Archeology has offered substantial confirmation of the New Testament. There is no question that the New Testament takes place in the real historical world of the 1st century Roman empire. Cities like Jerusalem, Antioch, Rome, Athens, and Corinth have been thoroughly excavated. But archaeology also confirms extremely small details mentioned in the NT. For instance, we’ve found the pool at Bethesda mentioned in John 5:1-15, the pool of Siloam mentioned in John 9:1-7, the synagogue at Capernaum where Jesus preached (Luke 4:31-36), the ossuary of the high priest Caiaphas (Matt. 26:57-67), a 1st century house from the village of Nazareth where Jesus grew up, inscriptions naming Pontius Pilate prefect of Judea (Luke 3:1-2), Gallio proconsul of Achaia (Acts 18:12-17), and proconsul Serguis Paulus of Cyprus (Acts 13:6-13). The fact that archaeology confirms not only the general setting of the gospels, but very incidental details of the narrative, serves to substantiate the reliability of the biblical authors.
Neil Shenvi