Thayer Thursday – Why is John 8.1-11 in our Bibles??
Previously, in Thayer’s Thoughts, we’ve seen that the Bible was not originally written in English. It was written in three languages: Hebrew, Greek, and some Aramaic.
In addition, all of the writings in the Bible, such as John’s Gospel, were originally written by hand. Unlike the simplicity we enjoy today in copying a letter or even entire books, it was difficult to do so until recent history.
In order to copy John’s Gospel and preserve such an important piece of literature, it had to be done by hand. The printing press wasn’t invented until around 1450, so for almost a millennia and a half, any time John’s Gospel was copied – it was all done by scribes, by hand.
Now, as you’re probably guessed, this could raise some issues regarding the reliability of what we have contained in the Bible. In fact, many scholars thought until recently that the Bible we have today could be a glorified version of the telephone game played in kindergarten classrooms – starting off as one thing and then being unrecognizable by the time it got to the end of the room.
However, with the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, skeptical scholars were shocked at the remarkable accuracy with which people who copied the books of the Bible performed their task. They found that over hundreds of years the errors that were introduced into the text were mainly minor spelling variations with no impact on the meaning of the text.
Having said that, there are some discrepancies found in the different hand written copies (called “manuscripts”) we have of the books of the Bible. “Textual Criticism” is the name of the discipline used to discern what is most likely the “correct” version when one manuscript differs from another.
While none of these variations affect doctrinal issues, about 1% do affect the meaning of the text. So the textual critic looks through the various manuscripts (about 5,700 for the New Testament alone!) and catalogs the variations. They then use their best judgment for why these discrepancies occurred, and decide which reading is most likely the original.
So…why are you receiving a lesson on textual criticism today?
Well, this week’s sermon is on John 8:1-11. And as most of you can probably see in your Bibles, there is a note for this section of scripture (John 7:53-8:11) that reads:
“The earliest manuscripts and many other ancient witnesses do not have John 7:53-8:11.”
[This is the NIV’s version of the note]
In other words, when John originally wrote his Gospel, he didn’t write this section. It was most likely added later by a scribe. Most scholars agree with this assessment, and the evidence for this conclusion is solid.
So why is it printed in your Bible? Why is it being preached on in church?
Great questions!
As one of the foremost Text-critical scholars in history, Bruce Metzger, put it: the story of the woman caught in adultery sounds very much like a story that is historically reliable and is likely an oral tradition of something Jesus did that was passed down, eventually making its way into John’s Gospel to preserve it. [Bruce M. Metzger, A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament, 2nd ed., 188.]
So while we’re fairly certain that this story was not originally in John’s Gospel, it is something that very likely happened. And it lines up with who Jesus was, how He responded to the religious leaders attempts to trap Him, and what He taught. Therefore we can still learn from it today and it can serve as a powerful demonstration of the remarkable grace of God.
Whether or not it should be considered “Scripture” is something that all of us should rightly wrestle with (and this is why I agree with the NIV and other Bible translations for including a note and bracketing John 7:53-8:11). Wherever one lands on this question, though, we can all agree that the story of the woman caught in adultery serves as a powerful picture of the Gospel of Jesus and we can confidently read from it and learn from it together as a community.
Chris Thayer
Sermon: “Sticks and Stones”
Categories: Biblical Scholarship, Blog, New Testament
Catholic Biblical Scholar Michael Barber recently looked at the evidence, including extracanonical attestations of the story’s existence at about the same time that the early manuscripts lacking it were written. I found it very interesting reading.
http://www.thesacredpage.com/2013/03/was-story-of-woman-caught-in-adultery.html
by Mitchell on Mar 22, 2013 at 4:18 pm