4. Similar principles to those which regulate the relation of individuals are to be applied where C'hrUtian communities arc concerned. The two are closely connected, as is shown by the passage Mt 18i=-'». Christ deals first with the ottending individual ; if it can be avoided, recourse must; not be had to the authority of the Christian society. It may be that personal remonstrance will Millie- ti) sc-t light the offender, or at least the iiic'ial iullurnce of the brotherhood exercised in i.iiv.n.' I.y thi' presence of two or three wit- nessi>. It the whole community is compelled to act, the utmost penalty inflicted is expulsion from tlie brotherhood, the only rights then remaining to the excommunicated person being the inalienable ones of a fellow-man.
Till' (|uistieu of forgiveness or condemnation as exiK i-. a \<y III,' (1 immunity arises from the phrase- olnuy ri.iiririiini; liinding and loosing contained in v.'^'witll vhirh should be compared the words addressed to St. Peter in Mt 16"*, and those ad- dressed to a company which seems certainly to have included more than tlie Apostles, in Jn '20^. The power granted to the Christian community in the words, ' Whosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them ; and whosesoever sins ye retain, they are retained,' is not to be confused with Divine foriiAr-Tiess of sins on the one hand, or with iiiili\ i.lii.il fmuiveness on the otlier. Whilst more MjiiMh :nit than the latter, it stops far short ot the tuviner. Individual Christians are to do their lipst jirivately to stop the progress of ill-feeling and enmity, but ' offences ' will still arise. A power of checking them is therefore lodged with the community for the maintenance of purity and the avoidance of scandal. This is described as the power of ' binding and loosing.' Acting in the name of Christ, and presumably in the spirit of Christ, His Church >vill. He says, in a sense exercise His authority, and their action, whether of permission or prohibition, of condem- nation or acquittal, will be ratified in heaven. This power, while great and important, is clearly not comparable to the Divine forgiM ne-s of the individual sinner. This involves a full kimwhil^e of circumstances and of the disiKisitimi of the inmost heart which no man can possess in lelaliun to his fellow - man. No authority is given by Christ to a community— still less to a 'priest,' of ■Nvhom it is needless to say that the Gospels know absolutely nothing — to exercise or to pronounce ' forgiveness ' in the case of any individual. But just as an oftender belonging to a Christian com- munity needs to be rebuked by the Church in order that the Divine condemnation of wrong- doing may be echoed on earth, and earthly penalties may be inflicted which may arrest further evil and so prevent the terrible danger of ■worse punishment to come ; so the penitent
FORSAKEN
FOESAKING ALL
619
needs as.surance from an earthly authority to help him in his upward course of reformation, though the real and ultimate transaction of forgiveness must rest between himself and God alone. The high authority thus conferred upon the Christian society and the responsible character attached to its judgments depend entirely upon its possession of that spiritual discernment which the Holy Spirit alone can bestow, and its acting always in the name of Christ and under the direction and control of the Spirit of Christ.
Literature.— From amongst the numberless books bearing' directly or indirectly on the subject may be mentioned : BeyschlafT, NT Theolmy, bk. i. cli. iv. § 11, and eh. vii. §§ 3 and 4 ; Stevens, NT Theologij, pt. i. ch. viii. ; Moberly, Atonement and Personality, chs. 2 and a ; Seeley, Eccc Homo, chs. 22 and 23 ; Knight, Christian Ethic, ch. 11 ; and especially Ritschl, Christian Doctrine of Justification and Reconciliation, 1874, vol. iii. (Eng. tr. under the above title, 1000] ; see also Betlmne-Baker, art. ' Forgiveness' in Hastings' DB.
W. T. Davlson
FORSAKEN.— Mt 27^" ||. See Dereliction.
FOESAKING ALL.-
«»,!.«., Mt 4™-^^= Ml; 1" "-»: Lk r."; Mt 1027- !»! = lHk 1028.29 =
Lk 182».-a;icroT^>^.--"-<., 'r.'iioni / lk 14". In Lk 961 iisTK?-
ctctiai Toii iU -rov r/.-^-'.^ ■ n.r n m :i ii . ii is- r ■ I .i-ULcrewell to those in my house' ('l >i ^r 'renounce the
things in my hulls- . ' i':is(Ex3sm.).
Jesus had two . l.i--.'- i,\ ;ii-- i],|, ~. First there Avas the multitude of tlio.se who ln-lieved on Him ; and, while He required that they should give Him the chief place in their affection and shrink from no sacrifice for His sake. He allowed them to remain where He had found them, prosecuting their old avocations, yet rendering no small service to the Kingdom of Heaven by testifying to His grace and confessing what He had done for their souls. Then there were the Twelve, whom He required to be always with Him, following Him wherever He went, sharing His lot, and entering by daily intercourse and discipline into the mys- steries of the Kingdom of Heaven, that they might be fitted for the task of carrying on His work when He was gone. Some of the former, like the Gerasene demoniac, would fain have attached themselves to Him and joined the fellowship of His comrades ; but He refused their offer. He had other work for them to do. ' Away to thine house unto thy jjeople, and proclaim to them what great things the Lord hath done to thee, and how he had pity on thee ' (Mk 5'" = Lk S^).