Literary References
This verse has been widely quoted and alluded to in culture and literature, particularly in that of philosophical nature. While Pilate's question -- whether intended philosophically, jestfully, rhetorically, or born of frustration at the lack of a plain answer -- is by no means the first incident of someone questioning the nature of truth, it has been drawn upon many times as a significant occurrence thereof.
Francis Bacon uses this musing to open his essay "Of Truth", saying that Pilate "would not stay for an answer". He uses this to introduce his theme of truth as an affirmation of faith.
In The Antichrist (ยง 46), Friedrich Nietzsche calls upon Pilate's query. He uses it, however, as evidence of Pilate's character, saying that he is "a solitary figure worthy of honor" and that the question "What is truth" is "the only saying that has any value" in the New Testament.
Read more about this topic: John 18:38
Famous quotes containing the word literary:
“I shall christen this style the Mandarin, since it is beloved by literary pundits, by those who would make the written word as unlike as possible to the spoken one. It is the style of all those writers whose tendency is to make their language convey more than they mean or more than they feel, it is the style of most artists and all humbugs.”
—Cyril Connolly (1903–1974)