Monday, December 03, 2018

Giveaway: Three Copies of To Cast the First Stone

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Princeton University Press has just released Tommy Wasserman and Jennifer Knust’s major new book on the Pericope Adulterae: To Cast the First Stone: The Transmission of a Gospel Story. I currently have three copies sitting in my house ready to be given away. You know the drill: you have until Friday morning (Arizona time) to enter to win in any of the ways listed. We’ll pick the winners next week.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Publisher details

The story of the woman taken in adultery features a dramatic confrontation between Jesus and the Pharisees over whether the adulteress should be stoned as the law commands. In response, Jesus famously states, “Let him who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” To Cast the First Stone traces the history of this provocative story from its first appearance to its enduring presence today.

Likely added to the Gospel of John in the third century, the passage is often held up by modern critics as an example of textual corruption by early Christian scribes and editors, yet a judgment of corruption obscures the warm embrace the story actually received. Jennifer Knust and Tommy Wasserman trace the story’s incorporation into Gospel books, liturgical practices, storytelling, and art, overturning the mistaken perception that it was either peripheral or suppressed, even in the Greek East. The authors also explore the story’s many different meanings. Taken as an illustration of the expansiveness of Christ’s mercy, the purported superiority of Christians over Jews, the necessity of penance, and more, this vivid episode has invited any number of creative receptions. This history reveals as much about the changing priorities of audiences, scribes, editors, and scholars as it does about an “original” text of John.

To Cast the First Stone calls attention to significant shifts in Christian book cultures and the enduring impact of oral tradition on the preservation—and destabilization—of scripture.

Jennifer Knust is associate professor of New Testament and Christian origins at Boston University. Her books include Unprotected Texts: The Bible’s Surprising Contradictions about Sex and Desire. Tommy Wasserman is professor of Biblical studies at Ansgar Teologiske Høgskole in Norway. His books include The Epistle of Jude: Its Text and Transmission.

You can read the introduction here.

Endorsements

“This valuable and delightful book leaves no stone unturned in tracing the fascinating reception history of the biblical story of Jesus’s encounter with the adulterous woman. Deeply scholarly and wonderfully accessible, To Cast the First Stone will prove relevant for many discussions on the early church.” —AnneMarie Luijendijk, Princeton University

“Brilliantly conceived, massively researched, and convincingly argued, Knust and Wasserman’s wide-ranging analysis of the pericope adulterae is a milestone in the field of textual studies, destined to be the definitive account for a generation.” —Bart D. Ehrman, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

“Knust and Wasserman use the story of the adulteress to illustrate the fascinating transmission history of gospel literature and the various personalities and forces that contributed to the process. To Cast the First Stone will undoubtedly become the standard book on this story.” —Chris Keith, author of The Pericope Adulterae, the Gospel of John, and the Literacy of Jesus

65 comments

  1. Must have this book!! Hopefully I will be one of the winners:)

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  2. Looks great 😁😇😁😇

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  3. Thanks for the opportunity to obtain a copy.

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  4. Does this apply to people living outside the US as well?

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  5. Can't wait to dive into this book.
    To answer your question, the best gift to give a text critic on Christmas is a gift card to amazon!

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  7. Please enter me on behalf of the Ethiopian Graduate School of Theology

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  8. Win a copy of "To Cast the First Stone"

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  9. I have faith in this giveaway lol

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  10. The book looks intriguing and I had to put a copy on my wish list to get either way. Classes are coming up which covers this topic and never gets old learning aboit textual criticism.

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  11. This is the reason why ETC is my favorite TC blog out there

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  12. As always, I'm very interested in this book and staying on top of all discussions related to this pericope.

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  13. I'm really looking forward to reading this book! A free copy would be great!

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  14. I think Peter Gurry is a fabulous guy, ... and I hope I win!!

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    1. Well thank you. Flattery, however won’t win the contest for you. Then again, it won’t lose it for you either.

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  15. I’m really hoping to win a free copy of this book! Looks great!

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  16. If I get a free copy, I won't write a review. Mark my words, Tommy!

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  17. I think the best gift to textual critic for this Christmas is this book :)

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  18. I run into this topic all the time from the pulpit. Would be fun to do additional reading to supplement my own answers.

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  19. I need a new book for my library

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  20. Not to look a potential gift horse in the mouth, but, how much do Knust and Wasserman say about the inclusion of the pericope in the Old Latin chapter-summaries that are assigned to the 200s and 300s? This evidence - if one accepts Orsini's recent redating of P66 and P75 - is as early or earlier than any of the extant MSS that don't have the PA. So it's featured prominently and described in detail in this book, right?

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    1. Tell me honestly when and where you first heard about the inclusion of the PA in thos me chapters? Was it at a conference at SEBTS? If you heard my talk there you may guess the answer.

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  21. After the warm reception at SBL, who wouldn't want this book for Christmas?!

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  22. book by Tommy and Jennifer. Book on Pericope Adulterae. Either of those would peak my interest.

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  23. I remember talking to Tommy about this project in Montreal at SNTS 2016! Glad it's finally here!

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  24. That Bart Ehrman praises this book is worth buying it! (A free edition is even better.)

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  25. I look forward to obtaining this book. I am teaching a graduate short course on Text, Canon, & Inspiration in January and hope to have it read and processed by then. Thanks!

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  26. Will I ever win one of those books I'd really like to have? Here's hoping this will be one!

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  27. I would love to win a copy of this book! Thanks for the opportunity!

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  28. I would love a chance to win this book please. It looks to be very informative.

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  29. Will this keep me awake the whole way through?

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  30. What a great idea for a book! Love it

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  31. Thank you for offering this as a giveaway!

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  32. Sounds like an intriguing book.

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  33. You should definitely send this book to South Dakota where our merciless winters demand much reading to retain our sanity.

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  34. It was the fall of 1977. My Greek instructor was incredulous that my new Greek Testament UBS 3rd ed read (B) for Jn !:18 monogenh qeo. It also gave an (A) reading for Jn 7:53-8:11. For me the problem becomes one of change. The scholarship of the day. Something sorely lacking in seminary training.
    We need to recognize that we are a product of our times.

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  35. Looking forward to my copy!

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  36. The best gift for a text critic at Christmas? Advil

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  37. It would be great to win :)

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  38. Dora Panella12/04/2018 7:07 pm

    I would also be interested to win a copy of this book! I really like the cover of the book, now I am curious about the content :-)

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  39. Hoping to win and read this! The answer to your question: Obviously a facsimile of Sinaiticus (https://www.amazon.com/Codex-Sinaiticus-Greek-Edition/dp/159856577X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1543951723&sr=8-1&keywords=codex+sinaiticus)

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    1. Chance Bonar12/04/2018 7:31 pm

      Lost my name in posting. Gah.

      If not Sinaiticus, then certainly this book as a Christmas gift to my textually-minded friends.

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  40. I'm definitely interested!!

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  41. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to answer the question of what to give a text critic for Christmas, but obviously this book.

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  42. The thing most textual critics I know want for Christmas is...tenure. I'm going to go with that.

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  43. Having studied this periscope prior and knowing it is not Scripture for basic reasons where it clearly doesn't fit the context it seems to me the last she was no she at all so he cannot be forgiven. If I read a copy I'll pay for it myself but nobody asked me. Maybe someone will try to shove it in John 14:14 next.

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  44. I never win anything in these type of drawings.

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  45. Looking forward to this book!

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  46. Would love a copy - I remember Tommy talking about their work on it back in Dublin in 2017

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    1. Michael Connolly12/06/2018 5:05 pm

      Just like Chance Bonar, my name was lost in translation.
      Or perhaps the name is a meaningless variant.

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  47. Very interested in reading this!

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  48. Looks like a good read.

    Best gift for a text critic would be an Amazon gift card, I bet...

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