It seems that the context makes the application specific and as illustrated in other passages ie Numbers 25 not universally applicable. Harry Chad Richard Bresson <breusswane@...> wrote: "Your hand (the witnesses' hand) shall be first against him to put him to death." Deut. 13:9 "The hand of the witnesses shall be first against him to put him to death..." Deut. 17:7 These general principles for all capital crimes seem pretty clear cut. Chad Richard Bresson Xenia, OH http://breusswane.blogspot.com/ ----- Original Message ----- From: "H Dorrington" To: Sent: Sunday, August 28, 2005 5:13 PM Subject: Re: [soundofgrace] John 8:11 and Condemn > Correct me if I am wrong, but both Ridderbos and Carson hold to a similar > view on the active obedience Of Christ to the Law so their interpetation > of the passage would be in harmony with their view. You quote Carson as > saying that the witnesses of the crime must be the first to throw the > stones but even the Scripture given does not support that claim! "Bring > the one who has cursed outside the camp, and let all who heard him lay > their hands on his head; then let all the congregation stone him." Where > are the witness throwing the first stones? > > What is interesting is that even John Calvin saw the obvious problem in > this passage with the doctrine of active obedience! > > Harry > > Chad Richard Bresson wrote: > Herman Ridderbos on verse 11: "Here, as in vs. 10, 'condemn' is used in > the legal sense of 'sentence'." -- Ridderbos, The Gospel of John, p. 291 > > That she had not already been sentenced is implicit to Christ's use of the > word "condemn". Thus, in asking the question, Christ is using the language > of the law in giving relief to the woman that those who had accuse her > were no longer around with their accusations. > > As for my "conjecture" Carson says: "If any one of you is without sin, let > him be the first to throw a stone at her. This is a direct reference to > Deut. 13:9; 17:7 (cf. Lv. 24:14) - the witnesses of the crime must be the > first to throw the stones, and they must not be participants in the crime > itself. Jesus' saying does not mean that the authorities must be paragons > of sinless perfection before the death sentence can properly be meted out, > nor does it mean that one must be free even from lust before one can > legitimately condemn adultery (even though lust and adultery belong to the > same genus, Mt. 5:28). It means, reather, that they must not be guilty of > this particular sin." -- D. A. Carson, The Gospel According to John, p. > 336 > > Chad Richard Bresson > Xenia, OH > http://breusswane.blogspot.com/ > > -- > Read the Sound of Grace pages at > http://www.soundofgrace.com > > To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: > soundofgrace-unsubscribe@... > > To view our online archive go to our web page at > http://www.associate.com/groups/soundofgrace > > > > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around > http://mail.yahoo.com > -- > Read the Sound of Grace pages at > http://www.soundofgrace.com > > To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: > soundofgrace-unsubscribe@... > > To view our online archive go to our web page at > http://www.associate.com/groups/soundofgrace > > > -- Read the Sound of Grace pages at http://www.soundofgrace.com To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: soundofgrace-unsubscribe@... To view our online archive go to our web page at http://www.associate.com/groups/soundofgrace --------------------------------- Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page -- Read the Sound of Grace pages at http://www.soundofgrace.com To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: soundofgrace-unsubscribe@... To view our online archive go to our web page at http://www.associate.com/groups/soundofgrace