The Woman Taken in Adultery - John 7:53 to John 8:11.
John 7:53-8:11 - King James Bible 1611
7:53 And every man went unto his own house............................
8:
1 Jesus went unto the mount of Olives.............................
11 She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.
These 12 entire verses have come under attack by the Bible agnostics - the modern Vatican Version/UBS/ Critical text scholars who do not believe that ANY Bible in any language IS or ever WAS the complete and infallible words of the living God. Yet the evidence for their inclusion in Gods Holy Book is massive and widespread.
If interested, see Undeniable Proof the ESV, NIV, NASB, Holman Standard, NET etc. are the new "Vatican Versions"
Real Catholic bibles - Another King James Bible Believer
The Catholic Connection
The Catholic versions like the St. Joseph New American Bible and the New Jerusalem bible 1985 have footnotes for these verses to the effect of "The story of the adulteress is missing from the best early Greek manuscripts, where is does not appear" (St. Joseph).
Likewise the ESV 2011 edition headlines in capital letters THE EARLIEST MANUSCRIPTS DO NOT INCLUDE 7:53-8:11" and the NIV 2011 edition now has two lines separating these verses from the rest of the gospel of John and prints the verses in smaller type and in italics. It notes at the top of this section: [The earliest manuscripts and many other ancient witnesses do not have John 7:53-8:11]
To find out more about what these so called "oldest and best manuscripts" are REALLY like, see "The Oldest and Best Manuscripts?" -
Oldest and Best Mss? - Another King James Bible Believer
In his book, the King James Version Defended, Dr. Edward Hills comments: It is not surprising that the pericope de adultera (this whole section of Scripture from John 7:53 to John 8:11) is omitted in Papyri 66 and 75, Aleph (Sinaiticus) B, W and L. For all these manuscripts are connected with the Alexandrian tradition which habitually favored omissions.
All 12 of these verses are found in the Majority of all remaining Greek texts we know of including D 5th Century, and other uncial copies like E, G, H, K, M, S, T, U, Gamma, Lambda and Pi.
They are also found in the Old Latin copies air, c, d, e, ff2, g1, j and r1. Even the United Bible Society footnotes tell us these verses are found in some manuscripts of the Syriac Peshitta (they are in Lamsas 1933 translation of the Syriac Peshitta), Harclean, Coptic Boharic, Slavonic and Latin Vulgate (404 A.D.) ancient versions.
Jack Moorman also lists some Armenian manuscripts and the Ethiopic ancient version as also including all these verses.
The UBS also tells us that they are found in the Apostolic Constitutions (4th century) and that portions of this section are quoted by such early church writers as Ambrosiaster, Ambrose, Pacian, Rufinus, Jerome, Faustus-Milevis and Augustine.
In his book, The King James Version Defended, Dr. Edward F. Hills discusses these verses at some length and explains why some early scribes began to delete these verses from their manuscripts.
He says on page 151 The story of the woman taken in adultery was a problem also in ancient times. Early Christians had trouble with this passage. The forgiveness which Christ vouchsafed to the adulteress was contrary to the conviction that the punishment for adultery ought to be very severe.
As late as the time of Ambrose (374 A.D.), bishop of Milan, there were still many Christians who felt such scruples against this portion of Johns Gospel. This is clear from the remarks which Ambrose makes in a sermon on Davids sin.
Mr. Hills then proceeds to quote Ambrose as saying: In the same way also the Gospel lesson WHICH HAS BEEN READ, may have caused no small offense to the unskilled, in which you have noticed that an adulteress was brought to Christ and dismissed without condemnation
Did Christ err that He did not judge righteously? It is not right that such a thought should come to our minds.
Dr. Hills continues: According to Augustine (400 A.D.), it was this moralistic objection to the pericope de adultera which was responsible for its omission in some of the New Testament manuscripts known to him. Augustine writes: Certain persons of little faith, or rather enemies of the true faith, fearing, I suppose, lest their wives should be given impunity in sinning, REMOVED FROM THEIR MANUSCRIPTS the Lords act of forgiveness toward the adulteress, as if He who had said sin no more had granted permission to sin.
Mr. Hills mentions that this whole section of Scripture is cited in the Didascalia (Teaching) of the Apostles (3rd century) and in the Apostolic Constitutions (4th century), which are based on the Didascalia.
Mr. Hills also refers to Jeromes (415 A.D.) quote that in the Gospel according to John IN MANY MANUSCRIPTS, both Greek and Latin, is found the story of the adulterous woman who was accused before the Lord.
Mr. Hills continues on page 153: Also the Spanish Father Pacian (370 A.D.) appealed to the pericope de adultera when protesting against the excessive severity in discipline. Are you not willing, he asked, to read in the Gospel that the Lord also spared the adulteress who confessed, whom no man had condemned.
The only people who cast doubt on the authenticity of these 12 verses are those who today are promoting the new Vatican Versions like the ESV, NIV, NASB, NET and Holman Standard. And YET they still include the verses in their bible versions. If they REALLY think they are not inspired Scripture, then they should be honest and consistent about their unbelief and simply REMOVE them. But they dont. They just cast doubt on whether these 12 verses are inspired of God or not.
Not one of these men like James White, Dan Wallace, R.C. Sproul, John MacArthur or John Piper believes that ANY Bible in ANY language IS or ever was the complete and infallible Bible. Dont believe it? Just ask any of these men to SHOW you a copy of this infallible Bible they PROFESS to believe in. They will NEVER do it.
In the sovereignty of God all these verses have been included in virtually every Bible in every language ever printed. They are included in the Modern Greek Bible and in the Modern Hebrew Bible.
They are also in the early Anglo Saxon Gospels that date from around 900 A.D. and are in all Reformation Bibles like Luthers German Bible 1545 and the 2000 German Schlachter Bible, the Spanish Sagradas Escrituras 1569 to the present Reina Valera of 2011, the French Olivetan to the modern French Ostervald 1996 and French Louis Segond 2007, the Italian Diodati 1649 to the Nuova Riveduta of 2006.
Dont let the Bible critics, Bible Rummagers and unbelievers in the infallibility of ANY Bible rob you of your confidence in the absolute truth of Gods precious words. Trash your doubt causing Yea, hath God said? Vatican Versions like the ESV, NIV, NASB and get yourself a copy of Gods infallible Book, the King James Bible.