A C TA P I L A TI .

I M PO R T AN T T E S T I M O N Y OFP O NT I US PI L A T E
C
RE E N TLY D I SC O V E R E D ,

B E IN G H I S O FF I C I A L RE P RT T O O TH E E MPE R R O TI B E RI US ,

C NC R NIN G
O E TH E

C RUC I FI XI ON O F C HRI S T .

E DIT E D B Y

RE V . G E O . S L UT E R,
L a te S e cr e ta r y Mi ss i o n s , Pr e sb yte r i a n S yn o d of M l S S OIl l i
'
.

S O L D O NL Y B Y SUB S C R I P TIO N .

S H E LB YV I LLE I ND ,

M . B . R OB I N S PU B L I S H E R AND PR I NT E R
, .

1 8 79 .
 C O PY R I G HT, 1 8 79,

B y G E ORG E S LUTE R .

A ll Ri ghts Re se r ve d .

T he C
e r tifi e d co py o f the o r i g i n a l te x t i s u s e d by co n tr a ct w ith the
p r o p r i e to r .
 TO A L L

who lo ve the T r u th
s e a r ch a f te r i t,

an d ar e W i ll i n g to a bi de b y i t,

C a tho lico r Pr o te s ta n t.

W i thi n or W i th o u t the Ch u r ch ,

W i th th e e a r n e s t ho p e th a t i t m a y l e a d to a

de e p an d tr ue d e vo ti o n to J e su s .

T hi s Co n tr i bu ti o n
H i s to r i ca l E vi d e n ce f o r th e D i vi n e O r i g i n of C h r i s ti a n i ty ,

is res p e ctfu lly

De d i ca te d
by
THE E D I TO R .
 T h i s 1 8 th e re i l gi o u s q u e s ti o n o f th e a ge W e I EJ OI C G
‘
in i t

an d th a n k th e i n fi de l b io gr a p h e r s o f J e su s f or h a v m g u r ge d It

”
u p o n th e yv o r i d .

PH I LIP S C HA FF D D
 PR EFACE .

My o bj e c t in p ub li s h in g thi s bo o k i s to S h o w tha t
the hi s to r ic e v i d e nc e fo r the h i s to r y c o n ta in e d i n the

G o s pe l s i s a mpl e a n d e x u n b e li e ve s d e m a n d
plici t . If r

h e a th e n te tim o ny c o n c e ni g the o i g i O f C h i s ti
s r n r n r

a n i ty h e e i t i i n abu n d a nc e
,
r s d f the cl e a ,
t k in d
an o re s .

B y g l a n cin g th o ugh th T ab l O f C o n t n t i t will b

r e e e s e

s e e n tha t the te s ti m o ny o f the Ro m a n p o c u a to

, is r r r

h e r e s u r r o u nd e d b y m a ny g e a t w r i te O f r e m o te a
r rs n

ti q u i ty .I c o u ld ha v e g i v e n s till m o e b u t th e will r , es

s u ffi c e to S h o w ho w fu ll i s the H i s to ic E vi d e n c e fo r r

C h i s ti a ni ty
r .

I t m a y p e ha p s b e n e c e s s a r y to gua r d the e a de
r r r

aga in s t s u pp o i n g th i s to b e the p u i o u o fo ge d
s s r s r r

Ac ta to w h ic h a ll u s i o n i m a d e b y m a ny w i te
,
s r rs .

T he b e s t a n d m o s t c o m pl e te e di ti o n o f th e s i tha t e s

o f Fab ici u s A A
r
( C o de p o c yp
x h s E di rti o n u ,

fu ll a n d a cc u r a te li te r a l t a n s l a ti o n m a y b e fo u n d i n
r

the 1 9th v o l u m e o f the A n te Nic e n e L i b r a r y p ub li h e d

-
,
s
6 A O T A PI L A TI .

by T . AR E di n bu gh 1 8 7 0 T h e y a c
T CL . K . r ,
. re er fl

t i ly s p u i o u
a n a n d th i nv n ti n s Of a l a te d a y
r s, e e o r .

T h e y a e fu ll o f ab s u di ti e s a n d a lm o t tte ly
r r s u r un

w o th y O f e p e c t B t th V a tic a n Co py w h ic h I
r r s . u e ,

h e r e p e e n t i s a n e n ti e ly di ff e n t p a p
r s , I ha v e r er er .

c a fu lly
re a mi n e d the Ac ta P do i M o
ex and a ra s s, r s,

E pi s to l a e Pil a ti b o th i n th L a ti n a n d G e k fo m
, e r e r s,

and I a u e the r a d e th e e i o t a li n e o t a c e o f
ss r e r r s n r r

s imil a i ty b e tw e e n th m a nd th i d o c u m e n t I t will
r e s .

s p e a k fo i ts e lf I th in k th i n t n a l e vi d e nc e i s s u c h
r . e er

as c a n n t fa il to p o d u c e c o nvic ti o n u p o n c a e fu l e
o r r x

a min a ti o n T he v e y fa c t that i t d o e n o t g iv e a ny
. r s

th i n g e w o r s in gu l a
n i in fa v o o f i ts g u i e e s r s r en n n s .

I th i
n i t di ff s n ti ly f o m the c o n te n ts o f the
s er e re r

Ap o c yp ha l w i tin g
r I t i s i n te e tin g a l so to n o ti c
r s . r s e

the ta te m e n t f Pil a t tha t he t e m b l e d w h e n J e s u

s o e, r ,
s

fo the fi t tim e n t e d hi s p
r rs e n ce w h y di d he
e er re s -

t mb le !
re Th e re w g o o d e a s o n fo i t He w as r r . as

i n the p e nc e o f the S o n o f G o d Am n g the i

r se . o n

te n a l e v i d e nc e s o f i t ge n u i n
r s I c a n no t e f a i s en e s r r n

f m c lli n g s p e ci a l a tte n ti o n to w ha t Pil a t s ay f

ro a e s O

th Re s u r e c ti o n
e H do e r ot y tha t J esu. a o e e s n sa s r s

f o m the d a d b t tha t hi s t m b wa s fo u n d e m p ty
r e ,
u o .

T he s tyl e p ro v e i t t b e the t u e Ac ta It i ot in
s o r . s n

the c o p t L a tin o f th Ap o c yp ha l Ac ta P a do s i
rr u e r ar s,
 P RE P A C E . 7

Mo rs , an d E pi s to l ae , b utgl o wi g
in the p u r e an d n

rh e to i c o f the C l a i c p e i o d o f Ro m a n Li te atu e
r ss r r r .

T he di s c o v e y o f th i l o n g lo s t te s tim o ny o f Pil a t
r s e,

a m i d the v a s t m a s s o f u n e di te d p a c h m e n ts i n the r

V a ti c a n i s c e ta in ly a n e v e n t O f
,
r t a o di n a y i m ex r r r

p o ta n c e i n the h i s to y o f the C h r i s ti a n E vid e n c e s

r r .

I w o u ld ugg e t to the r e a d e r to s t dy the te t o f

s s ,
u x

the A c ta i n the li g h t a n d wi th the a i d o f the H i to ic s r

a l a n d C i tic a l No te s T h e y c o n ta in m a tt
r .e n e ce s s ar y r

to b e u n d e s to o d a n d will ic hly r e p a y c a r e fu l p e
r ,
r s al ru .

I n d e e d th e y a e e s s e n ti a l to the c o mpl e te n e s s o f the

,
r

imp s s i o n to b e p o d u c e d b y the b o o k
re r .

I t p r e p a r a ti o n h s b e e n a o u r c e o f g r e a t pl e a s u
s a s re

a n d s ati s fa c ti o n to m e a n d th at i t m ay p o ve o f a d
,
r

v a n tag e to o th e s i s my s in c e e a n d e a r n e s t d e s i e
r ,
r r .

G S . .

S H ELB Y V I LL E I N D IANA , ,

S e p te m b e r , 1 8 7 9 .
 P AG E
I N TR D UC T I
.

O O N .

Ho w the E di to r ca m e i n to p o ss e ss i o n o f the Do cu m en t,
E n d o r s e m e n t o f th e C u s to d i a n of th e Vati c an ,
.

Thi s the mo st an c ie nt n on - bib li c a l te s ti m o n y ab ou t

C hr i s t,
I t c o m p l e te s th e c hai n O f p r o fa n e a u th Oi i ti e s i n r e
ga r d to th e p r i n ci p al e v e n ts Of 0 11 1 S avi o u r S l i fe ’
,

The es ti m a ti o n i n whi ch the Ae ta Pi la ti wa s he ld by the Ap o s to li c

Fa ther s an d E a r ly D efen der s o f C hr i s ti a n i ty,

J in M ar tyr c i te d
u st ,

A s k e tc h Of Ju sti n M a r tyr , .

u
T e r t ll i a n c i te d ,

The E mp e r o r T i b e r i u p s r o p o se s to e n ro ll J e s u s a m o n g
th e g o ds ,
aft e r re adi n g the A ct a ,

H o r n e c i te d i n r e gar d to J u s ti n a n d Te r tu lli a n ,

E u s e b i u s th e fa th e r o f C h u r c h h i s to r y c i te d
, , ,

The Fo r ger y o f the Or igi n a l by the E n e m i es f

o the C hri sti a n s

A D 31 1 ,
. .

T he O bj e c t to th i ow di S C i e di t u p n C hr is i tani ty , .

The Va lu e o f the Acta Pi la ti , oooooooo

I t w a s highly e s te e me d by th e Pr i m i ti v e C h r i s ti a n s,

I t wa s or igi n ally a S tat Pap e er of th e R o m an G o ve r n

me nt ,
 CO N T E N TS .

Lo r d B ci te d
e a co n s fi e ld ,

The V a tica n Ma n u s c r i p t Tr e asu r e s s e d u l o u sly g uar d

cd , .

Thr o u gh th in flu e nc e o f the Ac ta Pi l ati Tib e r i u s r e

e

f r a i n e d fr o m p e r s e c u tin g the C h u r c h i n i ts in fa nc y
'

I t w a s a p o w e r fu l Po l e m ic w e ap o n to the E ar ly
Ap o l o gi s ts ,

I t i s a v a l ua b l e hi s to r i c a r g u m e n t i n o u r d a y ,

I t p r e c e d e s i n d a te all o the r p r o fa n e te s ti m o ni e s co n
c e r n in g th e or igin o f C h r i stia ni ty ,

S u e to ni u s ci te d
T a c i tu s ci te d ,

Pli n y ci te d ,
Mar a ci te d ,
T he A c t a up
s i
e r or as th e te s t imo ny of o n e who saw

an d h e a r d th e S o n of G o d, .

T hi s q u i n
e st o of C h r i s t i s the q u i
e st o n o f o u r d ay
G o e th e c i te d ,

R e n a n c i te d ,

Wm C u ll e n B r yan t s
.
’
te s ti m o n y to J u es s

H i s to r ic p r o o f , 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

A C TA P ILAT I .

a
Pi l te pl ain s h i s m o tive s fo r w r i tin g to
ex th e E mp e r o r
What h e ha d h e a r d o f J e s u s ,

H o w h e o n e d ay s a w h i m a t a d i s ta n c e
W hat J e s u s ha d sai d ,

Pi l ate s in d u l ge n c e
’
,

C o mpl ain ts o f th e J e ws again st J e su s

Pi l ate h a s a n in te r vi e w , O O O O O O O O O O O O

Pi l ate s w ar ni n g ,
’

H e r o d s in te r fe r e nc e ,
’
O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

A i
r o t at th e P a ss o ve r , O O O O O O O O O O O O O
10 A UT A P I L A TI .

T he O pp o n e n ts of J u es s c o m bi n e
Th e y s e i ze h i m ,

S e n d h i m to Pi l te a
H e r o d s co u i s e
’
,

War ning b y Pi late ’

s w i fe ,
Te i r i b l e u p r o ar ,

C alm n e s s of J u es s,

F e e l i n gs o f Pi l at e

T h e E cl i p s e ,
G lo o m of c i ty
th e ,

J o s e p h o f Ar i m athe a '

T h e se p u lch r e fo u n d e mp ty ,

Tr o o p s a r r iv e to o l ate ,

H S I T OR ICA L AN D C RI T ICA L N O T E S .

a A br i e f sk e tc h of th e l i fe of a
Po n ti u s Pi l te ,
Hi s c h r c te r , aa
b A b r i e f s k e tc h o f the l i fe of the E mp e r o r Ti b e ri u s ,

Hi s c h r c te r , aa
0 a
Ap p e l to C ae s a r ,
d T he a
R e l ti o n s of th e J e w sh i G o ve r n m e n t t otheRO
m an ,
e a
Tr di ti o n al ayi s n gs of C h r i s t,
f T h e Po w e r Of L i fe an d De th , a
9 Cl a i a Pr o c u l a Pi late
ud
'

,
’
s w i fe
It G e m o ni es ,

i T he H an d Wash i ng -
,

7c Di o n ysi u s,

l Th e F i r s t H o ur ,
 Ho w TH E E D IT R C A ME I NT
O O PO SS E SS I O N OE TH E

D C UM E N T
O .

The follow i ng remarkable docu m ent l i ke

many other i nvaluable parchments that ha v e
never been p ubl i she d to the worl d ha s unti l , ,

now been l i terally concealed a mong the

,

twenty four thousand manuscrip ts i n the

-

penetralia Of the Vatican Its exi stence .

from the earl i est p eri ods Of the Chri sti an Era ,

is fam il i ar to men Of letters References to .

i t abound i n a ll profound works concern ing

the h i stori cal aspe c ts Of the argument for
the d ivine origin Of Chri sti an i ty ; e g L ar d . .

ner Horne K i tto Farrar Andrews and

, , , ,

Ti schendorf .

Many ha v e sup posed that the document

ha d i n the course Of ages been lost But
, ,
.
14 A C TA P I T 1 T ! ! .

as the Sinaiti c manus c ript of the New Tes

tament was c on c eale d fro m the worl d unt i l
1 844 when i t was brought to light by the
,

in d e fatigable z e a l O f Dr Constantine Tis c h

.

en d orf s o strange to say this important

—
, , ,

testi mony to Christ was not a c cessible until

,

about twenty years ago A le a rne d man of.

Germany not a Theologian spent some five

, ,

y ears in Rome c ons u lting the library O f the

,

Vati c an He be c ame well acquainte d with

.

the C hief c usto d ian an d enj oye d un usua l

,

liberti es He finally gaine d a cc ess even to

.

the an c ient Manus c ripts the most valuable

—

colle c tion in the world embra c ing one of ,

the ol d est c o d i c es of the Bible TO his .

surprise an d pleasure he c ame upon a c ollee

tion c alle d the Emperor Tiberius Caesar s ’

Court ; and among the strange a n d c urious

state papers here d eposite d he happen e d ,

upon the famous O ffi c i a l report O f the Pre

fe c t Pontius Pi late c on c erning the Tri a l
, ,

an d Cru c ifixion of Christ .

 [TV T R OD UC TI ON
’
. 5

A s he was not personally interested in

Theologi c al stu di es the subj e c t passe d from
,

his min d But some years afterwards he

.

c a me to the United States an d happened to ,

be the guest Of a Clergyman In the course .

Of conversation c on c erning Rome an d the

Vatic an the matter was reca le d to hi s c
,
l r e o ll

lection an d he mentioned that he had seen

,

an d rea d the Acta Pilati It seems that the

.

statement ma d e a deep i mpression upon the

m i n d Of the latter although it ha d been a o
,

c ompan i e d w ith the opin i on that i t d i d not

a dd much to the common teachings Of Chris
ti a n i ty
. Severa l months ela p sed but the ,

statement Of the l earned German clung to

the c lergyman s memory At last he could
’
.

not forbear to write to h i m in New York -

c i ty remin ding h i m Of the Acta P ilati and

, ,

aski ng whether i t would not be poss i ble to

Obtain a transcri pt o f i t from the Vati c an .

But he ha d alre a dy returned to his home in

16 A C TA P I L A TI .

hVe s tp hali a The letter was however for

.

war d e d ; and finally after mu c h d elay an , ,

ans wer came stati ng that he had written to

Father Fr e e li n hu s e n a monk Of great learn
,

i ng at Rome an d c usto d ian o f the Vati can

, ,
.

He also stated that he ha d ma d e the request

in h i s o wn name as he d id not th ink the
,

Papa l authoriti es would be willing for su c h

a document to go i nto the han d s Of the pub
l i c Father Fr e e lin hu s e n exp ressed h i mself
.

as w ill i ng to furni sh the transcri p t The .

par c hment be ing Old an d d eface d he was ,

compelle d to use a magn i fying glass i n tran

scribing i t It was in the original L atin
. .

an d a c compan i ed by the following letter :

R o m e , I ta ly, Ap r i l 26 th, 1 8 5 9 .

I he r e byf o r w a r d yo u the tr a n s cr ip t a s i t
is o n r e co r d i n the Va ti ca n i n Ti b e r i u s
C ae s a r I ce r tif y thi s to
’
s C o u r t by P i la te .

be a tr u e cop y, w o r d f or w o r d, as i t o ccu r s
”
the r e . PE T E R FB E E L I N H US E N .
18 A O TA P I L A TI .

an i mportant item in the li fe o f o u r Sa vi or .

That Caesar Augustus or d ered the whole

world to be taxe d we learn from Ta citus
, ,

Suetonius an d Dion ; that a great Light or

,

Star appeare d in the East from C ha lci diu S

,
‘

the c ruelty o f Hero d even to the point o f

,

slaughtering inno c ent c hil d ren an d putting

to d eath his o wn sons is mentione d by J O
sephus ; that Ou r Savi or ha d been in Egypt
‘

by Celsus that Pontius Pilate was Governor

O f Ju d ea by Ta c itus ; that mira c ulous c ures
, ,

and works out Of the or d inary c ourse O f

nature were wrought by Christ is d isti nctly ,

state d by Julian the Apostate Porphyry an d , ,

Hi e r o cle s ; that Jesus ma d e pre di c tions

wh ic h came to p ass a n d the earth quake an d
,
-

darkness when he d ie d by Phlegon ; and the

,

immediate c auses which le d to the cr u cifix

ion and the parti c ulars Of his trial in the
, ,

O ffi c ial report o f Pilate himself .

THE E ST I MA TI O N IN W HICH TH E ACT A PI L A TI WE R E

HE L D B Y TH E AP O ST O LI C FATH E RS AND E AR LY
DE F E N D E RS OF CH RI ST I A NI T Y
.

The early Fathers of the Chur c h deemed

this document O f the h ighest a u thori ty and
value .

Justin Martyr i n hi s first apo l ogy fo r the

,

Christians whi c h wa s presente d to the Em

,

p e r o r Antoninus P i us i n the year A D ,

1 38 . .

having menti oned the Crucifix i on of Jesus

an d some of its atten d ant ci rcumstan c es
says
An d that these things were s o done yo u ,

may know from the A cts made i n the time

”
O f Pontius Pilate .

Afterward s i n the s a me a p ology ha vi ng

, ,
20 A C TA P I L A TI .

noti c e d some O f o u r L or d s mira cles such as

’
,

healing diseases an d raising the d ea d he says ,

And that these thi ngs were done by hi m

you may know by the Acts ma d e in the time
”
of Pontius Pilate .
(Apol Prima 6.5 , ,

Justi n Martyr was born A D 89 JO . .

,
.

s e p h A d d i son says concerning him that

, ,

he res i ded ma d e converts an d suffered

, ,

martyr d om at Rom e where he was engage d

,

with Ph i losop hers an d i n a parti c ular man

,

ner wi th one Crescens the Cynic who could

, ,

easily have dete c te d an d woul d n o t have

,

faile d to expose him ha d he quoted a record

,

not i n b eing o r ma d e any false c itation o u t Of

,

it . Woul d the great A p ologi s t have chal

lenged Cres c ens to d is p ute the cause o f
Chri stianity with hi m before the Roman
,

Senate had he forge d such an ev id ence or

, ,

would Crescens ha v e refuse d the challenge ,

c ould he have tri umphe d o v er him in the de

tecti on Of such a forgery ! TO wh i ch we
 I N T RO D UC TI ON . 21

must ad d that the apology whi c h appeals to

,

thi s re c or d was presented to a learne d Em

,

r o r an d to the whole bo d y Of the Roman

p e
” ’
Senate .
(A dd ison s Evi d en c e e d ition L on ,

d on 1 7 7 6 p
, ,
.

The learne d Tertullian in hi s Apology ,

for Chri sti an ity about the year 20 0 after

, ,

speaking Of o u r Savior s cru c ifixion an d res

’

u r r e cti o n,
and his appearance to the dis c i
ples who were ordained by him to publish
,

the Gosp el over the worl d thus pro c ee d s ,

“
O f all these things relati ng to Christ ,

Pilate himsel f in h i s c onscien c e already a

,

Chri sti an sent an a cc ount to Tiberi us then ,

Emperor .

The same wri ter in the same Apology , ,

thus relates the pro c ee di ngs Of Tiberius on

re c eiving th i s i nformati on
There was an an c ient de c ree that no one
shoul d be re c eived fo r a d e i ty unless he was
first approve d by the Senate Tiberius in .
,

whose time the Christi an name [ o r religion !

 "
AC A PI L A TI .

ha d i ts rise having re c eive d from Palestine

,

in Syria a n a cc ount o f su c h things as m a ni

,

feste d the truth o f his [ Christ s ! d ivinity ’

,

propose d t the Senate th a t he shoul d be

o

enrolle d a mong the Roman go d s an d ,

gave his O wn prerogative vote in favor

o f the motion But the Senate [ . without
whose c onsent no de i fi ca ti o n c oul d t a ke
pla c e ! rej e c te d it be c ause the Emperor him
,

sel f ha d d e c line d the same honor Never .

the le s s the Emperor persiste d in his op i n i o n

, ,

a n d threatene d punishment to the a cc users

o f the Christians Sear c h your own c om
.

or publi c writings! you will there

m e n ta r i e s [ ,

fin d that Nero w a s the first who raged with

the imperial swor d against the se c t when ,
”
rising most at Rome .

The value o f the above c it a tions is wel l

expresse d in the following language O f the
learne d Horne in his Intro d u c tion to the
,
“

Criti c al Stu dy an d Kno wle dge O f the Holy

”
S c riptures vol I page 8 2 He says :
,
.
,
.

“
These testimonies O f J u sti n a n d Tertullian ,
 I A I J I O D I Y T I O IV 23
'
’ ’
.

taken from publ i c apologi es for the Chris

tian religi on whi c h were presente d either to
,

the Emperor an d Senate o f Ho m e or to m a g ,

i s tr a te s O f pub li c a u tho r i tv an d great di s

t in c tion in the Roma n emp ire No w it i . s

i n c re dible that su c h writers w ou l d ha ve m a d e

su c h appeals espe c iall y to the very persons
,

i n whose c usto d y these d o c uments w ere ha d ,

the y n o t been fully satisfie d O f their exist

en c e a n d c ontents .

The a cc ount whi c h Eusebius gi ves O f the

! e ta Pilati is very c le a r an d a ffor d s sever a l
!

parti c ulars C O n ce r n i n g the e ffe c t pro d u c e d

upon the min d of the Emperor Tiberius He .

says
The fame o f our L or d s remark a ble res
’

u r r e cti o n a n d a s c ens i on being now sprea d

abroad a c cor d ing to an an c ient c ustom prev

,

i le n t among the rulers O f the nations to ,

c ommu ni c ate novel o cc urren c es to the Em

r o r that nothing might es c ape hi m Pontius
p e , ,

Pilate transmits to Tiberius an a cc ount O f

the c ir c umstan c es c o n c erning the r e s u r r
24 A C TA P I LA TI .

ti on Of o u r L ord from the d ead the report O f ,

whi c h ha d alrea dy sprea d throughout a ll

Palestine In this a cc ount he also intimate d
.

that he ascertaine d other m i racles respect

ing him an d that n o w having ri sen from the
,

dead he wa s believe d to be a Go d by the

,

great mass o f the people Tiberius referre d

.

the matter to the Senate but it is sai d the y

,

rej ecte d the proposition apparently because

,

they had n o t examine d into thi s subj e c t first ,

accordi ng to an an c ient law among the RO

mans that n o o n e shoul d be ranke d among
,

the go d s unless by a v ote an d d e c ree Of the

Senate ; in reality however be c ause the salu
, ,

tary d octrine Of the Gospel nee d s n o co n fir

”
mation an d co Operati on o f men
-
.

Ti beri us therefore un d er whom the name

, ,

o f Chr i st wa s sprea d throughout the worl d ,

when thi s d octri ne wa s announce d to him

from Palestine where i t first began co m
, ,

m u n i ca te d wi th the Senate being Obviously

,

pleased wi th the doctrine ; but the Senate ,

as they had n o t pro p osed the measure rej e c t ,

cd i t . But he conti nued i n hi s op ini on ,

TH E FO R G RY
E OF THE O RI G IN A L B Y TH E E NE MI S
E or

TH E C HR I ST I A N S ,
A D 31 1
. . .

The authority a n d for c e of the appeals to

this d o c ument w ere felt an d a cknowle dge d
by the Heathen Opponents o f Christianity to
su c h a d egree that during the reign O f the
Emperor Maximi n A D 3 1 1 false A c ts O f
,
. .
,

Pilate w ere forge d inten d e d to c ast d is c re d it

,

u pon the Divine Foun d er O f Christianity .

an d they were d isseminate d with the utmost

a c tivity (See Milman s History o f Christi
.
’

a n it
y ,
pag e Con c erning the extent
an d bitterness to whi c h this w a s c arrie d we ,

also have the d ire c t testimony O f one who

live d at the time Eusebius says .

“
Having forge d therefore c ertain a cts
, ,
Of
 I N T R OI) UC T I ON . 7

Pilate respe c ting our Sa vi our full O f every

, ,

kin d O f blasphemy against Christ these with , ,

the c onsent O f the Emperor they sent through

,

the whole O f the Emp i re subj e c t to him com ,

man d ing at the same time by or d inan c es in

every pla c e an d c ity an d the a dj acent di s
,

tr i cts to publish these to all persons an d to

, ,

give them to the s c hoolmasters to han d to

their pupils to stu dy an d to c ommit to mem
ory as exer c ises for d e c lamati on Whilst
,
.

these things were d oing another c omman d er

, ,

whom the Romans c al l Dux i n Damas c u s

, ,

a c ity O f Phoe ni c ia c ause d c ertain i nfamous

,

females to be sei z e d from the forum and ,

threatening to in flict torture up on them he ,

for c e d them to make a formal d e c laration ,

taken d own on re c or d that they ha d on c e

,

been Christians an d that they were privy to

the c riminal a c ts a mong them : that in their
very c hur ches they commi tted li c entious
,

d ee d s ; and innumerable other slan d ers whi c h ,

he wishe d them to utter against o u r religi on ;

which d e c larations he i nserte d in the Acts
an d communi c ate d to the Emperor who im ,
28 4 O TA P I
’
LA T I .

me d iately c omman d e d that these d o c uments

”
shoul d be publishe d in every c ity a n d pla c e
.

(Eusebius E ’
cc lesiasti c a l History Book
,

c hapter 5 p a ge
,
 TH E V A LU E OF TH E ACTA PI LA T I .

The value Of the A c ta Pilati appears fro m

the fa c t that it was deeme d worthy Of being
travesti ed by the perse c utors ofthe C hri stians ;
from its d ignifie d origin in the gen eral usage
O f governments ,
an c ient and modern to r e ,

quire important O ffi ce r s to ren d er written r e

ports Of their administrations ; that it wa s
the means O f preventing the Emperor Ti be
rius from persecuti ng the Chri stian church i n
its feeble in fancy ; that it ga v e immense for c e
to the arguments Of the early Apologi s ts
that they c ould refer to the State Papers Of
the government for the tr u th O f the i r state
ments ; and besides all th i s it is p owerful
,

c ollateral se c ular proof O f the truth o f the

Gospel H i story .
30 A C T A P I L A TI .

1 From the a n c ient testimonies alrea d y

.

c ite d it is at on c e evi d ent ho w i mp o r ta n t a

,

l ce the A cta P i la ti he ld i n the e s ti m a ti o n

p a

o
f the P r i m i ti ve C hr i s ti a n s
With wh at .

i mpli c it an d ent i re c onfi d en c e Justin Ter

.

tulli a n a n d Eusebius r ely upon it !

,
It is
p rim a fa c ie evi d
‘

en c e that it w a s o ften a
p
p eale d to to b e d eeme d w orthy O f being tr a v

e s ti e d w hen the enemies an d perse c utors o f

the Christians wante d we a pons against them !

Ha d there been no su c h d o c ument it c o u l d ,

n o t h a ve been c ounterfeite d Ha d it not .

b een an important testimony it woul d n o t ,

have been forge d Both its a c tual existen c e

.

a n d its apologeti c importan c e are establishe d

by the falsifi c ation O f it d uring the perse

cu ti o n un d er M a x m n n A D 3 1 1 ,
. . .

2 . great d ignity an d for c e to th e

I t gives
A c ta Pil a ti to bear in min d tha ti t o r i gi n a te d
in the ge n e r a l u s a ge o
f g ou er n m en ts , an ci e n t

an d m o de r n , tha t i mp or ta n t fi
oi cer s ar e to
 I IV T R O D UC T I O N . 31

r en de r w r i tte n f
p
r e or ts o the ir a dm i n i s tr a
ti o n s I n o u r O w n c ountry the Presi d ent
.

s en d s his Message to Congress together ,

with the Annual Reports O f the hea d s of the

various Depa r tments Similar to this wa s
.

the c ustom in an c ient times In some su c h .

wa y originate d the Commentaries o f Julius

Caesar the letter O n r ip p a to the Emperor
,

Caligula the famo u s Epistle O f Pliny the

,

younger to the Emperor Traj an an d many ,

other d o c uments sti ll in existen c e The .

Romans were parti c ularly c are ful in pre

serving the memory O f all remarkable events
whi c h o cc urre d in their magnifi c ent d omi n
ions They ha d for this purp ose two sets
.
,

of ar c hives the A c ta Diurna Populi an d

— .

the A c ta Senatus Su c h reports were not

.
.

publishe d for general perusal but d eposite d ,

as State Papers Of the Government an d ,

serve d as a treasury O f i nvaluable resources

fo r the Annal i st an d the Hi stori an .
32 A C TA P I L A TI .

L ord B e a co n s fi e ld tells u s that the E m “

r o r s were ambitious at length to give their

p e

names to the L ibraries they foun d e d ; they

d i d not c onsi d er the purple as their c hie f o r
n am e n t . Augustus was himsel f an author ,

an d in one O f those sumptuous buil d i n gs

c alle d Thermes ornamente d with porti c oes
, ,

galleries and statues with sha d y walks an d

, ,

re freshing baths testifie d hi s love O f literature

,

by a dd ing a magnifi c ent library one O f ,

those librari es he fon d ly c alle d by the name

O f his sister Oc tavia ; an d the other the
, ,

temple O f Apollo be c ame the haunt O f the

,

poets as Hora c e Ju ve n a l an d Persius have

, , ,

c ommemor a te d The su cc essors o f Augus

.

tus imitate d his example a n d e ve n Ti b e r i u s

,

ha d an I mp er i a l li br a r y, chi ef ly co n s i s ti n g

f
o w o r ks co n ce r n i n g the E mp i r e , an d the
a cts o
f i ts S o o e r e i gn s
These Traj an au g
.

m e n te d by the Ulpian library S O de n o m i ,

”
h ate d from the family name Of this prin c e .

(Curiosities Of L iterature page ,

34 A C TA P I L AT I .

is Of great interest an d importan c e We .

kno w from authenti c sour c es that he was O f

a d ark an d broo d ing c hara c ter though pos ,

sesse d O f great intelle c t He was full O f

.

envy an d suspi c ion an d easily arouse d to

,

a c ts O f c ruelty His administration is d ark

.

ene d by many a c ts O f inj usti c e It is ve r v .

strange that he wa s not foremost among the

perse c utors o f the Chur c h But instea d O f
.

this we fin d a remark a ble c lemen c y an d

mo d eration towar d s the d is c iples O f Jesus in
his reign It was then that the Christian
.

Chur c h ha d the Opportunity to begin to grow .

The Gospel was not nipped i n the bu d but ,

ha d free course an d was sprea d abroa d In .

’
the profoun d impression pro du c e d by Pilate s
writing we have the link in the chain O f
,

Divine Provi d en c e that brought about this

most d esirable result .

4O ne c an easily imagine What power it

.

gave to the early d e fen d ers O f Christian i ty ,

 [J V T R OD UC TI ON . 35

tha t the y co u ld ap p ea l f o r the tr u th of the i r

s ta te m e n ts to the S ta te p f a
p er s o the Rom a n
E mp i r e They c laime d that the O ffi c i al do c
.

u m e n ts o f the C i vil Government confirme d

the assertions they ma d e i n regar d to Christ .

A better argument coul d not be imagi ne d .

It makes the point; It proves that these

th ings whi c h the Gospel narrates are n o t
c unni n gly d evise d fables an d that they we r e
,

not done in a c orner ; but that those best

c ompetent to d o so were c hallenged at the
time when they o cc urred to deny them but ,

were c ompelle d to a d mit them as actual

fa c ts .

5 It i s a powerful argument fo r the truth

.

of the G ospel an d from an entire l y un i que

,

and independent stan d point It i s n o t from

-
.

the pen O f a Christian Ap ologist b u t from ,

the pen Of a Heathen It wa s wr itten fo r

.

a purely secular purpose ; and yet i t i s for ,

all that s o m uch the more useful a s a weapon

,
36 A C TA P I L A TI .

in d efense Of Christianity It is not an ar

u m e n t from a believer stating the reasons
g ,

o f the hope that is in him but merely an ,

o ffi c ial report from an army O ffi c er to his

superior exp laining why he ha d a c te d as he
,

ha d d one un d er the pe c u liar c ir c umstan c es

,

whi ch he explains Its general bur d en an d

.

tone shows this to have been the only aim

o f the writer I t is in d ee d replete with
.

weighty testimony to J esus ; but that is i n

ci de n ta l an d in no sense the main purpose O f

the writer I t is not an argument to prove

.

the resurre c tion o f Chri st or any other vital

,

point ; nor d oes he mention any important

a dd itional fa c t in whi ch a believer in the
Gospel woul d be likely to be intereste d An d .

yet it d oes c ontain statements that d o throw

light upon the Gospel narrative an d that ,

corroborate an d explain it We m a yw e ll
.
,

the r ef o r e cla i m tha t w e ha ve he r e a p o w e r

,

u l co lla te r a l s e cu la r h r u th o
f p r oo
f fo t e t f
the G o sp e l H i s to r y .
 I N T R OD UC TI ON . 37

6 We have before u s therefore i n the

.
, ,

present vol ume the m o s t a n ci e n t of a ll the

,

s e cu la r tes ti m o n i e s to the N e w Te s ta m en t .

The Roman hi stori an Sueton i us who flo u r , ,

i s he d i n the re i gn Of the Em p eror Traj an ,

'

A D 1 1 6 refers to Chr i st when he sa y s that

. .
,

Cl audius C aesar expell ed the Jews from

Rome because they ra i sed conti nual tumults
,

”
at the i nstigati on Of Chri st who i t i s w ell ,

known wa s someti mes cal l ed C hr e stu s and ,

hi s d i sc i ples C hr e s ti a n s (Sueton i us i n Cl au
di o ca p
,
. The e vent refe r red to occu r
red i h the year A D 5 2 wi th i n tw enty ye a rs
. .
,

a fter the Cruc i fix i on Tac i tus who flo u ri sh .

,

ed under Traj an A D 1 1 0 wri ti ng the ,

. .
,

hi story Of Nero the suc c essor Of C l aud ius

, ,

A D 64 says o f the Chr i sti ans the author

. .
,
“
,

o f that sect o r name wa s C hr e s tu s who in ,

the re ign Of Ti beri us wa s p un i shed wi th death

as a cri m i na l b y the Procurator Pon ti u s
,
”
Pil ate (Tac i t Ann a l li ber XV , ca p
, . . . .
38 A C TA P I LA TI .

Pliny the younger in A D 1 0 7 says th a t, . .

,

Jesus was worshipe d by his followers as Go d .

(Pli n Epist
. lib X e
p 9 7 tom
. II
. p .
,
.
,
.

T heA c ta Pilati ante dates all these a n d ,

c omes e a rlier even than the Syria c L etter o f

Mara a dd resse d to his son S e r a p e o n A D
, . .

73 . Mara a man thoroughly verse d in

,

Greek Philosophy but not satisfie d with the

,

c onsolations it O ffere d writes from his pla c e,

o f exile a letter O f c om fort an d instru c tion

,

to his son in whic h he ranks Christ along

,

with So c rates an d Pythagoras ; he honors

him as a wise king ; he c harges the Jews with
his mur d er ; d e c lares that thereby they ha d
brou ght upon themselves the d estru c tion o f
their c ommonwealth but that Christ co n ,

tinne d to live in the new law whi c h he ha d

given (Cureton S p i cil Syri a c um L on d on
.
,
.
,

Weighty an d important as these testi

monies are we yet c l a im for the A c t a Pilati
,
 I IV! R OD C C T I 0 1V
’
. 39

a still higher pos ition It has the a d vantage o f

.

priority ; was probably c ompose d in the very

year O f the Cr u cifixion and i s the utterance ,

of an e ye witness to the momentous events

-

it re c ords Pilate s report has a ll the mor e

.
’

value to u s in that it i s in no sense i ntende d

,

to be in the interest O f Jesus but that its ,

original design was hi s o wn d efence aga i nst

p ossible a cc usation of maladmin i stration .

7 .This splen d i d d ocument has thus been

res cue d from the corroding tooth O f time ,

an d from the accumulating d ust O f ages It . .

has d oubtless like the Holy Scri ptures them

,

selves suffere d many vi c issitudes As it is

, .

a cur i ous c ircumstan c e in literary history

that we should o we Tac i tus to a single copy
found in a monastery Of Westphalia s o i t is ,

strange that the world should n o w receive the

Acta P i lati from a single O l d an d d eface d
c opy in the Vatican Thus the la p se o f .

c enturies like the tid es and storm s Of oceans

, ,
40 A C T A P I L A TI .

has doubtless swept into Obli vion many great .

an d stupen d ous events Of history ; but ever

an d anon borne up upon its bosom from o u t ,

the d ark vast depths long hid d en treasures .

fresh as o n the morn i ng Of the i r birth an d ,

bri lliant as the beams Of the stars that shone

o n nature s d awn
’
.

T th i v yu g h w v
ru s e ld
er o n ,
o e er o ,
’
Ti sv e r n e w a s w he n fi r st to l d ;
e

I ts fr a g r a n c e fr e s h a s the n e w m o u ld
F r o m w h i c h th e fi r s t yo u n g flo w e r s u n fo l d .

Truth shal l outli v e all the baneful p lants o f

error O ut o f hid d en see d s o f truth d ug
.
,
'

from the hoary pyram id s Of ti me that fl ing ,

the i r sha d ows over the immeasurable wastes

Of s i n s Sahara shall grow flowery oases
’
,

ami d the fiery san d s — an d blossom i nto goo d

,

fo r man !
We p rint this book as the testimony Of a
Heathen o n e who knew not the true G o d
, ,

bu t o n e w ho saw an f d he a r d the S o n o G od
It has been kept by the same han d s through ,

wh i ch the Sacred O ra c les themsel v es have

42 A C TA P I L ATI .

d eath than during thy passage here below ,

thou shalt be c ome the c o rner stone O f hu -

manity so entirely that to tear thy name

, .

from this worl d woul d be to ren d it to its

”
fo u n d ations .An d William Cullen Bryan t ,

in the same strain b u t with still greater

,

beauty O f expression an d d epth Of feeling :

This c hara c ter Of whi c h Christ was the

“
,

perfe c t mo d el is in itsel f so attra c tive so

,
‘
altogether lovely that I c annot d es c ribe
,
’

in language the a dmiration with whi c h I r e

gar d it ; nor can I express the gratitu d e I
feel for the d ispensation whi c h bestowe d that
example on mankin d for the truths whi c h he
,

taught an d the sufferings he en d ure d for our

sakes I tremble to think what the worl d
.

woul d be without Him Take away the .

blessings Of the a d vent of hi s li fe an d the

blessings pur c hase d by his d eath in what ,

an abyss O f guilt woul d man have been le ft !

It woul d seem to be blotting the s u n out O f
the heavens— to leave our system of worl d s
in chaos frost an d d arkness
, ,
.
 I N T R O D UC T I O N . 43

In my vie w o f the l i fe the tea c hings the

, ,

labors an d the sufferi ngs Ofthe blessed Jesus

, ,

there c an be no admirati on tO O profoun d n o ,

love o f whi c h the human heart i s capable ,

to o warm no grat i tu d e to o earnest and d eep

,

of whi c h he i s j ustly the Obj e c t It is w i th .

sorrow that my l ove for hi m i s s o c ol d and ,

my gratitu d e s o inadequate It i s with s o r .

r o w that I see any attempt to put as i de Hi s

’
tea c hings as a d elus i on to turn men s eyes
,

from hi s example to meet with doubt and

,

d enial the story O f his life Fo r my p art i f .

,

I thought the religion of skepti c ism were to

gather strength an d prevail and become the
d ominant View o f manki n d I should despa i r ,

of the fate Of mankin d in the years that are

o n the Re
yet to c ome (
.Al d en Thoughts ,

ligious Life with Introdu c t i on by N

, V Cullen .

Bryant N Y Putnam
. . .
,

In the elu c i d ati on Of this questi on o f ques

tions the most imp ortant p hase i s the hi sto r
,

i c al aspect The a c tual fact Of the Life and

.

Death Of Jesus i s j ust a s c a p able o f h i stori c

ev id ence as any other event Of hi story .
44 A C T A P I L A TI .

In thi s directi on the present volume i s d es

tined to accomplish a great miss i on Unbe .

li e ve r s deman d heathen testimony c on c erning

the contents O f the books o f the New Testa
ment Here i t i s i n abundance The K i ng
. .

an d Congresses an d Governments Of N a
l

—
tions shall know despite all that skepti c al
sc i enti sts phi losophers an d critic s have done
, ,

or can d o that i n the s p lendor O f the Au

,
—

gustan age there came O ne whose name shal l

,

outshine all the pomp and gl ory Of worldly

po w er and tri umph an d to whom all the
—

nati ons Of the world not i n mockery but i n

,

worshi p shall bend the knee and crown -

wi th a d i ade m n o t Of thorns but Of praise

,

and gratitude the L ord Of L ords and K ing

—

of K i ngs
.
 Th e r e f e r e n ce s i n d i ca te d b y the ll l e tte r s th r o u gho u t the te x t o f
sm a

th e A cta p o i n t to th e N OTE S i n wh i ch w i ll b e fo u n d a ll the p r i n ci p a l

, ,

h i s to r i ca l a n d cr i ti ca l i n fo r m a ti o n n e ce ss a r y to i ts a pp r e ci a ti ve a n d
e n j o y abl e p e r u s a l .
 P O N T I US PI L AT E to the E MPE R O R T I B E
a

B r u s ; Greet i ng : Recent e v ents i n my p rov

h

i nce ha ve bee n o f such a cha racter that I

,

thought I wou ld gi ve the deta il s as they

ha ve occurred as I should not be s u rp r i sed
,

i f i n the course Of t im e the y m ay change

the destiny o f o u r nat i on f or i t seems o f late
,

that the gods have ceased to be p ro piti ous .

I a m a l m ost re a dy to s a y: Cursed be the

day that I succeeded Va l eri us Gratus i n the
go v ernm ent o f Judea O n my arri va l at
.
.

Jerusa l e m I took p ossess i on Of the Pretor i um

and ordered a spl end i d feast to be p re p ared ,

to which I i nvi ted the tetrarch Of Gali lee ,

with the h igh Pri ests a n d h i s O ffi cers At.

48 A C TA PI L A T I .

the a p po inted hour no guests a p peare d .

Th i s was an insult Offered to my dignity A .

few d ays after the high pri est d eigned to

,

pay me a v i s i t His deportment was grave

.

and dece i tful He preten d e d that his religion

.

forbade h i m and h i s attendants to si t down

at the table o f the Romans and to Offer up
l i bati ons w ith them I thought i t expedient
.

to acce p t h i s excuse but from that moment

,

I wa s conv inced that the conqu ered had de

cla r e d themselves the enem i es of the co n

q ue rors It see
. m ed to m e o f all conquered
c iti es Jerusal em w a s the most di ffi cult to
,

govern S o turbulent were the people that

.
.

I li ved i n momentary dread o f an in s u r r e c

ti on To supp ress i t I had but a sin gle cen
.

turi an and a han df ul o f sol d iers I requested .

a re inforcement from the Prefect o f Syri a ,

who i nformed me that he ha d scarcely troo p s

suffici ent to defend his o wn pro vi nce An .

—
i nsati ate thirst fo r conquest to extend o u r
50 A C TA P I LA TI .

those who were listening to him H i s gol d en .

colored hair and bear d gave to his ap p earan c e

a celestial aspect He appeare d to be about
.

thirty years o f a ge Never have I seen a

.

sweeter o r more serene c ountenance What .

.

a contrast between hi m and his hearers w i th ,

their black bear d s and tawny c omplexion .

Unwilling to interrupt him by my presen c e ,

I c ontinued my wal k ; but signified to my

se c retary to j oi n the group and listen My .

’
se c retary s name was Manl ius He was .

the gra n d son Of the ch i ef Of the consp i rators

who en c ampe d in Etruri a waiting Cataline .

M a nlius was an an ci ent inhabitant o f Ju d ea ,

an d wel l a c quainte d with the Hebrew lan

g u age He a s d evoted to me and worthy
.
r
,

o f my confi d en c e O n e ntering the Preto

.

r i u m I found Manlius w ho related to m e the

,

wor d s Jesus had pron ounce d at Siloe Never .

have I hear d in the Pe tti co nor i n the ,

works Of the philosophers anything that

can c ompare to the maxims O f Jesus .
 A C TA P I L A TI . 51

O ne o f the rebell i ous Jews so numerous

in Jerusalem hav ing asked hi m i f i t wa s
,

l a wful to gi ve tri bute to C aesar Jesus r e ,

pl i ed : Render unto Cae sar the th i ngs which

be l ong to Caesar and unto G o d the th ings
,

”
’
that are God s .It wa s o n a c count o f
the wisdom o f thi s say ing that I granted s o
,

much l i berty to the Nazarene fo r i t w as i n ,

my power to have hi m arrested and ex iled to

Pontus ; but th i s would ha v e been contrary
to the j usti c e whi c h ha s always characterized

the Romans Th i s man w a s ne i ther sed iti ous

.

n o r rebe lli ous

. I extended to hi m my p r o
te cti o n un kn own perha p s to h i msel f
, He .

w a s at li berty to act to speak to assemble

, ,

and address the peopl e to choose di sc ip les

,

unrestra i ned by an y Pretor i an m andate .

—
Shoul d it e v er happ en may the gods e v er
—
a v ert the omen shoul d i t e v er ha p pen I s a y , ,

that the rel i gi on o f o u r forefathers be su p

p lanted by the rel igi on Of Jesus i t will be to ,
52 A O T A P I L A TI .

thi s noble toleration that Rome shall o we her

premature Obsequi es ; while I miserable ,

wret c h sha l l have been the i nstrument o f

,

what the Hebrews cal l prov id ence an d w e , ,

destiny .

But this unl im ited freedom granted to

Jesus provoked the Je ws ; n o t the p o or b u t ,

the ri ch and powerful It i s true that Jesus

.

was se v ere on the latter ; and thi s wa s a

p olitical reason i n my o pinion n o t to c ontrol
, ,

the liberty of the Na z arene Scribes an d

.

”
Pha r as e e s he would s a y to them yo u are
, ,

a race o f v ip ers yo u resemble pa i nted s e p u l

’
c hres. At other ti mes he would sneer at
the p roud al ms Of the publ i can telling him ,

that the m i te o f the poor w i do w wa s more

prec i ous i n the s ight o f G o d .

New compl a i nts were da i ly made at the

Pretor i um again st the i nsolence o f Jesus I .

was e v en i nform ed that some misfortune

would befall him— that i t woul d n o t be the
 A C TA P I L A TI . 3

first ti me that Jerusalem had stoned those

—
who cal l ed themse l ves p rophets and i f the
Pretorium refused j ustic e an a pp eal would "
be ma d e to Caesar Howe v er my conduct
.
,

wa s a pp ro v e d by the Senate and I was ,

prom i sed a re i nforcement after the term i

nati on O f the Parth i an war Being to o weak
.

to sup p ress a sed i t i on I resol v ed u p on ado p t

,

i ng a m easure that p rom i sed to establ i sh the

tranqu ili ty o f the c i ty without subj ecting
,

the Pretorium to hu m ila ti n g concess i on .

I wrote to Jesus requesti ng an i ntervi e w

,

wi th h i m at the Pretorium Y o u k no w that

.

i n my v e i ns flo w s the Sp an i sh m i xed w ith ,

the Roman b l ood as i n c a p ab l e Of fear as i t

,

i s o f p ueril e emot i on When the Nazarene

.

m a de hi s app earance I w as w alk i ng i n my

bas i lic and my feet see m ed fastened wi th an
,

i ron hand to the m arb l e p a v ement and I ,

tremb l ed i n every l i mb as a gui lty cul p r it ,

though he w as ca l m— the Nazarene calm a s ,

54 A C TA P I L A TI .

inno c ence W Vhe n he came up to me he

.

stoppe d an d by a signal sign he seeme d to

,

s a y to me I a m here
,
For some time I ,

contemplated w i th adm i ration an d a w e this

—
extraor d inary type o f man a type of man
unkn own to our numerous p ainters who ,

h a ve given form and figure to all the gods

and heroes .

” —
“
Jesus I sai d to him at last and my
,

tongue faltere d Jesus of Na z areth I ,

have granted you fo r the last three years

ample free d om of speech nor d o I regret
,

it Your wor d s are those of a sage I

. .

know not whether yo u have read Socrates

or Plato but this I kn o w that there i s i n
, ,

your discourses a m aj esti c simplicity that

ele v ates you far above these p hi lo s o
p h e rs
. The Em p eror i s i nform e d O f it and ,

I hi s humble re p resentativ e i n thi s country

, ,

am glad Of ha v ing allowed yo u that liberty

of which yo u are s o w orthy Ho w e v er I .
,
 A C TA P I L A TI . 55

must not con c eal from yo u that your dis

courses have raise d up aga i nst yo u p owerful
and i nveterate enemies Neither i s th i s s u r
.

pri s i ng Socrates ha d hi s enem i es and he

.
,

fell a v i ctim o f the i r hatred Yours are doubly

.

incensed against yo u o n account Of y our

,

say ings aga i nst them and o n account Of the

,

l i berty extended towards yo u They e v en .

accused m e Of being i ndirectl y league d wi th

o u fo r the purp ose o f d e p r i v i n g the Hebrews
y ,

Of the li ttle c i v i l p ower wh i ch Ro m e has left

h .
—
t em d My request I do n o t s a ymy order
i s that yo u be more c i rcumspect i n the future
, ,

and more tender in arous i ng the p r i de o f

your enemies lest they ra i se aga i nst yo u the
,

stupi d p op ul ace and compe l me to emp loy

,

the instru ments o f j usti ce .

The Nazarene calml y re pli ed Pri nce

o f the earth your words p roceed n o t fro m
,

true wi sdom .
e
Say to the torrent stop i n the ,

mi dst o f the m ounta i n ho m e because i t ,

56 A C TA P I L A TI .

w i ll up root the trees Of the v alley The .

torrent w i ll answer yo u that i t must ,

Obey the laws o f the Creator G o d alone .

knows whi ther flo ws the torrent Verily I .

,

s a y unto yo u before the Rose o f Sharon

,

”
blossoms the bloo d o f the j ust sha ll be s pi lt
, .

“
Your bloo d shall n o t be sp ilt repl i ed I ,

wi th emoti on “
Y o u are more precious i n
.
,

my estimati on o n account o f your w i sdom

, ,

than a l l the turbulent and proud Phari sees ,

who abuse the freedom grante d them by the

Romans conspi re aga inst C aesar and co n
, ,

strue Ou r bounty i nto fear Insolent wretches.

,

they are not aware that the wolf o f the T i ber

so m etimes c l othes hi mself w i th the sk i n Of
the shee p I will protect yo u aga i nst them
. .

My Pretorium i s Op en to yo u a s an asy l um ;
”
i t is a sacred asylum .

Jesus careless l y shook hi s head and said , ,

with a grace and a di vi ne sm i le When the

“
,

day shall ha v e com e there will be n o as ylum

,
58 A C T A PI L A TI .

way Restrain therefore your worl d ly pru

.
,

d ence It i s n o t in your power to arrest the

.

v i c tim at the foot o f the Taberna c le of ex

”
piati on .

S O say i ng he disa pp eared like a bri ght

,

shadow behind the curta i ns Of the basil i c .

To Hero d who then re i gned i n Galilee the

, ,

ene mies o f Jesus a d dresse d themselves to ,

wreak their vengeance o n the N a zarene .

Ha d Hero d c onsulte d his own inclinati on he ,

woul d have ordered Jesus imme di ately to be

put to death ; but though prou d o f his royal
,

dignity yet he was afrai d o f committing an

,

act that might di m i ni sh h i s in fluence with

the Senate Hero d calle d o n me o n e d ay at
.

the Pretorium and o n ris i ng to take lea v e

, ,

after some insign i ficant conversati on he ,

aske d me what was my Op i nion c oncerni ng

the Nazarene I replie d that Jesus appear
.

e d to be o n e o f those great philoso p hers that

great nations sometimes p ro d uce that his ,
 A C TA P I LA TI . 59

doctrines are by no means s acril egi ous a n d ,

that the intention Of Rome was to l ea v e hi m

to that freedom o f s p eech wh i ch w as j usti
fi e d by hi s actions Herod smi led m ali c i ous
.

ly an d saluting me w i th an i ron i ca l res p ect

, ,

he d e p arted .

The great feast o f the Jews wa s a p proach

i ng and the i ntenti on was to a v ai l the m
,

sel ves Of the popular exultati on wh ic h a lw ays

manifests i tsel f at the solemn i ti es o f a p ass
O v er .The c i ty w as o v erflo wi ng wi th a
tumul tuous po p ulace clamoring for the death
of the Na z arene My em i ssari es i nformed
.

me that the treasure of the Temp l e had been

employed i n bri b i ng the peopl e The danger .

wa s p ress i ng A Roman centuri on had

.

been i nsulted I wrote to the p refect Of

.

Syri a fo r a hundred foot soldi ers and a s ,

many c a v a l ry He decli ned I s a w myself

. .

alone wi th a handful o f v eterans i n the m i dst

, ,

o f a rebe lli ous c i ty to o weak to,

supp ress a
60 A C TA P I LA TI .

disorder and having n o other c hoice left b u t

,

to tolerate i t They ha d sei z ed upon Jesus ;

.

and the se di ti ous rabble although they ha d

,

nothing to fear from the Pretori um believing ,

w ith the i r lea d ers that I winke d at their s e

di ti on continue d v ociferating
,
Crucify ,

h i m ! cruc i fy him Three powerful parties

had co mbined together at that time against
Jesus F irst the Herodians an d the Sa d
.
,

du ce e s whose sed i ti ous con d uct seeme d to

,

ha v e proceeded from double motives They .

hated the Nazarene and w ere imp ati ent o f

,

the Rom a n yoke They coul d never forgi ve

.

me fo r ha vi ng entere d the holy ci ty with

banners that bore the image Of the Roman
Emp eror and although in this instance I
, ,

ha d com mi tted a fatal error yet the sacrilege

,

did n o t ap pear less heinous in their eyes .

Another gri e v ance also rankled in the i r

, ,

bosom s I h a d p roposed to employ a part

.

o f the treasure o f the Temple in erecti ng

 A C TA P I L A TI . 61

e di fi c es o f p ublic util i ty My p rop osa l wa s

.

s c owled at The Phari sees w ere the a v owed

.

enem i es Of Jesus They cared n o t fo r the

.

go v ernment They bore w i th b i tterness the

.

se v ere re p ri mands whi ch the Nazarene fo r

three years had been conti nually thro win g
out aga i nst them w here v er he w ent TO O .

weak and p usi l lan i mous to act by themse lv es ,

they had embraced the quarrel s o f the Hero

di ans and the Sadducees Bes i des these .

three parti es I had to contend aga i nst the

,

reckl ess and p r o fi iga te p opul ace a lw ays ,

ready to j o in a sed iti on and to p rofit b y the

,

di sorder and confus i on that resul ted there

fro m .

Jesus w as dragged before the high p ri est

and condemned to death It w as then that .

the high pri est Ca i a phas p erform ed a der i

, ,

sory act Of submi ss i on He sent hi s p r i soner

.

to me to p ronounce hi s condemnati on and ,

f
secure h i s executi on I ans w ered him th a t ,
62 A C TA P I L A T I .

as Jesus was a Gal i lean the affa i r ca m e i n

,
’
Herod s j uri s di ction and ordered him to b e
,

sent hi ther The wil y tetrarch professed hu

.

m i lity and p rotestin g hi s p reference to the

,

Li eutenant o f C ae sar he comm i tted the

,

fate o f the m an to my hands Soon my .

palace assum ed the asp ect o f a bes i eged

c i tadel E v ery m oment i ncrease d the num
.

ber o f the sed i ti on i sts Jerusale m wa s ih

.

undated w i th crowds from the mountains o f

Nazareth A l l J u dea a pp eared to be p our
.

ing i nto the de v oted c i ty I had taken a .

g— —
wife a g i rl from among the Gauls who
—
p rofessed to s e e i nto futuri ty w eep i ng an d
thro wi ng hersel f at my feet Be w are sa id ,

she to m e be w are and touch n o t that

, ,

m an fo r he i s holy L ast n i ght I s a w hi m

,

in a vi s i on He wa s w a l ki ng o n the w aters
. .

He was flying o n the wi ngs o f the wi nds .

He spoke to the te mp est and to the fishes o f

,

—
the l a ke all w ere obedi ent to him Behol d ! .
 A C TA P I L A TI . 63

the torrent i n Mount Kedron flows w ith

b l ood the statues o f C aesar are fil led w i th
,

G e m o n i a e the co l umns o f the I n te r i um ha v e

h
,

g i ven a w ay and
,
the s u n i s v e i led i n m ourn

i ng l i ke a v estal i n the to m b O P il ate !

,
.

e vi l a w a i ts thee i f thou w i lt n o t li sten to the

v o w s o f thy w i fe Dread the curse o f a
”
Roman Senate dread the p o w ers o f Caesar
, .

By thi s tim e the marble sta i rs groaned

under the we ight o f the mul ti tude The .

Nazarene wa s brought back to m e I p r o .

ce e de d to the hall o f j ust i ce fol l o w ed by m y

,

gu ard and asked the p eop le i n a se v ere tone

, , ,

what the y de m anded .The death o f the

”
Nazarene , wa s the re ply .Fo r w hat
”
cri me ! He ha s blas p he m ed He ha s .

p rophes i ed the rui n o f the Templ e He ca ll s .

hi msel f the S o n o f G o d the Mess i ah the

, ,
” ”
K i ng o f the Je w s .Ro m an j ustice sa i d ,

I pun i shes n o t such offenses wi th death

,
“
.

”
Cruc i fy hi m cruc i fy h im ! be l ched forth
,
64 A C T A PI LA T I .

the relentless rabble The vo c iferations o f

.

the i nfuriate d mob shook the pala c e to its

foun d ations There was but o n e who a p
.

p e a r e d to be calm in the mi d st o f the vast

multitu d e It was the Na z arene After
many fruitless attemp ts to p rotect him from
thi s fury Of h i s merciless perse c utors I ,

a d opted a measure wh i ch at the moment , ,

appeared to me to be the only o n e that coul d

save his l i fe I ordere d him to be scourge d
.
,

then calling for an ewer I washe d my han d s

,
i

i n the presen c e o f the multitu d e thereby ,

sign i fy i ng to them my disapprova l o f the

d eed But i n v ain It wa s hi s life that these
. .

wr etches th i rste d for O ften i n o u r c i vil

.

commotions have I witnesse d the fu r i ous

an i mos ity of the multi tu d e but nothing coul d
,

be com p ared to what I witnesse d in the pres

ent i nstance It m ight hav e been trul y sai d
.
,

that o n th i s oc c asion all the phantoms of the

i nfernal regi ons ha d assemble d at Jerusalem .
66 A C TA P I LA TI .

centuri on to di splay a shadow o f power wa s

, ,

en d ea v ori ng to keep or d er I wa s left alone

.
,

and my break i ng heart a d monished me that

what was pass i ng at that moment a p pertaine d
rather to the h i story o f the go d s than that o f
man A l oud c lamor was heard pro c ee ding
.

from G olgotha whi ch borne o n the wi n d s

, , ,

seeme d to announce an agony such as ha d

ne v er been hear d by mortal ears Dark .

clouds l owered over the p in na c le o f the temp le ,

and settling o v er the c ity covered it with a

, ,

ve il S o dreadful were the s igns that were

.

seen both i n the heavens and o n the earth ,

that D i onys i us the Ar e o p a gite i s reporte d

,
k
,

to ha v e exclai me d “
E i ther the author o f
,

nature is suffering o r the un iv erse i s falling

,

”
a p art .

Towards the first hour o f the n ight l I thr o w ,

my m antle around me an d went down i nto

the city toward the gates o f Golgotha The
,
.

sacri fice wa s consumm ated The crowd wa s .

 A C TA P I L A TI . 67

return i ng home ; stil l a gi tated i t i s true ; but,

gloomy tac i turn and desperate What the y

,
.

had w i tnessed had str i cken them wi th terror

and remorse I also s a w my li ttl e Rom a n
cohort pass by m ournful ly the standard ,

bearer ha ving v e il ed hi s eagl e i n token o f

gri ef and I o v erheard some o f the sol di ers
,

murmuri ng strange words w hi ch I d i d n o t ,

-

understand O thers w ere recoun ting p rod

.

igi e s almost s i m il a r to those w h i ch ha d s o

often sm i tten the Ro m ans by the will o f the
gods So m etim e s group s o f m en and w omen
.

would ha l t then looki ng back w ard to w a rd s

,

Gol gotha w ould rema i n m oti onl ess i n

, ,

e xp ectati on o f witness i ng some n e w p rod igy .

I returned to the Pretor i um s a d and p en ,

—
s iv e O n a scendi ng the sta i r s the step s o f
.

wh i ch w ere sti l l sta i ned wi th the b l ood o f the

N a z a r e n e — I p erce iv ed an o ld m a n i n a su p
pli ant p ostu re and beh i nd h im se v er a l w om en
,

i n tears He thre w him sel f a t my feet a n d

.
68 A O TA P I L A TI .

w ept b i tterly It is pa in ful to see an ol d

.

man weep .

Father sa id I to him mil d ly who are

, ,

”
you an d what is your request !
I am Joseph of Arimathea rep lie d he , ,

and am come to beg Of you upon my knees , ,

”
the permission to bury Jesus of Nazareth .

”
“
Your prayer is grante d sa id I to hi m
, ,

and at the same ti me or d ere d Manlius to take

some soldiers with him to superi nte n d the
interment lest i t should be profane d
, .

A few d ays after the sepulchre was found

,

e mp ty Hi s di s c iples p ubl i shed all over the

.

country that Jesus had risen from the d ea d ,

as he had foretold A last duty remained

.

fo r me to perform and that w as to communi

,

c ate to yo u these deplorable events I did .

it on the same night that followed the fatal

c atastrophe and had j ust finished the co m
,

m u n i ca ti o n w hen d ay began to dawn At .

that moment the sound of c lar i ons playing

 A C TA P I LA TI . 69

the a i r o f Dia n a stru c k my ear C a sting

,
.

my eye towar d s the Caesarean g a te 1 behel d

.

a troop of sol di ers ,

an d hear d a t a d istance
other trumpets sounding C aesar s m a r c h I t ’
.

wa s the re i nfor c ement that ha d been promis

e d me Two thousan d C hosen troops who
.
,

to hasten thei r arrival ha d mar c he d all n ight

,
.

It has been de c ree d b v the fa tes c rie d I

wringing my han d s t hat the gre a t iniquity
“
,

should be acco mp lishe d ; th a t fo r the pur

pose o f a v erting the d ee d s o f yesterday ,

troops shoul d arr i ve to d ay ! Crue l d estiny

-
,

how thou sp o r te s t with the a ffa i rs o f m o r

”
tals ! It w as but too true what the Naza ,

rene exc l a i med while writh i ng o n the cross

”
All i s consummated .
74 A O T A P I L A TI .

who was cap itally punished in the reign O f

T iberi us by Pontius Pilate .

Pilate was the successor Of Valer i us Gra

tus an d governed Judea in the re ign o f
, ,

T i beri us He hel d his o ffi ce fo r a p eri od Of

.

ten years The agr eement o n this p oint b e

.

tween the ac c o u nts i h the New Testament

a n d those suppl i e d by Josephus i s entire an d ,

satisfa c tory It has been exhi b i ted in d eta i l

.

by the learne d a cc urate an d candi d L ardner ,

(V o l I 1 5 0 3 8 9 L ond
.
,
-
, .

’
Pilate s con duct i n hi s o ffi c e was i n many ,

res p e c ts highly c ulpab l e Jose phus ha s r e

, .

corde d two i nstances i n whi ch Pilate a c ted

very tyranni c ally (Anti q XVIII : 3 I ; comp .
,
.

De Be l l Jud II : 9 2 s q ) i n regard to the

. .
, ,
.

Jews “
.But now Pil ate the Procurator o f ,

Judea removed the army from Cae sarea to

,

Jerusalem to take the i r w i nter quarters

,
-

there in order to abol i sh the Jewi sh laws

,
.

’
So he i ntroduce d Cae sar s e ffigi e s whi ch ,
 C R I TI C A L N O TE S . 5

w ere u p on the ens igns and brought them i nto

,

the c i ty ; whereas o u r l aw forb i ds u s the

v ery m aki ng o f i mages ; o n wh i ch account
the former p r o cii r a to r s were w ont to make
the i r entry i nto the c i ty wi th such ens igns
a s had n o t those orname n ts . Pil ate wa s the
first who brought those images to Jerusale m ,

and set the m up there : whi ch w as done

wi thout the kno wledge o f the peopl e because ,

i t wa s done i n the ni ght ti me ; but a s soo n

-
,

a s they knew i t they came i n mu l t i tu des to

,

C ae sarea a n d i nterceded w ith P il ate man y

,

days that he w oul d remo v e the im ages ; and

,

w hen he would n o t grant the i r request b e ,

cause th i s w ou l d tend to the i nj ury o f Caesar ,

wh il e they y et p erse v ered i n the i r request ,

on the s i xth day he ordered hi s sol d i ers to

ha v e the i r w eapons p riv ate l y w h il e he ca m e
,

and s a t up on hi s j udge ment seat ; wh i ch se a t

-

wa s s o p re p a red i n the o p en pl ace o f the c i ty

,

that i t concea l ed the army th a t la y ready to

76 A C TA P I L A TI .

oppress them : an d when the Jews petiti one d

him again he gave a signal to the sol di ers
,

to encompass them round an d threatene d

,

that the i r punishment shoul d be n o less than

i mme di ate death unless they woul d leave
,

o ff d i sturb i ng hi m ; an d o the i r ways home

g .

But they threw themselves o n the groun d ,

an d la id their ne c ks bare an d sai d they

,

would take their death very w illingly rather ,

than the w i s d om o f the i r la w s shoul d be

transgresse d ; upon wh i ch Pilate wa s deeply
a ffected with their resoluti on to kee p the i r
laws i nvi olable an d presently ordered the
,

im ages to be carri ed back from Jerusalem to

”
C ae sarea.

But P il ate undertook to br i ng a c ur rent

Of water to Jerusale m and di d i t wi th the
,

sacre d money and der iv ed the origi n o f the

,

stream from a di stance o f 200 furlongs .

How e v er the Jews w ere n o t pleased wi th

what had been done about thi s water ; and
 C R I TI C A L NO TE S . 77

many ten thousan d s ofthe people got together

an d made a c lamor aga i nst h i m and i ns i sted
,

th a t he shoul d leave o ff that design Some .

of the m also used re p roa c hes and abused the

,

man as crowds o f such people usually do S o

,
.

he hab i ted a great number of h i s sol di ers i n

thei r habit who carri e d d aggers under the i r
,

garments and sent them to a p l ace where

,

they might surround them He b i d the Jews

.

himsel f go away ; but they boldl y casti ng

reproaches upon hi m he ga v e the so l d i ers
,

the signal whic h had been before agree d o n ,

who laid upon them much greater blo w s than

Pilate ha d c om m anded the m and equally ,

puni shed those that w ere tumul tuous and

those that were not ; nor did they s p are them
in the least ; and s i n c e the peo p le w ere u n
arm ed an d were caught by men p repared
,

for what they w ere about there w ere a great

,

number o f them slain by thi s means and ,

78 A O T A P I L A TI .

others of them ran away woun d e d An d .

”
thus an end wa s put to this se dition .

”
IVe have says L ar dner
,
“
another a t ,

temp t o f Pi l ate s of the same nature men

’
,

ti o n e d i n the letter whi c h Agrippa the Elder

sent to Cali gula as this letter i s given us by

,

Philo In some parti c ulars it has a great

.

resemblan c e with the story Josephus has

told o f Pilate s bringing the ensigns i nto
’

Jer u salem and in others it is very di ff erent

,

from i t ; which ha s gi v en o c casion to some

learne d men to suppose th at Philo has been
mistaken For my o wn p art as I make no
.
,

d oubt but Josephus a c count of the ensigns

’

is true s o I think that Philo may also be relied

,

on for the truth of a fact he has menti oned ,

as happening in his own ti me i n Judea and ,

c onsequently I judge them to be two differ

,
”
ent facts .

Agri pp a re ckon i ng up to Caligula the

,

se v er a l fa v ors conferred on the Jews by the

 C R I T I C A L IVO T E S . 79

Imperial family says Pilate was p r o cu

,

rator o f Judea He n o t s o mu ch o u t Of
.
,

respe c t to Tiberius as a mal i c ious i ntent to

vex the people d e d i c ates gilt shiel d s and
, ,

places them i n Hero d s pala c e w i thin the holy

’

ci ty There was n o figure up on them nor

.
,

anything else which i s forb i dden exce p t an ,

i nscri ption whi ch exp resse d these two

—
things the name Of the person who ded i
ca te d them and o f h i m to whom they were
,

dedi cated When the p eople per c eived what

had b een done they desire d that this i nno
,

vation o f the shi elds m i ght be recti fie d ; that

the i r anc i ent c ustoms whic h had been p re
serv ed through s o many ages and had h i ther ,

to been untouched by k i ngs and em p erors ,

mi ght n o t now be v i olated He refuse d the i r

.

d emands w ith roughness such wa s hi s ,

temper fier c e and untractab l e They then

, .

c ri e d out Do not yo u ra i se a sed i ti on your

,

self; do n o t vo u di sturb the p ea c e b y your

80 A C TA P I L A TI .

i llegal pra c ti ces It i s not Tiberius pleas

.
’

ure that any o f o u r laws shoul d be broken

in upon If you have received any e d i c t
.

o r letter from the emperor to th i s purpose ,

pro d uce i t that w e may leave yo u an d d epute

, ,

an embassy to h i m an d entreat him to revoke

,

his orders This p ut him out o f all temper ;

.

for he was afrai d if they shoul d sen d an em

bassy they might discover the many mal
,

admi n i strations Of his government ; hi s e x to r

ti ons hi s u njust de c rees h i s inhuman cruel
, ,

ti es This re d u c ed him to the utmost per

.

p le x it
y O n. the o n e han d he was afra id to

remov e things that had bee n once dedi c ate d ,

an d w a s also unw i lling to d o a favor to men

that were his subj ects ; an d o n the other ,

han d he knew very well the inflexible s e

,

v eri ty Of Ti beri us The c h i ef men o f the

.

nati on Observ ing this an d perce i ving that he

,

repented o f what he ha d done though he e n ,

de a vo r e d to conceal it wrote a most humble

,
82 A C T A P I L A TI .

But when this tumult wa s appease d the ,

Samari tan Senate sent an embassy to V ite l

lius now President o f Syria and a cc use d
, ,

Pi late Of the mur d er o f those who ha d been

slain So Vitellius sent Mar c ellus a frien d
.
,

of hi s to take c are o f the a ff airs of Ju d ea

, ,

and or d ered Pilate to go to Rome to answer

before the E mperor to the a cc usations of the
Jews Pilate when he ha d tarri e d ten years
.
,

i n Judea ma d e haste to Rome an d this in

, ,

Obedi en c e to the orders of Vi tellus whi c h he ,

durst not c ontra d i c t ; but before he coul d

”
get to Rome Tiber i us was d ea d , (Joseph . .

Antiq X VIII 4 . Thi s removal took pla c e

. .

before the passo v er in A D 3 6 probably

—
,
. .

about September or Oc tober A D 35 ; Pilate , . .

must there fore as he s p ent ten years in

, ,

Judea have entered o n his go v ernment about

,

Oc tober A D 25 or at least before the

,
. .
,

Passover A D 26 in the twelfth year o f

,
. .
,

Tiberi us sole emp i re (Compare L ar d ner I

’
.
,

3 9 1 s q ; Winer Real
,
.
,
 C R I TI C A L N O TE S . 83

To be put o u t o f his go vernment b y Vi tellus,

on the compl a i n t Of the p eopl e o f hi s pro v
in c e must ha v e been a v ery gr e vi o u s mort i
,

fi ca ti o n to Pi late ; and though the e mp eror

wa s dead before he reache d Rome he d i d n o t ,

long enj oy s u c h i mpun i ty a s gu ilt p erm i ts ;

he wa s bani shed to V i enna i n Gaul and as ,

Euseb i us (Chron p 7 8) states he s hortl y

. .
,

afterwar d s ma d e wa y w i th him sel f o u t o f ,

vexation fo r hi s many mi sfo r tunes about A ,

.

D 38
. .

Owing to the atroci ty o f the deed i n w hi ch

Pi late took a pr i nc ip al p art a v ery unfa v or
,

able v i ew has genera l ly been enterta i ned o f

hi s c haracter St il l i t i s interesti ng to note
.

that the early Chri sti a n s entert a i ned a dee p

a pp rec i ati on o f hi s e fforts to sa v e Jesus .

Tertul l i an as already quoted o n p age 21

, ,

uses the express i on P i late h i mse l f i n hi s

,

consc i ence already a chri sti an The E v ang

. .

Ni co d I : 1 3 s p eaks o f hi m a s c i rcums i zed

. .
84 A C TA P I L A TI .

in heart .Accord ing to one tra d ition he

d ie d a Christian Martyr an d to this d ay the ,

Abyssinian Chur c h c elebrates the event on

June 25 .

There is great weight in the following

l anguage of a great c ritic .

If now we wish to form a j u dgement o f

’
Pilate s c hara c ter we easily see that he was
,

one of that large C lass of men who aspire to

publ i c O ffices not from a pure an d lofty d e
,

sire o f benefitn the public and a d vancing

the goo d of the worl d but fro m selfish an d ,

personal consi d erations from a love o f di s ,

tin c tion from a love o f power from a love o f

, ,

sel f i n d ulgen c e ; being d estitute of an y fixe d

-

prin c iples an d having no aim but o ffi c e an d

,

i nfluen c e they act right only by c hance an d

.

when c onvenient and are wholly in c apable

,

of pursuing a c onsistent c ourse or of acting ,

—
with firmness an d self d enial i n c ases i n which
the preservati on O f integri ty requires the ex
e r ci s e O f these qualities Pilate was obviously
.

a man of weak an d therefore with h i s temp

, ,
 C R I TI C A L V O TE S
I . 85

ta ti o n s , o f c orrupt c hara c ter The v i ew

.

g iv en in the Apostol i cal Consti tutions (v .

where unmanliness i s as c ri be d to him we take ,

to be c orre c t This want of strength w i ll

.

rea d ily a cc ou n t for his failure to res c ue Jesus

from the rage of his enem i es an d also fo r the
,

a c ts o f inj usti c e an d c ruelty whi c h he pra o

—
ti c e d in his govern m ent a c ts whi ch con -
n

s i de r e d in themselves w ear a d ee p er d ye
,

t han d oes the c on du c t whi ch he Observe d in

surren d eri ng Jesus to the mal ic e of the Jews .

An d this same weakness may serve to ex

plain to the rea d er how mu c h i nfluence woul d
be exerte d on this unj ust j u dge not only by ,

the stern bigotry an d perse c uting wrath o f

,

the Jewish priesthoo d but spe c i al ly by the

,

not c on c eale d intimations whi ch they threw

out against Pilate that i f he li berate d Jesus
, , ,

he was no fri en d of Tiberius an d m ust ex ,

peet to have to give an a cc ount o f hi s con

d u c t at Rome An d that thi s was n o i dl e
threat nothing beyon d the limits of proba
,
’
b i li ty Pilate s subsequent d eposition by
,

Vitell i us shows very plainly ; nor c ou ld the

86 A C TA P I L A TI .

pro c urator have been ignorant e i ther of the

stern d etermination of the Jewish c haracter ,

or of the o ffence he ha d by his a c ts gi ven to

the hea d s of the nation or o f the inse c urity
, ,

at that very hour when the c ontest between

,

him and the pri ests was pro c eeding regar d ing
the inno c ent Vi c tim whom they luste d to
d estroy ofhis own pos i ti on i n the o ffi c e whi c h
,

he hel d and whic h o f course he d esired to

, ,

retain O n the whole then V iewing the e n

.
, ,

tire con d u c t of Pilate his prev i ous i niquities

,

as well as h i s bearing on the c on d emnation

—
of Jcsus view i ng his own actual position
and the malignity of the Jews we c annot , ,

w e confess giv e o u r vote with those who have

,

passe d the se v erest condemnati on on this

”
(
’
weak an d guilty go v ernor See K .i tto s
’
Cy c lop aedi a o f B i bl i cal Literature ; Wi n er s
Real W o e r te r b u ch an d Farrar s Li fe Of
,
’

Chri st ) .
 ( N o te b p a ge
,

A B RI E F SK E TC H O F TH E L I FE OF

TH E E MP R RE O TI B E R I US .

Claudius Drusus Nero T i ber i us the Roman ,

emperor after the death o f Augustus was ,

de ce n de d from the fami ly o f the C la u dii In .

his early years he commanded po p ulari ty by

enterta in i ng the p o p ulace w i th magn ificent
shows and fights o f gl adiators and he ga i ned ,

so m e ap p lause i n the funeral orati on wh i ch

he pronoun c ed o v er h i s father though only ,

n i ne years o ld Hi s first appearance i n the

.

Roman arm i es wa s under Augustus i n the ,

war aga i nst the Cantabri and afterwards i n , ,

the c apac i ty o f General he ga i ned Vi ctori es,

in di fferent p arts o f the Empi re and w as ,

rewarded with a tri umph .

88 A C T A P I L A TI .

Yet in the mi d st o f his glory Tiberiu s fell

.

under the d ispleasure of Augustus an d r e ,

tire d to Rho d es where he c ontinue d for seven

,

years as an exi le till by the influen c e of hi s

,

mother L ivi a with the emperor he was r e

, , ,

Calle d. His return to Rome wa s the more

glorious ; he ha d the c omman d o f the Roma n
armies in Illyri cum Pannonia an d Dalmati a
, , ,

an d seeme d to d ivi d e the sovereign power ,

with Augustus .

At the d eath o f this c elebrate d emperor ,

Tiberius who ha d been a d opte d assume d

,

the rein s o f government ; an d while with

di ssimulation an d a ffe c te d mo d esty he wishe d
to d e c line the d angerous o ffi c e he foun d time
,

to try the fi d elity of his fr i en d s an d to make

,

the greatest part o f the Romans believe that

he was investe d with the purple not from ,

his o wn c hoi c e but by the re c ommen d ati on

,

o f Augustus an d the urgent entreati es o f

the Roman Senate The beginnin g o f his
.
90 A C TA P I LA TI .

of the O ffi c ers an d the fa cti o n s d emagogues

,

were aban d one d to punishment This a c te d .

as a c he c k o n Tiberi us at Rome ; he kn ew
from then c e as hi s su cc essors exper i ence d
, ,

that h i s power was pre c ari ous and hi s v ery ,

exi sten c e in perpetual d anger He c ontinue d .

,

a s he ha d begun to pay the greatest d eferen c e

,

to the Senate ; all libels against him he di s

regarde d an d observe d that in a free c ity

, ,

the thoughts an d the tongue o f every man

shoul d be free The taxes were gra d ually
.

lessene d and lux ury restraine d by the salu

tary regulat i ons as wel l as by the prevailing
,

example an d frugality O f the Emperor .

Whi le Rome exhibited a s c ene o f pea c e an d

public tr a n q u illity the barbarians were sev er
,

ally defeate d o n the borders of the emp i re ,

an d Ti beri us gaine d n e w honors by the a c

ti vi ty an d v alour Of Germani c us an d hi s other

fa ithful lieutenants Yet the triumphs of

.

Germanicus were behel d w ith j ealousy .

 C R I TI C A L N O TE S . 91

Ti berius d readed h i s power ; he was e n

vi o u s of his p o p ularity ; and the d eath of

that celebrated general in Antio c h w as as ,

some suppose a cc elerated by po i son and

,

the se c ret resentment o f the emperor N o t .

only his relations an d fri ends but the great ,

and opulent were sa c ri fice d to hi s amb i tion ,

c ruel ty and avar ic e ; and there w as s c arce i n

Rome o n e s i ngle fam il y that d id n o t re p roach
T i beri us fo r the l oss o f a brother a father o r ,

a husband He at last reti red to the i sland

.

o f C a r e a e on the c oast o f C a m n i a w here

p , p a ,

he buried hi mself in unlawful pleasures The .

c are of the empire was entrusted to fa v or i tes ,

among whom S ej anus shone fo r awhil e wi th

un c ommon splendor In hi s solitary retreat
.

the emperor proposed rewards to such as i i i

vente d new pleasures o r co u ld pro c ure fresh
,

lux u ri es He forgot h i s age as w el l as hi s

.

d i gn i ty and disgra c ed h i mself by the most

,

unnatural vic es and enormous i ndulgen c es

92 A C TA P I L A T! .

whi c h c an d raw a blush even on the c oun

,

te n a n ce o f the most d ebau c he d a n d aban

do n e d
.

Whi le the emperor wa s lost to hi m s e lf a n d

the worl d the provin c es were har a sse d o n
,

every si d e by the barbarians an d Tiberi u s

,

foun d hi m se lf i n s u lte d by those ene m ies

whom hitherto he ha d seen fa ll prostrate at .

his feet with every mark o f submissive a d u

lation At last grown weak an d helpless
.
,

through i n fi r m iti e s he thought o f his a p

,

p r o a chi n
g d issolution ; an d a s he well knew
that Rome c oul d not exist wit hout a hea d he ,

n ominate d a s hi s su cc essor Caius Caligul a .

Many might enquire why a youth natur a lly

so vi c ious an d aban d one d as Caius was c ho
sen to be the master o f an extensive empire
but Tiberius wishe d hi s own c ruelties to be
fo rgotten in the b arbarities whi ch might be
d isplaye d in the reign O f his su cc essor whose
,

natur a l propensities he had well d efine d in ,

 C R I TI C A L NOT E S . 93

say i ng O f Calig u la t hat he bred a serp ent fo r

,

the Roman people and a Phaeton fo r the

,

rest o f the e mp ire Tiberi us di e d at Mi s e n u m

.

the l 6th of March A D 3 7 i n the 7 8th year

,
. .
,

of his age after a reign o f 22 years 6 months

, ,

an d 26 days Cal i gula was accused Of

.

hav i ng hastened h i s en d by suffocati ng hi m .

The j o y was un iv ersal when hi s death wa s

known ; and the p eo p le o f Rome i n the m i dst ,

Of sorrow had a moment to rej o i ce heedl ess

, ,

o f the calam i t i es wh ic h a w a i ted them i n the

succeed i ng re i gns The body o f T i beri us

.

was conveyed to Rome and burnt w i th great

solemn i ty . A fu neral orati on wa s p r o
n o u n ce d by Caligula who seemed to forget
,

hi s benefa c tor whi le he expati ated o n the

prai ses of Au gustus German ic us and hi s
,

O wn The character o f T i beri us has been

.

exam i ned w i th p art i cular attenti on by h i s

to r i an s and h i s re ign i s the subj e c t o f the
,

most p erfect an d e l egant of all the co mp o

94 A C TA P I L A TI .

o f Ta c itus When a private man

s i ti o n s ,

Tiberius was un i versally esteeme d ; when he

ha d n o superi or he wa s proud arrogant , ,

j ealous and revengeful Ifhe found hi s mil i

.

tary operations c on d ucte d by a warl i ke gen

eral he a ffecte d mo d eration and V irtue ; but
,

when he got rid o f the p owerful i nfluen c e o f

a favorite he wa s tyranni c al and d issolute
,
.

I f as some observe d he ha d live d in the times

, ,

of the Roman republ i c he might have been ,

as c onsp ic uous as his great ancestors ; but

the sovere ign p ower lo dged in his han d s ren
d ere d h i m vi c ious an d oppressive .

Yet though he en c ourage d informers an d

,

favore d flattery he blus hed at the mean sur

,

vilities of the Senate an d d erided the a d ula

,

ti on o f hi s c ourtiers who a p proache d h im

, ,

he said as i f they a pp roached a savage ele

,

p hant He was a patron of learni ng he was

.
,

an eloquent a n d ready s p eaker an d d e d ica ,

ted some part o f hi s time to study He wrote .

 C R I TI C A L NO TE S . 95

a lyri c poem entitled ,

A compla i nt o n the
,

death o f L u c ius Caesar ; a s also some Greek

p i e c es i n i m i tation o f some o f hi s favori te
a uthors He avo i de d all im p roper expressions
.
,

and all fore i gn w o r ds he w i shed to totally

b a nish fro m the L ati n tongue As i nstances .

o f h i s humanity i t ha s been recorded that he

,

was uncommonly l i beral to the p eo pl e o f

As i a Minor whose hab itat i ons had been des
,

tr o ye d by a v i olent earthquake A D 17 ,
. . .

O ne o f hi s O ffi c ers w i she d him to i ncre a se

the taxes N 0 sa i d Ti berius a goo d shep
.
, ,

herd must shear but n o t flay h i s shee p The

,
.

Senators w i s hed to call the month Of Novem

ber i n which he was born by h i s name i n
, , ,

imi t a ti on o f J Cae sar and Augustus i n the

.
,

months o f Jul y an d August ; b u t thi s he re

fused say i ng : What w i ll yo u do cons c ri pt
, ,

”
fathers if yo u ha ve thirteen C aesars !
,
Like
the rest o f the em p eror s he re c e ive d div ine,

honors after death an d even d ur i ng l if e

,
.
90 A C TA P I L A TI .

From Bibliothec a Classi c a by L empriere

( ,
.

’
See also Ni e hb u hr s History of Rome Vol , .

L e c ture L XI an d espe c ially Stahr

,

b e r i u s L eben Regierung Charakter

, , ,
98 A C TA P I LA TI .

p owers and o n the compla i nt o f the

, ,

p eo p le had been remove d from h i s throne

,
.

In short the influence o f that atta c hment to

,

the Cae sare a n fam ily wh i ch had obtaine d

,

fo r the nati on d ist i nguishe d privileges both

fro m Jul i us an d Augustus had not yet bee n
,

e ffaced by that c haracter o f turbulence an d

i nsubordinati on wh i ch le d to their final
rui n.
”
(M ilman s ’
Hist o f Christianity page
.
,
 ( N o te d p a ge
,

TH E RE L A TI O N S or TH E J S
E WI H G O V E R N M E NT T o TH E

RO M AN .

Fo r cent uri es the Romans ha d p u rsued a

p ol i cy o f conquest until i n the da y s o f Ti be
,

r i us accordi ng to the best a u thori ti e s the

, ,

p op ul a ti on o f the E mpi re wa s about

0 00 .
“
The subj ugated countri es that l a y
beyond the limits o f Ita l y w ere des ignated
’9
p ro vi nces In reconstructi ng a conquered
.

terri tory i n res p ect to i ts l ega l and soc i a l

,

l i fe the Romans had the good sense to a cti n

,
“

general w i th p rudence and m il dness ha vi ng

, ,

regard i n the i r a pp o i ntm ents to l oca l p eculi ar

i ti es and exi sti ng i nsti tuti ons s o far a s the i n ,

tended adj unct i on to the Ro m an p o w er p er

m i tte d i n or der to a v o i d gi v i ng the p ro vin c i al s
,
1 00 A O T A PI LA TI .

provo c ation for opposing their new masters .

Under or d inary ci r c umstan c es the govern ,

ment Of the provin c es was c on d u c te d by a n

”
tho r i ti e s sent for the purpose from Rome .

“
The pro c onsuls propraetors an d p r o p r ae
-
, ,

to r i a l lieutenants when about to pro c ee d i n

,

to their several provin c es receive d i n s tr u c

,

tions for their gui d an c e from the Emperor ;

in c ases in whic h they were foun d insu ffi c ient ,

they were to apply for special d irecti ons to

”
the imperial hea d Of the State There .
“

was also in the Senatori al provin c es a p r o cu

rator [ thi s was Pilate s position! who raise d
’
,

the incomes inten d e d n o t for the treasury

, ,

b u t for the Emperor s privy purse ; the smaller

’

provin c es like Ju d ea whi c h belonge d to

, ,

Syri a were altogether go v erned by su c h

,
.

Criminal j ustice wa s wholly i n the han ds

of the local governor an d exten d e d not only
,

o v er the p r o vi n ca ls but the Rom an c itizens

,

as well ; in important cases the Go v ernors

1 02 A G TA P I L A TI .

their hea d station being at Cae sarea A .

portion of the troop wa s always statione d

in Jerusalem at the Passover in or d er to ai d ,

in preserving the pea c e [ see page They

ha d their quarters in the c ita d el Antoni a ,

which c ommande d th e temple an d s o c on ,

tro lle d the c ity (Antiq X I X ; 9 2 ; x x z4

. . . .

3 A c ts X X I z3 1 sq ; XX II : 24 ; XX III : 23)
°
. .

The Romans a n d Jews first c ame into

politi c al relations about B C 1 61 when . .
,

Judas M a cca b se u s being move d by the

,

great an d widely sprea d military renown o f

the Romans sent an embassy to Rome an d
, ,

forme d w ith them a treaty o ffensive an d d e

fensive but with the Spe c ial V i ew of Obtain
,

ing hel p against Demetrius King of Syri a, ,

(I Mace .VIII ; Joseph Antiq

. X II : 1 0 6 ; . .

Justi n XXV I :
,

Ju d ea be c ame a Roman p rov ince B C 63 . . .

The first pro c urator wa s C o p in u s ; he

was followe d by Marc u s Am b i vi u s ; then
 C R I TI C A L NO T E S . 1 03

c ame Am m i u s Rufus in whose time Augus

,

tu s d ie d A D 1 4 ; the next was V a le r i u s

, . .

Grat u s who was appointe d by Tiberius ; he

.

c ontinue d in the provin c e eleven ye a rs an d ,

wz sthen su c cee d e d by Ponti us Pilate whose ,

”
govern ment laste d ten years (K i tto s
.
’

C yclo p ze d a rti c le Roman Empire ) .

 ( N o te e, p a ge

R
T A DI TI O N AL S AYI N G S or CH RI S T .

In connection w i th this passage o f the

Acta i t may be i nteresting to the reader to
,

see some Of the say i ngs attributed to o u r

Sav i or by early wr iters but unre c or d ed i n , .

the Evangel i sts O ne instan c e occurs i n

.

the New Testament Acts xx : 3 5 : Remem ,

ber the words o f the L ord Jesus ho w he ,

sai d It i s more blesse d to gi ve than to r e

,

ce i ve .

The followi ng are giv en as spec i mens

1 . l ongs to be ri ch i s l i ke a
He who
m an who dri nks s e a water ; the m ore he -

dri nks the more thirsty he becomes a n d ,

”
ne v er lea v es o ff dri nking till he p eri shes .

2 .
“
Pilate says to h im what,
is Truth !
 ( N o te f, p a ge

T H E PO W E R OF LI F AND
E DE ATH .

Although the Sanhe d rim ha d passe d their

senten c e there remaine d a seri ous obsta c le
,

before it could be c arried i nto execution .

On the co n te s te d p o i n t w he the r the J e ws ,

un de r the R o m a n go ve r n m e n t, p o ss ess e d the

p o w er o
f lif e an d de a th, i ti s n o te a s
y to s ta te
the q u es ti o n w i th br e vi ty a n d di s ti n ctn e s s .

Notwithstan d ing the ap p arently c lear an d

di sti n c t re c ognition o f the Sanhe d rim that ,

they had n o t authori ty to put any m a n to

d eath ; notw i thstan ding the remarkable con
c urren c e Of rabbin ic al tra d ition wi th thi s de c
la r a ti o n whi ch asserts that the nat i on ha d
,

been d eprived o f the power o f life and death

forty years before the destructi on o f the city ,
 C RI TI C A L N O TE S . 1 07

many of the most learne d wri ters some i h ,

dee d o f the ablest of the fathers from argu ,

ments ari si ng o u t of the p ra c tice of Roman

prov i n ci al j uri spr u dence and from later facts
,

i n the evangelic history an d that o f the Jews ,

have suppose d that even i f a s i s doubtful

, ,

they were depr i ved of thi s power i n c ivil ,

they reta i ned it in religious c ases Some .

have a dd e d that e ven i n the latter the rati

,

fi ca ti o n o f the sentence by the Roman gov

c ruor or the p ermission to carry it i nto exe
,

cu ti o n was ne c essary A cc ording to this

,
.

view the obj ect of the Sanhedri m was to

,

bring the c ase before Pilate as a c iv i l charge ;

S in c e the assum p ti on o f a royal t i tle and a u
tho r i tyi mpl i e d a d esign to c ast o ff the Roman

yoke O r i f they reta i ned the ri ght o f c ap i

.
,

tal punishme n t i n religious c ases i t was con ,

tr a r y to usage i n the pro c eed i n gs o f the San

,

b e d ri m as sa c red as law itself to order an

, ,

executi on on the day o f preparati on fo r the

1 08 A C TA P I L A T I .

Passover As then they d ared n o t V i olate

.
, ,

that usage an d as d elay was i n every way

,

d angerous e i ther from the fi ck le n e s s o f the

,

people who hav ing been momentarily

, ,

wrought up to a p i tch of d ea d ly ani mos i ty

against Jesu s might again by some act of
, ,

power or goo dness on hi s part be c arri e d ,

away back to his s id e ; o r in case of tu mult ,

from the unsoli c i te d interv ention of the Ro

mans their plainest course was to Obta i n i f
, ,

possible the im mediate supp ort and ass i s

,

tance of the government .

In my o pi nion formed up on the stu dy o f ,

the cotemporary Jewish history the po w er ,

of the Sanhe d rim at thi s period of p olitical ,

c hanges an d confus i on o n this as well as , ,

on other points wa s altogether undefined , .

Un d er the Asmonean princes the sovereign , ,

uni ti ng w i th the c ivil and rel igio u s suprem

a c y the hi gh priesthoo d wi th the royal
,
-

power exer c ised w ith the Sanhedri m as h i s

, ,
110 A C T A P I L A TI .

y ears which had elapse d S ince the death o f

Hero d nearly ten ha d been occup ied by the
,

reign o f Archelaus O n hi s d eposal the

.
,

Sanhedrim had probably exten d e d o r r e

sumed i ts origi nal fu ncti ons but still the
,

sup rem e civi l authori ty rested i n the Ro m an

procurator All the commoti ons excited by
.

turbulent a d venturers who infeste d the

country o r by Judas the Galilean and h i s
,

a dherents woul d fall under the cogni z ance

,

of the c ivil go v ernor an d were repressed

,

by hi s direct i nterference N o r can c a p ital

.

reli gious offences ha v e been of frequent o c

currence since it i s e vi dent that the ri gour
,

o f the Mosaic L a w ha d been greatly relaxed ,

partly by the ten d ency o f the age which ,

ran i n a c ounter directi on to those acts o f

i dol atry agai nst which the Mosaic statutes
were chi efly frame d and l eft fe w crimes o b
,

nox i ous to the extrem e p ena l ty N o r unti l .

,

the ex i stence o f thei r p oli ty and rel i gi on wa s

 C R I TI C A L N O TE S . 111

threatene d first by the progress o f Chri st

, ,

an d afterward o f h i s religion w ould they ,

have cared to be armed w i th an author i ty

whi c h i t w as rarely if ever necessary o r ex
, ,

p e d i e n t to put forth in i ts full force .

This then m ay have been str ic tly s p eak

, , ,

i ng a new c a se the first w hi ch had occurred

, ,

sin c e the re duction Of Ju d ea to a Roma n

p rovi nce The Sanhedr i m from whom a ll
.
,

j ur i s d i c tion in pol i tical cases was w i thdrawn ,

and who had n o recent prece d ent fo r the i n

fli cti o n o f cap i tal p u n i shment o n any rel i g i ous
charge might thi nk i t more prudent (parti e
,

u la r l
y during this hurr i ed and tumultuous
proceeding which commenced at midnight
, ,

an d must be dis p atched w ith the least possi bl e

d el ay) at once to di s c lai m a n y authority
whic h however the Roman go v ernor seemed
,

to attri bute to them he mi ght at least preve n t

,

their c arrying i nto exe cu tion ( i ’7

M .lman i n ,

his H i story o f Chri sti an i ty) .

 ( N o te g p a ge
,

CL AUD I A PR OCULA ,
TH E WI F E OF PI L AT E .

From Matt X XV II : 1 9 it appears that

.
,

Pilate ha d his wife (name d p r o b a b lv Pr o cla ,

o r Claudi a Procula
) w i th him A partial .

knowle dge o f Roman history might lea d the

rea d er to question the histori c cre di bil ity of
Matthew i n thi s parti c ular In the earlier
periods and i n d ee d s o long as the common
, , ,

w ealth subsiste d i t was v ery unusual fo r the

,

governors Of pro v in c es to take their wives

with them (Sene c De C o n tr o v
. an d in .

the str i ct reg u lations whi c h Augustus i n

tr o du ce d he did not allow the favor except

in pecul i ar and spe ci fie d c ases (Su s tou Aug . .

The practice however grew to be more

an d m ore pre v alent a n d was (says Winer
, ,
114 A C TA P I L A TI .

Annal I I I : 3 3
. The fact menti one d i h
.

e id entl y or
,
rather i mpl i e d in Matthew , ,

be i ng thus confirmed by full an d unquest i on

able e vi de n ce ca n n o t fail to serve as a co r r o b
,

”
orati on o f the e v angelical h i story ( K i t .

’
to s B i b Li t )
. .

“
It i s a remarkable fa c t that a heathen
woman had the courage to p lea d the cause
Of o u r Sav i our when his o wn d isc i ples for
sook h i m an d when the Jewish people and
,

authori ti es th i rste d for his i nnocent bloo d .

It i s equally re m arkable th a t s he an d her

weak husband clothed w i th the authori ty o f
,

the Roman law and j usti ce shoul d character ,

i ze the condemned Jesus as that j ust man .

The s tudent o f the unconsc i ous prophe c ies

Of heathen i sm will naturally connect this ex
’
p ress i on with the famous passage in Plato s
Re p ubl i c where the great sage of Greece
,
’

describes the i deal o f a j ust man as o n e who ,

without doing any wrong may assume the ,

ap p earance o f the grossest inj ustice ; yea ,

who shall be scourged tortured fettere d

‘
, , ,
 C R I TI C A L NOTE S . 115

depriv ed Of h i s eyes an d after having e n , ,

d u red all p ossible suff er i ngs fastened to a ,

p ost and must restore a ga i n the beginn i ng

,

and p rototy p e o f righteousness (

’
Plato s .

Works v ol I V p 7 8 s q q ed Ast p 3 60
,
t
,
.
,
. . . . .

E e d Bi p)
. . .

Ari stotl e al so says o f the p erfectly j ust

m an that he stan d s far abo v e the p oli ti ca l
,

order and constitution as i t ex i sts ; that he

’
must break it where v er he ap p ears The .

p rop hec i es o f Greek wi sdo m a n d the m aj esty ,

o f the Roman la w here un i te i n a Ro m an

,

bo d y the wi fe o f the i mp er i al re p resentativ e

,

at Jerusalem to testi fy to the inno c ence and

,

r ighteousness o f Chri st i n the darkest hour

o f h i s tr i al before w i cked men She wa s .

p robab l y a p rose lyte o f the gate Or o n e o f ,

those G o d feari ng heathen who wi thout

-
, ,

embrac i ng the Je wi sh rel igi on w ere l ongi ng ,

an d gro pi ng i n the d ark after the unknown ‘

God
’
( i o L ange
’
. From Dr Sha ff s addit ons
. t
o n M a tthe w p ,
.
 ( N o te 11 , p a ge

GE M O NDE .

This express on is equivalent to

i You
are in d anger of d oing what will seriously
‘

”
reflect upon Caesar The wor d is use d i n
.

Val Max 6 9 ; L iv 3 8 5 9 ; S u ct Tib 5 3

. . . . . . . .

6 1 ; Ta c it Hist
. III : 7 4
. Accor d ing to .

Antho n the C e m o n i aa s ca les were ste p s at

,

Rome near the prison of Tu lli a n u m d o wn

, ,

which the bo d ies o f those who ha d been e x

ecuted i h prison were thrown into the Forum
to be expose d to the ga z e of the multitu d e .
118 A C T A PI L A TI .

breath ! No no ! Pilate thi nk not with

, ,

water to wash o ff that Stai n o f bloo d from

thy han ds For falling upon the o ffi c i al
.
,

han d that preten d s to weigh j usti ce in the

balance its stai n hath struck to o dee p fo r
,

any water c lean si n g The untitle d power

.
,

less private man force d by the mob to d ee d s

, ,

o f cr u e lt
y m,
i ght perhaps with the tears o f in
e n u o u s sorrow wash out the b loo d Sp ot ! But
g
’
thou art imperial C aesar s legate Pilate ,
.

Thine is the strong arm o f the law flashing ,

’
i ts gleaming swor d by Go d s or dinan c e in
, ,

the d efen c e o f in n o ce n ce a s well a s i n ve n ge n ce

,

on guilt Thy gorgeous ermine is full wi d e to

.

shelter in its ample fol d s thi s torn a n d blee d ing

lamb that the fier c e d ogs o f bigotry are thus
sav a gely pursuing With all thy pompous
.

prete n c e to dignity a n d chivalro u s Rom an

honour thou art but a m i serable pe dlar in
,

blo o d ! Baser than Ju d a s w ho se n arrow soul

thought thirty pieces o f silver a worthy pri c e
 C R I TI C A L NO TE S . 1 19

thou art selling him over again for a worthless

smile from these e c c l es i asti c al bloo dhounds ,

whom every manly i nst i n c t o f thy nature

loathes and abhors ! Thou art a p oor co w
ard P il ate that thou fearest s u ch a m o b
, , ,

w ith the strong arm o f C aesar to defend thee ,

an d the broad sh i eld o f eterna l j ust i ce to

hold before thee N o Pilate no ! N o t a l l

.
, ,

the waters o f Jordan that washed l e p rous

Naaman cl ean ; n o t all the w aters that e v er
gushed from the ri lls o f Siloam ; n o t a l l the
tears o f sorrow that shall flo w through eter
n it f o r th y s i n S hall e v er wash o ff that sta i n
y ,

o f b l ood !

Yet ho w com m on see m s th i s m i stake

o f P il ate th a t the un r i ghteous j udgement o f
,

an o ffi c i al giv en under pressure o f stro n g

,

tem p tati ons fro m p ersona l cons i derati on ,

e i ther Of des i re to wi n po p ul ar fa vor ; o r a v a

r i ci o u s hankeri ng after ga i n ; o r the i mp ulse

o f p art i san m al i ce o r p arty ob li gati ons m ay

1 20 A C TA P I L A TI .

be atoned for by giving the innocent the

,

’
benefit o f one s personal convictions and pro
fessions a s an Offset against the damage to
’
hi m o f o n e s Villa i nous O ffic ial d ee d ; an d that
i t is enough to perform a little penitenti al
ha n dw a s hi n g fo r the filthy j o b done to p o p u
l ar order ! Ho w little do men seem to co m
p rehend the solemn truth that as i n the , ,

Chu r c h under his re v eale d law G o d hath

, ,

appointed hi s min i sters to be his representa

ti ve s and w il l surely pun i sh the c orrupt an d
,

unfaithful serv ants s o i n the state un d er , ,

that natural law wh ic h he hath re veale d to

all men al i ke The p o w ers that be are o r
.

’
da i ned o f G o d; and wil l likewise be he ld
accountab l e to G o d That the m agis
.

trate cal l ed by the p ubli c v o i ce to o ffice

, ,

i s i n h i s s p here the minister o f G o d for

,
‘

’
good to the upri ght c iti z en and the mi n
, ,

ister o f G o d a revenger to execute wrath

,

upon him that doeth evil An d e v ery .

’
1 22 A C TA P I L A TI .

’
Pro vid en c e ye be n o t d riven to Pi late s doom
of exile an d suic ide like Ju d as ; yet be
, , ,

assured that amid the c urses o f the ru ined

, ,

the w a i ls Of the heart broken and the moans -

o f the murdere d ringing i n your ears ye shall ,

w ash an d wash i n v ain at that blood spot

,
-

throughout etern i ty !
And o n the ot her han d when publi c
, ,

vi rtue hath come to such a pass that the ,

clamor o f the mob instea d o f the covenante d

,

law must find utterance through Pilate o n

,

the ben c h ; o r that p op ular senti ment regar d s

,

P i late s u s e o f h i s o ffi c i al authority fo r per

’

sonal ends e i ther o f avar i ce ambition o r

, ,

p ass i on a s a v enial sin o f natural i nfirmity

, ,

tha t a li ttle hand washin g may atone fo r

-

then m ay w e kno w that the d ay Of pol i ti c al

doom i s nigh such a p eople ev en at the i r ,

doors ; fo r now j udgem ent l ingereth not

,
‘

an d d amnati on slumbereth n o t The j u dg .

’

m ent o n such a p eople hath i n fact al ready

 C R I TI C A L N O TE S . 1 23

( i ’
begun . From Dr Stuart Rob
. nson s e lo

quent D i scourses of Redemp ti on D Ap . .

p le to n C o. N ,
Y . .
,
 ( N o te k , p a ge

DI O N YS I US .

Duri ng the night following the day the

Cru ci fixi on of Jesus took place Pi late sent ,

a bri ef accou n t of what had occurred to the

E mp eror as he himself states (s e e p age
,

The Acta was not wri tten until so m e months

a fterwar d s The turbulence o f the Jews
.

conti nued— the begi nn i ngs n o doubt o f the

great rebellion whi c h i n the days o f Titus
, ,

led to the destru c tion of the i r capital an d the

disp ersion of the nati on From the book o f
.

Acts in the Ne w Testament we l earn that ,

the p reaching o f the A p ostles excite d great

and general attenti on and afforded occasion
,

fo r re p eated attacks up on them by the Phar

1 26 A C TA P I L A TI .

In that day there wa s a military road ,

w hi ch ha d been bui lt by the Romans exte n d ,

i ng fr o m the p ri n c ip al c it i es o f Egy p t to
Je ru s a l e m the course o f whi ch i s to day
,
-

m a rked b y Te l egra p h p osts cross i ng the

,

p r e s ent Suez Can a l at the s m a ll Ara b vill age

o f Kantar a ne a r the lake Me n z a le h
, .

I t i s n o t at a ll to be wondered at that such

,

a s i ngular s a y i ng o f a great and learned man

S h o ul d s oon ha v e become gener a ll y known

i n a ll that regi on ; and i t i s n o t strange that
P il ate s ho ul d quote thi s to T iberi us to give ,

the gr e a ter w e ight to h i s re p re s ent a t i ons .

 C R I TI C A L IVO TE S . 1 27

( N o te 1 , p age

T HE FI R ST H O UR .

To wards the first hour o f the n ight I

threw my m antl e around me a n d went do wn ,

”
i nto the c i ty towards the gates o f Gol goth a
, ,

i e a t s e ve n o clo ck P M Thi s p assage

. .
’
.

Of the Acta g ive s w onderful vi v i dness to the

descrip t i on a n d shows the une a s i ness an d
,

’
re m orse th a t a l re a dy fill ed P il ate s mi nd i n ,

vi e w o f the e v ents o f that terri bl e day .

F IN I S .