Acts of Pilate

Categories: New Testament Apocrypha | Christian mythology

The Acts of Pilate (Latin Acta Pilati) which formed the nucleus of the medieval Gospel of Nicodemus, is a book of the New Testament apocrypha.

The oldest sections of the book appear first in Greek. There are multiple parts to it, which are uneven in style and would seem to be by different hands, but the oldest section probably dates to the fourth century (see below). An appended text purports to be a written report made by Pontius Pilate to Claudius, containing a description of the crucifixion—by which, "Pilate" observes, "the Jews through envy have punished themselves and their posterity with fearful judgements of their own fault"— and an account of the resurrection of Jesus, presented as if an official report [1]. It is found in the Greek Acts of Peter and Paul and as an appendix to the Latin Gospel of Nicodemus but there is no intrinsic relation between the independent texts.

The Acts of Pilate itself does not purport to have been written by Pilate, but instead to have been derived from the official acts preserved in the praetorium at Jerusalem. An alleged "Hebrew" original is pseudepigraphically attributed to Nicodemus, hence the title Gospel of Nicodemus that the text gained in the Middle Ages, when this strictly legendary apocryphon had wide credit as historical fact. It had a considerable effect upon folk Christianity, and in some quarters, it still does. Its popularity is attested by the number of languages in which it exists, each in several manuscript traditions, or "editions".

One series of Latin manuscripts includes as an appendix or continuation, the episode "Cura Sanitatis Tiberii", the oldest form of the Veronica legend, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia, in which Emperor Tiberius is cured of his malady. Compare the legend of the Image of Edessa.

The main body of Acta Pilati is in two sections, with an appendix, Descensus ad Infernos—the Harrowing of Hell—that does not exist in the Greek texts, and is a later addition to the Latin versions. The first (chapters i–xi) contains the trial of Jesus based upon Luke 23. The second part (xii–xvi)regards the Resurrection. In it, Leucius and Charinus, the two souls raised from the dead after the Crucifixion, relate to the Sanhedrin the circumstances of Our Lord's descent to Limbo. A literature of miracle-tale Romance developed around "Leucius Charinus" as author. The Harrowing of Hell episode depicts St Dismas accompanying Jesus in Hell, and the deliverance of the righteous Old Testament patriarchs.

The well-informed Church historian Eusebius of Caesarea (writing ca 325), although he mentions Acta Pilati referred to by Justin and Tertullian and other non-canonical Acts, shows no acquaintance with this work. "We are forced to admit that is of later origin, and scholars agree in assigning it to the middle of the fourth century" (Catholic Encyclopedia). Epiphanius refers to an Acta Pilati (ca 376), but the Extant Greek texts show evidence of later editing.

Though the Acta Pilati purports to be a report by Pontius Pilate containing evidence of Jesus Christ's messiahship and godhead, yet there is no record in early Christian lore of Pilate's conversion to Christianity, it seems unlikely that the work was ever meant to have been taken seriously by Christians. Its purpose, instead, was to offer further conjectural details about the life of Christ as a pious entertainment, part of a larger body of Pilate literature.

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