The whole Church exercised this power of dis- cipline. St. Paul addresses the community in 1 Cor., v/hich is our earliest guide on the subject. Laj-men on occasion could teach, preach, and exer- cise disciplinary powers. In the case of excom- munication it was not necessary that there should be unanimity. A majority vote was sufficient (2 Co 2«). It was believed that Christ was actually present (Mt IS"-"] to confirm tiie sentence, which was pronounced in His name (1 Co 5^ 2 Co 2'").
No dcubt the procedure followed in the main that of the synagogue, where expulsion was of three types — simple putting forth, 'excommunica- tion witli a curse, and a final anathema sentence. Discipline was designed to be reformatory and not simply punitive or retaliatory. There must be, if jiossiljle, ' rectification ' (see 2 Ti 3^^, where iiravop- dwa-is is significantly joined with Traidda). llepent- anf;e is to be followed by forgiveness (2 Co 2^'", Gal 6\ Jude^-). The penitent was probably re- ceived into the Church again by the imposition of hands (cf. 1 Ti 5").
Owing to persecution, the discipline of the Church became mure and more simply moral induence. The demand for it vras more urgent than ever ; but, while some communities remained faithful to this duty, others grew more lax (e.g. the practice of obtaining libelli).
See also Admonition, Anathema, Chastise- ment, and Excommunication.
Literature.— J. H. Kurtz, Church History, Eng. tr., i.2, London, 1891 ; F. J. A. Hort, Tha Christian Ecclexia, do. 1897; C. V. WeLzsacker, Ajiot^tolicA^e.Eng. tr..i.2, do. 1897, ii., ls9o ; P. Schaff, Histunj of the Apostolic Age, Edinburgh. ISS'i ; E. Hatch, Ornanizallon of the Early Chrixtian Churches, London, IS^'i; A. C. McGiffert, Chrintianity in th'- A/joxtolic Aqe, Erlinburj,'h, 1S9/ ; J. B. Lighr.foot, Dlsaertatiom, on the Apos- tolic A;je, London, 1892 ; H. H. Henson, Apostolic Chrmtianity, do. 1898; art 'Discipline (Christian)' in ERE.
H. CARISS J. SiDNELL.
DISPERSION. — ^ Smairopi (from Siaairdpu 'to scatter,' as dyopd from dysipw ' to gather ') is used collectively in the LXX and the NT for the Jews settled abroad. The most important NT reference occurs in Ja 7^ : ' "»"Vhither will this man go that we shall not find him ? Will he go unto the Dia- spora among the Gentiles, and teach the Gentiles ? ' This splenetic utterance was an unconscious pro- phecy of the course our Lord actually followed, when, having reached the goal of His public minis- try, and having received ' all authority in heaven and on earth,' He went on ' to make disciples of all the nations.'* The first line of advance was al- ready marked cut by the Diaspora. It was the bridge between the Jew and the Greek, and soon the sound of many feet speeding over it with their message of good tidings was heard ; or it was the viaduct by which the living waters that went forth from Jerusalem were led to the cities of the Koman Empire.
The Diaspora partly originated from ca.uses over which the Jews had no control, and was partly the result of a, spontaneous movement outwards. It was largely due to the policy adopted by the great conquerors cf antiquity of deporting into exile a considerable number of the population of the countries which they subdued. The various trans- plantations suflered by the Jews need not be re- counted here. But their dispersion was still more largely due, in Greek and Roman times, to volun- tary emigration from Palestine. The conquests of A]esa,nder the Great turned what had hitherto been barred avenues and dangerous tracks into safe and open roads, and the Jews were not slow to take advantage of the openings, both in the direction of secular culture and of commercial enterprise, that lay before them. In NT times, they were domiciled in all the countries along the shores of the Mediterranean. The accounts of Philo and Jcsephus, of which the substantial accuracy is attested by inscriptions [HDB v. 92*), enable us to see how much at home the Jew^swerein Syria, Egypt, Asia Minor, and the Greek cities and islands, and all the data now available aftbrd grounds for be- lieving that they numbered at this period from three to four and a half millions, and that they formed about seven per cent of the population of the Roman Empire [EBi i. 1112 ; Harnack, Mission and Expansion^, i. 10, 11).
Following Jeremiah's advice to the exiles in Babylon, they 'sought the peace' of the cities they settled in, without, however, amalgamating with the other inhabitants. The dislike created by their aloofness gave way a little before the invol- untary respect commanded by their intelligence, their aptitude for Avork, and their exemplary family life, but was never completely overcome. Yet they had the art of conciliating the great, and of gaining povi'erful patrons. Several of the Syrian and Egyptian kings were their warm friends. Amongst their friends must also be included Julius Caesar, v/ho with the prescience of genius saw in them the true connecting link between the East and "West, and would not have relished their being made the butt of Roman wits. Their mourning for his death (' noctibus continuis bustum frequent- arunt,' Suet. C lulius Ccesar, 84) reminds us of the mourning of the Jews in London for Edward Vll.
The Jews could not carry on their sacrificial worship in foreign lands — we may let pass the schismatic attempt to do so at Leontopolis in Egypt — but they kept in full communion with Jerusalem by making pilgrimages to the great feasts, and by sending the yearly poll-tax of half a shekel for the upkeep of the Temple (cf. Mt 17"). 'Tlie Law and the Prophets and the Psalms' went