Excommunication & Penitential Discipline
The hardest mercy: shutting a member out of communion in the hope of winning them back
Excommunication is the corrective exclusion of a baptized member from communion and fellowship, grounded in passages like Matthew 18 and 1 Corinthians 5, with the early church ordering stages of penance for readmission. It was meant to heal, not merely punish. All traditions retain some form of this discipline, but they differ in scope and procedure; the Reformed reframed it as "the ban" or the fencing of the Lord's table.
How it traveled
- On Modesty.— · 220explains
- The Canonical Epistle, with the Commentaries of Theodore Balsamon and John Zonaras.— · 220applies
- The Epistle of Pope Urban First.— · 220explains
- The Epistles of Cyprian.Carthage · 258applies
- The First Ecumenical Council: The First Council of NiceNicaea · 325explains
- The Church History of EusebiusCaesarea · 339explains
- The Canons of the Councils of Ancyra, Gangra, Neocæsarea, Antioch and Laodicea, which Canons were Accepted and Received by the Ecumenical Synods— · 360explains
- The LettersCaesarea (Cappadocia) · 379applies
- Homilies on First CorinthiansConstantinople (Istanbul) · 407explains
- The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Timothy, Titus, and PhilemonConstantinople (Istanbul) · 407applies
- The Letters of St. JeromeBethlehem · 420applies
- Letters of St. AugustinHippo Regius · 430applies
- The Third Ecumenical Council: The Council of EphesusEphesus · 431applies
- The Ecclesiastical History of Socrates ScholasticusConstantinople (Istanbul) · 439explains
- The Ecclesiastical History of SozomenConstantinople (Istanbul) · 450applies
- The Fourth Ecumenical Council. The Council of ChalcedonChalcedon · 451applies
- The Ecclesiastical History, Dialogues, and Letters of TheodoretCyrrhus · 458explains
- The Letters and Sermons of Leo the GreatRome · 461applies
- The Book of Pastoral Rule, and Selected Epistles, of Gregory the GreatRome · 604explains
- Selected Epistles of Gregory the GreatRome · 604applies
- The Canons of the Council in Trullo; Often Called The Quinisext CouncilConstantinople (Istanbul) · 692applies
- The Canons of the Synods of Sardica, Carthage, Constantinople, and Carthage Under St. Cyprian, Which Canons Were Received by the Council in Trullo and Ratified by II. NiceConstantinople (Istanbul) · 692explains
- The Seventh Ecumenical Council. The Second Council of NiceNicaea · 787applies
- Book Fourth. of the Holy Catholic ChurchGeneva · 1564explains
- Seven Sermons. On Important SubjectsNorthampton, Massachusetts · 1758explains
Key passages(20)
Seven Sermons. On Important Subjects · Jonathan Edwards
Seven Sermons. On Important Subjects · Jonathan Edwards
The Ecclesiastical History of Socrates Scholasticus · Socrates Scholasticus
A Treatise on Rebuke and Grace · Augustine of Hippo
Book Fourth. of the Holy Catholic Church · John Calvin
Book Fourth. of the Holy Catholic Church · John Calvin
Book Fourth. of the Holy Catholic Church · John Calvin
Book Fourth. of the Holy Catholic Church · John Calvin
Book Fourth. of the Holy Catholic Church · John Calvin
Book Fourth. of the Holy Catholic Church · John Calvin
Letters of St. Augustin · Augustine of Hippo
Seven Sermons. On Important Subjects · Jonathan Edwards
Seven Sermons. On Important Subjects · Jonathan Edwards
Seven Sermons. On Important Subjects · Jonathan Edwards
The Book of Pastoral Rule, and Selected Epistles, of Gregory the Great · Gregory the Great
The Canons of the Councils of Ancyra, Gangra, Neocæsarea, Antioch and Laodicea, which Canons were Accepted and Received by the Ecumenical Synods · The Ecumenical Councils
The Canons of the Synods of Sardica, Carthage, Constantinople, and Carthage Under St. Cyprian, Which Canons Were Received by the Council in Trullo and Ratified by II. Nice · The Ecumenical Councils
The Canons of the Synods of Sardica, Carthage, Constantinople, and Carthage Under St. Cyprian, Which Canons Were Received by the Council in Trullo and Ratified by II. Nice · The Ecumenical Councils
The Epistles of Cyprian. · Cyprian
The First Ecumenical Council: The First Council of Nice · The Ecumenical Councils