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Archaeology and the Epistles
How
accurate are the epistles from an archaeological and historical point of view?
We can be thankful
that much background information is available about these writings that confirms
their authenticity.
by Mario Seiglie
The New Testament papyrus scrolls date from the late first to the seventh century and vary in size from scraps containing a few words to almost complete books of a Gospel, Acts or the Pauline epistles.
Grant Jeffrey compares the number
of biblical writings discovered to other works found: "Modern scholars
now possess more than five thousand manuscript copies of portions of the New
Testament in the Greek language. In addition, there are an additional fifteen
thousand manuscripts in other languages from the first few centuries of this
era. No other important text, whether historical or religious, has more than
a few dozen copies that have survived until our generation" (The Signature
of God, 1996, p. 88).
From the private letters of the apostles' time we find their introduction typically
included the identity of the author, the name of the recipient, a prayer for
the recipient and a greeting. The conclusion of such letters reflects the apostles'
similar style of identifying the recipients, offering thanks and ending with
a blessing.
"The power of the Epistles,"
says The Bible Through the Ages, "especially those of Paul, lay partly
in their adherence to a structure recognized
by educated people throughout the Greek-speaking world" (1996, p. 148).
Let's see a few specific examples
of how these letters fit into the context of those days.
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Paul wrote to Christians in Rome, heart of a mighty empire, well before he set foot there. Little did he know he would die in Rome several years later. Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum, ruins of which are shown here, were the heart of the city. |
Paul's
letter to the Romans
Throughout his letter to the Romans we see Paul urging gentile and Jewish Christians
in Rome to reconcile their differences. What historical event could have led
to disunity that would prompt this kind of admonition?
Paul mentions in this letter that he would send it from one of the ports of
Corinth, called Cenchrea, by way of a member named Phoebe (Romans 16:1).
In his first visit to Corinth a few years earlier, Paul had met the married
couple Priscilla and Aquila, converted Jews who had been among those expelled
from Rome. We read in Acts 18:2 that the Jews at Rome had been exiled by Emperor
Claudius around 49 B.C.
After Claudius died, Priscilla and Aquila returned to Rome (Romans 16:3).
The content of the epistle to the Romans reflects the new situation of the return
of the Jewish Christians to the Roman church and the need for the gentile Christians
again to accept their leadership.
Another indication of the authenticity of the epistle is the mention by Paul
of 26 people in Romans 16. Scholars note these names were quite common during
that period. Surprisingly, 13 of them have been found in inscriptions or documents
connected with the emperor's palace in Rome.
William Barclay notes that, "although many are common names, this fact
(their relationship with Caesar's palace) is nonetheless suggestive. In Philippians 4:22, Paul speaks of the saints of Caesar's household. It may be that they were
for the most part slaves, but it is still important that Christianity seems
to have penetrated early into the imperial palace" (Daily Study Bible,
comments on Romans 16:5-11, Bible Explorer software).
Thus this mention of Roman, Greek and Hebrew names common in those days and
the historical evidence of a Christian presence even in Caesar's household give
credence to what Paul writes in Romans.
The letters to the Corinthians
Paul's two epistles to the Corinthians also fit well with archaeologists' discoveries
about Corinth and what we learn from classical Greek literature.
Unlike Paul's letters to people in other areas, in both of the letters to Corinth
he refers to sins involving sexual immorality.
Paul mentions in 1Corinthians 5:1-2 that the brethren were openly tolerating
a member involved in a sexual relationship with his stepmother. Paul instructs
the members there to put that person out of the church until he repents and
then warns them not to become corrupted by this bad example or allow themselves
to return to their former sins.
He admonishes: "Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the
kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor
adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards,
nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were
some of you" (1Corinthians 6:9-11).
Of all the Greek cities, Corinth was the one most known for sexual immorality.
"The ancient city had a reputation for vulgar materialism," notes
The Bible Knowledge Commentary. "In the earliest Greek literature it was
linked with wealth and immorality. When Plato referred to a prostitute, he used
the expression 'Corinthian girl.' According to Strabo, the Greek geographer,
much of the wealth and vice in Corinth centered around the temple of Aphrodite
and its thousand temple prostitutes. For this reason a proverb warned, 'Not
for every man is the voyage to Corinth!'" (Logos Library System software,
1985, introduction to 1 Corinthians).
Archaeologists have uncovered the remains of the temple of Aphrodite, the goddess
of love, and other temples dedicated to fertility cults that contributed to
the city's rampant immorality. They have also found ruins of the marketplace
that indicate that wine was a popular product. "Around the market were
a good many shops, numbers of which had individual wells, suggesting that much
wine was made and drunk in the city. (Paul warned) in 1 Cor(inthians) 6:10 that
drunkards will not 'inherit' the kingdom of God" (Harold Mare, The Expositor's
Bible Commentary, 1979, p. 177).
The incident of sexual immorality in the Corinthian church appears to have a
positive ending. After the members there repented of their moral laxity, they
obeyed Paul and put the guilty party out of the congregation. But in 2Corinthians 2:3-11 Paul tells them he heard of the sinner's repentance and urged them to
forgive and restore him as a member.
Paul's other epistles and those the other apostles wrote all reflect the aspects
of everyday life in the Greco-Roman world of that age. Although critical scholars
have focussed intensely on the apostolic epistles to try to find any discrepancy
or anachronism, none has been forthcoming.
The epistle of James
Of all the epistles, James' is the most practical and picturesque. The Bible
Knowledge Commentary calls it "a literary masterpiece ... that combines
the rhythmic beauty of Greek with the stern intensity of Hebrew" and says
that, "in fact, the Book of James probably has more figures of speech,
analogies, and imagery from nature than all Paul's epistles together" (Logos
Library System software, 1985, introduction to James).
How could Jesus' half brother (Matthew 13:55) have developed such a polished
literary style? One commentary says about him: "The author had been from
fifteen to twenty years a member, and for a number of years, the official head,
of the Jerusalem Church, which very early in its history had more Hellenists
than Hebrews in its membership. In daily contact with such Hellenists, James
could, in the course of the years, have attained to considerable proficiency
the use of the Greek tongue" (The New International Commentary of the New
Testament: James, 1974, p. 19).
Another evidence of the authenticity of the letter is the mention of Christians
still meeting in synagogues. James writes of different classes of people coming
"into your assembly" (James 2:2). The Greek word translated "assembly"
here is sunagoge, an assembly of people. It was natural for James, as leader
of the church in Jerusalem, to refer to the meeting places where Christians
gathered as synagogues, since the term did not have the negative connotation
it later took among anti-Jewish groups.
"There is evidence that early Jewish Christians sometimes met in synagogues,"
says archaeologist John McRay. "The New Testament letter of James refers
to Christians (undoubtedly Jewish) meeting in a synagogue (2:2), but bear in
mind that at this time Jews probably met most often in homes and rented halls"
(Archaeology and the New Testament, 1997, p. 72).
Peter's epistles
Peter's writing style and the background of his two epistles also conform to
the norm for those times. The Expositor's Bible Commentary states, "First Peter is an epistle or letter written in the normal letter form of the (New
Testament) world" (Edwin Blum, 1981, p. 213).
But how could Peter, a Galilean fisherman, write in the fine Greek style of
these epistles?
"The parallels between this first letter and Peter's sermons recorded in
Acts are significant," answers The Bible Knowledge Commentary. "Peter's
public ministry spanned more than 30 years ... He lived and preached in a multicultural
world.
It is reasonable to believe that after three decades Peter could have mastered
the language of the majority of those to whom he ministered. Certainly Peter
had the time and talent to become an outstanding communicator of the gospel
via the Greek language" (Logos Library System software, introduction to
1 Peter).
Peter ends his first epistle with a reference to his location: "She who
is in Babylon, elect together with you, greets you; and so does Mark my son"
(1Peter 5:13).
Some commentators regard the mention of Babylon as a cryptic way of referring
to Rome, but the historical evidence shows that the actual city of Babylon had
a thriving Jewish community during those days.
The Scriptures indicate most of Peter's mission dealt not with gentiles but
with Jews. Paul mentioned that "the gospel for the uncircumcised (gentiles)
had been committed to me, as the gospel for the circumcised (Jews) was to Peter"
(Galatians 2:7).
"Many have wondered," writes historian William McBirnie, "if
this (reference to Babylon) did not mean Rome, which was frequently called 'Babylon'
by the early Christians. The actual city of Babylon, however, still was of importance.
It was a great center of Jewish colonists and was a powerful center when Peter
ministered there for a time. The Eastern churches trace their lineage to Babylon,
and hence to Peter, to this day" (The Search for the Twelve Apostles, 1973,
p. 57).
John's writings
John's Gospel and epistles have an unusual style and are among the most respected
by scholars.
"No two works in the whole range of literature," wrote Sir William
Ramsay, "show clearer signs of the genius of one writer, and no other pair
of works are so completely in a class by themselves, apart from the work of
their own and every other time" (Alexander Ross, The New International
Commentary of the New Testament: The Epistles of James and John, 1974, p. 110).
John penned his epistles toward the end of the New Testament period. They reflect
the later struggles of the remaining apostles against gnostic groups and other
opponents of God's law (antinomians) who were influencing Church members and
seducing many away from the truth. Archaeology has helped us better understand
some of the issues that John faced.
"The extensive Gnostic library that was found at Nag Hammadi in Egypt in
1945," states John McRay, "has provided us with new information regarding
heresy in the early church and about the nature of the canon of the New Testament
at this time" (p. 18).
Thanks to the discovery of material documenting some of the gnostic beliefs,
the issues John mentioned have been confirmed to be historical.
Conclusion
This concludes the brief overview of what archaeology and history tell us about
the apostolic epistles.
Grant Jeffrey sums up the historical findings: "The tremendous advances
in historical research and biblical archaeology in the last century have convinced
most scholars in the last two decades that the Gospels and Epistles were written
within thirty-five years or less of the events which they describe ... In an
article for Christianity Today, Jan. 18, 1963, W.F. Albright (the so-called
dean of modern archaeology) wrote: 'In my opinion, every book of the New Testament
was written by a baptized Jew between the forties and eighties of the first
century A.D.'" (pp. 86-87).
In the next installment we will conclude this archaeological survey by covering
the last book of the Bible, Revelation. GN
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United Church of God, an International Association
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Keywords: New Testament, epistles of the New Testament historicity archaeology New Testament and archaeology
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