To Cast the First Stone

The Transmission of a Gospel Story

Jennifer Knust, Tommy Wasserman

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English

Princeton University Pres
13 November 2018

Religion & beliefs; History of religion; Christianity; New Testaments; Christian theology

"The story of the woman taken in adultery features a dramatic confrontation between Jesus and the Pharisees over whether the adulteress should be stoned as the law commands. In response, Jesus famously states, ""Let him who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her."" To Cast the First Stone traces the history of this provocative story from its first appearance to its enduring presence today.

Likely added to the Gospel of John in the third century, the passage is often held up by modern critics as an example of textual corruption by early Christian scribes and editors, yet a judgment of corruption obscures the warm embrace the story actually received. Jennifer Knust and Tommy Wasserman trace the story's incorporation into Gospel books, liturgical practices, storytelling, and art, overturning the mistaken perception that it was either peripheral or suppressed, even in the Greek East. The authors also explore the story's many different meanings. Taken as an illustration of the expansiveness of Christ's mercy, the purported superiority of Christians over Jews, the necessity of penance, and more, this vivid episode has invited any number of creative receptions. This history reveals as much about the changing priorities of audiences, scribes, editors, and scholars as it does about an ""original"" text of John.

To Cast the First Stone calls attention to significant shifts in Christian book cultures and the enduring impact of oral tradition on the preservation-and destabilization-of scripture."

By: Jennifer Knust, Tommy Wasserman
Imprint: Princeton University Pres
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 235mm, Width: 155mm,
ISBN: 9780691169880
ISBN 10: 0691169888
Pages: 464
Publication Date: 13 November 2018
Audience: College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , General/trade , Primary , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Jennifer Knust is associate professor of New Testament and Christian origins at Boston University. Her books include Unprotected Texts: The Bible's Surprising Contradictions about Sex and Desire. Tommy Wasserman is professor of Biblical studies at Ansgar Teologiske H gskole in Norway. His books include The Epistle of Jude: Its Text and Transmission.

Reviews for To Cast the First Stone: The Transmission of a Gospel Story

[A] splendid and exhaustive examination... [w]ith scrupulous attention to every scrap of extant evidence. * Commonweal Magazine * This is a careful and rich study. 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. ---Paul Foster, Journal for the Study of the New Testament The work will clearly be the definitive treatment of the history of what came to be an influential part of the Fourth Gospel, showing that what has counted as 'Scripture' is not necessarily 'original.' ---Harold Attridge, Journal of Religious History