• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer
Christians for Truth

Christians for Truth

  • Home
  • Categories
    • All Posts
    • Bible Studies and Christian History
    • Core Topics
    • Egalitarian Myth
    • Entertainment
    • Health
    • COVID “Pandemic”
    • History
    • Hidden Hand
    • Must Read
    • Diversity Kills
    • South Africa
    • Fake Right
    • Right Direction
    • God’s “Chosen People”
    • Faith
    • Evangelical Zionism
    • Judeo-Churchianity
  • Resources
    • Books
    • Videos
    • Memes/Pics
  • About
  • Donations

Caesarean Inscription of Pontius Pilate Proves Gospel Witnesses Correct

September 2, 2018 By CFT Team -- 1 Comment

Historical skeptics had long doubted the biblical account of the trial of Christ presided over by a Roman governor named Pontius Pilate, whom they claimed existed only as a character in the Gospels–and in a brief hearsay mention by the Roman historian Josephus.  However, an archeological discovery of a Roman inscription in 1961 put all doubts about Pilate’s existence to rest:

[Our knowledge of Pontius Pilate] has now been supplemented by a significant Latin inscription discovered at Caesarea Maritima.

It was found by an Italian archeological expedition during its third season (summer, 1961) while excavating the Roman theater, situated in the southwestern corner of the city.

Sometime between A.D. 26 and A.D. 36 it had been set in the wall of the “Tiberium,” a public building (perhaps a temple) “given” or “dedicated” by Pontius Pilate in honor of Tiberius.5 Sometime later, probably in the fourth century, it was taken from the ruins of the “Tiberium” and employed as a landing for one of the stairways in the theater…

Translated into English this would read (literally):
“Pontius Pilate, prefect of Judea, has given (or has dedicated) to the people of Caesarea a public building (or temple) in honor of Tiberius.”

In the first century A.D. a Roman of rank normally had three elements to his name: praenomen, nomen, and cognomen. However, he was not infrequently referred to by either his cogno men alone or his nomen and cognomen. While Luke and Josephus, for example, when speaking of Pilate, usually employ his cognomen (Greek, Pilatos) alone, they both, at the point of their first mention of him, employ his nomen and cognomen (Greek, Pontios Pilatos). The Caesarea inscription employs his nomen and cognomen, Pontius Pilatus.

Neither Matthew nor Luke, when referring to the equestrian governor of Judea, Pilate, employs either the technical Greek term eparchos (Latin praefectus) or the technical Greek term epitropos (Latin procurator), but the more general Greek term hegemon (governor).

The Caesarea inscription is undoubtedly accurate in employing the technical Latin term praefectus.10 When we read the more general Greek term hegemon in Matthew and Luke, with reference to Pilate, we should understand that its technical Latin equivalent would have been praefectus, not procurator. Tacitus, writing much later (about A.D. 115), undoubtedly read back into the pre-Claudian period a technical Latin title that did not come into common usage until the time of Claudius and his successors.

Prof. S. Sandmel, author of the article on Pontius Pilate in The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, after discussing the references to Pilate in the writings of Tacitus, Philo, Josephus, and the New Testament, writes: “The base fact that Pilate was procurator in Jesus’ time, though it lacks direct corroboration, need not be doubted.” Archeology has now provided, in the discovery and reconstruction of the Caesarea inscription, the “direct corroboration” that Sandmel felt lacking.

What are the chances that four writers of the Gospels would all just make up the existence of Pontius Pilate–and then over the next 2,000 years never once be contradicted by any historical evidence to the contrary?  Given the plethora of historical information we have about ancient Rome, it would be unthinkable that a fictional character could survive this long without being exposed as a fraud.

If the New Testament were fictional, it would have been exposed as such a long time ago, especially during the golden age of archeology in the 19th Century, when Judea was gone over with a fine tooth comb.  But not one shred of objective evidence has come to light that contradicts any of the New Testament witnesses as to first century historical details mentioned in the Gospels.

That is a remarkable feat for a group of so-called uneducated fishermen.


Also on Christians for Truth:

  • Stone Inscription Puts White Europeans In Grand Traverse, Michigan At The Time Of Christ
  • Muslim Claims Jesus Dictated The Entire Gospel Of John To Him Verbatim In A Dream

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Ottify

    September 3, 2018 at 11:49 pm

    The Scriptures reiterate many times that the profession of truth gains it’s veracity by being produced by 2 or more witnesses. Common sense dictates that all professions must corroborate. How many people actually read the Nuremberg trial transcripts? Thousands of ‘witnesses’, but not one corroborating story…

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Sidebar

Recent Posts

  • Protesters Burn Down House Of Mayor Who Supported Migrant Asylum Center In Small French Town
  • After Popularizing ‘Black Face’ And ‘White Face’, Jews Complain About Whites Doing ‘Jew Face’
  • E. Michael Jones ‘Logos And Africa’ (Part 3)
  • Franco’s Top Psychiatrist Claimed Spanish Bloodline Corrupted By 500 Years Of Jewish Converts To Catholicism
  • Jews Resurrect Jan Karski — The Holocaust™ ‘Eyewitness’ Not Even Jewish Historians Believe
  • Jews ‘Terrified’ They’ve Fallen From Inordinately Over-Represented To Merely Vastly Over-Represented In Power
  • Black South African: ‘Blacks Are Dismal Failure’ — Give Country Back To White People
  • E. Michael Jones ‘Logos And Africa’ (Part 2)
  • E. Michael Jones Claims Africa Never Developed As A Civilization Because It Isn’t Catholic
  • Sylvester Stallone Calls ‘Hated’ Jewish Producer Who Cheated Him Out Of Millions A ‘Bloodsucker’
  • A Closer Look At Exodus 20:14 – ‘Thou Shall Not Commit Adultery’ Or ‘Adulterate Thy Blood’?
  • How Jewish Banking Heir Robi Mendelssohn Became British Spy After Germany’s Largest Bank Was ‘Aryanized’
  • Gay Jewish ‘Psychologist’ Who Helped Declassify Sodomy As Mental Disorder Now Confronts The Abyss
  • Israelite Migrations From Tarshish Spain To Britain And Ireland

Recent Comments

  • Cal on Protesters Burn Down House Of Mayor Who Supported Migrant Asylum Center In Small French TownHeeby, if you think Napoleon never existed, you are right: your own "limited information" condemns you. Just stop. Put on
  • Piarist Calasanz on Protesters Burn Down House Of Mayor Who Supported Migrant Asylum Center In Small French TownFunny you say "Jew vs. Jesuit" argument. You do know that the Jesuit Order was founded by a converso Jew,
  • KoS on Protesters Burn Down House Of Mayor Who Supported Migrant Asylum Center In Small French TownSome interesting comments here. Makow would be a bad Jew in the eyes of the Jews as they are supposed
  • Hammersmith on Protesters Burn Down House Of Mayor Who Supported Migrant Asylum Center In Small French TownLooks like the mayor got the ace of spades.
  • Paul Michael O'Donohoe on Flashback 1933: Jewish Press Runs Hit Piece Insinuating Adolf Hitler Was JewishI recently made friends with someone on Facebook - he shared certain views, but he said this to me is

Resources

Book Library
Video Library
Anonymous, Free Speech Hosting
VPN (Virtual Private Network)

Copyright © 2023 · ChristiansForTruth.com · Terms · Privacy Policy · Contact · Login