What examples are there of church discipline in the NT?
There are many examples of church discipline alluded to in Scripture, such as: · The man sleeping with his father’s wife (1 Cor 5). · Discipline recommended for Hymenaeus and Alexander so that they “might learn not to blaspheme” (1 Tim 1:20). · Paul’s exhortation of Timothy to correct his opponents (2 Tim 2:24-26). · Paul’s admonishing Titus to avoid a schismatic person (Tit 3:10-11). · Warning to exclude those responsible for false teaching (2 Jn 10-11). In addition, there are (at least) two examples of discipline applied incorrectly. First, Paul himself was disciplined by the Jews. Five times he received the 39 lashes (2 Cor 11:24), probably for heretical teaching (though the Mishnah only specifies discipline for ritual purity violations). Second, in 3 John, “the elder” (author of 1-3 John) wrote to some Christians who were looking to him for guidance. We learned in 3 John that they had been expelled from their church by one called Diotrephes (3 Jn 9-11). In this case, Christians wer
