Gospel of Nicodemus
http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/gospelnicodemus.html
We have already seen the Fictional Letters of Christ and Abgar as well as those of Paul and Seneca, but now we will be reading some longer example of fictive Christian prose.
The Gospel of Nicodemus was a fictive account inspired by other accounts of Christ such as the four canonical gospels. It claims to be by Ananias but this may be a fictional name. The complete version we are reading is not earlier than 5th cent. AD. The core of the work known as the Acts of Pontius Pilate was probably written in Greek in the late 2nd cent., but it was translated into many languages including Latin, Armenian, and Coptic and various additions were made in these later versions.
Like Luke and to a lesser extent the other gospels, it adopts a history-like approach to the story. Pay special attention to the prologue. If you have read one or more of the New Testament gospels before, make note of any details included here that are not in the NT. Be ready to explain why these details might have been included.
How would you classify this work's genre?
What themes or narrative strategies in this work are familiar from our other readings?
Why would someone have written this? How might the original audience have received it?
See here for an interesting overview of the work:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gospel_of_Nicodemus
Jordann Markowitz
ReplyDeleteWhen the people were telling Jesus to prove that he was the king of the Jews by saving himself from crucification, would they have been thinking back to all those stories of people praying to the gods to be saved from death?
Sara Welish
ReplyDeleteWas Pilate reluctant to pass judgement on Jesus at the end? If the Jews forced Pilate to judge Jesus, wouldn't they be indirectly responsible for his death? THat would go against their law of not slaying people so, they would all be guilty.
Shannon Potts
ReplyDeleteIn part one, section 1.5-6, the author includes a bit about the standards bowing to Jesus. Why might he include this?
Maeve Tischbein
ReplyDeleteDo people really believe that Nicodemus wrote this? Or is the Prologue a set up to make the reader thing this (like in other protests of truth we've read)
Erin Bradley
ReplyDeleteIf Nicodemus was a king of the Jews, how come he didn't have more say with them? They all just seem to ignore him.
Krysta Brown
ReplyDeleteThis account would make us believe that Pilate is perhaps sympathetic to Christ. He says his wife is Jewish (II), and at times seems fearful of God (IX). This differs from typical Christian accounts in which his role is to calm the people, he rather easily "washes his hands of Christ"
Jordann,
ReplyDeleteI am not sure whether your question is historical or literary. Do you mean did the real people who really said that to Jesus remember stories of people being saved like the story of Croesus on the pyre or that of Daniel in the lions den? Or do you mean was the writer of this literary account of the crucifixion purposefully alluding to such stories as a rhetorical point of contrast with Christ? I am not sure that we can definitively answer either question but speculation is interesting in both cases, and both might possibly be true.
Sara,
The narrative does have that implication. Some people think that this is basically how it worked. The Gospel of Nicodemus is similar to the biblical accounts though much more detailed in its treatment of Pilate and the condemnation of Christ. Some scholars think that it is historically ture that Pilate refused to condemn Jesus and that the decision came from the Jews or at least from certain Jewish leaders. Others feel that this is a revisionistic anti-semitic version of events that is meant to remove direct blame from the Romans (if the Romans were blamed too much, it might cause them to be hostile to Christians) and to impose blame on the Jews. Mel Gibson's movie The Passion of Christ received criticism from some Jewish groups for following this version. However, other Jews pointed out that there were many positive depictions of Jews in the film, and Gibson himself repeatedly claimed that he believed all mankind was guilty for Christ's death and blamed those who wrongly rationalized the account as a kind of reason to oppress Jews. Certainly in the Gospel of Nicodemus, it seems that the account particularly highlights the guilt of certain Jews and of the Jews as a mass, but remember that Nicodemus and Joseph and almost all of Jesus followers were Jews and are clearly depicted as such. I would cautiously suggest that there is some anti-semitic (or at least anti-unconverted Jews) in the Gospel of Nicodemus. Still, the supposed name of the author, Ananias, is Jewish. As I have mentioned before, the Jews were sometimes held suspect by Greeks and Romans because of their extensive religious laws and taboos.
Shannon,
This is supposed to be derived from the offical records of Pontius Pilate, so this is an additional indication of Jesus' divine power--"preserved in official record".
Maeve,
I am sure that some people out there think it to be really by Nicodemus. The text we read (there are other versions) claims to have been compiled by Ananias and supposedly follows official records of Pilate and accounts from Nicodemus and from Leucius and Charinus. The specific prologue here is not claiming that this is an eyewitness account but that it is based on eyewitness accounts, as we saw with Dares and Dictys.
AR
Erin,
ReplyDeleteI think that he was not supposed to be a king, just an important political leader. Compare John 7:50-1, 19:39 for biblical details about him, which make him a member of the Sanhedrin. Still, he was outnumbered by the other leaders who wanted Christ dead.
Krysta,
He does not exactly say that she was a Jew but implies that she is sympathetic to monotheism and Jewish customs. Matthew 27.24-26 has the washing of hands scene, though no biblical account makes Pilate's wife a Jewish sympathizer. Certainly this account particularly emphasizes Pilate's sympathy and relative innocence in comparison with the Jews (or specifically the Jewish leaders).
AR
Zander,
ReplyDeleteI think that the trial is very interesting. It seems like in other stories that we read, if there was a character who appeared to have powers to heal the sick like Jesus does, used them selflessly like he did, and claimed to be the son of a god like he did in other stories, then they would have been revered. In other stories which we have read, those type of characters were thought to become gods when they die, or at least were considered great people, even in there time; so it is very interesting to see such a conflicting point of view where someone is being punished for those actions.