Difference between revisions of "Excommunication"

<p> A penalty, or censure, whereby persons who are guilty of any notorious crime or offence, are separated from the communion of the church, and deprived of all spiritual advantages. Excommunication is founded upon a natural right which all societies have of excluding out of their body such as violate the laws thereof, and it was originally instituted for preserving the purity of the church; but ambitious ecclesiastics converted it by degrees into an engine for promoting their own power, and inflicted it on the most frivolous occasions. In the ancient church, the power of excommunication was lodged in the hands of the clergy, who distinguished it into the greater and less. The less consisted in excluding persons from the participation of the eucharist, and the prayers of the faithful; but they were not expelled the church. The greater excommunication consisted in absolute and entire seclusion from the church, and the participation of all its rights: notice of which was given by circular letters to the most eminent churches all over the world, that they might all confirm this act of discipline, by refusing to admit the delinquent to their communion. The consequences were very terrible. </p> <p> The person so excommunicated, was avoided in all civil commerce and outward conversation. No one was to receive him into his house, nor eat at the same table with him; and, when dead, he was denied the solemn rites of burial. The [[Jews]] expelled from their synagogue such as had committed any grievous crime. </p> <p> See &nbsp;John 9:32 . &nbsp;John 12:42 . &nbsp;John 16:2 . and Joseph.Antiq. Jud. lib.9. cap. 22. and lib. 16. cap. 2. Godwyn, in his Moses and Aaron distinguishes three degrees or kinds of excommunication among the Jews. The first he finds intimated in &nbsp;John 9:22 . the second in &nbsp;1 Corinthians 5:5 . and the third in &nbsp;1 Corinthians 16:22 . The Romish pontifical takes notice of three kinds of excommunication. </p> <p> 1. The minor, incurred by those who have any correspondence with an excommunicated person. </p> <p> 2. The major, which falls upon those who disobey the commands of the holy see, or refuse to submit to certain points of discipline; in consequence of which they are excluded from the church militant and triumphant, and delivered over to the devil, and his angels. </p> <p> 3. Anathema, which is properly that pronounced by the pope against heretical princes and countries. In former ages, these papal fulminations were most terrible things; but latterly they were formidable to none but a few petty states of Italy. Excommunication, in the greek church, cuts off the offender from all communion with the three hundred and eighteen fathers of the first council of Nice, and with the saints; consigns him over to the devil and the traitor Judas, and condemns his body to remain after death as hard as a flint or piece of steel, unless he humble himself, and make atonement for his sins by a sincere repentance. The form abounds with dreadful imprecations; and the [[Greeks]] assert, that, if a person dies excommunicated, the devil enters into the lifeless corpse; and, therefore, in order to prevent it, the relations of the deceased cut his body in pieces, and boil them in wine. It is a custom with the patriarch of [[Jerusalem]] annually to excommunicate the pope and the church of Rome; on which occasion, together with a great deal of idle ceremony, he drives a nail into the ground with a hammer, as a mark of malediction. </p> <p> The form of excommunication in the church of [[England]] anciently ran thus: "By the authority of God the Father Almighty, the Son, and [[Holy]] Ghost, and of Mary the blessed mother of God, we excommunicate, anathematize, and sequester from the holy mother church, & 100:" The causes of excommunication in England are, contempt of the bishops' court, heresy, neglect of public worship and the sacraments, incontinency, adultery, simony, &c. It is described to be twofold; the less is an ecclesiastical censure, excluding the party from the participation of the sacrament; the greater proceeds farther, and excludes him not only from these, but from the company of all christians; but if the judge of any spiritual court excommunicates a man for a cause of which he has not the legal cognizance, the party may have an action against him at common law, and he is also liable to be indicted at the suit of the king. Excommunication in the church of Scotland, consists only in an exclusion of openly profane and immoral persons from baptism and the Lord's supper; but is seldom publicly denounced, as, indeed, such persons generally exclude themselves from the latter ordinance at least; but it is attended with no civil incapacity whatever. </p> <p> Among the [[Independents]] and Baptists, the persons who are or should be excommunicated, are such as are quarrelsome and litigious, &nbsp;Galatians 5:12; such as desert their privileges, withdraw themselves from the ordinances of God, and forsake his people, &nbsp;Judges 1:19; such as are irregular and immoral in their lives, railers, drunkards, extortioners, fornicators, and covetous, &nbsp;Ephesians 5:5 . &nbsp;1 Corinthians 5:11 . "The exclusion of a person from any Christian church does not affect him temporal estate and civil affairs; it does not subject him to fines or imprisonments; it interferes not with the business of a civil magistrate; it makes no change in the natural and civil relations between husbands and wives, parents and children, masters and servants; neither does it deprive a man of the liberty of attending public worship; it removes him, however, from the communion of the church, and the privileges dependent on it: this is done that he may be ashamed of his sin, and be brought to repentance; that the honour of Christ may be vindicated, and that stumbling-blocks may be removed out of the way." </p> <p> Though the act of exclusion be not performed exactly in the same manner in every church, yet (according to the congregational plan) the power of excision lies in the church itself. The officers take the sense of the members assembled together; and after the matter has been properly investigated, and all necessary steps taken to reclaim the offender, the church proceeds to the actual exclusion of the person from among them, by signifying their judgment or opinion that the person is unworthy of a place in God's house. In the conclusion of this article, however, we must add, that too great caution cannot be observed in procedures of this kind; every thing should be done with the greatest meekness, deliberation, prayer, and a deep sense of our own unworthiness; with a compassion for the offender, and a fixed design of embracing reproving, instructing, and, if possible, restoring him to the enjoyment of the privileges he has forfeited by his conduct. </p> <p> See [[Church]] </p>

<p> As the church is a society constituted for maintaining certain doctrines and corresponding morals, it plainly has the right to exclude from communion such as flagrantly violate its doctrinal and moral code. The Jews had three forms of excommunication, alluded to in &nbsp;Luke 6:22 by our Lord, "blessed are ye when men shall separate you from their company (the Jewish '''''Niddui''''' , for 30 days), and shall reproach you (the second form, '''''Cherem''''' , for 90 days (See [[Anathema]] ), &nbsp;Judges 5:23), and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake" (the third form, '''''Shammatha''''' , perpetual cutting off): &nbsp;John 9:34-35 margin; compare &nbsp;Exodus 30:33; &nbsp;Exodus 30:38; also &nbsp;John 12:42; &nbsp;John 16:2. </p> <p> Christian excommunication is commanded by Christ (&nbsp;Matthew 18:15-18); so &nbsp;1 Timothy 1:20; &nbsp;1 Corinthians 5:11; &nbsp;Titus 3:10; "delivering unto Satan" means casting out of the church, Christ's kingdom of light, into the world that lieth in the wicked one, the kingdom of Satan and darkness (&nbsp;Colossians 1:13; &nbsp;Ephesians 6:12; &nbsp;Acts 26:18; &nbsp;1 John 5:19). The apostles besides, under divine inspiration, inflicted bodily sicknesses and death on some (e.g. Acts 5, [[Ananias]] and Sapphira; &nbsp;Acts 13:10, Elymas). For other cases of virtual, if not formal, exclusion from communion, though in a brotherly not proud spirit, see &nbsp;2 Thessalonians 3:14; &nbsp;Romans 16:17; &nbsp;Galatians 5:12; &nbsp;1 Timothy 6:3; &nbsp;2 John 1:10; &nbsp;3 John 1:10; &nbsp;Revelation 2:20; &nbsp;Galatians 1:8-9. </p> <p> Paul's practice proves that excommunication is a spiritual penalty, the temporal penalty inflicted by the apostles in exceptional cases being evidently of extraordinary and divine appointment and no model to us; it consisted in exclusion from the church; the object was the good of the offender (&nbsp;1 Corinthians 5:5) and the safeguard of the sound members (&nbsp;2 Timothy 2:17); its subjects were those guilty of heresy and great immorality (&nbsp;1 Timothy 1:20); it was inflicted by the church (&nbsp;Matthew 18:18) and its representative ministers (&nbsp;Titus 3:10; &nbsp;1 Corinthians 5:1; &nbsp;1 Corinthians 5:3-4). Paul's infallible authority when inspired is no warrant for uninspired ministers claiming the same right to direct the church to excommunicate as they will (&nbsp;2 Corinthians 2:7-9). [[Penitence]] is the condition of restoration. Temporary affliction often leads to permanent salvation (&nbsp;Psalms 83:16); Satan's temporary triumph is overruled "to. destroy the flesh that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus" (&nbsp;Luke 22:31). </p>

<p> Though this word does not occur in the A.V. the duty of excommunicating wicked persons from the fold of Israel, and from the church as the house of God, is plainly taught. Again and again we read in the O.T. that for particular sins "that soul shall be out off from Israel" or "cut off from his people." &nbsp;Exodus 12:15; &nbsp;Exodus 30:33,38; &nbsp;Leviticus 7:20,21,25,27; &nbsp;Numbers 9:13; &nbsp;Ezra 10:8; etc. How far this was acted upon we do not know. In the N.T. we find the authorities agreeing that if any one confessed that Jesus was the Christ he was to be cut off; and they excommunicated the man that had been born blind because he said that Jesus must be of God. &nbsp;John 9:34 . </p> <p> In the church we have a case of 'putting away' at Corinth. The assembly were admonished to put away from themselves the wicked person that was among them. &nbsp;1 Corinthians 5:13 . The person was cast out. He was afterwards repentant, and then the [[Corinthian]] saints were instructed to forgive him and to receive him again into communion. &nbsp;2 Corinthians 2:6-11 . The necessity of putting away an evil person is apparent; the presence of God, who is holy, demands it, and believers are called to holiness: "the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are." &nbsp;1 Corinthians 3:17 . As to discipline on earth there is a dispensational binding and loosing (cf. &nbsp;Matthew 18:18 ), to which the saints are called where it is needful to put away evil from the assembly, but always with the hope that restoration may follow. See [[Discipline]] </p> <p> Connected with the case at Corinth there was also mentioned the delivering unto Satan of the guilty person for the destruction of the flesh, but this was the determination of Paul as being there in spirit with them (&nbsp;1 Corinthians 5:4,5 ), which seems to stamp it as an apostolic act. Paul individually did the same with [[Hymenaeus]] and Alexander. &nbsp;1 Timothy 1:20 . The positive injunction to the church at Corinth was to put away from among themselves the wicked person. In 3John we read of Diotrephes who took upon himself to cast some out of the church, which John would not forget when he visited them. As is seen at Corinth, 'putting away' should be an act of the assembly, not of an individual. </p>

<p> ''''' eks ''''' - ''''' ko ''''' - ''''' mū ''''' - ''''' ni ''''' - ''''' kā´shun ''''' : Exclusion from church fellowship as a means of personal discipline, or church purification, or both. Its germs have been found in (1) The [[Mosaic]] "ban" or "curse" (חרם , <i> ''''' ḥērem ''''' </i> , "devoted"), given over entirely to God's use or to destruction (&nbsp;Leviticus 27:29 ); (2) The "cutting off," usually by death, stoning of certain offenders, breakers of the [[Sabbath]] (&nbsp;Exodus 31:14 ) and others (&nbsp;Leviticus 17:4; [[Ex]] 30:22-38); (3) The exclusion of the leprous from the camp (&nbsp;Leviticus 13:46; &nbsp;Numbers 12:14 ). At the restoration (&nbsp;Ezra 10:7 , &nbsp;Ezra 10:8 ), the penalty of disobedience to Ezra's reforming movements was that "all his substance should be forfeited ( <i> ''''' ḥērem ''''' </i> ), and himself separated from the assembly of the captivity." Nehemiah's similar dealing with the husbands of heathen women helped to fix the principle. The New Testament finds a well-developed synagogal system of excommunication, in two, possibly three, varieties or stages. נדּוּי , <i> ''''' niddūy ''''' </i> , for the first offense, forbade the bath, the razor, the convivial table, and restricted social intercourse and the frequenting of the temple. It lasted thirty, sixty, or ninety days. If the offender still remained obstinate, the "curse," <i> ''''' ḥērem ''''' </i> , was formally pronounced upon him by a council of ten, and he was shut out from the intellectual, religious and social life of the community, completely severed from the congregation. שׁמּתא , <i> ''''' shammāthā' ''''' </i> , supposed by some to be a third and final stage, is probably a general term applied to both <i> ''''' niddūy ''''' </i> and <i> ''''' ḥērem ''''' </i> ̌ . We meet the system in &nbsp;John 9:22 : "If any man should confess him to be Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue" ( ἀποσυναγωγός , <i> ''''' aposunagōgós ''''' </i> ); &nbsp;John 12:42 : "did not confess ... lest they should be put out of the synagogue"; and &nbsp; John 16:2 : "put you out of the synagogue." In &nbsp; Luke 6:22 Christ may refer to the three stages: "separate you from their company ( ἀφορίσωσιν , <i> ''''' aphorı́sōsin ''''' </i> ), and reproach you (ὀνειδίσωσιν , <i> ''''' oneidı́sōsin ''''' </i> = <i> ''''' ḥērem ''''' </i> , "malediction"), and cast out your name as evil (ἐκβάλωσιν , <i> ''''' ekbálōsin ''''' </i> )." </p> <p> It is doubtful whether an express prescription of excommunication is found in our Lord's words (&nbsp;Matthew 18:15-19 ). The offense and the penalty also seem purely personal: "And if he refuse to hear the church also, let him be unto <i> thee </i> as the [[Gentile]] and the publican," out of the pale of association and converse. Yet the next verse might imply that the church also is to act: "Verily I say unto you, What things soever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven," etc. But this latter, like &nbsp; Matthew 16:19 , seems to refer to the general enunciations of principles and policies rather than to specific ecclesiastical enactments. On the whole, Jesus seems here to be laying down the principle of dignified personal avoidance of the obstinate offender, rather than prescribing ecclesiastical action. Still, personal avoidance may logically correspond in proper cases to excommunication by the church. &nbsp;2 Thessalonians 3:14 : "Note that man, that ye have no company with him"; &nbsp; Titus 3:10 : "A factious man ... avoid" (American Revised Version margin); &nbsp; 2 John 1:10 : "Receive him not into your house," etc., all inculcate discreet and faithful avoidance but not necessarily excommunication, though that might come to be the logical result. Paul's "anathemas" are not to be understood as excommunications, since the first is for an offense no ecclesiastical tribunal could well investigate: &nbsp; 1 Corinthians 16:22 , "If any man loveth not the Lord, let him be anathema"; the second touches Paul's deep relationship to his Lord: &nbsp;Romans 9:3 , "I myself ... anathema from Christ"; while the third would subject the apostle or an angel to ecclesiastical censure: &nbsp;Galatians 1:8 , &nbsp;Galatians 1:9 , "Though we, or an angel ... let him be anathema." </p> <p> Clear, specific instances of excommunication or directions regarding it, however, are found in the [[Pauline]] and Johannine writings. In the case of the incestuous man (&nbsp;1 Corinthians 5:1-12 ), at the instance of the apostle ("I verily, being absent in body but present in spirit"), the church, in a formal meeting ("In the name of our Lord Jesus, ye being gathered together"), carrying out the apostle's desire and will ("and my spirit"), and using the power and authority conferred by Christ ("and with the power of our Lord Jesus"), formally cut off the offender from its fellowship, consigning (relinquishing?) him to the power of the prince of this world ("to deliver such a one unto Satan"). Further, such action is enjoined in other cases: "Put away the wicked man from among yourselves." &nbsp;2 Corinthians 2:5-11 probably refers to the same case, terminated by the repentance and restoration of the offender. 'Delivering over to Satan' must also include some physical ill, perhaps culminating in death; as with Simon Magus (&nbsp; Acts 8:20 ), Elymas (&nbsp;Acts 13:11 ), Ananias (&nbsp;Acts 5:5 ). &nbsp;1 Timothy 1:20 : "Hymenaeus and Alexander ... that they might be taught not to blaspheme," is a similar case of excommunication accompanied by judicial and disciplinary physical ill. In &nbsp; 3 John 1:9 , &nbsp;3 John 1:10 we have a case of excommunication by a faction in control: "Diotrephes ... neither doth he himself receive ... and them that would he ... casteth out of the church." </p> <p> Excommunication in the New Testament church was not a fully developed system. The New Testament does not clearly define its causes, methods, scope or duration. It seems to have been incurred by heretical teaching (&nbsp;1 Timothy 1:20 ) or by factiousness (&nbsp;Titus 3:10 (?)); but the most of the clear undoubted cases in the New Testament are for immoral or un-Christian conduct (&nbsp; 1 Corinthians 5:1 , &nbsp;1 Corinthians 5:11 , &nbsp;1 Corinthians 5:13; perhaps also &nbsp;1 Timothy 1:20 ). It separated from church fellowship but not necessarily from the love and care of the church (&nbsp;2 Thessalonians 3:15 (?)). It excluded from church privileges, and often, perhaps usually, perhaps always, from social intercourse (&nbsp; 1 Corinthians 5:11 ). When pronounced by the apostle it might be accompanied by miraculous and punitive or disciplinary physical consequences (&nbsp;1 Corinthians 5:5; &nbsp;1 Timothy 1:20 ). It was the act of the local church, either with (&nbsp;1 Corinthians 5:4 ) or without (&nbsp;1 Corinthians 5:13; &nbsp;3 John 1:10 ) the concurrence of an apostle. It might possibly be pronounced by an apostle alone (&nbsp;1 Timothy 1:20 ), but perhaps not without the concurrence and as the mouthpiece of the church. Its purpose was the amendment of the offender: "That the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus" (&nbsp;1 Corinthians 5:5 ); and the preservative purification of the church: "Purge out the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, even as ye are unleavened" (&nbsp;1 Corinthians 5:7 ). It might, as appears, be terminated by repentance and restoration (&nbsp;2 Corinthians 2:5-11 ). It was not a complex and rigid ecclesiastical engine, held <i> in terrorem </i> over the soul, but the last resort of faithful love, over which hope and prayer still hovered. </p> Literature <p> Arts. in <i> HDB </i> , <i> DB </i> , <i> Jewish Encyclopedia </i> , <i> DCG </i> ; Martensen, <i> Christian Ethics </i> , III, 330ff; Nowack, Benzinger, <i> Heb Archaeol </i> .; Commentary in the place cited. </p>