The Sinews of Christ's Body—Church Discipline according to John Calvin

The Sinews of Christ's Body – Church Discipline according to John Calvin

Daniel YK LEE

For Calvin, church discipline was so crucial to the well-being of the Christian Church that he was prepared to defend its exercise even to the point of jeopardizing his own ministry in Geneva. This essay shows that the reformer sought to arrive at a theological account , as well as a practical arrangement, of the church discipline within the basic tenets of Reformation theology. Under the sole headship of Christ and the notion of the church as communiosanctorum, the jurisdictional and disciplinary authority is harnessed to the service of the Word of God, and firmly regulated with a lawful assembly, an accountable procedure, and restrictions on its measures. In this way, Calvin's teaching of church discipline demonstrates the intricate relation between authority and freedom, communal and individual life, and ecclesiastical and civil government.