An interesting fulfilled prophecy

There are quite a few fulfilled prophecies foretold in the Bible that came to pass in actual history, and recorded down. Such as the future of Israel, the wars, the Messiah, the destruction of the temple, etc. But something that has caught my attention is a prophecy foretold by Amos.

"And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord GOD, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day" - Amos 8:9


Not only do the gospels record this, but secular sources talk about this event too.

"Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour." - Matthew 27:45

"And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour." - Mark 15:33

"And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. " - Luke 23:44

Amos does talk about the sun going down at noon, instead of just darkening. However, he could of been speaking in some sort of figure of speech. But even if Amos did not give a prophecy, this event that took place after Jesus' death is still recorded in secular sources.

Thallus wrote a history of the eastern Mediterranean world since the Trojan War. Thallus wrote his regional history in about AD 52. Although his original writings have been lost, he is specifically quoted by Julius Africanus, a renowned third century historian. Africanus states, "Thallus, in the third book of his histories, explains away the darkness as an eclipse of the sun—unreasonably as it seems to me." Apparently, Thallus attempted to ascribe a naturalistic explanation to the darkness during the crucifixion.


Phlegon was a Greek historian who wrote an extensive chronology around AD 137

"In the fourth year of the 202^nd Olympiad (i.e., AD 33) there was ‘the greatest eclipse of the sun’ and that ‘it became night in the sixth hour of the day [i.e., noon] so that stars even appeared in the heavens. There was a great earthquake in Bithynia, and many things were overturned in Nicaea."

Phlegon provides powerful confirmation of the gospel accounts. He identifies the year and the exact time of day. In addition, he writes of an earthquake accompanying the darkness, which is specifically recorded in Matthew’s Gospel

"And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;" - Matthew 27:51

Seems to me that the Gospels are reliable.