this liberal viewpoint is false. Let’s consider a little of the relevant evidence:\r  \r\n\r  \r\nSome historians doubted the existence of Pontius Pilate, the Procurator of Judea who had had Jesus of Nazareth crucified (Matt. 27; John 18-19). But then, in 1961, an archeological expedition from Italy overturned a stone used as a stairway for a Roman theater in ancient Caesarea. This rock was inscribed with a Latin inscription saying (here it is in English): \"To the people of Caesarea Tiberium Pontius Pilate Prefect of Judea.\" As Michael J. Howard said in the Baltimore Sun of March 24, 1980: \"It was a fatal blow to the doubts about Pilate's existence. For the first time there was contemporary epigraphic evidence of the life of the man who ordered the crucifixion of Christ.\"\r  \r\n\r  \r\nSimilarly, the great 19th-century archeologist Sir William Ramsay was a total skeptic about the accuracy of the New Testament, particularly the Gospel of Luke. But as a result of his topographical study of, and archeological research in, Asia Minor (modern Turkey), he totally changed his mind. He commented after some 30 years of study: \"Luke is a historian of the first rank; not merely are his statements of fact trustworthy . . . this author should be placed along with the very greatest of historians.\"\r  \r\n\r  \r\nIn the nineteenth century it was frequently argued that Moses couldn't have written the Pentateuch because writing didn't exist in his day (c. 1400 b.c.) This was the basis for the documentary hypothesis (“JEPD theory,”) which maintained anonymous editors and writers wrote the first five books of the Bible hundreds of years after the time of Moses. But the excavations of cities in Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) have decisively smashed such suppositions about the lateness of writing’s development. For example, the city of Ebla, which first began to be unearthed in 1964, was at the height of its power in 2300 b.c., and destroyed in 2250 b.c. Some 17,000 tablets with writing have been unearthed at this site since 1974, which showed writing existed a thousand years before Moses in the case of this one city alone.\r  \r\n\r  \r\nThe New Testament also has much manuscript evidence in favor of its accuracy, for two reasons: 1) There are far more ancient manuscripts of it than for any other document of the pre-printing using moveable type period (before c. 15th century A.D.) 2) Its manuscripts are much closer in date to the events described and its original writing than various ancient historical sources that have often been deemed more reliable. It was originally written between 40-100 A.D. Its earliest complete manuscripts date from the fourth century A.D., but a fragment of the Gospel of John goes back to 125 A.D. (There also have been reports of possible first-century fragments). Over 24,000 copies of portions of the New Testament exist. By contrast, consider how many fewer manuscripts and how much greater the time gap is between the original composition and earliest extant copy (which would allow more scribal errors to creep in) there are for the following famous ancient authors and/or works: Homer, Iliad, 643 copies, 500 years; Julius Caesar, 10 copies, 1,000 years; Plato, 7 copies, 1,200 years; Tacitus, 20 or fewer copies, 1,000 years; Thucycides, 8 copies, 1,300 years.\r  \r\n\r  \r\nUnlike Hinduism and Buddhism, which are religions of mythology and metaphysical speculation, Christianity is a religion founded on historical fact. It’s time to start being more skeptical of the skeptics’ claims about the Bible (for they have often been proven to be wrong, as shown above), and to be more open-minded about Christianity’s being true.It is commonly said Christians who believe the Bible is the inspired word of God are engaging in blind faith, and can't prove God did so. But is this true? By the fact the Bible's prophets have repeatedly predicted the future successfully, we can know beyond reasonable doubt the Bible is not just merely reliable in its history, but is inspired by God. By contrast, compare the reliability of the Bible’s prophets to the supermarket tabloids’ psychics, who are almost always wrong even about events in the near future.\r  \r\n\r  \r\nThe prophet Daniel, who wrote during the period 605-536 b.c., predicted the destruction of the Persian empire by Greece. \"While I was observing (in a prophetic vision), behold, a male goat was coming from the west over the surface of the whole earth without touching the ground; and the goat had a conspicuous horn between his eyes. And he came up to the ram that had the two horns, which I had seen standing in front of the canal, and rushed at him in his mighty wrath. . . . So he hurled him to the ground and trampled on him, and there was none to rescue the ram from his power. . . . The ram which you saw with two horns represented the kings of Media and Persia. And the shaggy goat represented the kingdom of Greece, and the large horn that is between his eyes is the first king\" (Daniel 8:5-7, 20-21). More than two hundred years after Daniel's death, Alexander the Great's invasion and conquest of Persia (334-330 b.c.) fulfilled this prophecy.\r  \r\n\r  \r\nLikewise, Daniel foresaw the division of Alexander's empire into four parts after his death. \"Then the male goat magnified himself exceedingly. But as soon as he was mighty, the large horn was broken; and in its place there came up four conspicuous horns toward the four winds of heaven. (The large horn that is between his eyes is the first king. And the broken horn and the four horns that arose in its place represent four kingdoms which will arise from his nation, although not with his power\" (Dan. 8:8, 21-22). This was fulfilled, as Alexander's empire was divided up among four of his generals: 1. Ptolemy (Soter), 2. Seleucus (Nicator), 3. Lysimachus, and 4. Cassander.\r  \r\n\r  \r\nArguments that Daniel was written in the second century b.c. after these events, thus making it only history in disguise, ignore how the style of its vocabulary, syntax, and morphology doesn't fit the second century b.c. As the Old Testament scholar Gleason L. Archer comments (Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties, p. 283): \"Hence these chapters could not have been composed as late as the second century or the third century, but rather--based on purely philological grounds--they have to be dated in the fifth or late sixth century.\" To insist otherwise is to be guilty of circular reasoning: An anti-theistic a priori (ahead of experience) bias rules out the possibility of God’s inspiring the Bible ahead of considering the facts, which then is assumed to “prove” that God didn’t inspire the Bible!\r  \r\n\r  \r\nHere it’s helpful to read books on Christian apologetics, such as those making the case for belief in the Bible and for faith in God's existence and goodness, such as those by C.S. Lewis, Josh McDowell, Lee Strobel, Henry Morris, Duane Gish, J.P. Moreland, Francis Schaeffer, Phillip E. Johnson, R.C. Sproul, Norman Giesler, Gleason Archer, etc. For example, there are great reasons for having faith in the bible, such as its historical accuracy, fulfilled prophecies, and archeological discoveries, as are explained here:\r  \r\nhttp://lionofjudah1.org/Apologeticshtml/Is%20the%20Bible%20the%20Word%20of%20God.htm","subreddit_name":"Christianity","author":"snoweric"},{"body":"Item | Current | Lowest | Reviews\r\n:-- | :-- | :-- | :--\r\n[Evidence That Demands a Verdict: Life-Changing Tr…](https://smile.amazon.com/dp/1401676707) | - | - | 4.8/5.0\r\n\r\n\u0026amp;nbsp;\r\n\r\n^[Item\u0026amp;nbsp;Info](https://price-spider.com/compare/US:1401676707)\u0026amp;nbsp;|\u0026amp;nbsp;[Bot\u0026amp;nbsp;Info](https://price-spider.com/info#reddit-bot)\u0026amp;nbsp;|\u0026amp;nbsp;[Trigger](https://www.reddit.com//r/testingground4bots/comments/ptrjuh/price_spider_bot_testing/hgxcyup/)","subreddit_name":"testingground4bots","author":"price-spider-bot"},{"body":"Item | Current | Lowest | Reviews\r\n:-- | :-- | :-- | :--\r\n[Evidence That Demands a Verdict: Life-Changing Tr…](https://smile.amazon.com/dp/1401676707) | - | - | 4.8/5.0\r\n\r\n\u0026amp;nbsp;\r\n\r\n^[Item\u0026amp;nbsp;Info](https://price-spider.com/compare/US:1401676707)\u0026amp;nbsp;|\u0026amp;nbsp;[Bot\u0026amp;nbsp;Info](https://price-spider.com/info#reddit-bot)\u0026amp;nbsp;|\u0026amp;nbsp;[Trigger](https://www.reddit.com//r/testingground4bots/comments/ptrjuh/price_spider_bot_testing/hgorqgr/)","subreddit_name":"testingground4bots","author":"price-spider-bot"},{"body":"Item | Current | Lowest | Reviews\r\n:-- | :-- | :-- | :--\r\n[Evidence That Demands a Verdict: Life-Changing Tr…](https://smile.amazon.com/dp/1401676707) | - | - | 4.8/5.0\r\n\r\n\u0026amp;nbsp;\r\n\r\n^[Item\u0026amp;nbsp;Info](https://price-spider.com/compare/US:1401676707)\u0026amp;nbsp;|\u0026amp;nbsp;[Bot\u0026amp;nbsp;Info](https://price-spider.com/info#reddit-bot)\u0026amp;nbsp;|\u0026amp;nbsp;[Trigger](https://www.reddit.com//r/Christianity/comments/q7jwma/how_do_i_know_the_bible_is_true/hgju3xk/)","subreddit_name":"testingground4bots","author":"price-spider-bot"},{"body":"Notice that these prophecies concern events that have already occurred, and aren't about \"Judgment Day\" or future end time events.  They also were fulfilled long after the prophets in question lived, and not during their lifetimes.  \r\n\r\nThe prophet Daniel, writing during the period 605-536 b.c., predicted Greece would destroy the Persian Empire.  Using a goat to stand for Greece, and a ram to symbolize Persia, he wrote:  \"While I was observing \\[in a prophetic vision\\], behold, a male goat was coming from the west over the surface of the whole earth without touching the ground; and the goat had a conspicuous horn between his eyes.  And he came up to the ram that had the two horns, which I had seen standing in front of the canal, and rushed at him in his mighty wrath. . . .  So he \\[the goat\\] hurled him \\[the ram\\] to the ground and trampled on him, and there was none to rescue the ram from his power. . . .  The ram which you saw with two horns represented the kings of Media and Persia.  And the shaggy goat represented the kingdom of Greece, and the large horn that is between his eyes is the first king.\" (Dan. 8:5-7, 20-21; cf. Dan. 11:2-4).  Over two hundred years after Daniel's death, his inspired predictions came true.  Alexander the Great invaded and conquered Persia during the years 334-330 b.c.\r\n\r\nDaniel also foresaw the division of Alexander's empire into four parts, after the Macedonian conqueror's death: \"Then the male goat magnified himself exceedingly.  But as soon as he was mighty, the large horn was broken; and in its place there came up four conspicuous horns towards the four winds of heaven. . . . the large horn that is between his eyes is the first king.  And the broken horn and the four horns that arose in its place represent four kingdoms which will arise from his nation, although not with his power\" (Dan. 8:8, 21-22).   \r\n\r  \r\nFollowing Alexander the Great's sudden and early death, four of his generals divided up his empire.  Ptolemy (Soter) took Egypt and Judea, Lysimachus controlled Asia Minor (modern Turkey), Cassander got Greece and Macedonia, and Seleucus (Nicator) grabbed what is now Iraq and Syria on into Iran.  This prophecy was fulfilled to the letter, since these kingdoms never reached the size or power of Alexander's empire, and Alexander died soon after conquering Persia at age 33.  This was hardly a lucky guess.  Daniel just as easily could have written that the Greek king's empire would be split up into a different number of parts, be defeated by Persia, or that Alexander would reign long.\\[8\\]\r\n\r\nAt this point, skeptics may argue that fulfilled prophecy is merely history in disguise.  To avoid the ominous implications for their spiritual lives that these Hebrew prophets predicted the future accurately, they will postdate their books to some time after the events they predicted happened.  (Of course, this concession admits the Bible isn't myths or fairy tales, but historically accurate in these cases).  This argument suffers from some major objections.  It assumes ahead of the fact (a priori) what it wishes to prove:  Implicitly claiming there is no God and/or that He doesn't intervene in history, it asserts all fulfilled prophecies are actually history pretending to be prophecy.  Therefore, the books of Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Daniel, etc. were written centuries after their putative authors lived.  This reasoning is actually circular, and ignores any contrary archeological or historical evidence raised against it.  For example, because Daniel accurately describes in advance important events in Middle Eastern history down into the second century b.c., many higher critics conclude it had to be written in or finished by that century.  Now about half of Daniel was written in the language of Aramaic.  Since Aramaic changed over the centuries, much like English has since the time of Chaucer or even Shakespeare, documents written in it can be roughly dated.  The skeptics ignore how its style, in vocabulary, structure, and syntax, doesn't fit the second century b.c.  Consider the implications of the Elephantine Papyri of the fifth century b.c.  The structure of their Aramaic more closely matches Daniel than the Aramaic of the Maccabean period of the second century.  As Old Testament scholar Gleason L. Archer comments:  \"Hence these chapters \\[Dan. 2-7\\] could not have been composed as late as the second century or the third century, but rather‑‑based on purely philological \\[language structure\\] grounds‑‑they have to be dated in the fifth or late sixth century . . .\"  \r\n\r\nLet's consider the external evidence test as applied to the Old Testament, which includes archeological discoveries.  About the Old Testament, higher critics time and again have made skeptical, even dogmatic statements against its historical reliability.  Thanks to archeological discoveries over the past two centuries, they have been embarrassed repeatedly, yet they never seem to give up.  (Witness the old TV series on the Book of Genesis on PBS, in which Bill Moyers intentionally cut out the fundamentalist defenders of Genesis from appearing on it, while allowing all sorts of skeptics to appear.  So much for journalistic objectivity!)  For example, could have Moses written the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible)?  In the nineteenth century, skeptics frequently argued he couldn't have, because writing hadn't been invented yet (c. 1400 b.c.)  This claim was the basis for the documentary hypothesis of liberal scholars, which said unknown editors and writers wrote them centuries later.  But excavations of cities in Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) have decisively smashed claims that writing developed later.  The ancient city of Ebla (found in modern Syria), which first began to be unearthed in 1964, was at the height of its power in 2300 b.c.  It was destroyed in 2250 b.c.  Some 17,000 clay tablets with writing have been dug up there since 1974.  Even this discovery alone proves writing existed around a thousand years before Moses.  The world's first civilization was the Sumerians of southern Mesopotamia.  Early, primitive fragments of their picture writing are dated 3100 b.c.  Plainly, the nineteenth-century higher critics were wrong to deny writing hadn't been invented by the time Moses lived some 1500+ years later.\r  \r\n\r  \r\nEarly nineteenth-century higher critics denied that King Sargon II even existed.  Mentioned in Isaiah 20:1 in connection with his attack on the philistine city of Ashdod, he ruled the ancient empire of Assyria in the eighth century b.c.  But later archeologists unearthed his palace at Khorsabad (in modern Iraq), along with many inscriptions in stone about his rule.  They found his own words about his campaign against Ashdod:  \"In a sudden rage, I did not (wait to) assemble the full might of my army (or to) prepare the camp(ing equipment), but started out towards Ashdod (only) with those of my warriors who, even in friendly areas, never leave my side. . . . I besieged (and) conquered the cities Ashdod, Gath, Asdudimmu.\"  As the Israeli historian Moshe Pearlman writes in Digging Up the Bible:  \"Suddenly, sceptics who had doubted the authenticity even of the historical parts of the Old Testament began to revise their views.\"\r\n\r\nThe Assyrian King Sennacherib was assassinated by two of his sons, according to the Old Testament (II Kings 19:36-37).  Yet various historians doubted the Bible's account, citing the accounts by two ancient Babylonians who said only one son was involved.  The later discovery of a fragment of a stone prism of King Esarhaddon, a son of Sennacherib, however, has confirmed the Bible's account.  In part it reads:  \"A firm determination fell upon my brothers.  They forsook the gods and turned to their deeds of violence, plotting evil. . . .  To gain the kingship they slew Sennacherib their father.\"  The historian Philip Biberfeld comments in his Universal Jewish History:  \"It (the Biblical account) was confirmed in all the minor details by the inscription of Esar-haddon and proved to be more accurate regarding this even than the Babylonian sources themselves.  This is a fact of utmost importance for the evaluation of even contemporary sources not in accord with Biblical tradition.\"\\[37\\]\r  \r\n\r  \r\nConsider looking up Josh McDowell's book \"Evidence that Demands a Verdict,\" for more evidence like this:  https://www.amazon.com/Evidence-That-Demands-Verdict-Life-Changing/dp/1401676707","subreddit_name":"Christianity","author":"snoweric"},{"body":"I was at a summit and I heard Josh and Sean Mcdowell give some pretty solid arguments. \r\n\r\nhere's a short video on some points by Sean, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCwrXcC52Co](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCwrXcC52Co)\r\n\r\nI haven't read this, but it looks like their book, \"[Evidence That Demands a Verdict: Life-Changing Truth for a Skeptical World](https://smile.amazon.com/Evidence-That-Demands-Verdict-Life-Changing/dp/1401676707/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1\u0026amp;keywords=sean+mcdowell+old+testament\u0026amp;qid=1620749531\u0026amp;sr=8-2)\" covers the Old Testament","subreddit_name":"Bible","author":"dayankuo234"}]}