It's been thirty years since he sentenced the troublemaker to die, but Pontius Pilate can't get Jesus out of his mind. . . . Forced to live out his life in exile, Pontius Pilate, the former governor of Judea, is now haunted by the executions that were carried out on his orders. The life and death of a particular carpenter from Nazareth lay heavily on his mind. With years of solitude stretched out before him, Pilate sets out to uncover all he can about Jesus—his birth, boyhood, ministry, and the struggles that led to his crucifixion. With unexpected wit and candor, Pilate reveals a unique, compelling picture of Jesus that only one of his enemies could give. In a vibrant, inventive, completely engaging novel that places Jesus and his teachings in a wonderfully accurate historical setting, James R. Mills has created nothing less than a new gospel that illuminates the beginnings of Christianity from an astonishing and unexpected point of view.
A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK • “Sublime . . . The definitive study of Pilate.”—The Washington Post Book World “A masterwork . . . one of the most interesting and creative books I’ve read in a very long time.”—Ryan Holiday, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Obstacle Is the Way “Compelling, eloquent and vivid . . . In a superb blend of scholarship and creativity, Wroe brings this elusive yet pivotal figure to life.”—The Boston Globe One of Esquire’s Best Biographies of All Time • Finalist for the Samuel Johnson Prize The foil to Jesus, the defiant antihero of the Easter story, mocking, skeptical Pilate is a historical figure who haunts our imagination. For some he is a saint, for others the embodiment of human weakness, an archetypal politician willing to sacrifice one man for the sake of stability. In this dazzlingly conceived biography, Ann Wroe brings man and myth to life. Working from classical sources, she reconstructs his origins and upbringing, his career in the military and life in Rome, his confrontation with Christ, and his long journey home. We catch glimpses of him pacing the marble floors in Caesarea, sharpening his stylus, getting dressed shortly before sunrise on the day that would seal his place in history. What were the pressures on Pilate that day? What did he really think of Jesus? Pontius Pilate lets us see Christ's trial for the first time, in all its confusion, from the point of view of his executioner.
The gospels and ancient historians agree: Jesus was sentenced to death by Pontius Pilate, the Roman imperial prefect in Jerusalem. To this day, Christians of all churches confess that Jesus died 'under Pontius Pilate'. But what exactly does that mean? Within decades of Jesus' death, Christians began suggesting that it was the Judaean authorities who had crucified Jesus--a notion later echoed in the Qur'an. In the third century, one philosopher raised the notion that, although Pilate had condemned Jesus, he'd done so justly; this idea survives in one of the main strands of modern New Testament criticism. So what is the truth of the matter? And what is the history of that truth? David Lloyd Dusenbury reveals Pilate's 'innocence' as not only a neglected theological question, but a recurring theme in the history of European political thought. He argues that Jesus' interrogation by Pilate, and Augustine of Hippo's North African sermon on that trial, led to the concept of secularity and the logic of tolerance emerging in early modern Europe. Without the Roman trial of Jesus, and the arguments over Pilate's innocence, the history of empire--from the first century to the twenty-first--would have been radically different.
A feminist, spiritual novel recasting biblical history in the tradition of Lawrence's The Man Who Died and Kazantzakis's The Last Temptation of Christ.
Popescu delivers the epic story of the Virgin Mary--not the icon, but the real teenage girl who seduces everyone, even God, with her soulful simplicity.
This audacious and intriguing new version of the story of Christ’s trial, crucifixion, and resurrection is based on the writings of Philo of Crete, a secretary to Pontius Pilate. Throughout his time as Pilate’s scribe, he attended Christ’s trial, mingled with city prostitutes and desert bandits, and became acquainted with Judas Iscariot. It was through Judas that he learned the real story of the betrayal and what actually happened to Christ’s body. His convincing account is a radical and dramatic version of the commonly accepted story.
As the Roman-appointed high priest who had a hand in orchestrating Jesus's Crucifixion, Caiaphas secured his place in infamy alongside Pontius Pilate. Viewing Caiaphas as more than just a one-dimensional villain, Adele Reinhartz offers a thorough reconsideration of representations of Caiaphas in the Gospels and other ancient texts as well as in subsequent visual arts, literature, film, and drama. The portrait that emerges challenges long-held beliefs about this New Testament figure by examining the background of the high priesthood and exploring the relationships among the high priest, the Roman leadership, and the Jewish population. Reinhartz does not seek to exonerate Caiaphas from culpability in the Crucifixion, but she does expand our understanding of Caiaphas's complex religious and political roles in biblical literature and his culturally loaded depictions in ongoing Jewish-Christian dialogue.
Many of us have questions about the Bible: Can we believe the Bible? What was Jesus’ mission? What is sin? Does hell exist? Is anyone beyond God’s forgiveness? In A Jesuit Off-Brodway, James Martin, SJ, answers these questions about the Bible, and other big questions about life, as he serves as a theological advisor to the cast of The Last Days of Judas Iscariot. Grab a front-row seat to Fr. Martin's six months with the LAByrinth Theater Company and see first-hand what it's like to share the faith with a largely secular group of people . . . and discover, along with Martin, that the sacred and the secular aren't always that far apart.
The year is AD28.In Roman-occupied Judea, Claudia Lucretia Pilate, daughter of the governor Pontius Pilate, is not happy with her father's choice of husband for her - the handsome Roman Tribune Marcus Gaius Sejanus, who has been assigned the task of ridding Palestine of the troublesome Zealots.Lover of Greek myths and culture, Claudia has ideals of finding a partner of her own and she unwittingly falls in love with Judah ben Hillel, a young Jewish Zealot, who has been instructed by his kinsmen to kidnap and kill her.Meanwhile, Marcus has fallen in love himself with a beautiful slave-girl, Nebela, whose mother is the local soothsayer. Despite their different ranks in society, Nebela is determined that she, and not Claudia, shall marry Marcus, and with her mother's help she weaves an intricate plot to try and get her way.Languishing in jail is John the Baptist, having prepared the way for the coming of the Messiah. Regarded by the Romans as a madman, John's fate will be decided by the whims of the women in Herod's household.Word on the street is that a Jewish prophet from Galilee has been causing unrest, drawing huge crowds to hear him speak and watch him perform wonders and healings.Claudia's father, Pontius, becomes a key player in the final destiny of the prophet, and despite warnings from his wife after her vivid dreams, he is swept along by expectations of the Jewish leaders to uphold the local traditions and finds himself in a dangerously compromising situation.As the last days of Jesus are played out in Jerusalem, the future happiness of Claudia and Judah becomes ever more thwarted and the outcome played out in a wider arena than they ever imagined.A tale of star-crossed lovers, Pilate's Daughter brings to the fore many lesser-known characters from the gospel accounts of Jesus, who mingle with fictional characters against the historical backdrop of Roman life in Palestine. Praise for Fiona Veitch Smith '...a thrilling portrayal of one of the most volatile periods of history' - bestselling author Richard ForemanFiona Veitch Smith is the author of books, plays and screenplays for both children and adults. Formerly a journalist, she is best-known for her historical crime series, Poppy Denby Investigates, about a feisty reporter sleuth in 1920s London. The first book in the series, The Jazz Files, was shortlisted for the Crime Writers' Association Historical Dagger Award 2016, sponsored by Endeavour Press
Michael and Elizabeth Stewart discovered long ago that they could time travel through an old church’s basement on Long Island. What they didn’t realize was that their actions in First Century Jerusalem could upend life for the world as we know it. Their encounter with Roman thug, Pontius Pilate, turns life upside down for billions of future generations. Michael endures family loss and survives in a brutal and violent world with the help of a new friend, Adriel. The mystery of this forsaken world is discovered while Michael and Adriel fight off old wicked ways from a past war. Michael realizes he must return and confront Pilate and the Romans to save the world from long-suffering oppression.
