Jesus ‘ben Pantera’: An Epigraphic and Military-Historical Note

There is ample evidence that anti-Christian polemicists asserted that Jesus’ true father was neither God nor Joseph, but a Roman soldier named Pantera. This was long dismissed as ahistorical, but for the past century, some interlocutors have argued that there may be credibility to the polemic, with...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Zeichmann, Christopher B. (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Brill [2020]
In: Journal for the study of the historical Jesus
Year: 2020, Volume: 18, Issue: 2, Pages: 141-155
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Jesus Christus / Historicity / Roman Empire / Army / Soldier / Epigraphy
IxTheo Classification:HC New Testament
Further subjects:B Pantera
B Epigraphy
B Roman Army
B Jesus’ birth
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Summary:There is ample evidence that anti-Christian polemicists asserted that Jesus’ true father was neither God nor Joseph, but a Roman soldier named Pantera. This was long dismissed as ahistorical, but for the past century, some interlocutors have argued that there may be credibility to the polemic, with some going so far as to identify Pantera with a certain Tiberius Julius Abdes Pantera, a Roman archer. The present article addresses various misconceptions of Tiberius Julius Abdes Pantera by those both asserting his parentage of Jesus and those arguing against it. The article concludes that the possibility that the soldier under question was Jesus’ father is remote.
ISSN:1745-5197
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal for the study of the historical Jesus
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1163/17455197-01802001