The Pilate presented in the Gospels is very different from Pilate in Josephus. Why do the evangelists give a false portrayal of Pilate?
Comment:
The actions reported of Pilate in the Gospels bear no relation to the character of the Roman official depicted in Josephus. All you need to do,is look up every passage in Josephus where Pilate is involved and then compare the difference in personality and action between the man in Josephus and the Gospels. When you do so, just reflect also on why the Evangelists portray him totally out of character and ask yourself what purpose that could serve for them.
Response:
Now, Josephus never met Pilate. In fact, he was born well after Pilate had left Palestine. Why do you assume Josephus knows more about Pilate than the apostles John and Matthew who actually met the man and lived under his rule? If anyone is showing bias, it is those who for some seeminly irrational reason give precedence to Josephus over those who actually knew Pilate. Josephus is working from second or more likely third hand accounts of a person who died 40+ years before he wrote. To me, if there were differences of fact, such as when he ruled, his title or where he lived while ruling Judea, that would be significant. But if I have to decide who gets Pilate the person right, I would give very strong precedence to those who actually knew him. Josephus gets a B/B+ to me as a historian for the events to which he was an eye-witness to and to the events which occurred around him. For events before he was on the scene, he reverts slowly but gradually toward creative history.
John Oakes, PhD
