Life Compass

Summary:   The  Bible  only mentions the deaths of two apostles, James who was put to death by Herod Agrippa I in 44 AD and Judas Iscariot who committed suicide shortly after the death of  Christ .    The details of the deaths of three of the apostles (John, the Beloved, Bartholomew and Simon the Canaanite) are not known at all, either by tradition or early historians. The deaths of the other seven apostles are known by tradition or the writings of early Christian historians.  According to traditions and the Bible, eight of the Apostles died as  Martyrs .  At least two of the Apostles, Peter and Andrew were crucified. Simon  Called Peter by Christ   died 33-34 years after the death of Christ.  According to Smith’s Bible Dictionary there is “satisfactory evidence that he and Paul were the founders of the church at Rome, and died in that city. The time and manner of the apostle’s martyrdom are less certain. Acc...

l   Print A portrait of St. Philip from around 1611, by the Italian painter Peter Paul Rubens, at the Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain. HIERAPOLIS, Turkey –   A tomb believed to be that of St. Philip the Apostle was unearthed during excavations in the ancient Turkish city of Hierapolis. Italian professor Francesco D'Andria said archeologists found the tomb of the biblical figure -- one of the 12 original disciples of Jesus -- while working on the ruins of a newly-unearthed church, Turkish news agency Anadolu reported Wednesday. "We have been looking for Saint Philip's tomb for years," d'Andria told the agency. "We finally found it in the ruins of a church which we excavated a month ago." The structure of the tomb and the writings on the wall proved it belonged to St. Philip, he added. The professor said the archaeologists worked for years to find the tomb and he expected it to become an important Christian pilgrimage destination. ...

Khirbet Qeiyafa Khirbet Qeiyafa (Elah Fortress) is where there was a discovery of an early city looking out over the Elah Valley. The remains of the fortifications had been found in 2007 by the Israeli city in Beit Shemesh (20 miles out of Jerusalem). The fortress spreads out over almost 6 acres and is bordered by a 2300 ft wall.  The wall was made from stones that weighed around 8 tons each. Many archaeologists have claimed that it might be the biblical city of Sha’arayim or Neta’im and possibly have the remains of  King David’s  palace. There are those who are doubtful and advocate the possibility it could have been a Judahite or  Canaanite  castle. Has Been Found The Elah Valley in the Judean hills is located from the Bible as the place where David and Goliath fought their historic stand off. This city is identified as the city Sha’arayim from the Bible where David had his palace. It has been dated back to around his time in the 10 th  cen...

We are going to consider five eras for historical proof of the Bible: ·          The first era, creation, was covered in the article   Are there any scientific proofs of the Bible? ·          The second era is found in Genesis chapters 3-12. This is too far back in antiquity to either prove or disprove. Scientists will argue on both sides for and against   a world wide flood , the tower of   Babel   and more. ·          The third era is from   Abraham   to   Solomon ·          The fourth era is from Solomon to the end of the Old Testament. ·          The fifth era is   Christ   and the apostolic era. Before we start let’s consider what it is we are looking for. The   Bible   is essentially a religious history. Even those ...

Acts 18:24 tells us of a man named Apollos, who was " an eloquent man, and mighty in the scriptures ". Apollos used the scriptures to convince many Jews that Jesus was the Messiah. Acts 18:28 says, " ...  he mightily convinced the Jews, and that publickly, shewing by the scriptures that Jesus was Christ ." This was in about 53 AD, around 20 years after Christ's crucifixion. Since the vast majority of the portion of scripture commonly called the "New Testament" had not yet been written, it is apparent that when Acts 18:24 refers to " the scriptures ", it is referring to the portion of scripture commonly called the "Old Testament". There are at least four reasons that provide evidence that the 39 books of the Old Testament date back to a time long before Jesus Christ's earthly ministry: 1. It was proven by the finding of the dead sea scrolls, which include the Old Testament writings and predate Christ's earthly mini...