To Cast the First Stone: The Transmission of a Gospel Story by Jennifer Knust and Tommy Wasserman (review)

• Autores: Dieter T. Roth
• Localización: Journal of early Christian studies: Journal of the North American Patristic Society, ISSN 1067-6341, Nº. 4, 2019, págs. 679-681
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Knust and Wasserman here alert the reader to the fact that their project avoids questions of the canonical and historical status of the passage as their "book regards the puzzle of the pericope's uneven transmission and reception as an invitation to reconsider wider attitudes about 'the gospel,' Gospel books, and 'sinning' women" (46) in the history of Christianity. Though Knust and Wasserman are convinced that the story was likely interpolated, their main interest is in shifting the conversation from the idea of this being a textual "corruption" to the broader issue of the "active shaping of gospel traditions and books by the communities that received them" (51). Chapters Three and Four then convincingly argue the unlikelihood of the story being suppressed, with a particularly persuasive discussion highlighting that though ancient Christians supported a patriarchal order and strict penitential discipline, "neither an interest in disciplining wayward women nor a preference for strict Christian sexual morals requires that the pericope adulterae be suppressed" (139).