Article March 12, 1979 Issue

Would you have cast a stone?

BARBARA LINDSEY NASSIF

The scene is a temple in the Middle East. Jesus is teaching the people. Scribes and Pharisees arrive, bringing with them an adulterous woman. They tell Jesus of her actions and ask if she should be stoned, hoping he will contradict Moses' commands with his answer. Jesus stoops down, quietly tracing in the dust. If you were there, would you have been one of those preparing to cast a stone?

I mentally cried, "Not I!" while studying the Bible story of Christ Jesus and the woman taken in adultery.^{See John 8:1-11;} But would I? Had I? A startling thought!

I knew the commonly accepted meaning of adultery as a moral offense, and I certainly couldn't condone immorality. But stone someone? Never! But wait a moment. I realized "adulterate" means to corrupt, debase, make impure by the addition of a foreign element, or conversely, to abstract an essential ingredient.

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