The Woman Caught in Adultery and St. Augustine

In the Gospel of John, the story of the woman caught in adultery is perhaps as famous as any other section of the Gospel.

This story is a perfect example of how Jesus not just calls but exhibits in himself the principle we are to employ in our own lives: Hate the sin and love the sinner.

In this story, we see Jesus uniting justice and mercy as he does perfectly on the cross as well.

For, he forgives the woman (which presupposes a real wrong to be forgiven of) and he commands the woman to sin no more.

Jesus does not fall into the contemporary error of thinking we need to love and approve of the sin in order the love the sinner, or that if we have to hate the sin we necessarily have to hate the sinner.

To the contrary, we see the Lord paving the way for how we are to engage others who may have committed offense against us: we extend mercy and forgiveness of the person and implore them to cease sinning so that, as Jesus also says, they may not perish.

[tgoblue]

I wish more catholic would explain things as clearly as you do. I just found this channel and I love it. I'm a southern Baptist now but after studying the church fathers and lessening to you I hope to be a catholic one day. God bless

[soll]

Beautiful. Thank you. I am more at ease now that my past sins were indeed blotted out.

[vincentcastrillo]

Bravo. Modern people always seem to forget... go and sin no more

[jerryg]

Dr. Pitre thanks much for this explanation of the woman taken in adultery. A brilliant ex-Jewish atheist has recently argued that this passage was added to the gospels at a later date and was not authentic. Great to know St. Augustin had a version where it was indeed part of St. John's Gospel and his explanation of its meaning. Only Jesus could have carried out such an act of compassion 2, 000 years ago and implicitly condemned the barbaric method of punishment of many societies worldwide at that time, or even today. Jesus also put to shame bigots of all kinds and his lesson is still relevant today

[nathanngumi]

Amen. Jesus sets us free from our past.

[aspeelee]

"Go and sin no more!" ...pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath and sloth, we, all human, have sins in us! How many can actually do it?! Who can actually do it?!

[paulwright]

Augustine had no idea that this passage was inserted about the time he was born. No manuscript has it before his birth. Augustine attempts to explain the verse as accepted in his day.

[SarahAnneAVEMaria]

Thank you! Ave Maria and God bless you and your work!! 🙏🏻❤️‍🔥

[hey.hombre]

I've listened to this topic and not once has anyone mentioned the man involved in the adultery. The woman is caught in the very act of adultery and brought to Jesus. Did they already kill the man? Did they let him go? Why was only the woman brought to be judged?
Leviticus 20:10 “‘If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife—with the wife of his neighbor—both the adulterer and the adulteress are to be put to death."

[godzilla]

I want to be your student show me the way. Awesome video

[terrynichols]

Interesting that you noted that this FABLE is not in the Inspired Word of God. Then you treat it like it was, so you are comfortable with what a man would write while you ignore what the Holy Spirit of God has written.

[mikepoulin]

Jesus gave clemency, He commuted her sentence, He didn't say she wasn't guilty, or she did not deserve the penalty, or even that she was forgiven...He commuted her sentence to give her the opportunity to repent and reform....

[jvlp]

Let us analyze the WOMAN caught in the Act of Adultery... According to the Law of Moses, if a Woman is caught in the act of Adultery, both the Woman and the Man who was caught in the act of Adultery must be presented to the High Priest or Judges, plus the accuser such as the husband of the woman and wife of the man must be presented too... If both are single, then it is not called Adultery but Fornication or Prostitution... The bible clearly said ADULTERY, therefore either both were married or one of them was married... correct?... YES

In the Book of John, the Woman caught in the act of Adultery was presented "ALONE" by the Jewish High Priest with the Jewish people and presented to Christ Jesus for entrapment... Where was the MAN whom the woman was caught in the act of Adultery?... why not presented?... Why were their own Husband and Wife as the accuser not present too?... not presented also... why?...

According to the Law of Moses, if proven both man and woman caught in the Act of Adultery are true, the FIRST to cast the stone on them are their own Husband and Wife, but where were they when they presented the woman to Christ Jesus... why the High Priest never presented all of them, but the woman alone to Christ Jesus?

Perhaps, that was the reason why Christ Jesus bend down to the ground and wrote with his finger in the sand, nobody knows why and what Jesus' wrote, but perhaps Christ Jesus wrote that the Adultery case presented to him was a FRAUD/LIE... Christ Jesus knew very well the S.O.P. (Standard Operating Procedure) of the Law of Moses... most probably the woman is just a prostitute without a husband, thus her case was a Non-Jewish Prostitution and not a Jewish Adultery... thus the woman can not be stoned to death for she was not a Jew but a Gentile... If she was a Jew, where is her husband?... If both were single Jewish, then the case brought to Jesus was not supposed to be Adultery but FORNICATION... YES, it is true both Adultery and Fornication for the Jewish People are punishable by death...but why is the man not presented?... the woman can not fornicate by herself, Jewish people can not stone the woman alone... but both man and woman must die together by being stoned to death, that is the S.O.P. for the Law of Moses.

Therefore, the ADULTERY case was weak and fraudulent, with lots of loopholes and technicalities to be prosecuted "Fairly and Justly"... Christ said, "I neither condemn you, go and sin no more."... The sin that Christ Jesus was telling the woman not to sin again, was about Prostitution (selling sex) because Christ knew she has no husband and the case is not about Adultery, the High Priest Lied to trap Jesus Christ... To God be the Glory, Power, and Honor in Christ Jesus name... Amen...

[defenestratefalsehoods]

This story does not appear in any of the older bibles. How can you lie to people? Just like mark 9-20 also dont appear in the oldest bibles.

[rashmoe]

in what chapter do we find this actually??

[Christabbaword]

1 Corinthians 5: 1It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that even pagans do not tolerate: A man making physical children with another’s wife.
5hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so he may be saved on Lord’s day

[jvlp]

Perhaps the Story Happened but the Way the "TRIAL" was Presented and Executed based on the Law of Moses was so very Wrong... why and how?...
1st, the Woman Caught in the Act of adultery was presented alone to Christ Jesus...
2nd, where was the man whom the woman was caught adultery with?... not presented
3rd, the accusation was about Adultery, logically understood they were both married, why were their spouses not presented to accuse them?...
4th, based on the Law of Moses, the first to "Cast (throw) the Stone" to them were their Spouses but were not presented... not the witnesses to cast the first stone.
5th, when Christ Jesus asked the woman caught in adultery, she addressed Christ as "Sir or Lord (means master)" instead of addressing Christ as "Rabbi (teacher)" this shows that she was not a Jew/Hebrew but a Gentile Woman and according to the Law of Moses, she was not accountable by death for she is not under the Law of Moses... remember the story of Samaritan (Gentile) woman drawing water from the well with many husbands, she also addressed Christ Jesus "SIR" even after she knew Christ is a Prophet of the Jews... (John 4:4-26)
6th, in reality, the Woman was caught in Prostitution or Fornication and not Adultery because she has no husband and she was a Gentile, that was why she was presented alone to Christ, perhaps that was also the reason why Christ bend down to write something on the sand/ground, to document that this trial was ALL about ENTRAPMENT... and not about the Law of Moses punishing fairly all Jewish Adulterers.

[pamelacowart]

I am having trouble finding the reference at 1:49 in the video that says the quote came from Augustine, Homilies on the Gospel of John, 33:6-7. Can anyone help with a link?

[Anyone]

Thank you Dr. Pitre I hope we can meet at SBL together this fall I would love to buy you lunch and pick your brain

[saemushailstorm]

oh, & augustine's life ?
not worth comment .