Skeptics are forever trying to discredit the Bible. In the 1800s an interesting puzzle was proposed as proof that the Bible could not be trusted. The book of Luke [2:2] states that Quirinius was governor of Syria when Christ was born. Other passages would indicate that this birth took place in the year 4 B.C. Nonreligious historical records, however, show that Quirinius governed Syria after 6 A.D. This ten-year discrepancy was used by Bible critics in the nineteenth century as proof that the Bible could not be divinely inspired.
The puzzle was solved with further archeological evidence which confirmed the Bible. In 1912 an inscription was discovered which said that Quirinius was governor in Syria and Cilicia around 10 B.C. Apparently Quirinius ruled Syria and Cilicia twice. He was ruler at the time of Christ's birth exactly as reported in the Bible. How much damage was done to people's faith based on partial evidence and false assuptions?
Through in-depth study, every so-called contradiction in the Bible invariably proves false. Throughout all of human history there is no book which comes close to the Bible in accuracy and influence.
From A Closer Look at the Evidence by Kleiss, July 7.
