Why 1 Timothy 6:13 mentions Pilate

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Giuseppe
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Joined: Mon Apr 27, 2015 5:37 am
Location: Italy

Why 1 Timothy 6:13 mentions Pilate

Post by Giuseppe »

1 Timothy 6:13-14
In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ

The reason of a such mention is not anti-docetist polemic.

The reason is political: by confessing publicly that Jesus is the Christ, the Christians could show their coherence before the authorities who had to persecute them. Otherwise, their silence could be interpreted as a public denial of their faith.

Hence this reason explains also why the partisans of Massiminus Daia fabricated the Acta Pilati where the presumed witness of Jesus before Pilate was an embarrassing witness. The focus was, not coincidentially, precisely on what Jesus confessed before Pilate.

Hence, Pilate entered in the Symbol because his only mention fixed forever the witness of the Christians before the authorities.

To see another function of the mention of Pilate, an anti-mythicist function, it is necessary to read what says an old Coptic gospel:

The Lord is that who was crucified by Ponce Pilate.

Corollary: by Pilate, not by demons in outer space.

Thank you if you can give the name of this coptic gospel where I have found this quote.
Giuseppe
Posts: 13732
Joined: Mon Apr 27, 2015 5:37 am
Location: Italy

Re: Why 1 Timothy 6:13 mentions Pilate

Post by Giuseppe »

One may think that:

...just as Pilate was mentioned in an epistle in a time when the Christians were exhorted to proclaim openly their faith in a crucified Jew...

...so in the early times Pilate was NOT mentioned deliberately, to not disturb the authorities.

The problem with this view is: how could the original readers of the epistle know that Jesus was crucified on a Roman cross ?
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