Discipline
Discipline
The root meaning of discipline is instruction, but in course of time it came to be used for moral training, chastening, punishment. The subject naturally divides itself into two parts: (1) the spiritual discipline of the soul; (2) the ecclesiastical discipline of offenders.
1. The training necessary for the discipline of the soul.-This may be under the guidance of another or under ones own direction.-(a) In order to develop and perfect mans moral nature, God deals with him as a wise father with a child. The benefit of such treatment is pointed out in Heb 12:1-13 (cf. Mat 5:10-12). Its final efficacy depends upon the spirit in which it is received. The motive for its endurance must be right, and the end in view must be clearly perceived. The Heavenly Father does more than simply teach His children; He disciplines them with more (cf. Pro 3:11, Job 5:17) or less severity (cf. Pro 1:2; Pro 1:8; Pro 4:1). If the Author of Salvation was made perfect through sufferings (Heb 2:10; cf. Heb 5:8 f; Heb 7:28, Luk 13:32), it is clear that the many sons must pass through the same process and experience as the well-beloved Son. In their case the need is the more urgent, for latent powers must be developed, lack of symmetry corrected, the stains of sin removed, evil tendencies eradicated. Errors in doctrine and action must be transformed into truth and righteousness (1Co 11:27 ff., 2Jn 1:10 f., 2Ti 2:16 f.; cf. Tit 3:10, 1Co 5:9-13, 2Th 3:6). Body and mind can move towards perfection only under the guiding hand of the Holy Father. Pain and sorrow, frustrated hopes, long delays, loneliness, changed circumstances, persecution, the death of loved ones, and other dispensations of Providence, are designed to chasten and ennoble the soul. Character, not creed, is the final aim. Having begun a good work in His children, God will perfect it until the day of Jesus Christ (Php 1:6).
(b) The Christian must also discipline himself. Through the crucifixion of his lower nature he rises into newness of life. St. Paul describes (Tit 2:12) the negative side as denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, and the positive as to live soberly, and righteously, and godly in this present world (sobrie erga nos; juste erga proximum; pie erga Deum [St. Bernard, Sermon xi., Paris, 1667-90]); see Rom 12:9, Tit 2:12; cf. 2Ti 2:16, 1Pe 4:2, 1Jn 2:16; also Luk 1:75, Act 17:30; Act 24:25. The Christian must put away anger, bitterness, clamour, covetousness, envy, evil-speaking, falsehood, fornication, guile, hypocrisy, malice, railing, shameful speaking, uncleanness, wrath (Eph 4:17-32, Col 3:8-11; cf. Jam 1:21, 1Pe 2:1). Then he must acquire and mature positive virtues. This involves at every stage self-discipline (see Rom 6:19; Rom 8:13, 1Co 9:25 ff., Col 3:5; cf. Mat 5:29; Mat 18:9, Mar 9:47, Gal 5:24).
Many elements enter into this discipline of self. Amongst others the following deserve special mention: prayer, the hallowing of desire, by carrying it up to the fountain of holiness (J. Morison, Com. on St. Matthew5, 1885 p. 89); see Rom 12:12; cf. Act 1:14, Eph 6:13, Col 4:2-4, 1Pe 4:7; cf. Mat 26:41, Luk 18:1; Luk 21:36. Fasting is frequently associated with prayer: e.g. Act 13:3; Act 14:23, Did. vii. 4, viii. 1, and many other passages. Ramsay (St. Paul the Traveller and the Roman Citizen, London, 1895, p. 122) speaks of the solemn prayer and fast which accompanied the appointment of the elders, and says that this meeting and rite of fasting, which Paul celebrated in each city on his return journey, is to be taken as the form that was to be permanently observed. Sobriety in thought and action is commended (Rom 12:3; cf. 1Pe 4:7 [Gr.], 1Th 5:6; 1Th 5:8, 1Ti 2:9; 1Ti 2:15; cf. Sir 18:30 [Gr.]); watchfulness (Act 24:15, Rom 8:19; Rom 8:23, 1Co 1:7; 1Co 16:13, 2Co 4:18, Eph 6:18, Col 4:2, Tit 2:13, Heb 13:17, 1Pe 4:7, 2Pe 3:12; cf. Mat 24:42; Mat 26:41, Mar 13:33, Luk 21:36); obedience (Rom 13:1-7, 2Co 2:9; 2Co 7:15; 2Co 10:6, 1Ti 2:1-3, Tit 3:1, 1Pe 2:13-14; 1Pe 3:1, 1Jn 2:3; 1Jn 3:22); patience (Rom 5:3; Rom 8:25; Rom 15:4, 1Th 1:3, 2Th 1:3-5; 2Th 3:5, Heb 10:36, Jam 1:3; cf. Mat 10:22; Mat 24:13, Luk 21:19); conflict against error and evil forces and on behalf of the truth (Eph 6:11-18, 1Ti 1:18-20; 1Ti 6:12, 2Ti 2:3; 2Ti 4:7 f., Phm 1:2, Jud 1:3); work (Act 18:3, Eph 4:28, 1Th 4:11, 2Th 3:8-12); almsgiving (Act 24:17, Rom 12:13; Rom 15:25-26, 1Co 16:1-4, 2Co 9:6-7, Gal 6:10, 1Ti 6:17-19, Heb 13:16, Jam 2:15-16, 1Jn 3:17; cf. Mat 6:19-20, Tob 4:7-11); temperance (Act 24:25, 1Co 9:25, Gal 5:23; cf. Sir 18:30 [Gr.], Tit 1:8, 2Pe 1:6); chastity (Rom 13:14, Gal 5:24, 1Pe 2:11, 1Jn 2:16; cf. Sir 18:30); meekness (Rom 12:10, Eph 4:2; Eph 5:2, Php 2:3, Col 3:12, 1Ti 6:11, 1Pe 5:5-6).
In Php 4:8 and 2Pe 1:4-8 there are inspiring directions for this same self-discipline. If there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, the brethren are to think on, or take account of, whatsoever things are true, honourable, just, pure, lovely, of good report. If men are to become partakers of the Divine nature, and to escape the corruption that is in the world by lust, they must heed the injunction: For this very cause adding on your part all diligence, in your faith supply virtue; and in your virtue knowledge; and in your knowledge temperance; and in your temperance patience; and in your patience godliness; and in your godliness love of the brethren; and in your love of the brethren love (see also 1 Corinthians 13 and 1Jn 4:16). This will save from idleness and unfruitfulness. They will give the more diligence to make their calling and election sure.
No doubt the expectation in the Apostolic Age of the cataclysmic and immediate coming of Christ led to rigour and austerity of life, which were afterwards relaxed in many places. The moral necessity of discipline is always the same, even though the power of belief in the second coming of Christ in spectacular fashion wanes or departs. After the close of the 1st cent. the development of asceticism and penance became pronounced. The NT gives little or no countenance to the extreme forms that these disciplinary systems assumed.
2. Ecclesiastical discipline.-For self-protection and self-assertion the early Church had to exercise a strict discipline. Its well-being and very life depended upon the suppression of abuses and the expulsion of persistent and gross offenders. In some cases toleration would have meant unfaithfulness to Christ and degradation to the community. The duty of maintaining an adequate discipline was one of the most difficult and most important tasks that confronted the primitive Ecclesia. Jesus Himself gave to the apostles (Mat 16:18-19, Joh 20:22-23) and to the Church (Mat 18:15-18) a disciplinary charter. The Church followed the main lines of guidance therein contained. Only public sins were dealt with in the ecclesiastical courts. Private offences were to be confessed to each other (Jam 5:18), that prayer might be offered for forgiveness (Jam 5:15, 1Jn 5:16), and also confessed to God (1Jn 1:9). Further, Christians were discouraged from carrying disputes to the civil courts (1Co 6:1; cf. 1Co 5:12; 1Co 6:4). Let not those who have disputes go to law before the civil powers, but let them by all means be reconciled by the leaders of the Church, and let them rightly yield to their decision (see Clem. Ep. ad Jacob., 10). The object of ecclesiastical discipline was to prevent scandal and to restore the offender. When private rebuke and remonstrance failed (Mat 18:15; cf. 1Th 5:14), the wrong-doer was censured by the whole community (cf. 1Ti 5:20, Gal 2:11). This sentence might be pronounced by some person in authority, or by the community as community. If the accused person still remained obdurate, and in the case of heinous sin, the Church proceeded to expulsion and excommunication (Rom 16:17, 1Co 5:2; 1Co 5:11; 1Co 5:13, 2Jn 1:10). The offender was thrust out from religious gatherings and debarred from social intercourse. To such excommunication might be added the further penalty of physical punishment (Act 5:1-10; Act 8:24, 1Co 5:5, 1Ti 5:20) or an anathema (, 1Co 16:22, Gal 1:8). Knowing the great influence of the mind over the body, one can readily understand that disease, and even death, might follow such sentences. It was fully believed that the culprit was exposed, without defence, to the attacks of Satan (1Co 5:5).
The whole Church exercised this power of discipline. St. Paul addresses the community in 1 Cor., which is our earliest guide on the subject. Laymen on occasion could teach, preach, and exercise disciplinary powers. In the case of excommunication it was not necessary that there should be unanimity. A majority vote was sufficient (2Co 2:6). It was believed that Christ was actually present (Mat 18:20) to confirm the sentence, which was pronounced in His name (1Co 5:4, 2Co 2:10).
No doubt the procedure followed in the main that of the synagogue, where expulsion was of three types-simple putting forth, excommunication with a curse, and a final anathema sentence. Discipline was designed to be reformatory and not simply punitive or retaliatory. There must be, if possible, rectification (see 2Ti 3:16, where is significantly joined with ). Repentance is to be followed by forgiveness (2Co 2:5-10, Gal 6:1, Jud 1:22). The penitent was probably received into the Church again by the imposition of hands (cf. 1Ti 5:22).
Owing to persecution, the discipline of the Church became more and more simply moral influence. The demand for it was more urgent than aver; but, while some communities remained faithful to this duty, others grew more lax (e.g. the practice of obtaining libelli).
See also Admonition, Anathema, Chastisement, and Excommunication.
Literature.-J. H. Kurtz, Church History, Eng. translation , i.2, London, 1891; F. J. A. Hort, The Christian Ecclesia, do. 1897; C. v. Weizscker, Apostolic Age, Eng. translation , i.2, do. 1897, ii., 1895; P. Schaff, History of the Apostolic Age, Edinburgh, 1886; E. Hatch, Organization of the Early Christian Churches, London, 1880; A. C. McGiffert, Christianity in the Apostolic Age, Edinburgh, 1897; J. B. Lightfoot. Dissertations on the Apostolic Age, London, 1892; H. H. Henson, Apostolic Christianity, do, 1898; article Discipline (Christian) in Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics .
H. Cariss J. Sidnell.
Fuente: Dictionary of the Apostolic Church
DISCIPLINE (1)
Church, consists in putting church laws in execution, and inflicting the penalties enjoined.
See CHURCH.
Fuente: Theological Dictionary
DISCIPLINE (2)
Book of, in the history of the church of Scotland, is a common order drawn up by the assembly of ministers in 1650, for the reformation and uniformity to be observed in the discipline and policy of the Church. In this book the government of the church by prelates is set aside; kirk sessions are established; the superstitious observation of fast days and saint days is condemned, and other regulations for the government of the church are determined. This book was approved by the privy council, and is called the first book of discipline.
Fuente: Theological Dictionary
discipline
Systematic mental, moral, and physical training under authority; order maintained by persons under control, e.g., soldiers, pupils; an instrument of penance, such as a whip or scourge; self-flagellation, a private means of penance and mortification in use from an early date in most religious orders; punishment administered with a view to correction; the exercise by the Church of its power of spiritual punishment; the laws and directions laid down and formulated by church authority for the guidance of the faithful.
Fuente: New Catholic Dictionary
Discipline
(Lat. disciplina, instruction, learning), a term used ecclesiastically to denote the application, in the Christian Church, of rules for the order and purity of the lives of its members; also the body of rules for the government, worship, etc. of any particular Church, enacted by its authority, and generally published in a “Book of Discipline.”
I. Church Discipline.
(I.) In the Early Church. The first rule of discipline in the N.T. is given in Mat 18:15-17 : “Moreover, if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the Church; but if he neglect to hear the Church, let him be unto thee as a heathen man and a publican.” Here the aims are
(1) the reformation of the offender; and, that failing,
(2) the purification of the Church. The method is,
(a) that the offended person takes the first step, and, that failing,
(b) a small Church committee acts; and, in case of their failure,
(c) the Church is called in, and the obstinate offender is cut off from fellowship. The apostolical discipline is illustrated by the case of the incestuous person (1Co 5:1-11). Here Paul excommunicates the offender,
(1) 1Co 5:3, stating his own judgment concerning the offense and its perpetrator;
(2) 1Co 5:4, stating that he acts “in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;” and,
(3) associating with himself the whole body of the Corinthian Church, acting also “with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Compare De Wette and Stanley, in loc.; Schaff, Apostolic Church, 122; Coleman, Apostolic and Primitive Church, chapter 5).
In 1Co 5:12 he implies that the “judgment” lies with the Church, “Do not ye judge them that are within?” He enjoins strict separation from immoral professors of religion: 1Co 5:11, “But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner: with such a one no not to eat.” In the case of the incestuous person the exercise of discipline brought penitence; and the apostle (2 Corinthians 2) exhorts the Church to “forgive and comfort him,” and restore him to fellowship. On the apostolical discipline, both as to doctrine and morals, compare also 2Th 3:6; 1Ti 1:20; 2Jn 1:9-11 : “He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed, for he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.” The exercise of discipline (1) by reproof, (2) by censure, (3) by excommunication, was kept in the hands of the Church as a whole (not of any special class or order in the Church), during its earliest and best ages. See a summing up of the evidence on this point in Coleman, Apostolical and Primitive Church, chapter 5. ‘”The primitive Church never pretended to exercise discipline upon any but such as were within her pale, in the largest sense, by some act of their own profession, and even upon these she never pretended to exercise her discipline so far as to cancel or disannul their baptism. But the discipline of the Church consisted in a power to deprive men of the benefits of external communion, such as public prayer, receiving the Eucharist, and other acts of divine worship. This power, before the establishment of the Church by human laws, was a mere spiritual authority, or, as St. Cyprian terms it, a spiritual sword, affecting the soul and not the body” (Hook, Church Dictionary, s.v.). On the so-called secret discipline of the ancient Church, SEE ARCANI DISCIPLINA.
As to the exercise of discipline, it seems clear “that the action of the laity was requisite, as late as the middle of the third century, in all disciplinary proceedings of the Church. By the beginning of the fourth century, however, this cardinal right, through the operation of causes which have been briefly mentioned, and which may be more fully specified hereafter, was greatly abridged, and shortly was wholly lost. This fact illustrates the progress of the ecclesiastical hierarchy. While the right of the laity is yet undisputed, the power of the bishop begins at first to be partially asserted and occasionally admitted, the people occupying a neutral position between submission and open hostility. But from disuse to denial, and from denial to extinction of neglected privileges and powers, the descent is natural, short, and rapid. From about the middle of the fourth century, accordingly, the bishops assumed the control of the whole penal jurisdiction of the laity, opening and shutting at pleasure, the doors of the Church, inflicting sentence of excommunication, and prescribing at their discretion the austerities of penance, and again absolving the penitents, and restoring them to the Church by their own arbitrary powers. The people accordingly, no longer having any part in the trial of offenses, ceased to watch for the purity of the Church, connived at offenses, and concealed the offender, not caring to interfere with the prerogative of the bishop, in which they had no further interest. The speedy and sad corruption of the Church was but the natural consequence of this loose and arbitrary discipline. Nor was it to be doubted that this was one efficient cause of that degeneracy which succeeded” (Coleman, Apostolical and Primitive Church, chapter 5). “This transition changed essentially the relations of the officers to the members of the Church, and the conditions of Church membership. The officers of the Church, instead of receiving authority and office from that body for their service, claim authority and commission from God for the exercise of their functions. They are now the rulers; not the servants, as at the beginning they were, of the Church. A union with the Church by a public profession is a transaction not so much between the Church and the professing Christian, as between him and the bishop. The contracting, covenanting parties are the bishop and the believer. The sovereign authority of the Church is merged and lost in that of the priesthood. Ecclesiastical discipline naturally resolves itself into a system of penance administered by the priesthood, in whom alone authority is vested for the punishment of offenses” (Coleman, Ancient Christianity, chapter 22).
II. In the Middle Ages, and in the Roman Church, the system of penitential discipline, for the treatment of persons confessing their sin, grew up into full proportions. SEE PENANCE; SEE PENITENTIAL DISCIPLINE. In the Roman Church, and among some Protestant writers, the word discipline, standing alone, implies only penitential, and not punitive discipline.
III. In the Modern Church. The exercise of punitive discipline in the modern Church is found to be impossible, or nearly so, in state churches. In the Church of England, and the Protestant state churches on the Continent of Europe, it is almost unknown. Where citizens, as such, are ipso facto Church members, to punish the Church member is to affect a man’s citizenship.
On the other hand, in Free churches, whether in Europe or America, discipline by reproof, censure, suspension, or excommunication is not only possible, but is actually practiced very generally. The following passage contains principles on which the Free Protestant churches of modern Christendom generally act with regard to discipline.
“Godly discipline has ever been regarded as one of the notes or marks of a true Church. Our Protestant forefathers charged the Church of Rome with being greatly wanting in this, and scarce deserving the name of Church by reason of such want. Discipline relates to the laws of any society, and the penalties of disobedience. All institutions must have laws in order to good government. Christ’s kingdom has its laws and penalties. Many of them were expressly appointed by Christ himself. Others, in conformity with the same, have from time to time been added by the Church. To obey the powers ordained of God, whether civil or ecclesiastical, when exercised according to his revealed will, is a bounden duty. Ministers, at the time of their ordination, promise faithful obedience to those who are placed over them, and who exercise their authority according to prescribed rules. A due respect also is required to their godly admonitions and judgments. This obedience and respect are to be shown not merely to those with whom we may agree in sentiment or sympathize in theological views, but to those also from whom we differ; and this may be done without any improper sacrifice of Christian liberty or right of private judgment. As to the rules and regulations of the Church, whether the observance be specially required by rulers or not, the true Christian will hold himself bound to render it. He will not select such of them as he most approves, or as most accord with his doctrines, and scrupulously observe these, making such observance a test, and denouncing those who differ from him; but, he will resolve to obey them all, out of respect to the authority enjoining them. And yet, since God himself, preferring mercy to sacrifice, allows even his holy Sabbath to be violated as to its letter, and sacrifices and offerings to be withheld, So a wise discretion has ever been conceded to God’s ministers in the observance of inferior rules, or in regard to things become obsolete, having due reference to times, places, and circumstances. Wherever such discretion has not been allowed or exercised, the result has been that men have strained at the gnat and swallowed the camel; have tithed mint, anise, and cummin, and neglected the weightier matters of the law. It should always be remembered that, as the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath, so rubrics and canons were made for the Church, and not the Church for them” (Bishop Meade, True Churchman).
In Presbyterian churches, discipline is exercised by the Session (q.v.), an appeal lying to the Presbytery, and thence to Synod and General Assembly. In the “Form of Government” of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (book 2), the general principles of discipline are laid down as follows:
“I. Discipline is the exercise of that authority and the application of that system of laws which the Lord Jesus Christ has appointed in his Church.
II. The exercise of discipline is highly important and necessary. Its ends are, the removal of offenses; the vindication of the honor of Christ; the promotion of the purity and general edification of the Church; and also the benefit of the offender himself.
III. An offense is anything in the principles or practice of a Church member which is contrary to the word of God, or which, if it be not in its own nature sinful, may tempt others to sin, or mar their spiritual edification. IV. Nothing, therefore, ought to be considered by any judicatory as an offense, or admitted as matter of accusation, which cannot be proved to be such from Scripture, or from the regulations and practice of the Church, founded on Scripture, and which does not involve those evils which discipline is intended to prevent.
V. The exercise of discipline in such a manner as to edify the Church requires not only much of the spirit of piety, but also much prudence and discretion. It becomes the rulers of the Church, therefore, to take into view all the circumstances which may give a different character to conduct, and render it more or less offensive; and which may, of course, require a very different mode of proceeding in similar cases, at different times, for the attainment of the same end.
VI. All baptized persons are members of the Church, are under its care and subject to its government and discipline; and when they have arrived at the years of discretion, they are bound to perform all the duties of Church members.
VII. Offences are either private or public, to each of which appropriate modes of proceeding belong.”
In Congregational churches, discipline is administered by the Church. For the principles and methods of Congregational discipline, see Punchard, View of Congregationalism (1844), 177 sq.; Dexter, On Congregationalism (1865), 259 sq.
In the Methodist Episcopal Church an accused member is brought to trial before a committee of not less than five, who shall not be members of the Quarterly Conference. In the selection of the committee, the parties may challenge for cause. The pastor presides at the trial. If the majority find him guilty, the pastor executes the sentence of expulsion. Appeals are allowed to the Quarterly and Annual Conferences (Discipline, part 3, chapter 1).
In the Constitutions of the Reformed churches of America (German and Dutch), the principles and rules of discipline laid down are very similar to that of the Presbyterian Church above cited. See Constitution of the German Reformed Church (1854), part 3, page 32; Constitution of the Reformed Dutch Church of North America (Philippians 1840), chapter 4, page 32. Literature. On the discipline of the ancient Church, see, besides the authors already cited, Bingham, Orig. Ecclesiastes book 16, chapter 1; Schaff, Hist. of the Christian Church, 1, 114; Neander, Church History (Torrey’s), volumes 1 and 2; Barrow, On the Pope’s Supremacy, Works, 3:232 sq. (N.Y. ed.); and the references under SEE PENANCE; SEE PENITENTIAL DISCIPLINE.
On Church discipline in general, see Hooker, Ecclesiastes Polity; Watson, Theological Institutes, 2:572 sq. (N.Y. ed.); Dwight, Theology (New Haven, 1836), 4:386 sq.; Walker, Church Discipline (Boston 1854, 18mo); Hill, Pastoral Function in the Church (Lond. 1855. chapter 1); James, Church-members’ Guide; Porter, Compendium of Methodism (N.Y. 12mo); and works on pastoral and practical theology generally. SEE DISCIPLINE, BOOK OF; SEE EXCOMMUNICATION; SEE ECCLESIASTICAL POLITY.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
DISCIPLINE
See CHASTISEMENT; SELF-DISCIPLINE.
Fuente: Bridgeway Bible Dictionary
Discipline
DISCIPLINE.The Gospels reveal a twofold disciplinethat which Christ Himself experienced, and that to which He subjects His servants. It will be convenient to treat these separately.
1. The discipline to which Christ submitted.The NT teaches clearly that even our Lord required to be perfected () in order to ensure the consummation of the work for which He had become incarnate. Such a consisted in His being brought to the full moral perfection of His humanity, which carries with it the complete ness of power and dignity (Westcott); and its necessity is recognized, not by the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews alone (Heb 2:10; Heb 7:28 etc.), but also by Christ Himself (Luk 13:32).
It is taught with equal clearness that our Lord attained His perfection through the discipline which He voluntarily endured. This included several elements. (1) Among the most important was the discipline of temptation (Mar 1:12-13 ||, Heb 2:15); and in this connexion it is important to remember that His testing was not only searching in its strength, but repeated in its assaults (note plur. Luk 22:28, and cf. Mar 14:32 ff. || Heb 4:15). (2) A second element in His discipline was that of delay. The incarnate Son, with His love eager for the completion of His saving work, must have exercised no ordinary self-restraint, as, amid the opposition of foes and the misconception of friends, the stages of its progress passed slowly by (Luk 12:50; cf. the probable force of the temptation in Mat 4:8-9 and of in Joh 11:33; ef. also 2Th 3:5). (3) The discipline of sorrow was also included in this perfecting of Christ. His experience of sorrow was limited to no single kind. He felt the force of all the ills that vex our human life. In a most suggestive citation one sacred writer shows in how real and literal a sense He took our human sicknesses upon Him (Mat 8:16-17, cf. Mar 5:30). He knew no less the pang of regret with which a pure man views opportunities wasted by those for whom he has cherished high ideals (Luk 19:41-44,note ). His, too, were the tears shed over a family bereaved and a loved one lost (Joh 11:35). (4) The last aspect of Christs discipline of which mention must be made was that of pain and suffering. Of this there is no occasion for offering detailed illustration. The story of His sufferings is the story of His life (for a few examples see Mar 8:31 || Mar 14:32 ff. || Mar 15:16-39 ||, Heb 5:8; note the use of in Luk 23:16; Luk 23:22).
The experience of this discipline, revealing itself under different aspects and affecting His human nature at different points, was necessary to the fulfilment of our Lords mission. It was in virtue of His perfection through suffering that He reached His absolute sympathy with humanity, and in consequence His complete qualification to be its Saviour (Heb 2:18; Heb 4:15-16; Heb 5:2). See Perfection.
2. The discipline which Christ imposes upon His followers.Discipline is an essential part of the Christian life, and the NT points out several forms under which it is to be experienced. In some of these it is restricted to a certain number of those who call themselves by the name of Christ. (1) There is, for example, a discipline to which Christians are rendered liable by falling into error (1Co 11:29 ff., esp. note in 1Co 11:32; see also in Rev 3:19). (2) The discipline of persecution also does not of necessity come to all Christians. At the same time, as both record and exhortation prove, it is no uncommon experience. It certainly befell our Lords early followers (Mar 13:9, Mat 10:22-23, Joh 15:21; Joh 16:33; cf. the Epp. passim, and see esp. Heb 12:4-13, where is cited in this reference), and He Himself attributed a special blessedness to those who found a place in its honoured succession (Mat 5:10-12). (3) In a third aspect, however, discipline falls to the lot of every Christian. No man can be a true follower of Christ who is not willing from the first to practise the discipline of self-renunciation. Such self-renunciation, indeed, is one of the conditions of entering His service (Mar 8:34 ff., Mat 10:38). And there is to be no limit to the sacrifice required. It must be endured even to the severance of earths closest ties (Mat 10:37) and the loss of life itself (Mat 24:9, Joh 16:2). Few things are more impressive than the manner in which, from the very beginning of His ministry (cf. Mar 1:17-18), our Lord assumed His right to claim from His followers that utter self-repudiation, and confidently expected on their part a willing response to His demand (Mat 9:9; Mat 19:21).
One particular aspect of this Christian self-denial calls for separate consideration. The Gospel teaching affords little support to those who have sought to express self-renunciation in the form of morbid asceticism. Christs own example, in suggestive contrast with that of His forerunner, leads us to the very opposite conception of religious discipline (Mat 11:18 f.). Along the pathway of poverty (Mat 8:20) and persecution (Joh 7:19; Joh 8:37) to which He called His disciples, He Himself walked; yet alike in His own life and in His thought for them (Mat 9:14, cf. 1Ti 5:23) ascetic discipline received no prominence. There appears to be just a hint of it in one of His sayings (Mat 19:12, cf. 1Co 7:32 ff.), but even there it is distinctly stated less as a rule for the many than as an ideal for some few to whom a special call might come. In Christs view the fasting consequent upon real sorrow was so inevitable, that any merely formal anticipation of it was to be deprecated rather than approved (Mat 9:15). See, further, art. Asceticism.
For ecclesiastical discipline see art. Church.
H. Bisseker.
Fuente: A Dictionary Of Christ And The Gospels
Discipline
disi-plin (, musar): In the King James Version only in Job 36:10, where it refers to moral discipline, the strenuous cultivation of the righteous life; the Revised Version (British and American) instruction. the Revised Version (British and American) in 2Ti 1:7 has discipline for a Greek word (sophronismos) meaning sobering; in 2Ti 3:16 margin, for Greek paidea, instruction. In classic Greek paideia means education, mental culture. Through the influence of the Septuagint, which translates the Hebrew musar by paideia, the meaning of chastisement accompanies , paideia in the New Testament. Compare Heb 12:5, Heb 12:7, Heb 12:8, Heb 12:11. See CHASTISEMENT; and for ecclesiastical discipline see CHURCH.
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Discipline
The word occurs only in Job 36:10, but the Hebrew word, musar, is found elsewhere, and is often translated ‘instruction,’ and at times ‘chastening’ and ‘correction.’ In Job it is God opening men’s ears for instruction or discipline. In the N.T. the word is translated both ‘to instruct’ and ‘to chasten,’ showing that it is God’s care over His saints for blessing. See CHASTENING. There is also discipline in the church. If one be overtaken in a fault the spiritual are called upon to restore such a one. Gal 6:1. If there is sin, it may call for a REBUKE before all. 1Ti 5:20. Some may need reproof, 2Ti 4:2; and in other cases, as a last resort, discipline may call for ‘putting away.’ See EXCOMMUNICATION. The end and purpose of all discipline is to restore the soul to communion with God and with His saints. Discipline should always be exercised in the ‘spirit of meekness,’ each one considering himself lest he also be tempted. Gal 6:1.
Fuente: Concise Bible Dictionary
Discipline
Of armies, for disobedience of orders
Jos 7:10-26; Jdg 21:5-12 Armies
Church discipline
Church, The Collective Body of Believers, Rules of Discipline in, Mosaic and Christian
Fuente: Nave’s Topical Bible
Discipline
from sophron, lit., “saving the mind,” from saos, “contracted to” sos, “safe” (cp. sozo, “to save”), phren, “the mind,” primarily, “an admonishing or calling to soundness of mind, or to self-control,” is used in 2Ti 1:7, AV, “a sound mind;” RV, “discipline.” Cp. sophroneo (“to be of sound mind”), sophronizo (“to admonish”), sophronos (“soberly”), and sophron, “of sound mind.” See MIND. Cp. CHASTISEMENT.