Church Authority, Inquisition, Excommunication... it's all Scriptural

Men Were Endowed with Authority to Lead/Teach/Guard/Discipline (with the authority of the King) God's Family (Kingdom,Church) on earth:

God didn't leave His earthly family to only be guided by the invisible Holy Spirit and the written Word of God. The Spirit has his role as Sanctifier and the written Word is invaluable as a personal letter from God the Father to each of us, His child, individually, as well as all of us, His family, collectively. But He built His Church to be the embodiment of the Gospel, to spread & protect it, to be the primary means to spread the Gospel message in order to save people from eternal separation from God.

Jesus, the one true King, the one true High Priest, the one true Shepherd, ascended to Heaven but didn't leave us without an authoritative visible leader/teacher/protector. God is the One True Father, but men have been empowered to lead/teach/guard/discipline the flock on earth, even being considered a "father" to the inhabitants of the Kingdom (the Church) (Isaiah22:20ff). (According to Peter (1Peter2), we are all priests in the New Covenant. This does not usurp the role of Christ as the one true Priest, is not instead of Christ, but is only sharing in that one true Priesthood. Similarly, a pastor being called "father" doesn't usurp the role of God as the one true Father. It is only partaking of a small share in that one true Fatherhood.)

Scripture depicts Jesus assigning earthly rulership of His Church to the Apostles (ie Luke22:29-30). (So that Christ rules THROUGH them, not that they rule INSTEAD of Christ.) He feeds His family spiritually through the Apostles and their successors, just as He fed the 5000 and the 4000 THROUGH the apostles (Matthew17?).  He emplaced Peter in a unique role, a sole office, as signified by the "keys to the Kingdom" (Matt16:19). All Christians saw Peter as a shepherd (John21:15-17, Acts) and a father figure (Isaiah22:20ff). Imparting the "keys" to Peter also means that office is successive. When vacated it is filled by another. By this means, Jesus built into His Church the provision of an authoritative visible shepherd/father-figure, a vicar, for all subsequent generations of mankind, until the Return of the King at the end of time. Since He ascended to His throne in Heaven, King Jesus has ruled His Kingdom, the Church, vicariously through Peter's successors. That's why the office is called the Vicar of Christ. And that's why the office is called Holy Father.

Genesis 1; Jer3:15;Matt16:19;Matt18:15-20; Luke10:16; Luke22:29-30;John21:15-17; Acts16:4; Gal 1:6-10; Eph4:11-16;


Luke10:16 The Apostles bear Jesus' Authority and are empowered to preach without error: "Whoever hears you hears me; whoever rejects you rejects me."

Luke11:20 "The kingdom of God has already come to you". The Kingdom is here & now. It's just that the visible King is in the Heavenly side, so His vicar & ministers guide His flock on the earthly side.

Luke12:42ff parable of the faithful servant; applies to Church leaders on one level, individuals on another level.

Jesus gave judgeship, ruling power to the Apostles: Luke22:29-30 "And I covenant to you, as my Father has covenanted to me, a kingdom; that you may eat and drink at my table, in my kingdom: and may sit upon thrones, judging the the twelve tribes of Israel."

John14:25-26 addressed to the Apostles: "These things have I spoken to you, abiding with you. But the Paraclete, the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring all things to your mind, whatsoever I shall have said to you." The rest of us receive the full Gospel through those Apostles, via their successors.

Acts16:4; "As they went from town to town, they delivered to them for observance the decisions that had been reached by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem."

Eph4:11-16; "The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, ¹²to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, ¹³until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ."

Matthew 13:52 "Then said he unto them, Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old."   This verse describes the teaching aspect of the Church. Down through the ages the Apostolic successors are the "householder". They have expounded on ("bringeth forth out") the Gospel message (the Deposit of the Faith, the "treasure" in this verse).

Moses installed men to help him lead & judge the people of God's family (Exodus 18: 20ff). Jesus, the "New Moses", fed thousands of people by having His Apostles do the actual work of distributing the bread and fishes. Notice that Moses divided up the people by thousands, hundreds, fifties, tens. Notice also how Jesus had the Apostles divide up the people "in ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties" (Mark 6; Matthew 14; Luke 9; John 6). This leads us to see that in the New Israel (the Church) Jesus spreads His grace through men of His choosing. (This would be the normative means of spreading grace, it doesn't preclude God dispensing grace directly.)

Hebrews 13

7 Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation.

8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.

Who are "them which have rule over you"? Those whom the Apostles ordained to that role: bishops (with the help of presbyters & deacons, who are mentioned variously). In the NT, Timothy is an example of such an apostolic bishop. Acts 1:20 refers to the office as "bishoprick", that's why their successors are called bishop. Acts 1:22 states that one must be "ordained" to that office. We see from 2Timothy1:6 that ordainment is accomplished through the "laying on of hands" of another bishop. (Interestingly, in KJV original, footnotes of Paul's epistles to Timothy and Titus state "...ordained the first bishop...").

For Christians today, "them which have rule over you" would be they who can trace their ordainment ancestry back to the Apostles. That means "Pastor Jimbo" of that "Bible Church" in town is not a valid pastor of the New Covenant. Catholic (and Eastern Orthodox) bishops & priests can demonstrate their priestly genealogy back to the Apostles and are hence authorized by Christ Himself to shepherd His flock on earth. Why would someone trust their spiritual welfare to an "unauthorized" pastor? Dangerous indeed.

Hebrews 13
17 Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.





See also:
 
Authority in the Early Church:
 http://www.catholic.com/magazine/articles/stewards-of-the-kingdom
 
The Kingdom of God in Scripture:
 http://www.salvationhistory.com/studies/courses/online/he_must_reign_the_kingdom_of_god_in_scripture


Kingdom and Church in Luke-Acts:
http://www.salvationhistory.com/documents/scripture/KingdomChurchInLukeActs.pdf


Catholic Encyclopedia: The Church
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03744a.htm








Inquisition:

Scripture tells us about inquisitions:

Numbers 25?; Deut 17; Deut 19:15-20; Matt18:15-20; 1Cor5:1-13; 1Cor11:19;Gal 1:6-9;Eph4:11-16; 1Tim1:19-20; Sirach23:22ff;

Wisdom 1:9 (KJV) "For inquisition shall be made into the counsels of the ungodly: and the sound of his words shall come unto the Lord for the manifestation of his wicked deeds."

An inquisition is nothing more than an investigative inquiry into allegations of misbehavior or someone preaching errors as Truth. Some doctrines taught by some people were dangerous to the souls of those who were yet immature in the faith (ie Arianism). Such a teacher is considered ungodly for that reason. The Church Jesus built (having a visible, organized leadership structure) is tasked with not only preaching and protecting the Gospel, but also protecting the children of God (ie John 21). An inquisition is for the purpose of rooting out false teachers or otherwise bad people to protect the flock. (Consider your own congregation: if someone there started teaching that Jesus wasn't REALLY God, wouldn't you confront him, in order to protect the rest of the congregation from being taught errors in matters of faith? If he doesn't abate, shouldn't he be booted from the congregation for the sake of the others' immortal souls?  Likewise, for overt & unrepentant sinful behavior. )

While formal inquisitions don't take place today, in centuries past they were useful. Back then, the faith was tightly integrated with civil society and preaching things counter to Truth caused civil unrest, not just religious disagreement. The Spanish Inquisition was to reveal people, who worked in positions of power or influence in the Spanish government, who claimed to convert, but actually still practiced their old faith (Judaism or Islam). Spain was a Christian country. They didn't want potential secret agents embedded in their government. They didn't separate religion and government as modern America does. (The bad thing was some of the brutal tactics used by the Spanish government & rogue inquisitors who departed from the Papal guidelines).

Inquisitions apply only to those within the Body of Christ, not unbelievers. 1Cor5:1-13 "For what have I to do with judging those outside? Is it not those who are inside that you are to judge? ¹³God will judge those outside. ‘Drive out the wicked person from among you.' "

See also
http://americanberean.blogspot.com/2010/12/catholic-murder-machine.html

An Inquisition Primer
http://www.catholic.com/magazine/articles/an-inquisition-primer

The Inquisition as described by a former Evangelical:
http://catholicbridge.com/catholic/inquisition.php

Catholic encyclopedia on the subject:
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08026a.htm


Excommunication:

Matt18:15-20; 1Cor5:1-13; Gal1:6-10; 1Tim1:19-20

When someone is declared "anathema" or "accursed", they are excommunicated (separated from the body of Christ) and "turned over to Satan". This doesn't mean "irrevocably damned" (ie no hope of salvation or reconciliation). It's a redemptive punishment, along the lines of the curses the Israelites went through after their violations of the Covenant. The purpose, the hope, of excommunication is that after some time the person will come to see the error of their ways and repent and come back into the body of Christ.
In Matthew 18 Jesus talks about severing body parts that offend. This can be hyperbole but it is also metaphorical of the Body of Christ, the Church: A had or a foot is an individual Christian. If that Christian is behaving badly and unrepentingly he should be severed from the Body, for the sake of the other members of the Body. If a gangrenous toe is not cut off, it's infection can spread and kill other body parts. This is what excommunication is for.

Matthew 18:15-20: confronting/disciplining sinners or, by extension, promulgators of false doctrine. The church leaders have the authority to excommunicate (anathematize).

1 Corinthians 11:19: "Indeed, there have to be factions among you, for only so will it become clear who among you are genuine."  God allows great heresies so that Truth, or the ones who are in the right (and those in the wrong), may be clearly seen. In the early centuries various heresies which threatened the true doctrines of the nature of Christ arose. It is thanks to the organized, hierarchical Catholic Church leadership (particularly the pope, regarding Arianism), buttressed by the Holy Spirit, that true doctrine is known to us today.

Galatians1:6-10;  preachers of heresy, "another gospel" than the one received, "let him be anathema".

1Timothy 1:19-20 "...having faith and a good conscience. By rejecting conscience, certain persons have suffered shipwreck in the faith; ²⁰among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have turned over to Satan, so that they may learn not to blaspheme"

Titus 3:

10 A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject;

11 Knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself.

Anathemas:
http://catholicbridge.com/catholic/anathemas.php

Catholic encyclopedia on the subject:
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05678a.htm




Related info:

Summary of the "great heresies" of the last 2000 years...
http://www.catholic.com/tracts/the-great-heresies]

Detailed piece on several "great heresies"...
http://www.ewtn.com/library/doctrine/heresy.htm