Chapter XXX: Of Church Censures. De Censuris Ecclesiasticis.
Of Church Censures. De Censuris Ecclesiasticis.
I. The Lord Jesus, as king and head of his Church, hath therein appointed a government in the hand of Church officers, distinct from the civil magistrate. [1982] I. Dominus Jesus quatenus Rex et caput Ecclesiæ suæ constituit in ea regimen, quod in officiariorum Ecclesiasticorum manu foret, distinctum a civili Magistratu. [1983] II. To these officers the keys of the kingdom of heaven are committed, by virtue whereof they have power respectively to retain and remit sins, to shut that kingdom against the impenitent, both by the Word and censures; and to open it unto penitent sinners, by the ministry of the gospel, and by absolution from censures, as occasion shall require.
[1984] II. Officiariis hisce claves regni coelorum sunt commissæ, quarum virtute obtinent potestatem peccata vel retinendi vel remittendi pro varia peccantium conditione; impoenitentibus quidem regnum illud tam per verbum quam per censuras occludendi, peccatoribus vero poenitentibus tam evangelii ministerio quam absolutione a censuris idem aperiendi, prout occasio postulaverit. [1985]
III. Church censures are necessary for the reclaiming and gaining of offending brethren; for deterring of others from the [1986] like offenses; for purging out of that leaven which might infect the whole lump; for vindicating the honor of Christ, and the holy profession of the gospel; and for preventing the wrath of God, which might justly fall upon the Church, if they should suffer his covenant, and the seals thereof, to be profaned by notorious and obstinate offenders. [1987] III. Omnino necessariæ sunt censuræ Ecclesiasticæ, lucrandis fratribus delinquentibus eisque in viam reducendis, reliquis autem a similibus delictis deterrendis, fermento illi malo, ne totam massam inficiat, expurgando; ad honorem Christi et Sanctam Evangelii professionem vindicandum, ut prævertatur denique ira Dei, quæ merito in Ecclesiam accendi posset, si ipsius foedus, hujusque sigilla ab insigniter ac pertinaciter delinquentibus impune profanari pateretur. [1988] IV. For the better attaining of these ends, the officers of the Church are to proceed by admonition, suspension from the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper for a season, and by excommunication from the Church, according to the nature of the crime and demerit of the person. [1989] IV. Quo melius autem hosce fines consequantur, procedere debent Ecclesiæ officiarii, admonendo, a Sacramento coenæ Dominicæ ad tempus aliquod suspendendo, excommunicando denique ab Ecclesia, pro ratione criminis, atque personæ delinquentis merito. [1990]