Letters of Pontius Pilot to Tiberius Caesar about Jesus

[stevevw]

I am interested in finding out more about the Pontius Pilot letters and whether they are authentic. I had heard of archelogical evidence for Pontius Pilots existence at the time of Jesus and other writings that mention him. I think from Josephus. I have also heard of others mentioning Jesus and his miracles and crucifixtion.

But I cannot remember the Pilot letters. I was trying to find out where this comes from and whether it has some validity. It seems as the link below mentions Pilots letter relates back to an ancient apocryphal. Where and when was this found. One of the links says it was found in Liverpool in the 60's I think.

There are so many different stories I don't know whats going on. Maybe someone with more knowledge on this can help. I have linked what I have found and like I said it varies. The second video looks interesting as its based on a paper from 1913. So it seems Pilots letter is not something new.

It is interesting because if true this is big support for Jesus.

Truth in the Details: The Report of Pilate to Tiberius as an Authentic Forgery
The Report of Pilate to Tiberius, known also as Anaphora Pilati, is an ancient apocryphal work attributed to Pontius Pilate and originally written in Greek. In it, the governor of Judea informs the Emperor in Rome about Jesus’ miracles, death sentence, crucifixion and resurrection.

Truth in the Details: The Report of Pilate to Tiberius as an Authentic Forgery

The Report of Pilate to Tiberius, known also as Anaphora Pilati, is an ancient apocryphal work attributed to Pontius Pilate and originally written in Greek. In it, the governor of Judea informs the Emperor in Rome about Jesus’ miracles, death sentence, crucifixion and resurrection. The tradition...

shs.hal.science

Fathers of the Church

A complete set of documents from the Fathers of the Church: saintly writers of the early centuries whom the Church recognizes as her special witnesses of the faith.

www.catholicculture.org

https://www.jstor.org/stable/1560249#:~:text=According to a recent newspaper,the fury of the Jews.

Pilate cycle - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Bob Crowley]

I don't think the "Acta Pilata" is authentic.

Gospel of Nicodemus - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

The Gospel of Nicodemus, also known as the Acts of Pilate[1] (Latin: Acta Pilati; Greek: Πράξεις Πιλάτου, translit. Praxeis Pilatou), is an apocryphal gospel claimed to have been derived from an original Hebrew work written by Nicodemus, who appears in the Gospel of John as an associate of Jesus. The title "Gospel of Nicodemus" is medieval in origin.[2] The dates of its accreted sections are uncertain, but the work in its existing form is thought to date to around the 4th or 5th century AD.[2][3]

The author was probably a Hellenistic Jew who converted to Christianity, or, as Tischendorf and Maury conclude, a Christian imbued with Judaic and Gnostic beliefs.[4

 

[The Liturgist]

I don't think the "Acta Pilata" is authentic.

Gospel of Nicodemus - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

The Ethiopian Tewahedo Orthodox, who are among the most persecuted and pious Christians in the world, who have so little and who depend on God for so much, do believe this. Indeed they venerate Pontius Pilate as a saint.

Eastern Christianity in general takes a much more positive view of Pontius Pilate than tne West. He is viewed as having played a crucial role in the economy of salvation, and many believe he converted and was martyred.

 

[stevevw]

I am not sure if this is authentic but it makes sense to me that Pilot would have written something about Jesus.

 

[David Lamb]

I am not sure if this is authentic but it makes sense to me that Pilot would have written something about Jesus.

Just to avoid possible confusion, I think you meant "Pilate."

 

[Bob Crowley]

I am not sure if this is authentic but it makes sense to me that Pilot would have written something about Jesus.

The problem is that it could have been written as "evidence" for Christianity long after Pilate had passed into history.

If that's the case, it becomes manufactured evidence.

Why Shouldn’t We Trust the Non-Canonical “Gospel of Nicodemus” or “The Acts of Pilate”? | Cold Case Christianity

This ancient non-canonical text (although attributed to Nicodemus) is a late, fictional narrative.

coldcasechristianity.com

In addition to these texts recording the supposed activity of Pontius Pilate, there also appears to have existed a hostile pagan version of the Acts of Pilate as described by Eusebius. This hostile Roman account (written around 311AD) was being used in schools under Emperor Maximinus and was disparaging of Christianity, containing a number of outrageous claims related to Jesus. Many scholars believe that the Acts of Pilate we presently have as part of The Gospel of Nicodemus was originally written in response to the hostile “heathen” account described by Eusebius, and, for this reason, scholars date the text very late in history. The first Church leader to mention this version of The Acts of Pilate was Epiphanius in approximately 376AD. It was clearly not written by Nicodemus, Pilate or anyone else who could have witnessed the contents of the book.

It would appear it may have been written as a response to a hostile pagan version "as described by Eusebius", who lived in the late 3rd and early 4th century (died 339AD). Maximinus was emperor from 235 to 238 AD, and the hostile "Acts of Pilate" would seem to date around this time.

The "Christianised" Acts of Pilate would most likely have been written during or after his reign.

 

[stevevw]

Just to avoid possible confusion, I think you meant "Pilate."

lol yes . Thankyou.

 

[AFrazier]

In The Acts of Pilate, we read about Jesus coming before Pontius Pilate and being treated as divine by the soldiers, who were allegedly imitating the crowd. The tale is quite touching and more than a little inspiring. It even borders on being believable if not for the exaggerations and misplaced facts, like the Roman ensigns (idols) bowing down to Jesus.[1] We know that Pilate once tried to bring such graven images into Judaea, and he removed them from the city after the resolute reaction of the Jews.[2] Thus, having ensigns bowing down to Jesus when there weren’t any ensigns demonstrates the tale to be spurious, ignoring, of course, the fact that the soldiers and crowd were treating Jesus as divine when we know from the gospel that they were calling him blasphemous and crying out for him to be crucified.

In another instance we have a letter allegedly written by Pontius Pilate to Tiberius following the resurrection of Christ. Tertullian, in his Apology, stated that Tiberius heard the news of Christ’s resurrection and approved of declaring him a god, but the Roman senate, over some Roman legal technicality, rejected it.[3] Eusebius, quoting Tertullian, also mentions this incident in his Ecclesiastical History.[4] While I have no doubt that such a law existed, it is worth saying that by the time of Christ’s crucifixion, Tiberius tended to get whatever he wanted. The Roman people had already come to such a pass that when Sejanus found favor with Tiberius, the people, along with the Senate, built statues and monuments to Sejanus in hopes of currying favor.[5] To put it mildly, the people took brown-nosing to a whole new level. If Tiberius firmly believed that a man had risen from the dead and performed miracles and wanted him declared a god, the senate, at that particular juncture, would not have opposed him. If it were merely a problem of procedural law, such a thing is easily enough corrected.

So, concerning your question about the letters of Pilate, they are undoubtedly spurious. They are simply inconsistent with certain facts we know to be true. Compare this to the Protoevangelium of James, where the midwife checks Mary to see if she's a virgin and her hand and arm start to melt. Or how Joseph was given the bitter waters to find out if he was lying about laying with Mary, which is not something that was applied to men. Forgers had a tendency to include their own contemporary doctrine and understanding when making their forgeries, and anyone educated enough to catch the inconsistencies can spot them for what they are.

---

[1]. Elliott ed., The Acts of Pilate, in The Apocryphal New Testament, 170-176.
[2]. Joseph. AJ 18.55-59; Philo Leg. 38.299-305.
[3]. Tert. Apol. 5.
[4]. Euseb. Hist. eccl. 2.2.1-6.
[5]. Dio Cass. 58.2.7-8, 58.4.1-4.

 

[The Liturgist]

Just to avoid possible confusion, I think you meant "Pilate."

When I was 3 or 4 and was first narrated about the Passion play, I initially assumed Pontius Pilate was an airline captain.

I also used to think God had a massive control panel like the particularly beautiful control panels of ride operators at Disneyland, from which He controlled the weather and other phenomena on Earth, with lots of buttons and analog displays.

 

[Bob Crowley]

It's a pity we grow older sometimes. I used to watch Skippy the Bush Kangaroo when I was a kid. Sonny was his young mate.

He's getting on for 70 now.

 

[prodromos]

It's a pity we grow older sometimes. I used to watch Skippy the Bush Kangaroo when I was a kid. Sonny was his young mate.

He's getting on for 70 now.

Skippy is still alive?

I want to know who it was that operated the stuffed kangaroo paws for the close-ups of Skippy untying knots, picking locks, repairing radios etc. They never got a mention in the series credits.

 

[Bob Crowley]

Mrs. Skippy?

Apparently they used 9 to 15 roos in each series.

 

[Bob Crowley]

Pontius Pilate?

 

[David Lamb]

When I was 3 or 4 and was first narrated about the Passion play, I initially assumed Pontius Pilate was an airline captain.

I also used to think God had a massive control panel like the particularly beautiful control panels of ride operators at Disneyland, from which He controlled the weather and other phenomena on Earth, with lots of buttons and analog displays.

That reminds me of a child being asked to draw a picture of Mary, Joseph and Jesus on their journey from Bethlehem to Egypt. The child drew a man, a women and a young child. The man was holding a piece of string with a dot on the trailing end. "A lovely picture," said the teacher, "but what's the dot on the end of the piece of string?" "That's the flea!" answered the child, "You told us that God told Joseph to take the young child and his mother, and flea into Egypt!"

 

[prodromos]

That reminds me of a child being asked to draw a picture of Mary, Joseph and Jesus on their journey from Bethlehem to Egypt. The child drew a man, a women and a young child. The man was holding a piece of string with a dot on the trailing end. "A lovely picture," said the teacher, "but what's the dot on the end of the piece of string?" "That's the flea!" answered the child, "You told us that God told Joseph to take the young child and his mother, and flea into Egypt!"

There was the child who thought God was named Harold. That's what he understood from the Lord's Prayer.

 

[The Liturgist]

Skippy is still alive?

I want to know who it was that operated the stuffed kangaroo paws for the close-ups of Skippy untying knots, picking locks, repairing radios etc. They never got a mention in the series credits.

I never saw that one, was it an Australian thing?

I was ten when Koala Mania happened in Japan, which resulted in two Koala themed cartoons, The Little Koala, which was mainly for really young kids, and Noozles, which was pretty good, having an exciting story arc. If I recall, it centered around Koala-ala Land, which had a fascist government of marsupials flying around in futuristic aircraft, wearing green uniforms with red triangular patches. It reminded me a bit of the Visitors from V for Vendetta, which came out a few years before.

V always amused me, because the Supreme Commander, John, looked like my favorite school principal.

 

[David Lamb]

I never saw that one, was it an Australian thing?

I think it was. Skippy was a bush kangaroo. I seem to remember that the series was also broadcast by the BBC here in the UK.

 

[Bob Crowley]

I never saw that one, was it an Australian thing?

I was ten when Koala Mania happened in Japan, which resulted in two Koala themed cartoons, The Little Koala, which was mainly for really young kids, and Noozles, which was pretty good, having an exciting story arc. If I recall, it centered around Koala-ala Land, which had a fascist government of marsupials flying around in futuristic aircraft, wearing green uniforms with red triangular patches. It reminded me a bit of the Visitors from V for Vendetta, which came out a few years before.

V always amused me, because the Supreme Commander, John, looked like my favorite school principal.

A wikipedia article on Skippy is shown here.

Skippy the Bush Kangaroo - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

This was the opening scene for each show.

The closest thing we've got to Noozles are Drop Bears.

Drop bears target tourists, study says

Drop bears are less likely to attack people with Australian accents, according to experts at the University of Tasmania.

www.australiangeographic.com.au

A Scottish journalist was tricked into wearing armour plate to ward off a "drop bear". She was actually covering the shocking bushfires in early 2020.

'Comedy gold': A UK journalist has fallen for a drop bear prank that's gone viral

When a Scottish journalist was asked if she wanted to hold an elusive Australian "drop bear" on Kangaroo Island, she jumped at the chance, bringing some much-needed laughter amid the bushfire crisis.

www.abc.net.au