Confirmation: Archaeology confirms the historical references made in the Bible.

- Many scholars used to question the existence of a Roman Governor with the name Pontius Pilate, the procurator who ordered Jesus’ crucifixion. In June 1961 Italian archaeologists led by Dr. Frova were excavating an ancient Roman amphitheatre near Caesarea and uncovered a limestone block. On the face is an inscription, which is part of a larger dedication to Tiberius Caesar and clearly says, “Pontius Pilate, Prefect of Judea.” This is the only known occurrence of the name Pontius Pilate in any ancient inscription (Fig. 5).

- About a century ago British archaeologist William Ramsay (1851-1939) focused on the book of Acts in an attempt to show it was historically inaccurate. His quest did not turn out as he expected. After decades of research in what is today Israel and Turkey, he carefully retraced the steps of the apostles as described in the book of Acts and shocked the intellectual world when he announced he had converted to Christianity. His confessed change of mind was in great part to his surprise of the accuracy he found in Luke’s narrative in Acts. After decades of examining the historical and geographical details mentioned in Acts, Ramsay concluded: “Luke is a historian of the first rank; not merely are his statements of fact trustworthy, he is possessed of the true historic sense... In short this author should be placed along with the very greatest of historians.” (11 pg. 222) Ultimately Ramsay was knighted for his contributions to the study of archaeology and geography.