Suffered Under Pontius Pilate

In his lectures on the Apostles’ Creed Karl Barth asks the question: How in the world did Pontius Pilate end up in the Creed? “The answer might first of all be: like a dog into a nice room!”Why is it significant that Pilate is named in the Creed? What does it mean to say that God suffered? Or that God died? And why is it good news that Jesus’ life came to an end? A poem by Hans Urs von Balthasar:When Christ came into our midst to redeem us, he descended so far that after that no one would be able to fall without falling into him.A few related resources:* Regarding Jesus’ death and resurrection (not resuscitation) I’m drawing primarily on the work of Chris Green and Robert Jenson:* Chris Green, Being Transfigured* Robert Jenson, Story and Promise* Karl Barth, Dogmatics in Outline* Mikhail Bulgakov, The Master and Margarita * This is the Russian novel I mentioned in which Pilate is a main character (it’s wild but wonderful, so reader be warned).Thank you for reading Extra Credit. This post is public so feel free to share it. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit cameroncombs.substack.com