Why Pilate? Because of the anti-gnostic polemic

Discussion about the New Testament, apocrypha, gnostics, church fathers, Christian origins, historical Jesus or otherwise, etc.
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Giuseppe
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Why Pilate? Because of the anti-gnostic polemic

Post by Giuseppe »

I will show in this thread the result of the my preferred readings (Rylands and Dujardin). For more info about Dujardin, read this thread.



So Dujardin:
...is absurd to imagine that the crowd would demand the death of an innocent man and would wish his blood to be on their heads and those of their children. But in the thought we recover the sacrificial setting.
https://books.google.it/books?id=WebwDM ... wd&f=false

How can I reconcile the Dujardin's view (the Crucifixion as the earthly form of an old sacrificial rite) with the Rylands's view about the Jews as killers of Jesus in the Earliest Gospel?

A possible genesis may be the following:

1) when Jesus was only a celestial angel, the crucifixion worked as sacred earthly representation of the his celestial cosmic sacrifice. It was a sacrifice expiatory. The killer of Jesus was just who loves him, i.e. YHWH himself.

2) the Gnostics believed already in a celestial Christ killed by demons (a revealer, not a redeemer). When they met the worshippers of the angel Jesus and a fusion happened between ''Jesus'' and ''Christ'' (thanks to Pillars and Paul), a conflict arose between Gnostics and Judaizers. And equivalently, between the idea of an (not-embarrassing) expiatory sacrifice and the idea of a (embarrassing) death by demons. The question arose:

was the killer of Jesus just his celestial Father (as Abraham who had to kill his son Isaac even if he loved his son Isaac), or Satan and his cruel demons?


3) who wrote the Earliest Gospel was a Gnostic. In the Earliest Gospel, Jesus was crucified by Jews. This fact allegorizes the role of the Jews who, as actors, were simulating the Crucifixion of Jesus as expiatory sacrifice.
But this fact makes a parody of the role of Jews in that sacrificial rite: they were sacrificing their victim Jesus, but they were doing so because they were real haters of Jesus (just as the demonic archons), not because they were pious people.

4) the anti-Gnostic Christians would have reacted against this parody directed against them. The idea that the Jews were the real killers of Jesus was already entered in the History, but the human archons had to share their responsability in killing Jesus. Not only Herod. A ROMAN ''archon'': Pontius Pilate.
In this way the gentiles have warned: if they don't receive the baptism, they are guilty just as well as the Jews, for the death of Jesus.

By Pilate, The killer of Jesus becomes all humankind, therefore the idea of an expiatory sacrifice of Jesus is restored, against the Gnostics.

WHY JUST PILATE?
Because Pilate was notoriously a very bad man, guilty of many crimes.
But even him, as unaware killer of Jesus, may be reedemed : it is sufficient the conversion to Christianity (equivalent to identify Jesus as an innocent victim).

The implicit message is: if you Gentile don't receive the baptism, then you remain a sinner just as well as the historical Pilate was sinner for his many crimes. Your sins are not removed by the expiatory sacrifice of Jesus.

______________________________________________________

In more short and Hegelian terms:

THESIS: the killers of ''Jesus'' were pious people and were Jews in need of an expiatory sacrifice (before euhemerization)

ANTITHESIS:
the killers of ''Jesus'' were evil Jews and the death of Jesus was not an expiatory sacrifice but only the price to pay to give the gnosis to Gnostics (the primitive Gnostic euhemerization)

SYNTHESIS: the killers of ''Jesus'' were both evil Jews and a innocent Pilate (i.e., all the sinful Gentile humanity). The idea and the need of an expiatory sacrifice on behalf of all the humanity is restored. (after euhemerization)
Nihil enim in speciem fallacius est quam prava religio. -Liv. xxxix. 16.
Giuseppe
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Re: Why Pilate? Because of the anti-gnostic polemic

Post by Giuseppe »

The need of a Gentile (Pilate) as killer of Jesus in order to restore, against the Gnostics, the idea that the death of Jesus was a legitimate sacrifice expiatory of a Redeemer (and not the apparent death of a Revealer by bad sacrificial executioners) is confirmed by the three prophecies in Mark about the fate of the Son of Man, who wil be "given" to the gentiles - meaning that the gentiles, also, are implied in his death and therefore had to be purified insofar they accept DE FACTO the same sacrifice expiatory accepted by the anti-Gnostic Jewish Christians.

If the Gnostics had accepted the idea of a sacrifice expiatory ab initio, then there would be not Pilate at all in our Gospels.
Nihil enim in speciem fallacius est quam prava religio. -Liv. xxxix. 16.
Giuseppe
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Joined: Mon Apr 27, 2015 5:37 am
Location: Italy

Re: Why Pilate? Because of the anti-gnostic polemic

Post by Giuseppe »

Pilatus means "armed with javelins" or "spears in hand".


The spear is in John strictly linked to the idea of expiatory sacrifice.


One of the soldiers pierced his side with a lance, and immediately there came out blood and water.
 John 19:34



Image

Therefore Pilate, being the man with spear par excellence, is the best candidate to represent the Gentile ''high priest'' who realizes a sacrificial rite (by giving to death Jesus), in anti-gnostic function.
Nihil enim in speciem fallacius est quam prava religio. -Liv. xxxix. 16.
Giuseppe
Posts: 13732
Joined: Mon Apr 27, 2015 5:37 am
Location: Italy

Re: Why Pilate? Because of the anti-gnostic polemic

Post by Giuseppe »

Luke 22:35-38

35 Then Jesus asked them, “When I sent you without purse, bag or sandals, did you lack anything?”

“Nothing,” they answered.

36 He said to them, “But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one. 37 It is written: ‘And he was numbered with the transgressors’[a]; and I tell you that this must be fulfilled in me. Yes, what is written about me is reaching its fulfillment.”

38 The disciples said, “See, Lord, here are two swords.”

“That’s enough!” he replied

According to Dujardin, these two swords (really two knives) were sufficient for the correct execution of the sacrificial rite. Therefore we have evidence of the link "sword"/"sacrifice".

Therefore also the Spear "Pilate" was especially necessary to sacrifice Jesus.
Nihil enim in speciem fallacius est quam prava religio. -Liv. xxxix. 16.
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