I fully understand the argument and its strength, including the broader circumstances. I largely agree with that too. I just think it's about something else.I think that it is too much obvious, that having a Pilate releasing Barabbas works also, inter alia, as a good pro-Roman apologetics. Note that without the release affair, Pilate (or the Roman governor who was in his place, since Pilate is connected with the idea of the release), would be portrayed very negatively. Why do you disagree with the elementary idea that the idea of the release (between Jesus and Barabbas) is what makes Pilate a good guy (and the Jews the bad guys)?I would rather not share this view. Do you agree with Raschke on this point?
My impression is that these historical-critical scholars believe that blame for Jesus' death was a hot topic - as if we were fighting over Markan priority. But I think that Matthew, Luke/Marcion and John were totally cool and only had the sensibilities of their readership in mind, and therefore wanted a more Roman-friendly gospel on this point. (Just as the Centurion of Capernaum was introduced to appeal to an even larger and financially stronger readership.) I hope I was able to make it somewhat clear that imho there is a difference.
I also believe that the Barabbas story in GMark has nothing to do with this question in the first place, but should be understood primarily from a post-war perspective (the Jews made the wrong decision under the influence of the religious elites). Of course that's not your point of view.
I would also argue that from the perspective of a patriotic Roman, some things in GMark might seem offensive, especially that Pilate does not carry out formal legal proceedings (which, in my opinion - Markan priority -, Luke/Marcion have carefully corrected and even describe a very painstakingly Pilate, who even considers the question of foreign jurisdiction and hands Jesus over to Herod). But you could draw the same conclusion: if Mark cut all that out, he was trying to make Pilate look really bad.
Statistics: Posted by Kunigunde Kreuzerin — Mon Mar 04, 2024 2:20 pm