(October 11, 2015 at 9:10 pm)Minimalist Wrote: For example, we have no 'cover-page' for say, The Acts of Pilate. Xtians insisted that this was a real report written by Pilate but suppose the author was simply wondering to himself...." if Pilate had written a report, what might he have said?"
I am not that familiar with "The Acts of Pilate" after a quick search it revealed that this was an apocryphal work written around 4-5 century A.D. renamed to the Gospel of Nicodemus. My studies in this area have mostly been concerned with early church history, and at that time they where fairly careful about new additions from what they have been taught, gnostic writings, and late writings. There are earlier references to the "Acts of Pilate" but these are well before this apocryphal copy we have and cannot be the same thing.
Do you have information on how the orthodox Church received this document? Also even if people where later fooled into thinking they had an original document, my interests in this regard are more isolated to the early church, where they could actually verify what was said.
