Pontius Pilate Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Scholarly assessments=== The main ancient sources on Pilate offer very different views on his governorship and personality. Philo is hostile, Josephus mostly neutral, and the Gospels "comparatively friendly."{{sfn|McGing|1991|pp=415β416}} This, combined with the general lack of information on Pilate's long time in office, has resulted in a wide range of assessments by modern scholars.{{sfn|Carter|2003|pp=12β19}} On the basis of the many offenses that Pilate caused to the Judaean populace, some scholars find Pilate to have been a particularly bad governor. M. P. Charlesworth argues that Pilate was "a man whose character and capacity fell below those of the ordinary provincial official [...] in ten years he had piled blunder on blunder in his scorn for and misunderstanding of the people he was sent to rule."{{sfn|Maier|1971|p=363}} However, Paul Maier argues that Pilate's long term as governor of Judaea indicates he must have been a reasonably competent administrator,{{sfn|Maier|1971|p=365}} while Henry MacAdam argues that "[a]mong the Judaean governors prior to the Jewish War, Pilate must be ranked as more capable than most."{{sfn|MacAdam|2001|p=77}} Other scholars have argued that Pilate was simply culturally insensitive in his interactions with the Jews and in this way a typical Roman official.{{sfn|Carter|2003|pp=5β6}} Beginning with E. Stauffer in 1948, some scholars have argued, on the basis of his possible appointment by [[Sejanus]], that Pilate's offenses against the Jews were directed by Sejanus out of hatred of the Jews and a desire to destroy their nation, a theory supported by the pagan imagery on Pilate's coins.{{sfn|Maier|1968|pp=9β10}} According to this theory, following Sejanus's execution in 31 CE and Tiberius's purges of his supporters, Pilate, fearful of being removed himself, became far more cautious, explaining his apparently weak and vacillating attitude at the trial of Jesus.{{sfn|Maier|1968|pp=10β11}} Helen Bond argues that "[g]iven the history of pagan designs throughout Judaean coinage, particularly from Herod and Gratus, Pilate's coins do not seem to be deliberately offensive,"{{sfn|Bond|1998|p=21}} and that the coins offer little evidence of any connection between Pilate and Sejanus.{{sfn|Bond|1998|p=22}} Carter notes this theory arose in the context of the aftermath of the [[Holocaust]], that the evidence that Sejanus was anti-Semitic depends entirely on Philo, and that "[m]ost scholars have not been convinced that it is an accurate or a fair picture of Pilate."{{sfn|Carter|2003|p=4}} Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page