Today’s Readings Podcast Description

What did genuine church discipline look like before it was turned into a worldly court? Calvin recovers the ancient use of spiritual jurisdiction: it was distinct from the sword, administered by a consistory rather than by one man, and armed only with the word of God. Excommunication was the Church’s last thunderbolt, used in necessity, not as a tool for collecting debts or managing civil lawsuits. When bishops first seized the common power of the Church and then handed it to officials, the result was a litigious forum that bore almost no resemblance to the procedure of Christ. Still more contrary to the gospel is the later claim that pastors may also wield the right of the sword. Christ refused to be a civil judge, and he forbade his servants to rule as the princes of the Gentiles rule. ...