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.

According to the New Testament, Pilate is a character who says very little and appears to have a singular purpose. Yet this individual has been the subject of much scrutiny over the past two millennia. Dusenbury describes how Pilate and his treatment of Jesus is viewed in pagan (pre-Christian Roman), early Christian, Jewish and Islamic scripture and other scholarly texts. Interestingly, one point upon which all above beliefs (including some early Christian philosophers) concur is that Pilate was innocent of Jesus’s death. However, each group has very different reasons for reaching this conclusion.

We also learn how the figure of Pilate was later co-opted by pagans and early Christians alike, who in turn embellished his role and put words in his mouth to support their respective beliefs.

Dusenbury glances at texts such as the Acts of Pilate, which are part of the so-called Pilate cycle — a collection of works that claim to have been authored either by Pilate himself or by individuals close to Jesus. Although such texts develop the character of Pilate and may be interesting to read, they are apocryphal and as such historians believe they were written by author(s) unknown in the centuries after Jesus’s death.

Dusenbury later contends that Pilate’s cross-examination of Jesus and the manner in which the latter’s trial unfolded gave birth to the concept of separation between church and state. Dusenbury reveals that the answers Jesus provided to Pilate during his interrogation could even be interpreted as a case in favour of this idea.

Dusenbury explains how this bold conclusion was reached and advocated by two key figures within the early Christian church who originated in North Africa, namely the 4th century AD Bishop Augustine of Hippo and the 5th century AD Pope Gelasius. He further points out that both men’s interpretation of Jesus’s trial by Pilate set the scene for the uncoupling between the saeculario (a Latin word meaning worldly or temporal, from which the English word secular derives) kingdoms of the earth and Jesus’s celestial kingdom that is “not of this world.”

Dusenbury asserts that this idea in turn had a profound impact upon the future dynamics between European monarchs and the Roman Catholic Church, and even upon the history of Europe.

Dusenbury’s book is a well-researched and erudite work in which he scrutinises and analyses the meaning of Latin, Greek and Hebrew works, as he takes a look at the earliest New Testament manuscripts, other religious texts, and the treatises of numerous philosophers from the classical, mediaeval and renaissance periods.

Much of Dusenbury’s book reads like an academic thesis and is at times peppered with jargon which makes parts of it difficult to read for the layman, even though his eventual conclusions are understandable. So, this is a book worth reading for those with a deep interest in theology or philosophy, anyone studying for a higher degree in these subjects, or a courageous member of the laity who seeks an intellectual challenge.