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T26 reasoning: Church discipline and shunning

Reasoning steps: Church discipline and shunning

Verdicts: T26 · Church discipline and shunning. Method: conventions, scoring and proximity eras. Scripture is the primary measure; fathers are weighed by era (Era I to c. 150 = 1.0, II = 0.8, III = 0.6, IV = 0.4).

T26.1: Who excommunicates: the gathered church or its ministers?

Step T26.1.1: Scripture

Jesus says ’tell it to the church’ (Matt 18:17); Paul acts ‘when you are assembled’ (1 Cor 5:4) and speaks of ‘punishment by the majority’ (2 Cor 2:6); elders lead and rule (1 Tim 5:17). The congregation acts, under apostolic and elder leadership.

Step T26.1.2: Patristic evidence

Tertullian (Era II): ‘judging carried on among us, as befits those who feel assured that they are in the sight of God’; the sinner is severed ‘from us in prayer, in the congregation and in all sacred intercourse’. Sources: tertullian-t26-s1.

Step T26.1.3: Weighing decision

Era II describes judgment exercised in the assembly; later centuries placed it with the bishop. Verdict: discipline is an act of the gathered church under its leaders (Scripture, Era II); a purely clerical power is a later emphasis.

  • Confidence: Medium.

Step T26.1.4: Source-proximity weighing

  • Scripture (benchmark): Matt 18:17, 1 Cor 5:4 and 2 Cor 2:6 involve the congregation; elders lead. (Scripture confidence: medium)
  • Assessment: Traditions that combine congregation and elders fit best; a purely clerical or purely congregational power fits less.

T26.2: Shunning: should the excommunicated be avoided socially?

Step T26.2.1: Scripture

Paul says ’not even to eat with such a one’ (1 Cor 5:11) and ‘have nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed. Do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother’ (2 Thess 3:14–15); ’let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector’ (Matt 18:17). Withdrawal is real and aimed at restoration.

Step T26.2.2: Patristic evidence

Irenaeus (Era II) reports that John ‘rushed out of the bath-house’ because Cerinthus was within, and that Polycarp answered Marcion, ‘I do know you, the first-born of Satan.’ Sources: irenaeus-t26-s1.

Step T26.2.3: Weighing decision

Era II shows avoidance of notorious heretics, matching Paul’s instructions. Verdict: withdrawal of ordinary fellowship from the unrepentant excommunicated, for their correction, is biblical and attested in Era II.

  • Confidence: Medium.

Step T26.2.4: Source-proximity weighing

  • Scripture (benchmark): 1 Cor 5:11 and 2 Thess 3:14 command withdrawal, with a brotherly aim. (Scripture confidence: high)
  • Assessment: Traditions that teach avoidance fit Scripture; most confessions are silent.

Post-750 development by tradition

Catholic

Not assessed.

  • T26.1 (fathers n/a/4; Scripture n/a/4): Not assessed: no Tridentine or catechism text on who excommunicates was checked.
  • T26.2 (fathers n/a/4; Scripture n/a/4): Not addressed in the confession checked.

Orthodox

Dositheus 10.

  • T26.1 (fathers 2/4; Scripture 2/4): Dositheus, decree 10: the bishop ‘casts out of the Church as heathens and publicans’ and ‘puts heretics under excommunication and anathema’ (verified).
  • T26.2 (fathers n/a/4; Scripture n/a/4): Not addressed in the confession checked.

Oriental Orthodox

Not assessed.

  • T26.1 (fathers n/a/4; Scripture n/a/4): Not assessed: no Oriental Orthodox text on discipline was located.
  • T26.2 (fathers n/a/4; Scripture n/a/4): Not assessed: no Oriental Orthodox text was located.

Lutheran

AC XXVIII.

  • T26.1 (fathers 3/4; Scripture 3/4): AC XXVIII: those with the ministry of the Word may ’exclude from the communion of the Church wicked men, whose wickedness is known, and this without human force, simply by the Word’ (verified).
  • T26.2 (fathers n/a/4; Scripture n/a/4): Not addressed in the confession checked.

Anglican

Art. XXXIII.

  • T26.1 (fathers 3/4; Scripture 3/4): Art. XXXIII: one ‘by open denunciation of the Church … rightly cut off from the unity of the Church’ (verified).
  • T26.2 (fathers 4/4; Scripture 4/4): Art. XXXIII: the excommunicate ‘ought to be taken of the whole multitude of the faithful, as an Heathen and Publican, until he be openly reconciled’ (verified).

Presbyterian

WCF XXX.

  • T26.1 (fathers 3/4; Scripture 3/4): WCF XXX.2: ‘To these officers the keys of the kingdom of heaven are committed’ (verified).
  • T26.2 (fathers n/a/4; Scripture n/a/4): Not addressed: WCF XXX treats censures, not social avoidance (verified).

Reformed Baptist

1689 26.7.

  • T26.1 (fathers 4/4; Scripture 4/4): 1689 26.7: to each church ‘he has given all that power and authority, which is in any way needful for their carrying on that order in worship and discipline’ (verified).
  • T26.2 (fathers n/a/4; Scripture n/a/4): Not addressed: 1689 26 is silent on social avoidance (verified).

General Baptist

Orthodox Creed art. XXXIV.

  • T26.1 (fathers 3/4; Scripture 3/4): Orthodox Creed (1679) art. XXXIV: ‘The Executive part of which derivative power of Discipline and Government, is committed to his Ministers’ (verified, reformedontheweb.com transcription).
  • T26.2 (fathers n/a/4; Scripture n/a/4): Not addressed in the confession checked.

Anabaptist

Schleitheim 2; Dordrecht XVI–XVII.

  • T26.1 (fathers 4/4; Scripture 4/4): Schleitheim 2: admonished ’twice in secret and the third time openly disciplined or banned according to the command of Christ. Mt. 18’ (verified); Dordrecht XVI: ’the church must put away from her the wicked’ (verified).
  • T26.2 (fathers 4/4; Scripture 4/4): Dordrecht XVII: the separated ‘must … be shunned, without distinction, by all the fellow members of the church … in eating, drinking, and other similar intercourse … that the sinner may be made ashamed’ (verified).