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In Deuteronomy 22:21 it says: "then they shall bring out the young woman to the door of her father's house, and the men of her city shall stone her to death with stones, because she has done a disgraceful thing in Israel, to play the harlot in her father's house. So you shall put away the evil from among you." Is it Christian to literally stone a woman for being an adulteress?

Stoning women is not a Christian form of discipline. The Old Testament reveals the time of law, whereas the New Testament reveals the time of grace. "And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ" (John 16,17). Deuteronomy was written during the time of a Theocracy whereby God wanted to protect the Israelites from immorality. Stoning the woman by her father's house was symbolic of bringing shame and dishonor to her family. In actuality, both the woman and the man who committed sin were punished. Before the coming of Christ, people did not have the grace of guidance through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit rebukes and corrects. The consequences of the law were replaced by repentance and the Holy Sacraments. Christ made a public example of the time of grace and the no longer accepted practice of stoning, even when a woman was caught in the act of adultery. Christ personally spared her life and did not condemn her, but rather reminded her to not sin again (John 8:1-12).