Pilate: brutal tyrant or vacillating weakling?

"We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, [...]
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate."

- Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed

Was Pontius Pilate a ruthless dictator who would execute a potential Jewish troublemaker at the drop of a hat or a spineless pushover terrified of the Jews? Over Easter, Dick Gross has written an article in the Sydney Morning Herald claiming that the portrayal of Pilate in the canonical Gospels is not credible when compared with other historic accounts of this figure.

Murray Smith (my brother) has written an excellent reply also published in the SMH over the weekend.

History matters to Christianity. If the Gospels are no more than inspiring fables, then Jesus may entertain, stimulate or even illuminate us, but he cannot save us.

Jesus: all about life (new book)

While I try to avoid excessive advertising on this blog (and have not and will not ever include paid ads), I have no qualms about the occasional plug for for quality material produced by some of my nearest and dearest.

Jesus: All about life
As part of the Jesus: all about life campaign, my brother Murray has written a short book introducing Jesus to high schoolers (teenagers between about 13-18 for those outside Australia).

At first glance, the book is attractive and accessible. Published in a widescreen format (I would use the more technical publishing term, but members of the visual age will probably get this better) with images on one side and text on the other, it feels like something you can dip into, or read from start to finish. The images are varied and high quality and the headings draw even idle readers in.

And when we take a longer look, the message of the text is just as interesting and attractive as the initial impression. Dealing with a wide range of issues in a personable and relaxed tone, the text approaches Jesus via reflections on the good bits and the ugly bits of life. Murray's historical knowledge (he is currently completing a PhD in early Christian history) is shared without excessive technicality or over-simplification. And throughout, the life of Jesus is put forward as the hidden cohesion and meaning of all of life, both the good bits and the ugly ones.

Although aimed primarily at youth, Jesus: All about life would not be inappropriate sitting on almost any coffee table or bedside table. You can order copies from here and you will find them quite easy to give away - if you can avoid diving in yourself!

Jesus: All About Life
by Murray Smith
RRP $14.95 AUD
Bulk Price (30+ $7.95)
Preview (3.2MB pdf)
Order here

New book(let): Can we trust what the Gospels say about Jesus?

Christians place great weight on the stories about the life, death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. There are four accounts of his life that are universally accepted by the church across the ages, named after the four figures traditionally considered to be the authors: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. These are known as the Gospels, since they present the "good news" (gospel) about Jesus.

However, a spate of recent popular documentaries and publications have thrown up all kinds of questions about these writings and others like them which are much less well known. For many people, the appearance of contradictory viewpoints is enough to provide an excuse to avoid the whole deal, since what can we really know anyway? Can we trust what the gospels say about Jesus?

Andrew Errington thinks that we can. He has written a very useful little introduction to the historical issues around the Gospels. At 32 pages long, it is very readable for the non-expert and yet avoids gross oversimplification. You can order it here.

Baby Jesus had a beard

A while ago, I posted the classic "Baby Jesus prayer" clip from Talladega Nights. Greg Clarke (director of the Centre for Public Christianity) has now used it as the basis of an opinion piece published on the ABC website. Go and have a look. His article is an invitation to go and have a look at the Jesus of history, of ethics, of politics, of theology, not just of popular culture.

And if you'd like a glimpse into many of the popular (mis)conceptions of Christianity, read a few of the comments. Dan Brown has a lot to answer for.

The Life of Jesus

The Centre for Public Christianity (CPX) are soon to release a new documentary called The Life of Jesus, a follow up to The Christ Files. Looks like it will be more quality work from Greg Clarke and John Dickson. Here is a short teaser:

H/T Matt.

Studying Jesus

A shameless plug
I try to keep ads here to a minimum, but since this one is for my brother, I couldn't resist.

Google ‘Jesus’ and you get 152 million results. He may have cultivated more discussion, interest and controversy than any other person in world history. Who was he? What were his ethics, his teachings, his motivations? In the MCSI subject, Jesus: Person, Politics & Ethics, you’ll look in-depth at Jesus’ life and words, what we know about him and what difference he made (and is still making) to the world.

Curious about Jesus? Want to find out how historians think about him, rather than ministers, sports stars and journalists? The Macquarie Christian Studies Institute is offering a second semester course called Jesus: Person, Politics and Ethics at both Macquarie University and UNSW that is open to everyone, though most Australian university students will be able to take it for credit.

The unit convenors are Ian Packer, Director of Public Theology at the Australian Evangelical Alliance, and Murray Smith, PhD candidate in Ancient History at Macquarie University working on early Christian second coming expectations (Murray is a hero and mentor of mine - and also my brother).

Enroll online before July 31. Here is the course outline:

Week 1: Faith, History and Worldview
Week 2: Gospels - Canonical and Apocryphal
Week 3: The Quests for the ‘Historical Jesus'
Week 4: The Social and Political World of First Century Palestine
Week 5: Jesus in First Century Judaism
Week 6: Jesus, Eschatology and the ‘Kingdom of God'
Week 7: Jesus, Ethics and the Law
Week 8: The ‘Sermon on the Mount'
Week 9: Messianic Ethics for Today?
Week 10: Resurrection?; Counter-cultural community
Week 11: Wealth and Poverty
Week 12: Violence, War and Peace
Week 13: Resistance, Assimilation and Protest

I think this will be a great course with excellent teachers (even if I am biased...).

PS Murray is also teaching an online course in second semester with John Dickson comparing five major world religions.