Paul Winter (1904–1969) was a Czech barrister and writer. He was a successful barrister in

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

but fled in 1939 due to the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

takeover (he was a

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

), became a British soldier.Paul Winter, ''On the Trial of Jesus'', Second Edition, pages xi-xii.

Biography

While performing research at libraries in London Winter worked menial jobs such as a porter and died in 1969 in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, in poverty, after having published around a hundred articles in scholarly journals concerning earliest

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

. Winter's 1961 book ''On the Trial Of Jesus'', received hundreds of reviews, because it detailed critical analysis of the evidence regarding the trial of

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

, from the standpoint of the legal practices which were applied during the 1st century, analyzed according to

Jewish Law ''Halakha'' ( ; , ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws that are derived from the Written and Oral Torah. ''Halakha'' is based on biblical commandments ('' mit ...

, and separately according to

Roman Law Roman law is the law, legal system of ancient Rome, including the legal developments spanning over a thousand years of jurisprudence, from the Twelve Tables (), to the (AD 529) ordered by Eastern Roman emperor Justinian I. Roman law also den ...

. Winter's general conclusion was that Jesus was tried, and ultimately convicted and crucified, solely for his having violated Roman Law, sedition, because he claimed to be the king of the Jews, despite Rome's having appointed the Herodian family to that post.

Crucifixion Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the condemned is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross, beam or stake and left to hang until eventual death. It was used as a punishment by the Achaemenid Empire, Persians, Ancient Carthag ...

was solely a Roman form of execution, for sedition and other serious violations of Roman Law. Jewish Law did not employ crucifixion, not even for crimes which were capital offenses under Jewish Law.Paul Winter: ''On the Trial of Jesus'' 2. Auflage. Vorwort, pp. XI–XII.

References

Bibliography

* Paul Winter, ''On the Trial of Jesus''. Berlin: Walter de Gruyer, 1961 (second revised edition edited by T.A. Burkill and Geza Vermes, Berlin: Walter de Gruyer, 1974). 1904 births 1969 deaths 20th-century Czech male writers Historians of Jews and Judaism British historians of religion Czechoslovak emigrants to the United Kingdom {{CzechRepublic-historian-stub