Nicodemus

The Gospel of Nicodemus or Acts of Pilate

The Acts of Pilate occasionally referred to as the Gospel of Pilate is a book of New Testament apocrypha. The dates of its accreted sections are uncertain, but scholars agree in assigning it to the middle of the fourth century. The main body of Acta Pilati is in two sections, with an appendix, Descensus ad Infernos-the Harrowing of Hell-that does not exist in the Greek texts, and is a later addition to the Latin versions. The first (chapters i-xi) contains the trial of Jesus based upon Luke 23. The second part (xii-xvi) regards the Resurrection. In it, Leucius and Charinus, the two souls raised from the dead after the Crucifixion, relate to the Sanhedrin the circumstances of the descent of Christ to Limbo. A literature of miracle-tale romance developed around a conflated "Leucius Charinus" as an author of further texts. The Harrowing of Hell episode depicts St Dismas accompanying Christ in Hell, and the deliverance of the righteous Old Testament patriarchs.