Warren Carter's Pontius Pilate

Who is Pontius Pilate? When most people hear his name, they immediately think he is the man who was responsible for Jesus’ death. Other people may think about his name mentioned in the Apostle's Creed. One critic and scholar of theology, Warren Carter, believes Pilate “was weak and manipulated” (Carter 2). In his book, Pontius Pilate: Portraits of a Roman Governor, Carter argues that Pilate is an “innocent man,” (Carter 2) and therefore, he should not be viewed as a negative figure. In contrast, Carter explains how Pilate should be viewed and remembered as a positive historical character. Other critics would argue against Carter’s argument and defend Pilate as a well, respected leader who made the right decision. Carter is one of many scholars

Pilate is one of the most well-known characters in the Bible because of his decision to have Jesus killed. At the time of Jesus' death, the citizens of Jerusalem loved Pilate and supported his decision to crucify Jesus (Matthew 27:26). Warren Carter, in his book Portraits of a Roman Governor, explains that Pilate joined forces with a powerful figure named Sejanus in early 26 B.C. Sejanus oversaw the Roman troops at the time and was an extremely powerful man. Sejanus was also known to be Anti-Semitic and exhibited much hostility against Jews. This Anti-Semitic sentiment greatly influenced Pilate, who later acted in the same hateful way, with the culmination being his orders to kill Jesus. It was Sejanus who sent Pilate as governor of Judea just to provoke the

In a sermon given by Viv Randle, a pastor at United Reformed Church, he looks at Pilates life and asks: What was he thinking and what was in it for him? Countless people make decisions based on how they will benefit, or how they will survive the outcome in this circumstance. Matthew’s version of the story of Pontius Pilate was the only one to include any sort of reference to Pilate’s wife (Matthew 27:19-20). Randle unpacks these few verses in Matthew and claims why he believes Pilate is not making this decision in spite of Jesus. This is interesting because it adds layers into the reasoning behind Pilate’s decision. He has a wife; he has a suitable job and does not want anything bad to happen to him or his wife. These are details about this argument that makes Randles argument different because he brings up these other factors that may have contributed to Pilates decision. Pilate was likely looking out for his best interest. So, scholars may argue that Pilate took the easy way out and avoided conflict with his personal life. If he were a true leader, he would do what is best for his nation and put his personal interests aside. Therefore, Carter argues for a negative reading of Pilate. In contrast to Carter’s argument, one can defend Pilate and claim that it is not his fault for making this decision. Since he was around negative people in his early years of