Opinion of Pontius Pilate

[asexual trans victimologist]

No, no poll options. I want to actually have people talk about what they think of the man who has been portrayed so many different ways--as victim, oblivious villain, tragic actor, as redeemed or as irredeemable--throughout the history of the Christian story.

[bullmoose88]

Painted as a sympathetic yet tragic actor so that the new off shoot of Judaism would not offend Rome while other Jews were in open rebellion against the Empire.  Not sure he's a villain, but this kind treatment essentially transferred all of the blame for the death of Jesus to the Jews rather than a more equitable distribution.

[Swing low, sweet chariot. Comin' for to carry me home.]

Painted as a sympathetic yet tragic actor so that the new off shoot of Judaism would not offend Rome while other Jews were in open rebellion against the Empire.  Not sure he's a villain, but this kind treatment essentially transferred all of the blame for the death of Jesus to the Jews rather than a more equitable distribution.

the NT puts blame on all of humanity, including you and I, for the death of Jesus Christ.

[asexual trans victimologist]

Painted as a sympathetic yet tragic actor so that the new off shoot of Judaism would not offend Rome while other Jews were in open rebellion against the Empire.  Not sure he's a villain, but this kind treatment essentially transferred all of the blame for the death of Jesus to the Jews rather than a more equitable distribution.

the NT puts blame on all of humanity, including you and I, for the death of Jesus Christ.

Obviously, but the way things were painted after that got a little murky and veered into blood libel territory relatively quick.

[Smid]

the NT puts blame on all of humanity, including you and I, for the death of Jesus Christ.

That's my feeling as well. I don't particularly care what other people think of Pilate because I believe that I am just as responsible.

[Sibboleth]

Typical bloody Tory, amirite?

[Wrecking Ball and Chain]

I like the theory he eventually became a Christian. There is some documents and evidence to support that.

[asexual trans victimologist]

I like the theory he eventually became a Christian. There is some documents and evidence to support that.

One could imagine that given his characterization in the Gospel text, but I'm not sure about these documents and evidence you mention.

[anvi]

There are documents claiming he became a Christian?  I thought he was removed from office and, as several authors report, eventually committed suicide.  In any case, given what Josephus and Philo wrote about his term as perfect, the guy seems to have been a complete jerk and not at all suited for the duties of his office.

[Wrecking Ball and Chain]

http://www.livius.org/pi-pm/pilate/pilate08.html

Basically there is some evidence pointing toward that he authored a work about the works of Jesus and the crucifixion that predates the Gospels but is today lost. And that it's actually an official belief of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church that he became a Christian and was later martyred. But the evidence is inconclusive.

[shua]

I see him as an example of role reversal, common in the Gospels. Outsiders and enemies turn out looking better than insiders, such as with the neighborly Samaritian.
Basically, you have this guy, who would have been well known as an unscrupulous tyrant, and when presented with Jesus, he ends up being the one hesitant to kill him on the wishes of the people who had welcomed him into Jerusalem just a few days before. Pilate was maybe more bewildered than anything else, being an outsider to the internal religious debate. Did he really not see Jesus as any kind of political threat, calling himself a King of the Jews? Maybe not, considering Jesus was at a pretty low point right then in terms of support.