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II. Coursework assignment in "The death of Jesus"

The Sanhedrin was basically the high courts in the time of the Romans. This extract from 'Dimensions in Christianity' sums up pretty well what the roles of the Sanhedrin were: 'the high priest and seventy elders led the council of the Sanhedrin. Members of the council included Pharisees and Sadducees.' The Sadducees were the priestly aristocracy. The high priest was at their head, and they performed the daily sacrifices in the temple, situated in Jerusalem. This sect of people was virtually a 'closed shop' restricted to certain families. It appears that they were more accurately designated as a religious, rather than political party. The Sadducees also had different beliefs from the Pharisees: they denied the resurrection of the dead and the existence of angels and spirits. Whereas the Pharisees were remote from the Jewish people as a whole. The Pharisees were more correctly best described as a Jewish school, probably dating as a distinct body or party from the 2nd century BC. Their chief tendency was to resist all Greek or other foreign influences that threatened to undermine the sacred religion of their fathers and they took their stand most emphatically upon Divine law. The Sadducees differed from them in political and to some extent religious matters. The Pharisees wished the state and all public and political affairs to be directed and measured by the standard of Divine Law

Pontius Pilate was the Roman military governor, or procurator, of the imperial province of Judea from 26 to 36. The Jewish historian Flavius Josephus portrayed him as a harsh administrator who failed to understand the religious convictions and national pride of the Jews. Pilate is known mainly for his connection with the trial and execution of Jesus Christ; his culpability in the case has been the subject of debate ever since the event.

The governor of Judea had complete judicial authority over all who were not Roman citizens, but the Sanhedrin, the Jewish supreme council and tribunal decided many cases, particularly those relating to religious matters. According to the gospel accounts, after the Sanhedrin found Jesus guilty of blasphemy, it committed him to the Roman court, having itself no power to pronounce the death sentence. Pilate then refused to approve the judgement without investigation. Pilate appeared to have been impressed with the dignity and frankness of Jesus' answers to his questions. Nevertheless, fear of an uprising in Jerusalem forced Pilate to accede to the demand of the populace, and Jesus was executed. Pilate was recalled to Rome in AD36. According to the theologian and church historian Eusebius of Caesarea, he later committed suicide. Pilate is reserved as a martyr by the Coptic Church, which celebrates his feast day on June 25.

The high-priest alone may enter the holy of holies on the day of atonement, and even he but once a year, to sprinkle the blood of sin-offering and offer incense; He prayed and sacrificed for himself as well as for the people. He likewise officiated "on the seventh days and new moons" and annual festivals. He might marry only a virgin "of his own people", though other priests were allowed to marry a widow; neither was it lawful for him to rend his garments nor to come near the dead even if closely related. It belonged to him also to manifest the Divine Will made known to him by means of the urim and thummim, a method of consulting the Lord about which we have very little knowledge.

After Jesus was arrested in the garden of Gethsemane, he was taken at once to the high priest. The high priest kept on interrogating him about whether he was who he said he was, which was the Son of God. The high priest finally came to the end of his tether and asked Jesus one final time whether he was the messiah, and Jesus replied, "I am, and you will all see the son of man seated on the right hand of the almighty coming with the clouds of heaven." The Jewish leaders were very angry to hear these words. 'I am' were sacred - suggesting that Jesus was divine. He was declared guilty of blasphemy but had no power to condemn him to death, only the governor had that power. The high priests had already spread rumours that Jesus had called himself the king of Jews, and that was treason. Pilate asked him "Are you the king of the Jews?" And Jesus replied, "The words are yours."
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Jesus did not reply to any of the accusations made against him. Pilate decided to offer Jesus as one of the prisoners for release for the Passover alongside a murderer called Barrabbas. The crowd called for Barrabbas and when Pilate asked what he should do with the one they called the 'king of the Jews' they called 'crucify him' so to satisfy the mob Pilate had Jesus flogged and handed him over to be crucified.

Before we examine the religious problems associated with evil and suffering we need to be clear about what we mean by using ...

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