Wednesday, 27 July 2016

THE AUTHENTICITY AND RELIABILITY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT WRITINGS

General Titus Gaius Arch in the FORUM ROMANUM in Rome

My wife and I visited Rome during April 2016 and the FORUM ROMANUM in Rome was on my list to visit. If you click on this link, you can read about it in inter alia Wikipedia and a host of other websites. This should just wet your appetite to delve deeper into this fascinating place.

I was aware that on the left hand side of the Arch there are reliefs of the war loot he brought back from Jerusalem after he destroyed it in 70 n.C.  And I wanted to see that because the Apostle John's book REVELATION is all about the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple.

On the inside of this Arch you can see the Jewish minora and the table of the showbread and other artifacts. Just as an aside the Jewish Historian Flavius Josephus writes extensively about the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in his WARS OF THE JEWS.

My photograph of the Jewish Minora that was captured by General Titus Gaius in 70 n.C. after he destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple.

I knew this Arch was there and I wanted to see it.

But then like a lightning bolt out of clear blue skies, something totally unexpected happened to me while we were walking down into the valley staring at the ancient buildings. All of a sudden on my left hand side I saw this notice board:

Temple of Castor and Pollux

This temple dedicated to Castor and Pollux was built round about 484 BC - that is a very long time ago and here it is standing in all its ancient glory and I was looking at it on my left hand side. I stopped and stared at it and then I grabbed my wife's hand and blurted out: "My dear, I read about Castor and Pollux in the Book of Acts! And now I see a temple dedicated to the patron saints of the seafarers! And it was built a very very long time ago!!

The apostle Paul was on a ship named named after these two guys on his way to Rome to defend himself because of his belief in Jesus Christ in front of the Caesar." You should also bear in mind that we entered the crypt of the St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican City just a day or two ago. While we were down in the crypt, father Simon Donelly pointed out the area where the apostle Peter's body was found after he was murdered. All of this was still fresh in my mind, when I came across this amazing place.

 And it looks like this:


I was stunned because I read about Castor and Pollux in the Book of the Acts of the Apostles Chapter 28: 11. I am of the opinion that it corroborates the Scriptures. When the author of the Book of Acts wrote this down, it was a current thing. The specific verse in Acts reads as follows: "After three months we put out to sea in a ship that had wintered in the island. It was an Alexandrian ship with the figurehead of the twin gods Castor and Pollux." Please visit the Bible Society of South Africa's website by clicking here

You can do a simple exercise and work out how long ago all of this happened. The remains of it still stands for all to see. This simple piece of evidence proofs to me the veracity of the Holy Scriptures. I am still stunned by this experience - I count it as a special blessing.

I intend to do more write-ups about the reliability and authenticity of the New Testament Scriptures. In the meantime, please write me note about your views. My e-mail address is: neelscoertse@wirelessza.co.za 




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