Skip to main content
Drop the Pilate
TOMASZ PIERSCIONEK admires a well-researched and erudite examination of Pilate's role in the condemnation of Jesus Christ
pilate

The Innocence of Pontius Pilate: How the Roman Trial of Jesus Shaped History
David Lloyd Dusenbury
Hurst, £25


DAVID LLOYD DUSENBURY, philosopher and senior fellow at Budapest’s Danube Institute, undertakes an in-depth analysis of a pivotal event in the history of Christianity that could be arguably deemed the most famous trial in human history.

In the Innocence of Pontius Pilate, Dusenbury methodically examines the judicial proceedings in which Roman governor Pontius Pilate questioned Jesus Christ in a trial that culminated in the latter’s crucifixion and (according to Christian belief) resurrection. Dusenbury looks at how the trial is described in the four canonical Gospels of the New Testament as well as how religious scholars and philosophers reported and interpreted the event during subsequent centuries.

Dusenbury’s scholarly work begins by seeking to determine whether or not Pilate, who governed the Roman province of Judaea in the early 1st century AD, can be considered guilty of Jesus’s death. Dusenbury reveals that this question, which some might consider straightforward, is, in fact, a matter of great complexity from both legal and religious standpoints.

Liberation webinar, 30 November2024, 6pm (UK)
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
More from this author
prop1
Books / 3 December 2024
3 December 2024
MICHAL BONCZA recommends a compact volume that charts the art of propagating ideas across the 20th century
Cairokee
Gig review / 5 May 2024
5 May 2024
MICHAL BONCZA reviews Cairokee gig at the London Barbican
triple
Culture / 29 April 2024
29 April 2024
women poster 1
Opinion / 15 March 2024
15 March 2024
MICHAL BONCZA rounds up a series of images designed to inspire women