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The '''Acts of Pilate''' (Latin '''Acta Pilati''') is a book of the [[New Testament apocrypha]]. Its date is uncertain. The text is found in the Greek ''[[Acts of Peter and Paul]]'' and as an appendix to the medieval Latin ''Gospel of Nicodemus'', although there is no intrinsic relation between the independent texts.

== Manuscript history ==
The oldest sections of the book appear first in [[Greek language|Greek]].  The text contains multiple parts, which are uneven in style and would seem to be by different hands. The oldest section probably dates to the fourth century . The ''Acts of Pilate'' does not purport to have been written by Pilate, but instead claims to have been derived from the official acts preserved in the [[praetorium]] at Jerusalem. An alleged "Hebrew" original is [[pseudepigraphy|pseudepigraphically attributed]] to [[Nicodemus]], hence the title ''Gospel of Nicodemus'' that the text gained in the Middle Ages. It had a considerable effect on medieval popular Christianity, an effect that it carries in some quarters still. Its popularity is attested by the number of languages in which it exists, each in several manuscript traditions, or "editions".

== Core texts ==
The main body of ''Acta Pilati'' is in two sections, with an appendix,  ''Harrowing of Hell''&mdash;the Harrowing of Hell&mdash;that does not exist in the Greek texts, and is a later addition to the Latin versions. The first (chapters i&ndash;xi) contains the trial of Jesus based upon [[Gospel of Luke|Luke 23]].  The second part (xii&ndash;xvi) regards the Resurrection.  In it, [[Leucius Charinus|Leucius and Charinus]], the two souls raised from the dead after the Crucifixion, relate to the [[Sanhedrin]] the circumstances of the descent of Christ to Limbo. A literature of [[Romance (genre)|miracle-tale Romance]] developed around a conflated "Leucius Charinus" as an author of further texts. The Harrowing of Hell episode depicts St [[Dismas]] accompanying [[Christ]] in [[Hell]], and the deliverance of the righteous [[Old Testament]] [[patriarch]]s.

An appended text purports to be a written report made by [[Pontius Pilate]] to [[Claudius]], containing an anti-Semitic description of the [[crucifixion]], as well as an account of the  [[resurrection of Jesus]]; both are presented as if in an official report [http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/reportpilate.html]. One series of Latin manuscripts includes as an appendix or continuation, the episode ''Cura Sanitatis Tiberii'' ("The Cure of Tiberius"), the oldest form of the [[Saint Veronica|Veronica legend]], according to the ''Catholic Encyclopedia'', in which [[Tiberius|Emperor Tiberius]] is cured of his malady. Compare the legend of the [[Image of Edessa]].

== Critical reception ==
The well-informed Church historian  [[Eusebius of Caesarea]] (writing ''c.'' 325), although he mentions an ''Acta Pilati'' referred to by Justin and Tertullian and other non-canonical Acts, shows no acquaintance with this work.  "We are forced to admit that is of later origin, and scholars agree in assigning it to the middle of the fourth century" (''Catholic Encyclopedia''). [[Epiphanius]] refers to an ''Acta Pilati'' (''c.'' 376), but the extant Greek texts show evidence of later editing.

Though the ''Acta Pilati'' purports to be a report by Pontius Pilate containing evidence of Jesus Christ's [[messiah]]ship and [[god]]head, there is no record in early Christian lore of Pilate's conversion to [[Christianity]]. It seems unlikely that the work was ever meant to have been taken seriously by Christians; instead, its purpose was to offer further conjectural details about the life of Christ as a pious entertainment, part of a larger body of [[Pontius Pilate|Pilate literature]].  

== External links ==
*[http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/actspilate.html Early Christian Writings: ''The Acts of Pilate'']
*[http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/reportpilate.html The Report of Pilate to the Emperor Claudius] e-text, M.R. James, translator
*[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01111b.htm ''Catholic Encyclopedia''] "Acta Pilati"

==Attribution==
* Adapted from the [[Wikipedia]] article, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acts_of_Pilate Acts of Pilate], used under the [[GNU Free Documentation License]]

[[Category:New Testament Apocrypha]]