James R. Mills

This novella presents itself to the world as an attempt to recreate what Pontius Pilate must have made of his time governing Palestine and, of course, specifically his interactions with the Christ. In my humble opinion, it does not do this very successfully. The draggy first half of the book basically consists of a pedantic history of the Near Eastern world in the final centuries B.C. and a rehash of gospel episodes retold from the perspective of a skeptical yet somehow sympathetic nonbeliever. A plot of sorts finslly develops once we get to Holy Week, but still there is very little which is not taken from the gospels. All one can really do in considering Pilate is speculate, and there are a lot more interesting and lively speculations out there.… (more)

As a novel, this book doesn't really add a whole lot of straight-up fiction. The majority of the book is historical, or at least Biblical, facts, either given through the perspective of Pilate or by him talking to other individuals. As such there isn't really much of a plot other than, as the back cover says, a "fifth gospel" of Christ's life. The gimmick of presenting the facts from Pilate's point of view doesn't work all that well, either, although there are a few gems. At one point Pilate points out how Romans are happy to worship any god that is convenient, and mourns how unreasonable the Jews are in that regard. But, especially if you have a good working knowledge of Christ's life history and his times, there's just not much added value here.… (more)

Not really my usual fare, but I've always wondered why we Christians continue to hold such a grudge against Pilot when it clearly states in the Bible that he "washed his hands" of Jesus' death. When I came across this book, it piqued my interest.

Mills really goes into the political history of the area during Jesus' time and while it is fiction, I believe that he tried his best to interpret these political forces on Pilot's actions. Told by Pilot 20 years after the trial of Jesus, he approaches it with doubt and talks about the coincidences that Jews interpreted as messianic signs. In the end, though, it is obvious that the author is providing more a defense of Pilot's actions than a disbelief that Jesus was the Messiah. A very interesting read.… (more)