By the end of the 2nd century AD Roman Platonic philosopher Celsius wrote an anti-Christian treatise that ridiculed faith in Jesus Christ. If Jesus really was the son of God, writes Celsius, then why did God not punish Pontius Pilate, the person responsible for his crucifixion?
The attitude towards Pilate in the history of Christianity has always been ambiguous. Somewhere he is considered guilty of the crucifixion of Jesus, a real villain, and where he is revered as a saint.
Pontius Pilate was the fifth prefect of the Roman province of Judea from about 26 to 37 AD. In the gospels, Pilate is represented as a person who did not consider Jesus guilty, even called him righteous, but it was he who betrayed the Christian messiah to be crucified, washing his hands.
In 1961, archaeologists unearthed a limestone block with an inscription in which Pontius Pilate is referred to as the prefect of Judea in Caesarea by the Palestinian, Roman port on the Mediterranean coast in Israel. The find provided real evidence of the existence and career of the famous 1st century Roman official. Unlike many biblical characters, no one doubts its existence. In addition to this “Pilat's stone”, we know about it from Jewish historians and philosophers.
Pilate Stone, Israel Museum
What happened to Pilate after the crucifixion of Jesus?
Roman-Jewish historian Joseph Flavius in his "Jewish Antiquities" (end of the 1st century) writes that Pilate was recalled to Rome after his unsuccessful attempts to deal with the unrest of the Samaritans in the 36th year.
What happened next, you can only guess. Joseph Flavius says nothing more about him. Perhaps due to the short political chaos that happened due to the death of Emperor Tiberius and the exaltation of Caligula, his case was postponed or simply forgotten.
The lack of bad consequences of the Pilate act put Christian apologists in a quandary. Pilate sentenced Jesus to suffering on the cross, but he did not bear guilt. Divine punishment did not follow. Perhaps Christians did not want to provoke a conflict with the authorities, accusing a Roman official of killing their god.
Pilate's Justification
The canonical gospels say that Pilate is not completely guilty of the crucifixion of Jesus. He tried to justify him, but preferred the situation, not justice.
In the apocryphal Gospel of Peter, which is one of the earliest Christian apocrypha, Pilate acts as a supporter of Christians. He helps them remove the body of Jesus from the cross, calls Jesus the son of God, and keeps the secret of his resurrection from Jewish priests.
The tradition of the immaculate Pilate led to the fact that by the 2nd century, fake letters of Pilate (the "Acts of Pilate") had spread among Christians, telling about the wonderful history of Jesus. In The Acts of Pilate, Pilate is a convert Christian.
One of the most authoritative theologians of the 2nd century, Tertullian, adhered to a similar interpretation. He also justifies Pilate and calls him a Christian:
"Pilat, a Christian himself, was already convinced by his conviction, said all this regarding Christ to the then emperor, Tiberius. And the emperors themselves would openly acknowledge what they reported about Christ if the world were not needed, or if Christians could be emperors. " (Apologetik)
The first Christians blamed the crucifixion on others. The eruption of Celsius' arguments, written by Origen in the 3rd century, justifies Pilate and accuses the Jewish people. The collapse of Judea and the resettlement of Jews have historically reinforced the faith of Christians in the guilt of the Jews. The biased view of Christians is clearly reflected in the Gospel of Matthew, where Jews shout that the blood of Jesus will be on them and their children. This probably influenced Christian anti-Semitism.
Jewish high priests from the movie "Passion of Christ"
Revision of Pilate Status
In the 4th century, when Christianity became the official and then the state religion, it was already possible to revise the figure of Pilate. The Nicene symbol of faith, formulated by the pagan emperor Constantine in 325 and supplemented in 381, says that Christ was crucified under Pontius Pilate. Christians established Pilate's involvement in the crucifixion of Jesus with the help of dogma.
However, not all Christians took a new look at Pilate. In the Western Church, Augustine Aurelius believed that Pilate really considered Jesus a Jewish king, as he wrote on a tablet that was nailed to the cross of Jesus.
Canonization of Pilate
In Eastern Christianity, attitudes towards Pilate were more loyal. In the Syrian text of the 5-6th century, “Paradox Pilata”, the prefect of Judea repents because of the crucifixion of Jesus, as a result, he, his wife and centurion Longin convert to Christianity.
In Orthodoxy, Pilate's wife Claudius Prokul was canonized in the face of saints, since she, according to the Gospel of Matthew, asked Pilate not to harm Jesus. Ancient Christians did the same: Copts and Ethiopians. But they did not stop at Claudius and did on June 25th the day of St. Pontius Pilate. In the Ethiopian life of Pilate there are the following lines:
Greetings to Pilate, who washed his hands to show that he does not have the blood of Jesus Christ.
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