John 8: Part 4

Most of you have lost interest in this thread, but I am no quitter and I mean to finish sharing my thoughts.

Let me recap the arguments against the inclusion of the story regarding the woman caught in adultery at John 8.
1. The author couldn't be John because of the use of uncommon words.
2. Oldest collections of the text put it somewhere else in John, the NT, or do not include it.
3. No comments are made about the story from bible commentators in the first and second centuries.

The first argument was already concluded to be unsatisfying as it proved too restrictive to limit an author's vocabulary, fails to note that there are other places where the author uses unique word choice, and does not explain how the story fits so well into the context.

In dealing with the second and third arguments, it should be noted that by the time the Bible was being circulated as a whole (the 66 books of the OT and NT), the episode was included at its location in John 8 and was received as authoritative.
In the early 300's AD, Eusebius, a critic of Constantine's administration (he felt Constantine made it too easy to take on the name "Christian"), "the most eminent of early Church historians” and “usually discriminating in his evaluation of data” believes that this story is a part of John’s gospel and should be included in the text (Latourette, Kenneth Scott. A History of Christianity, vol. 1, p. 91-92). He equates it with a story that is told by one of John’s disciples (Papias) in other places.

St. Augustine explains why it is difficult to find the earliest copies of the story. He states, "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 Lord's act of forgiveness toward the adulteress, as if He who had said 'sin no more' had granted permission to sin." If the story was removed from the lessons, then early teachers would not make comment on the text.

Given the wide support for the historicity and the likelihood that the event took place, the fact that it follows the nature of Jesus' attitude toward sinners, the fit into the context, the tie to Papias (a disciple of the Apostle John), and the inclusion into the formal Scriptures, the burden lies with detractors to prove from where the story came, and why it became associated with the Apostle John and his gospel if it were not part of the original.

We follow the conclusion of William Hendricksen who writes, "Though it cannot now be proved that this story formed an integral part of the Fourth Gospel, neither is it possible to establish the opposite with any degree of finality. We believe, moreover, that what is here recorded really took place, and contains nothing that is in conflict with the apostolic spirit. Hence, instead of removing this section from the Bible it should be retained and used for our benefit” (Hendricksen, William. New Testament Commentary, The Gospel According to John, Vol. 2, p. 35).

The Urban South

Missio Dei moved into our new building at the beginning of July in time to gear up from a core group to a church "in the city, for the city." But moving from our West Asheville location to the edge of downtown is causing me to pray very differently.

Our building is located just two doors down from the Western Carolina Rescue Mission and the Labor Ready Building. We're around the block from the Salvation Army and from the ABCCM (a relief organization funded by many of the churches in Asheville and around the county). That said, most of the physical needs of the homeless can be met (food, clothes, work, a place to sleep), and yet, on nearly a daily basis, I've got people showing up needing some assistance.

I've not wanted to turn anyone down, but as the pastor of a church start up with little financial stability and as the father of three kids, I'm going broke trying to help.

Thankfully, we've got some big hearted creative thinkers at Missio and we are develop a system to build bridges and restore the dignity to many of our friends on the streets.

My confusion, anger, and frustration with the problem grew today on my walk from the building to meet one of our guys for lunch (only about a 6 block walk).

First, I ran into a guy whom I bought lunch for a few weeks ago. I was glad I could remember his name and when I asked him how he was doing, he tapped on his ear and walked away saying, "I'm on the phone." He was talking on a mobile phone with an earpiece. Too poor to buy food, but not to own a mobile phone.

Then, after about a block, I watched as three police darted across Patton Ave. to arrest a homeless man who was being fed by someone sitting outside a restaurant. The guy offering the food tried to defend the guy eating, but the police instructed him to "keep your mouth shut...sir."

About 2 blocks later I saw a guy sitting in front of the Sister's McMullen with a cup, begging for change. Having just watched a dude get cuffed for getting some food and knowing that it's against the law in our city to panhandle, I thought I'd let the guy know he needed to watch out. As I dropped some change into his cup I told him, "Be careful, the police are right down the street making arrests." At that point, the dude started yelling, "well then get going...I know what I'm doing...just because you're white and I'm black don't mean anything." I thought to myself, "your welcome."

All in all, I ran into a guy I helped who doesn't seem to need help, a guy who was being helped that constituted a crime, and a guy who resists when help is offered. All this in a 10 minute walk in the urban South.

Men's Midrash (מדרש)

I will try to conclude the John 8 post in the next week or so, but have been sidetracked by various events at Missio lately.

We have been planning to kick off the fall with our first "public" gatherings. Up to this point, we have been trying to develop a core group to develop a Gospel embracing community. Over the past several weeks, I have been developing our theology of community and Bryan and I have been teaching the various aspects of that community (possibly fodder for more posts on this blog). Two of the main aspects we have been developing include small group life and service to the city. Developing these has been time constraining, and has kept me from blogging, but as things are being put into place, I will have more time to publish.

That said, we are holding our first Midrash tonight at Barley's Taproom. Midrash is a Hebrew term that involves study, interpretation, and commentary. For four weeks, we will discuss various questions about Jesus. tonight we will ask, "Is Jesus the only God?" We've had a decent number of our guys sign up and look forward to some good discussion.