To Cast the First Stone

This valuable and delightful book leaves no stone unturned in tracing the fascinating reception history of the biblical story of Jesus's encounter with the adulterous woman. Deeply scholarly and wonderfully accessible, To Cast the First Stone will prove relevant for many discussions on the early church. --AnneMarie Luijendijk, Princeton University Knust and Wasserman use the story of the adulteress to illustrate the fascinating transmission history of gospel literature and the various personalities and forces that contributed to the process. To Cast the First Stone will undoubtedly become the standard book on this story. --Chris Keith, author of The Pericope Adulterae, the Gospel of John, and the Literacy of Jesus Knust and Wasserman show how the story of Jesus and the woman taken in adultery came to be popular in spite of its dubious origin. Compelling and masterfully researched, To Cast the First Stone is an important book. --Kim Haines-Eitzen, author of The Gendered Palimpsest: Women, Writing, and Representation in Early Christianity Brilliantly conceived, massively researched, and convincingly argued, Knust and Wasserman's wide-ranging analysis of the pericope adulterae is a milestone in the field of textual studies, destined to be the definitive account for a generation. --Bart D. Ehrman, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill