For nearly two millennia, Christians accepted the Gospels’ portrayal of Jewish authorities and people as responsible for Jesus’ execution, with Pontius Pilate merely an unwilling participant. The strong anti-Jewish sentiments within the Gospels fuelled centuries of persecution against Jews. In modern times, in an effort to counteract the devastating impact of this negative portrayal, Western scholars have largely dismissed the Gospel accounts. They’ve proposed instead that the Romans, not the Jews, were to blame for Jesus’ crucifixion. However, this alternative scenario, which gained widespread popularity in the 20th century, lacks support from any textual or oral traditions. It leads to a perplexing paradox: the only existing accounts of the crucifixion of Jesus are entirely dismissed, yet the historicity of the crucifixion itself is never questioned. This podcast will delve into this contradictory, incoherent, and ultimately fictional alternative history.
