This article explores the philosophical and psychological structure of M. A. Bulgakov’s novel «The Master and Margarita» with a focus on the interaction between metaphysical ideas and the inner world of the characters. The study examines how ethical conflict, existential choice, and psychological tension shape the artistic integrity of the novel. Particular attention is paid to the figures of Pontius Pilate and Margarita, whose inner transformations reveal different models of moral responsibility and personal freedom. The analysis demonstrates that Bulgakov constructs a complex philosophical system in which psychological reality becomes a key mechanism for revealing the author’s vision of good and evil, guilt and redemption. The novel is interpreted as a holistic philosophical narrative where inner experience and ethical decision-making play a decisive role in the formation of meaning.

Abstract The present article offers a rejoinder to the reviews of the book They Suffered under Pontius Pilate: Jewish Anti-Roman Resistance and the Crosses at Golgotha. The response replies individually to each of the essays by Christina Gousopoulos, Paul Middleton, Bruce Worthington, Warren Goldstein, and James Crossley. The important issues discussed include the relationship between History and Theology, ideological assumptions and positionality, the nature of the notion of ‘kingdom of God’, the historicity and character of the men crucified along with Jesus, the responsibility of Romans and Jewish authorities in Jesus’ (and others’) crucifixion, the causes of Jesus’ (and others’) crucifixion, the distortions and caricature of the hypothesis about a Jesus involved in anti-Roman resistance, and the potential impact and future of such a hypothesis.

Abstract This article reviews Fernando Bermejo-Rubio’s monograph, They Suffered under Pontius Pilate: Jewish Anti-Roman Resistance and the Crosses at Golgotha (2023). This book is the latest publication arguing for the ‘seditious Jesus’ hypothesis, the idea that Jesus was an armed revolutionary. It is argued that the volume rightly critiques some theological tendency in New Testament scholarship to downplay or ignore violence inherent in the Jesus tradition, but the argument that the men crucified with Jesus were either some of his disciples or sympathetic to his violent cause fails to convince. Despite arguing for historical minimalism in relation to the Gospel material, Bermejo-Rubio builds his case on the material he judges to be historical, but that is better explained by the imagination of the evangelists.

Abstract This is a review essay of Fernando Bermejo-Rubio’s book, They Suffered under Pontius Pilate: Jewish Anti-Roman Resistance (Lexington Books/Fortress Academic, 2023). The starting point for the book is the crucifixion of Jesus at Golgotha with him at the center and two bandits crucified on both sides of him. Since crucifixion was the Roman punishment for rebellion, Bermejo-Rubio conjectures that Jesus was the leader of a rebellion and that he must have had some connection with the two bandits. Bermejo-Rubio does this to counteract the predominant narrative in the Gospels that it was the priests, elders, and the scribes who were responsible for Jesus’ execution, in other words, that the Jews killed Jesus. This article argues that Bermejo-Rubio absolves the responsibility of the Jewish priest class and that it was most likely both them and the Romans who were responsible for Jesus’ death.

Abstract This article looks at the history of the idea of an insurgent, seditious Jesus in light of Fernando Bermejo-Rubio’s They Suffered under Pontius Pilate: Jewish Anti-Roman Resistance and the Crosses at Golgotha (Lanham: Lexington Books, 2023). The focus is on reading the history of scholarship in its cultural and historical contexts, looking at why the insurgent Jesus and its critics came to the fore when they did. The article ends with final reflections on the language and ideas relating to insurgency and resistance in recent years and what impact they may have on historical Jesus studies.

Abstract This is an invited review article for Fernando Bermejo-Rubio’s book entitled They Suffered under Pontius Pilate: Jewish Anti-Roman Resistance and the Crosses at Golgotha. Using the work of recent decolonial approaches to the study of religion, the author questions Bermejo-Rubio’s strict secular historiographical approach to historical Jesus research, looking instead for ways in which secular and theological approaches can be co-constitutive.

The article represents the first attempt to investigate the sources of the apocryphal story “Pilate and the Holy Virgin” from Father Theodore Popovych Tukhliansky’s manuscript of the 18th century. It is proved that the logic of Virgin Mary’s divine miracle is a key narrative technique that progresses the plot. Even though the idea that Pilate and his wife were converted to Christianity after the conversation with the Virgin Mary accompanied by the miracle star on her shoulder is absent in Ukrainian handwritten collections of apocrypha, the analyzed story – as the part of compilation – hypothetically could not be of purely local origin.The system of correlations between the Holy Scripture and the apocrypha about the Virgin Mary and Pontius Pilate is considered through the prism of Genette’s theory of hypertextual transformations. The apocryphon is defined as a text in the second degree, the invariant core of which can be described as a set of intertextual relations which a text has with the Bible. The motif-index of the apocrypha about Pontius Pilate is compiled by using the tools of structural analysis, and namely theoretical frameworks proposed by folklorists Badalanova, Belova, Zovchak, and Kmet.Although the question of a particular protograph of the story “Pilate and the Holy Virgin” has not be solved in this research paper yet, the list of genetic-contact relations between the analyzed apocryphal narration and several medieval and early modern monuments were revealed. Some textual coincidence was found 1) with the corpus of apocryphal apologies of Pilate dedicated to his conversion to Christianity with his wife and two children and martyrdom (“The Tale of How Martha accused Pilate before Caesar Augustus”, “Pilate and St. Stephen”); 2) with the folk tradition of Marian iconographic art; 3) creative adaptations of the Christmas plot in apocrypha from Ukrainian manuscript books of the 16th–18th centuries; 4) and stories of the Entrance of the Theotokos to the Temple Presentation, derived from the Life of the Virgin Mary by Epiphanius the Monk. Special attention is given to apologetic and psychological aims pursued by authors, scribes, and translators of Christian apocryphal texts.

The article presents a narrative approach to the analysis of the episode of the political process of the conviction of Jesus Christ to crucifixion by Pontius Pilate according to the version of the Gospel of John (Jn. 18:28 – 19:16a). The trial is part of own material (Sonfergut) in the Gospel of John and aims to demonstrate the kingship of Jesus, the central motif of which is the text of Jn. 19:1-3. The article analyzes the literary context of the narrative sequence and its plot development. As a result, follows the analysis of the narrative component and theological categories of Ivan's narrative.

This article examines the shifting iconographical meaning and purpose of the Latin phrase ecce homo in visual art in the later Middle Ages. As told in John 19: 4–5, ecce homo was the terse two-line sentence exclaimed by Pontius Pilate as he presented Christ to the people of Jerusalem: “Behold, [the] man!” Beginning in the early fifteenth century, it became common for artists in Northern and Central Europe to integrate the phrase ecce homo directly into depictions of this presentation scene, first in narrative-images and eventually in stand-alone devotional icons. Initially, these brief inscriptions served to visualize Pilate’s climactic two-word speech. In the latter half of the century, however, ecce homo became unmoored from its original scheme. What once had a precise narrative function had, by 1500, expanded to become a message directed at the viewer, an epithet for the specific aspect of Christ represented in the narrative, and a title for the narrative itself. This unmooring happened in conjunction with a shift in the function of the figure of Christ within these images and the adaptation of this type of figure into an en buste portrait. Research presented in this article, the first to address these inscriptions in any way, affords new insight into long-standing questions about the typological relationship linking narrative-images and icons. The article challenges the “genetic” model of typological development established by Erwin Panofsky and Sixten Ringbom, both of whom used the iconography of the Ecce Homo as a case study for how to explain the pictorial forms of devotional images in late medieval and early modern art.

Abstract: This article explores apologetic early Christian approaches to Pontius Pilate, demonstrating the popularity of the idea that Pilate was innocent of Jesus's death, regarded Christ as innocent and just, and even became a Christian himself. Focusing on the exceptionally detailed image of the man who condemned Jesus to the cross found in the New Testament homilies of John Chrysostom, this article connects Chrysostom's treatment of Pilate to his interaction with a real-life (and pagan) governor of Syria. It suggests that apologetic interpretations of Pilate were used not merely to denigrate Jews but also to allow Christians who were themselves both Christian and Roman to believe that Rome had witnessed their Messiah—a historical example which proved the congruence of Romanness and Christianity.

Reviewed by: Sting and Religion: The Catholic-Shaped Imagination of a Rock Icon by Evyatar Marienberg Aaron J. West Sting and Religion: The Catholic-Shaped Imagination of a Rock Icon. By Evyatar Marienberg. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2021. [xvii, 215 p. ISBN 9781725272255 (hardcover), $36; ISBN 9781757272262 (paperback), $29; ISBN 9781725272279 (e-book), price varies.] Bibliography, permissions. Evyatar Marienberg has written a revealing and well-researched book exploring the influences of Catholicism and spirituality on the music of one of popular music's most compelling and literate icons, Sting (born Gordon Matthew Sumner). Marienberg is an associate professor in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His prior texts are largely centered around religion and spirituality, particularly Catholicism, and this is his first [End Page 401] book addressing a musical topic. Admittedly, religious influences on music are a complex subject for any author and made even more so when involving a complex and private artist such as Sting. Marienberg relies on prior scholarship, primary source material, and an important interview with Sting conducted by the author in 2017 in support of defining and illuminating Sting's remarkable spiritual journey and how it is reflected in his music. Furthermore, the author states that Sting himself read and presumably approved drafts of the book and the research leading to it. In his introduction, Marienberg posits Sting and Religion as a potential model for future studies involving popular artists and spirituality, stating that "studying in great detail both the religious culture surrounding an artist, with special emphasis on the religious culture she or he was exposed to during childhood … can help us to understand both the artist's background … and the artist's output. This book suggests one possible model for doing this" (p. x). Indeed, Sting and Religion is a worthwhile starting point for exploring the religious influences, experiences, and musical/spiritual intersections of popular music's most influential artists. At the beginning of chapter 1, Marienberg plainly states his intentions: "Does Sting use the Bible in his work, and if he does, how?" (p. 1). Marienberg begins this discussion with a short lyric analysis of "Carrion Prince," a very early example of Sting's writing for the band Last Exit. Formed in Newcastle in 1974, three years before the Police, Last Exit was a jazz fusion group featuring the syncopated funk beats and electrified instruments prevalent in the mid-1970s. Sting took advantage of the opportunity to write for this group, whose members were certainly eager to perform new and original material. As Marienberg demonstrates, "Carrion Prince" contains a remarkable number of biblical references that "only a person with a knowledge of the New Testament can write or understand" (p. 2). Marienberg provides an instructive summary of how many of these lyrics refer to the infamous Roman prefect Pontius Pilate. In 1979, Sting reused much of "Carrion Prince" for "Bring on the Night," recorded by the Police for Reggatta de Blanc. Most importantly, Sting omits almost all religious references in "Bring on the Night" while retaining references to T. S. Eliot and possibly Norman Mailer. Regretfully, Marienberg does not discuss this sudden shift from sacred to secular as a potentially revealing example of why Sting integrated so few Biblical references into his lyrics for the Police. Possibly the best example of Sting's sacred lyrics being reused and reworked for his writing for the Police is "O My God." This tune, written around 1975 for Last Exit, features lyrics that are unquestionably Christian. In 1977, while working with Strontium 90, an early assemblage of Police members Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland, Sting reused the lyrics to "O My God" for the emphatically secular song "Three O'Clock Shit." Sting's editing and deleting of spiritual lyrics from prior songs immediately after joining the Police deserves more attention. Nevertheless, Marienberg does provide a fine overview of the numerous biblical references in Sting's works. Most notably, he offers a detailed analysis of Sting's musical The Last Ship, presenting valuable analyses of this rarely discussed work throughout the book. In chapter 2 ("Religion Surrounding Gordon Sumner: Part 1"), Marienberg begins a series of remarkably detailed...

There are two long medieval English poems on the Fall of Jerusalem in 70 C.E. The one edited here is not the alliterative Siege of Jerusalem, but (with its two titles) the other, in couplets. It has a long and short version and was popular in the fifteenth century (twelve manuscripts survive), although not thereafter, because it is a chamber of horrors. Its author sets out the Jewish hatred of Christ, his murder by the Jews, the suffering that it brought them, ‘King’ Vespasian’s leprosy, his cure by St. Veronica’s napkin, Pontius Pilate’s unquiet grave, the besieging of Jerusalem (with famine and cannibalism for those within), its capture, and enslavement or slaughter for survivors. A repellent work. Small wonder if its editors admit that form and content “contribute to its ongoing marginalization” (p. 1).

The paper explores eleven New Testament names featured in the text of the Ladder by John Climacus, a translated monument of early Slavic writing. These personal names are a special kind of biblical quotations referring to the events of the holy history. The research is based on comparative analysis of the Greek texts of the Ladder published by Jacques Paul Migne (Patrologia Graeca, Vol. 88), four ancient Byzantine codes and five Slavic manuscripts which contain the first Slavic translation of the book made by Preslav scribes in the first half of the 10th century. The article follows research on the collective church memory of medieval scribes which manifests itself in the commonality of topics, images, plots, ideas, and expressions that go back to the text of the Bible. The New Testament characters that are featured in the Greek text of the Ladder and its Slavic traslations are: Jesus Christ, Mary, John the Baptist, John the Apostle, Lazarus, Peter, Paul, Timothy, Herod, Pontius Pilate, Judas. The author identifies the key biblical images in the Greek text of the Ladder (Jesus Christ and the supreme apostles Peter and Paul) and specifies the functions of New Testament names in the text: referential, symbolic, emphatic and indexical. The oldest Russian manuscript showcases spelling inconsistencies in relation to New Testament names as well as multiple errors indicating both the inexperience of the scribe and his poor knowledge of gospel stories. These errors were eliminated from the text of later manuscripts. The analysis identified four words that are absent in the historical dictionaries of the Russian and Old Slavonic languages (bezvrednitsa ‘dispassion’, besslovesne ‘wordlessly’, zluderzhanie ‘rancor’, suprotivpremeneniе ‘transformation’).

David Lloyd Dusenbury, The Innocence of Pontius Pilate: How the Roman Trial of Jesus Shaped History. London: Hurst Publishers, 2021. Pp. 272.

This article explores the circumstances of Pontius Pilate's trial of Jesus Christ and the motives that prompted Pilate to hand down the death verdict. The author has tried to present the course of the trial in the confrontation of the interests of particular people and the complexity of the historical situation, without which Pilate's behavior and his sentence receive a simplistic explanation. It is argued that although Philo of Alexandria and Josephus Flavius in their writings depicted Pilate as a cruel and implacable persecutor of their people, his actions were quite rational and driven by the interests of the Roman Empire as understood by its viceroy. The view that Pilate was inconsistent and ambiguous during the trial is refuted. Political interests, legal peculiarities and moral factors that influenced his decision are analyzed. This removes the traditional accusation that Pilate's verdict was motivated by fear of the wrath of the emperor Tiberius, something the high priests threatened him with.

In this article the author discusses scientific and cultural Polish-German relations at the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries. These considerations are based on the old Polish cosmographers: Wojciech of Brudzew, Jan of Głogów, Wawrzyniec Korwin and Jan of Stobnica. These works show that German scholars were regarded as scientific authorities and were an inspiration and source of knowledge for Polish scholars. However, the cosmological treatise by Jan of Głogów shows that Poles associated Germans with vice and crime, as evidenced by the example of Pontius Pilate, the governor of Judea, who was attributed German origins. The picture of Germans and their lands painted by Old-Polish cosmographers is apparently based on ancient and later authors, especially Solinus, Strabon and Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini. Significant excerpts from these works were also made available to Polish readers to show them a multifaceted panorama of the Germanic lands. Wawrzyniec Korwin’s treatise also contains the opinions of Germans about Poland and Poles. The western neighbors of Poland–Lithuania were particularly keen on Cracow and its famous university and academic staff. The two nations were undeniably fascinated by each other’s science.

In this essay, Marshall B. Rosenberg’s concept of ‘Non-Violent Communication’ is applied to Jesus’ questioning before Pontius Pilate in the Gospel of John. It is a masterpiece of violent communication. The following analysis intends to reveal strategies of communication and their consequences. It will become clear that violent language is a sign of human weakness, while non-violent communication points to human strength. Biblical texts are a mirror for one's behaviour since ancient dramas function as a mirror for the audience (mimesis). An interactive reading of the Bible can lead to an awareness and reflection of one own’s communication.

Power and Play

The term, collaborator, has been widely attributed to Jewish high priest Joseph Caiaphas when discussing his relationship with the Roman prefect Pontius Pilate. The implication of this description has been that Caiaphas holds ultimate responsibility for the execution of Jesus of Nazareth at the hands of the Romans. This article challenges the validity of the description of Caiaphas as a collaborator. Little evidence of any relationship between the two men exists. Likewise, any ability to see into the heart and mind of Caiaphas to assess motives and intentions is not available to modern investigations. The meaning of the word itself is malleable and has undergone shifts in usage since it was first applied to Caiaphas in the years immediately after the end of World War II. Assigning an unreliable term such as collaborator to Caiaphas is a stumbling block in relations between Christians and Jews.

In the introduction to the edition of the Middle English explanation of the Apostles’ Creed, known as A Christian Mannes Bileeve (hereafter CMB), I note that Robert Holcot’s Convertimini, a compilation of examples used by preachers, stands as the source for the exemplum of birds dying in the woods during the Passion week.1 This example is catalogued as entry 639, ‘Birds die in Passion Week’, in Frederic Tubach’s Index Exemplorum, a handbook of 5,400 religious exempla culled from thirty-seven different medieval collections.2 There, Tubach describes a Saracen leading an Englishman to a wood where they witness dead birds that will resurrect at Easter. He cross-references J. A. Herbert’s Catalogue of Romances in the Department of Manuscripts in the British Museum to provide only two sources of that avian story: Holcot’s Convertimini and John Mirk’s ‘Sermon on Corpus Christi’ from his collection of homilies known as the Festial.3 This note adds two additional instances of this same example to Tubach, thus bringing the total number of medieval texts using the reference to birds dying in the woods during the Passion to four. The first of these new sources is CMB, a 12,000-word Middle English explanation of the Apostles’ Creed dating from the late fourteenth century, which uses the example in CMB’s section on the fourth article of the faith, Passus sub Pontio Pilato, crucifixus, mortuus et sepultus [He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and buried] to foreshadow the miracle of Christ’s resurrection.4 The second is British Library MS Harley 2247, a fifteenth-century collection of Temporale sermons that includes a revised version of Mirk’s Corpus Christi sermon. There the homilist positions the exemplum as a mnemonic device to encourage heartfelt remembrance of Christ’s crucifixion.5 This note also provides additional clarification that the example in Holcot’s Convertimini—and not Mirk’s Corpus Christi sermon or its revision in Harley 2247 (both identified in the edition, and the latter not named in Tubach)—is the ultimate source of the exemplum as it appears in CMB.