Pontius Pilate: A Novel

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The trial would become the central event in history. But for the judgment of one man, a faith shared by nearly a billion people today might not have been born. At least it would not have developed as we know it. The decision of the Roman prefect of Judea on the day called Good Friday may have stemmed from pressures of the moment, but it was conditioned by the turbulent politics of the Mediterranean world at that time. What really happened at that most famous of all trials? Was Pilate’s judgment motivated by cowardice, expedience, or necessity? Where did he come from, and what became of him afterward—this man who unwittingly switched the flow of history into a new channel? This book proposes several answers.

There is too little source material on Pontius Pilate for a biography, yet too much for recourse to mere fiction. These pages attempt a compromise which might be called the documented historical novel. It seemed an appropriate genre for a case, such as Pilate’s, in which much authentic data is available, yet with insurmountable gaps in the information.

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