Der Tod Jesu Christi in der Apologie des Aristides. Eine Fallstudie mit forschungsgeschichtlicher Einleitung und Bibliographie

This preliminary study for a commentary on the Apology of Aristides, to be published by Herder in the series Kommentar zu frühchristlichen Apologeten (KfA), has three parts. Part I deals with some introductory problems, including the testimony of Eusebius, and presents a brief summary of the 17 chapters of the Apology. Part II discusses its gradual discovery since 1878, concentrating on the first four decades of the history of research (publications after 1920 appear in Appendix II). Part III, a case study on the death of Jesus in Aristides' work, originally written in Greek but lost, compares the extant Armenian and Syriac versions with the relevant passages in the Greek romance of Barlaam. This comparison reveals that Aristides himself did not mention the crucifixion of Jesus by the Romans. Instead of this historical event he only speaks of the piercing of Jesus by the Jews, thus contributing to the stereotype of the Jews as murderers of (the son of) God.