We can't, for it is by faith that we believe because we weren't there to observe it. However, the evidence for the historical statements found in the Bible is compelling, and the Bible continues to withstand all the tests of modern science.
When objectively examining the data - geological formations, the fossil record, etc.. - one clearly sees the evidence better supports the Biblical account of earth history than it does the uniformitarian (the present is the key to the past) model. Trying to harmonize the evidence with the uniformitatian model only creates new, unbridgeable problems.
Nearly 150 years after Charles Darwin published his book, "On the Origin of Species by means of Natural Selection," such alternative, non-Biblical explanations of earth's history continue to flounder in bankruptcy.
Consider the scientific statements in the Bible:
(Job 26:7) "He stretches out the north over empty space; He hangs the earth on nothing." This scientific fact that the earth 'floats' in space is from the oldest book in the Bible written some 4,400 years ago.
(Isaiah 40:21-22) "Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in." Christopher Columbus, setting out on what may have been the greatest missionary journey in history, bet the Scriptures were accurate when they told him the earth was round.
(Job 28:25) "To establish a weight for the wind, And apportion the waters by measure." Long before scientists knew, God said air had weight.
(Colossians 1:17) "And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist." This is the answer to the nuclear physicists' worrisome question about the atom. The real mystery of the atom does not involve its benumbing mega-power, but rather, "Why doesn't the atom fly apart?" Scientific laws say it should but it doesn't. Scientists wonder what puzzling power, completely unknown to them, is holding it together. The Bible says that mysterious power is the Creator, God Himself - our Savior Jesus Christ.
Consider these historical statements:
For years skeptics said the Bible was unreliable because it mentions the Hittite nation (Deuteronomy 7:1) and cities like Nineveh (Jonah1:1-2) and Sodom (Genesis 19:1), which archeologists denied ever existed. But now, modern archeology has confirmed that all three did, indeed, exist and have even been known to frequently use the Bible as a reference map to begin searching for ancient artifacts.
Critics also said that Bible-mentioned kings Belshazzar (Daniel 5:1) and Sargon (Isaiah 20:1) never existed. Ooops, once again, it has now been confirmed they did exist.
Early scientists used to say the Bible record of Moses was not reliable because it mentions writing, (Exodus 24:4) and wheeled vehicles (Exodus 14:25), neither of which they said existed at that time. They, of course, know better today.
At one time the 39 kings of ancient Israel and Judah, who reigned during the divided kingdom, were authenticated only from the Bible record, so critics charged fabrication. But the archeologists found cuneiform records that mentioned many of these kings, and once again, the Bible record proved accurate. Critics have repeatedly been wrong as new discoveries confirm biblical people, places, and events. It will always be so.
The Bible's fulfilled prophecies reveal its omniscient inspiration:
Bible predictions of things to happen in the future confirm the inspiration of Scripture as they come to pass:
Isaiah 45:1-3: Cyrus to be the warrior to capture Babylon.
Daniel 2, 7, 8: Four world empires to arise: Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome.
Ezekiel 29:14-15, 30:12-13: Egypt would never again have a commanding position among the nations.
Isaiah 7:14: He would be born of a virgin
Zechariah 9:9: Jesus would ride into Jerusalem as King on the back of a donkey.
Luke 21:25-26: Earth-shaking calamities and fear toward the end of time.
II Timothy 3:1-5: Moral degeneracy and decline of spirituality in the last days.
All have been fulfilled!
One of the greatest miracles of the Bible is its unity! Think about these facts:
The 66 books of the Bible were written:
On three continents
In three languages
By 40 different people (kings, shepherds, scientists, attorneys, an army general, fisherman, priests, and a physician).
Over approximately 1,500 years
On the most controversial subjects
By people, who in most cases, had never met
By authors whose education and background varied greatly
Yet through all that it seems totally inconceivable that:
The 66 books maintain harmony with each other
New concepts are often expressed but do not undermine what other Bible writers say on the same subject.
And talk about astounding:
Interview people who have witnessed an identical event and see how scattered their interpretative explanations are. Yet the Bible, although written by 40 different people, appears to have been written by one, single source; the Holy Spirit!
References
"The Walls of Jericho," Bible and Spade, Spring 1999
"Did the Israelites Conquer Jericho? A New Look at the Archeological Evidence," Biblical Archaeology Review, March/April 1990
Lopez, R., "The Antediluvian Patriarchs and the Sumerian King list," CEN Technical Journal 12 (3) 1998
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