The Archaeologist Who Changed His Mind

In 1881, Sir William Ramsay left Aberdeen for Asia Minor with a single purpose: to prove the New Testament was unreliable. Trained in the finest German skeptical tradition, the young Scottish archaeologist was certain that Luke's writings were second-century fiction — clever myths dressed up as history. Then the evidence started pushing back. Inscription after inscription confirmed Luke's precision. Ramsay found that Luke correctly named obscure provincial officials, used the exact political titles for specific regions, and recorded geographical details only an eyewitness or careful contemporary could know.…