If some solid reason can be proposed for not taking the Bible as it reads as authoritative history, that could be a different matter. I am unaware of any source other than Josephus that recounts exactly what happened in the fall of Jerusalem. I've also gotten the impression that much of the history of the Herods, dates and all, are derived from Josephus and not from any other source. There is no scientific record of creation. We have fossils in strata, but that is data, not a scientific record of creation. To the atheist and deist, that data represents long ages. To Moslems, Jews, and Christians who believe the Torah, that data represents the creatures buried by the Flood. There is nothing of the nature of a scientific record that dictates that the one or the other be view has to be the right one.