Such judgments raise questions about what words like canonicity and inspiration mean for evangelicals. If we reserve the word inspired for the text in the earliest manuscripts, yet accept that other material such as the pericope adulterae should be included in our biblical canon, are we implying that select biblical passages may be canonical yet not inspired?
If so, what should we do with this distinction? Biblical scholars do agree on two things: The Bible story should be set apart with a note, and Christians should be cautious when reading the passage for their personal devotions.
Translation teams have struggled with how best to present the story. Textual notes are generally added when the traditional King James Version differs significantly from the texts of the Greek New Testament that today's English translations are based on.
But leaving it in can be dangerous, too, especially when Christians breeze past the notes to concentrate on the story. It's difficult to understand how to treat such a sequestered passage; pericope adulterae continues to be much used as evidence of Jesus' character and as an example to believers. The note in most Bibles does not say the story isn't authentic, but that the oldest manuscripts do not include it. Laypeople assume that translation teams must have a good reason for including the passage, Wallace said.
Douglas Moo, professor at Wheaton College, said that Christians should be cautious about using "Go, and sin no more" or "Let him who is without sin cast the first stone. Wallace said pastors have a responsibility to communicate the truth of this text to their congregations. Christians who are reading the story, he said, should give it the same authority as any other unsubstantiated early Christian teaching about Jesus. You're Kidding, Right? Browse Our Archives.
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Worse Than Abortion? The Bible Wins Again Hell-o-ween: When Jesus Comes Knocking. Is God the good guy or the bad He pointed to its main goal of Christ-exalting love. And he reestablished righteousness on the basis of an experience of grace. One might have heard the PA described as a possible composite of stories in which Jesus demonstrated this pattern of love and grace in order to exalt God. If so, then the value of the Pericope Adulterae towards illustrating the tenderness and mercy of Jesus is richer than one can even imagine.
Bible scholars cannot authenticate this episode per se, but their willingness to evaluate it against such rigorous standards of textual criticism is reassuring. After all, by these same standards, textual critics are willing to stand behind the veracity of the rest of Scripture. What Are the Synoptic Gospels? Candice Lucey is a freelance writer from British Columbia, Canada, where she lives with her family.
Find out more about her here. Share this. More than that, it illustrates the impressive results that can be gained by adopting a longitudinal approach to the manuscript data and other evidence surrounded an individual pericope. All who read this volume will not only gain insight into the pericope adulterae, more significantly they will learn much about the best practices in the study of the gospels themselves.
Deeply scholarly and wonderfully accessible, To Cast the First Stone will prove relevant for many discussions on the early church. To Cast the First Stone will undoubtedly become the standard book on this story.
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