(Worthy News) - A Chinese textbook has changed the ending in the Biblical account of Jesus saving the woman caught in adultery by writing that Jesus kills the woman after telling her that He is also a sinner, Christian Headlines reports.
The matter was first reported by the Union of Catholic Asian News about a textbook published by the Chinese government-run University of Electronic Science and Technology Press. The book is reportedly used to teach “professional ethics and law” in vocational schools.
In the original Biblical account in John 8, Pharisee religious leaders bring to Jesus a woman caught in the act of adultery and ask him if she should be stoned in accordance with the law of Moses. Jesus tells them: “Let anyone of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Then, after each of the woman’s accusers leaves without throwing a stone, Jesus tells the woman: “Go now and leave your life of sin.”
According to UCA News, the Chinese book changes the text to say: “When the crowd disappeared, Jesus stoned the sinner to death saying, ‘I, too, am a sinner. But if the law could only be executed by men without blemish, the law would be dead.’”
Uploading a copy of the textbook story to social media, a Catholic parishioner wrote: “I want everyone to know that the Chinese Communist Party has always tried to distort the history of the Church, to slander our Church, and to make people hate our Church,” Christian Headlines reports.