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The Passion of the Christ does a good job fleshing out the character of Pilate and his decisions. It comes across as a “banality of evil” type scenario. He sees
by canjobear 5y ago
The Passion of the Christ does a good job fleshing out the character of Pilate and his decisions. It comes across as a “banality of evil” type scenario. He sees that he is being forced to execute an innocent man, but what is on his mind the most is office politics: he needs to Judaea under control so that he won’t be recalled to Rome and look like a fool. When he asks “Quid est veritas?” he’s saying that truth doesn’t matter, all that matters is the politics of the situation. But the question also shows that he is deeply uncomfortable with the whole situation and doesn’t really know what to do.
- trhway 5y agoBulgakov's "Master and Margarita" has a worthy take on it too, a bit less about politics.
- MR4D 5y agoThe Roman emperor at the time would have been Tiberius, who was a rather cruel man, even among emperors. Throwing people off of a cliff was a particular punishment he seemed to enjoy, even for petty things. It is quite likely that Pilate feared for his life much more than looking like a fool. Under Tiberius those two might have been one in the same.