Jesus, it was charged, had declared himself to be the son of
God. This, if true, would not have constituted blasphemy. It was
no offense against the law for a man to claim that he was the son
of God. All men, and especially all good men, were recognized as
the sons of God. Referring to Christ's claim, a Jewish writer says:
"No law, no precedent, and no fictitious case in the Bible or the
rabbinical literature, can be cited to make of this expression a case
of blasphemy." And even if he had been proven guilty of blasphemy,
he could not have been put to death, for blasphemy, at this time,
had ceased to be a capital offense. And is it reasonable to suppose
that the Romans would have condemned a man to death for an offense
against a religion in which they did not themselves believe, but
which they regarded as one of the vilest of superstitions? It may
be urged that in his trial before Pilate the charge was changed to
sedition. This charge was not sustained.