pontius pilate, prefect of judaea in the bible, pilate is infamous as the man who tries jesus. >> pilate is a fascinating character in christian history. he does seem tormented about whether or not jesus is guilty and whether or not he should condemn him. >> the pilate of the gospels is uncertain. he seems deeply concerned with jesus' innocence. >> i have the authority to set you free. >> he's not firm and decisive about what he wants to do. >> the discovery of his name in stone was groundbreaking. >> the significance of the pilate stone is that it actually gives us hard evidence of this central figure from the story of the crucifixion of jeefds, so pilate really existed. he really lived, and he really was the prefect of judaea. we actually have a literal touchstone, a point of connection, between the story of the crucifixion of jesus from