What are the limits of discipline in the New Testament?

Rulers are committed to disciplining the wicked and criminals, as Paul the Apostle says: “Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience’ sake” (Rom. 13:1– 5).

It is clear that the New Testament gave rulers the right to discipline the wicked even to the point of using violence if necessary. Legislators were allowed to set the limits of punishment or discipline according to the circumstances of their time, of the person who committed the crime, or to the specific circumstances of the case. From the perspective of those who fall under punishment or discipline, the person should not fear other people’s wrath but his own conscience as he is subject to a just judgment against him so that this chastisement may be for his benefit.

As for the disciplining of children, the Apostle Paul says, “If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten?” (Heb. 12:7). The purpose of this discipline is to present the image of God’s strict love to His

children, “For whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives” (Heb. 12:6).

The New Testament offers us a fundamental principle, and that is to deal with children the same way God deals with us: for example, declaring our great love to our children along with the necessary strictness for their benefit. This must be accompanied by allowing them to have their own freedom and by respecting their own personalities, no matter how young they may be.

St. Augustine says, “Nor are we thus precluded from inflicting such punishment [requital] as avails for correction, and as compassion itself dictates; nor does it stand in the way of that course proposed, where one is prepared to endure more at the hand of him whom he wishes to set right. But no one is fit for inflicting this punishment except the man who, by the greatness of his love, has overcome that hatred wherewith those are wont to be inflamed who wish to avenge themselves. For it is not to be feared that parents would seem to hate a little son when, on committing an offense, he is beaten by them that he may not go on offending. And certainly the perfection of love is set before us by the imitation of God the Father Himself when it is said in what follows: Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which persecute you; and yet it is said of Him by the prophet, For whom the Lord loves He corrects; yea, He scourges every son whom He receives. The Lord also says, The servant that knows not his Lord’s will, and does things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes; but the servant that knows his Lord’s will, and does things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with many stripes. No more, therefore, is sought for, except that he should punish to whom, in the natural order of things, the power is given; and that he should punish with the same goodwill which a father has towards his little son, whom by reason of his youth he cannot yet hate. For from this source the most suitable example is drawn, in order that it may be sufficiently manifest that sin can be punished in love rather than be left unpunished; so that one may wish him on whom he inflicts it not to be miserable by means of punishment, but to be happy by means of correction, yet be prepared, if need be, to endure with equanimity more injuries inflicted by him whom he wishes to be corrected, whether he may have the power of putting restraint upon him or not.

“But great and holy men, although they at the time knew excellently well that that death which separates the soul from the body is not to be dreaded, yet, in accordance with the sentiment of those who might fear it, punished some sins with death, both because the living were struck with a salutary fear, and because it was not death itself that would injure those who were being punished with death, but sin, which might be increased if they continued to live. They did not judge rashly on whom God had bestowed such a power of judging. Hence it is that Elijah inflicted death on many, both with his own hand and by calling down fire from heaven; as was done also without rashness by many other great and godlike men, in the same spirit of concern for the good of humanity. And when the disciples had quoted an example from this Elijah, mentioning to the Lord what had been done by him, in order that He might give to themselves also the power of calling down fire from heaven to consume

those who would not show Him hospitality, the Lord reproved in them, not the example of the holy prophet, but their ignorance in respect to taking vengeance, their knowledge being as yet elementary; perceiving that they did not in love desire correction, but in hate desired revenge.

“Accordingly, after He had taught them what it was to love one’s neighbor as oneself, and when the Holy Spirit had been poured out, whom, at the end of ten days after His ascension, He sent from above, as He had promised, there were not wanting such acts of vengeance, although much more rarely than in the Old Testament. For there, for the most part, as servants they were kept down by fear; but here mostly as free they were nourished by love. For at the words of the Apostle Peter also, Ananias and his wife, as we read in the Acts of the Apostles, fell down dead, and were not raised to life again, but buried.

“The relationship between God and man in the Old Testament was much like the relationship between master and servant (based on fear), while in the New Testament, we are no longer slaves but sons (Gal. 4:1–7), since our souls have been liberated from the bondage of fear with divine love.”¹¹³⁸

Discipline must be more stringent and strict in accordance with the responsibility and role of the servant in the Church, without exception. As Origen says, “All those who are sinners within the Church … deserve punishments, but each one will suffer pain in keeping with the kind of rank [he holds]. One who presides over the Church, and then transgresses, has a greater punishment. Or does the catechumen not deserve mercy more, by comparison with one of the faithful? Is not the layperson more worthy of forbearance, when compared with the deacon; and again, does not the deacon merit forbearance more, by comparison with the presbyter? Now, you know what follows, even if I keep silent about it. Therefore, fearing the judgment of God, and placing before my eyes that order of judgment which is contained in the Scriptures, I recall this statement: ‘Do not lift a weight too heavy for you’ (Sir. 13:2) … What good is it to me that I sit back in a teacher’s chair in front [of the congregation], and receive the honor due to a more important person, but am not able to carry out36 deeds worthy of my rank? Shall I not be made to suffer with a greater punishment, because the honor of a righteous person is attributed to me by everyone, when [in reality] I am a sinner?”¹¹³⁹

Origen again tells us not to publicly chastise someone too quickly: “God does not want you, if you see your brother’s sin, to rush to a public place and to cry out, exposing his secret. Such action does not come from those who intend to correct, but rather from those aiming at defamation. This is why he says, ‘Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother’ (Matt.

1138 St. Augustine of Hippo, Our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount 1.20.63 (NPNF I/6:28).

1139 Origen, Origen of Alexandria: Exegetical Works on Ezekiel: the Fourteen Homilies and the Greek Fragments of the Homilies, Commentaries, and Scholia. Text and Translation , trans., Mischa Hooker, ed., Roger Pearse (Ipswich: Chieftain Publishing, 2014) 5.4.1: p. 167.

15:18). When the person who sinned sees that his secret has been kept, he will fix the situation in humility.”¹¹⁴⁰

St. Basil the Great says, “It is not fitting for physicians to be angry with the sick, as their obligation is to fight diseases to heal the sick.”

St. Ambrose distinguishes between hating the sin and hating the sinner: “It is necessary to interpret the words of Psalm 119:113 to mean that he hated sin itself not the sinners, who can always change through the ministry of the Gospel.”¹¹⁴¹

1140 Origen, Homilies on Leviticus 1–16 3.2.3 (FOTC 83:54).

1141 St. Ambrose of Milan, On Ps . 15:22.

The Role of Women in Society and Church