Story of adulterous woman is one of dignity restored

Debate over account’s canonicity has sometimes overshadowed its powerful lessons

Christ and the Sinner (2011). Oil on canvas by artist A.N. Mironov. Licensing: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International.

It’s difficult to imagine a more humiliating situation than the one which the adulterous woman of John 7:53-8:11¹ found herself in. Caught in the very act of adultery, perhaps by male witnesses she didn’t know, she was…