Acts of Pontius Pilate (lost early report on Jesus; existence unconfirmed; 1st century AD)

"The Pilate Stone", a 1st century stone containing an inscription with Pilates name.

Status: Existence Unconfirmed

The Acts of Pontius Pilate refers to a now lost work first mentioned by Justin Martyr around 150 AD. According to Justin The Acts of Pontius Pilate were a report purportedly written by Pontius Pilate on the life and crucifixion of Jesus which could be found in the Roman archive. This work should not be confused with several later forth century forgeries of the same name, some which survive in full. The work, if it was indeed written by Pontius Pilate, would be notable if it was ever found for providing an early non-Christian report on Jesus's death.

Background

Pontius Pilate served as the Roman Governor (or Prefect) of Judea from 26 to 36 AD. During this time he was a source of great strife between the native Jewish population and the Roman occupiers. For example, at one point, he brought several ensigns bearing the image of Caesar into Jerusalem, despite knowing it violated Jewish law. When many Jews naturally became upset by this and began prostrating on the ground for several days in protest. In response Pilate had them surrounded by soldiers and demanded they worship the image of Caesar or face execution. Pilate was only forced to back down and remove the ensigns when the prostrating Jews refused to worship Caesar and showed no fear of death. On another occasion he brought several golden shields into Herod's palace, once again violating Jewish law. In response one of Herod's sons wrote to Emperor Tiberius informing him of the mater, Tiberius in response ordered the shields removed and reprimanded Pilate.

During his tenure as Governor he also had Jesus of Nazareth executed via crucifixion, which has become the action he is most remembered for. By the middle of the second century there were references to a report on the matter, purportedly written by Pilate, known as The Acts of Pontius Pilate, which were insinuating as being in the Roman archive.

Mentions

Justin Martyr

In the middle of the second century Justin Martyr wrote a Christian apologetic aimed at Emperor Antoninus Pius now known as The First Apology of Justin Martyr during which he broadly defended the Christian faith against some of the lies being spread about it. At two different points he cites The Acts of Pontius Pilate broadly insinuating they must be in the Roman archives as he encourages the Emperor to read them to verify what he's saying, writing in chapter 35,

"but Jesus Christ stretched forth His hands, being crucified by the Jews speaking against Him, and denying that He was the Christ. And as the prophet spoke, they tormented Him, and set Him on the judgment-seat, and said, Judge us. And the expression, 'They pierced my hands and my feet,' was used in reference to the nails of the cross which were fixed in His hands and feet. And after He was crucified they cast lots upon His vesture, and they that crucified Him parted it among them. And that these things did happen, you can ascertain from the Acts of Pontius Pilate."

In chapter 48 he makes an additional references to The Acts of Pontius Pilate writing,

And that it was predicted that our Christ should heal all diseases and raise the dead, hear what was said. There are these words: 'At His coming the lame shall leap as an hart, and the tongue of the stammerer shall be clear speaking: the blind shall see, and the lepers shall be cleansed; and the dead shall rise, and walk about.' Isaiah 35:6 And that He did those things, you can learn from the Acts of Pontius Pilate.

Based on Justin's references one could infer that The Acts of Pontius Pilate mentioned some of the miracles attributed to Jesus in the Bible and his crucifixion.

Tertullian

Writing around the end of the second century Tertullian makes at least two likely references to The Acts of Pontius Pilate in referencing a report written by Pilate to Emperor Tiberius. Writing in chapter 5 his Apology,

"Tiberius accordingly, in whose days the Christian name made its entry into the world, having himself received intelligence from Palestine of events which had clearly shown the truth of Christ's divinity, brought the matter before the senate, with his own decision in favour of Christ. The senate, because it had not given the approval itself, rejected his proposal. Cæsar held to his opinion, threatening wrath against all accusers of the Christians. Consult your histories; you will there find that Nero was the first who assailed with the imperial sword the Christian sect, making progress then especially at Rome".

In Chapter 21 he wrote,

"Thereafter, having given them commission to preach the gospel through the world, He was encompassed with a cloud and taken up to heaven, — a fact more certain far than the assertions of your Proculi concerning Romulus. All these things Pilate did to Christ; and now in fact a Christian in his own convictions, he sent word of Him to the reigning Cæsar, who was at the time Tiberius. Yes, and the Cæsars too would have believed on Christ, if either the Cæsars had not been necessary for the world, or if Christians could have been Cæsars".

Based on his references it can be inferred that Pilate's report convinced Emperor Tiberius to the divinity of Christ and spurred great conviction in Rome.

Possible Additional References

Tertullian

Tertullian makes at least one additional reference to Roman archival records pertaining to Christ's death, though rather or not this comes from Pilate he does not elaborate on, writing,

"And yet, nailed upon the cross, He exhibited many notable signs, by which His death was distinguished from all others. At His own free-will, He with a word dismissed from Him His spirit, anticipating the executioner’s work. In the same hour, too, the light of day was withdrawn, when the sun at the very time was in his meridian blaze. Those who were not aware that this had been predicted about Christ, no doubt thought it an eclipse. You yourselves have the account of the world-portent still in your archives."

Tacitus

The Roman historian Cornelius Tacitus wrote a history of Rome called The Annals in around 118 AD. In chapter 44 of book 15 he wrote that Emperor Nero blamed Christians for the 64 AD Great Fire of Rome during this he briefly detours to describe the origins of Christianity, briefly mentioned Jesus's crucifixion, writing,

"Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judæa, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their centre and become popular".

Scholarly consensus recognize this as a genuine independent reference to Jesus's execution, noting that the disdain he expressed towards Christians making it unlikely he would have used Christian source. As such some have speculated that he may have been pulling directly from Roman archival records (such as The Acts of Pontius Pilate).

Forgeries

Beginning in the third and forth centuries several forgeries purporting to be the real Acts of Pilate were produced. Perhaps the most famous of which being the work now known as The Gospel of Nicodemus.

Scholarly Assessment

Most dismiss Tertullian's references to The Acts of Pilate noting the fanciful nature of Tiberius's supposed reaction to Jesus. Still Scholars debate the overall existence of The Acts of Pontius Pilate, with Dr. Montague James writing on Justin Martyr's reference that, "The truth of that matter is that he simply assumed that such records must exist".

On the other side of the debate Scottish scholar, F.F. Bruce, noted that it was possible (though not certain), that Pilate may have written a report about Jesus to Tiberius. Some supporters of the existence of a genuine report from Pilate have argued that it is unlikely Justin would have made up a fictitious source for the Emperor to search for if he was trying to prove his case.Arguing in favor of authenticity German theologian Johannes Quasten wrote, "The oldest piece of Christian Pilate literature seems to be 'The Report of Pilate to the Emperor Claudius', which is inserted in Greek into the late Acts of Peter and Paul and is given in Latin translation as an appendix of the Evangelium Nicodemi. It is probable that this report is identical with that mentioned by Tertullian. If that is true, it must have been composed before the year 197 A.D., the time of Tertullian's Apologeticum".