Featured Gospel of John, chapter 8 — Jesus says, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone

[Multicolored Lemur]

Bible Gateway passage: John 8 - King James Version

Jesus went unto the mount of Olives. And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them. And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, They say unto him...

www.biblegateway.com

3 And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst,

4 They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.

5 Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?

6 This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.

7 So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.

8 And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.

9 And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.

10 When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?

11 She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.


---------------------------------------------------------------------

A lot of lessons . . .

Don't be against someone just because they're unpopular and what other people say.

I think it says elsewhere in the Bible, "Thou shall not follow a multitude to do evil."

 

[AgnosticBoy]

I usually use that passage as a response to the question of why we don't follow the punishment aspects of the Torah (i.e. the laws of Moses) or why we don't kill for "sinful" acts. It's because we'd all be dead.

You know I really liked Jesus's style. I see him as exposing the politicians of his day which were the Pharisees. Their morality was only for show and not sincere from the heart.

 

[Multicolored Lemur]

the politicians of his day which were the Pharisees. Their morality was only for show and not sincere from the heart.

So much so that the word “Pharisee” has come up mean exactly that!

 

[Multicolored Lemur]

And please notice, this is another part of the Bible which is anti-woman.

The woman is caught in adultery and is hauled to the Temple for the punishment to be decreed, death by stoning. But what about her partner ? ! ?

Unless she was caught masturbating, she did have a partner.

And lest we think that only a married person can commit adultery, no, if I had had an affair with a married woman at age 18, I think I would have also been committing adultery.

————————————

And/or the Bible is written by human beings and reflects it’s time.

And it has some good stuff and some bad stuff. And I’m trying to show both.

 

[Multicolored Lemur]

The King James Version, which I’ve quoted above, does not use quotation marks for what Jesus say.

Most other versions do.

For example —

Bible Gateway passage: John 8 - New American Standard Bible

The Adulterous Woman - But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. And early in the morning He came again into the temple area, and all the people were coming to Him; and He sat down and began teaching them. Now the scribes and the Pharisees *brought a woman caught in the act of adultery, and after...

www.biblegateway.com

John 8:7 — When they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”

- NASB, or New American Standard Bible

 

[AgnosticBoy]

And please notice, this is another part of the Bible which is anti-woman.

The woman is caught in adultery and is hauled to the Temple for the punishment to be decreed, death by stoning. But what about her partner ? ! ?

Unless she was caught masturbating, she did have a partner.

And lest we think that only a married person can commit adultery, no, if I had had an affair with a married woman at age 18, I think I would have also been committing adultery.

To the part in bold, I think the answer to that is yes. That is the way the rules would work in a polygynous society which Israel practiced at that time.

 

[Multicolored Lemur]

Bible Gateway passage: Exodus 23 - King James Version

Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness. Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment: Neither shalt thou countenance a poor man in his cause. If thou meet...

www.biblegateway.com

1 Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.

2 Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment:

3 Neither shalt thou countenance a poor man in his cause.

4 If thou meet thine enemy's ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again.

5 If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, and wouldest forbear to help him, thou shalt surely help with him.

6 Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor in his cause.

7 Keep thee far from a false matter; and the innocent and righteous slay thou not: for I will not justify the wicked.

.

.


— King James Version

———————————————

Or, in modern Internet terms, try not to be part of a “feeding frenzy”!

 

[Multicolored Lemur]

That is the way the rules would work in a polygynous society which Israel was one of at that time.

Hi, maybe just a short example to explain a little more?

 

[AgnosticBoy]

That is the way the rules would work in a polygynous society which Israel was one of at that time.

Hi, maybe just a short example to explain a little more?

I think the best example is the lack of an example. From my research and from reading that of others, there is not one instance in the Bible where a man, married or single, is called an adulterer for sleeping with an unmarried woman. And it's not as if the Bible doesn't cover instances of adultery, but the times that God or some author speaks against it, always tends to involve a married woman and a man.

Here's commentary explaining why that is the case, and it's actually starts with the very definition for 'adultery' in the OT:

Terminology for “adultery” is actually infrequent in the Old Testament. The term in the ten commandments (na’aph; Exo 20:14; Deut 5:18) occurs only one other place in the Mosaic law (Lev 20:10). Other terms are used to describe illicit sex (e.g., sex with a prostitute – zanah; e.g., Gen 38:24; Lev 21:9). Permissible (non-violent and consenting) sexual relationships with multiple wives or concubines are not described with either word. Rather, the normal euphemisms for marital intercourse are employed (the man “went in to” or “knew” his wife or concubine). Consequently, the biblical material does not consider those relationships adulterous or as prostitution.

This terminological parsing is not accidental, for the Old Testament (and the patriarchal culture in which it was produced) defined adultery very strictly as sexual intercourse with a woman already married (or betrothed) to another man.” This means that, in the Old Testament world, polygamy was not adultery; it is not treated as such in the Mosaic law.

Source: Old Testament scholar Dr. Michael M. Heiser:

 

[Multicolored Lemur]

from the song “Welcome to the Black Parade” by the band My Chemical Romance

—————————

When I was a young boy
My father took me into the city
To see a marching band

He said, "Son, when you grow up
Would you be the savior of the broken
The beaten and the damned?"

He said, "Will you defeat them?
Your demons, and all the non-believers
The plans that they have made?"

.

.

——————-

The same idea about standing up for the outcast