Socio-Political World of Pontius Pilate

This course concentrates on the social and political landscape of the Mediterranean World between the time of the Old Testament and the time of the New Testament. The course will include references to the Persian, Chaldean, Greek and Roman Empires. The course will also introduce the student to the four major historians of the time including Philo, Suetonius, Tacitus and Josephus. The video lecture concludes with an introduction of Pilate into the world of politics and conquest.

The Office of the Prefect

This is the second of five video lectures that are apart of this online course. This video lecture examines the office of the Prefect (Prefaectus) at the height of the Roman Empire. The course points out that the title of Prefect was changed to "Procurator" after the time of the Emperor Claudius. The lecture looks at the function and authority of the office especially as it related to the operation of the priesthood in Jerusalem, which included the office of the High Priest

This video lecture introduces the student to four of the major events that took place between Pilate and the Jewish community that resulted with the two being at odds with each other. The lecture explores exactly what it was that would have caused Pilate to behave the way that he did when it came to the trial of Jesus.

This video lecture examines the relationship that existed between Pontius Pilate and Jesus. The video takes a look at what Pilate must have known before Jesus ever stood before him in judgement. The video also offers an explanation as to why Pilate would have been pre-disposed to dealing with Jesus because of him being a resident of the neighboring province of Galilee. Finally, the video lecture looks at the efforts of Pilate to avoid having to put Jesus to death.

This is the final video lecture for this online course and as such, examines some of the things that happened to Pilate following his episode with Jesus Christ. The video introduces the student to the incident in Samaria and the decision of Pilate to slaughter certain Samaritans who visited Mt. Gerezim. The video also looks at the reaction of Vitellius, who was the Prefect of the province of Syria and how he used the behavior of Pilate to embellish his own reputation among the Jewish community. In the end, the video describes what happen to Pilate at the end of his life.