There is a cottage industry in history writing occupied by those who persistently try to prove the Bible true or otherwise. Got an email from xand which suggests he has in his little way joined that bandwagon. My only encounter with investigative history was Jonathan Spence's Treason by the Book, aout the Lu Liuliang scandal during the Yongzheng and Qianlong eras. Problem with applying that to Christian history is that it is almost invariably controversial. Religion is such a hot potato, I admire anybody who even dares to involve himself with truth and myth in that field. Maybe their prayers told them something ...