Binding and loosing on earth: Evaluating the strategy for church disciplinary procedures proposed in Matthew 18:15-18 through the lenses of thinking and feeling

Susan H Jones,Leslie J Francis,Keith Hebden

doi:10.4102/hts.v75i3.5476

Abstract

Matthew 18:15–18 proposed a disciplined strategy for dealing with disputes within the Matthean emerging Christian community. The present study was designed to test the theory, proposed by the SIFT approach to biblical hermeneutics, that reader interpretation of this strategy is influenced by the individual readers’ psychological type preferences. Participants attending two conferences in 2017 reflected on this strategy, working in groups that distinguished between feeling types and thinking types: 15 biblical scholars at the Summer School of the Urban Theology Unit, and 22 curates and training incumbents at a 3-day residential programme. Consistent with psychological type theory and with the SIFT approach to biblical hermeneutics, the feeling types found the whole tone of the passage uncomfortable and unsettling. The thinking types identified more readily with the Matthean strategy. These findings add weight to the reader perspective approach to the interpretation of scripture that takes the psychological type profile of the reader into account.

Highlights

Matthew 18:15–18 provides a classic text for reflection on the process by which the Christian community handles matters of dispute and disagreement
The research question posed by the present study was to test the hypothesis that the psychological type profile of the reader impacts the perspective taken on the strategy for church disciplinary procedures proposed by Matthew 18:15–18
Data provided by participants in two different but complementary contexts confirmed the view that feeling types and thinking types approached the Matthean strategy in different ways

Summary

Introduction

Matthew 18:15–18 provides a classic text for reflection on the process by which the Christian community handles matters of dispute and disagreement. The Matthean Jesus begins this fourth discourse by maintaining that his followers will need a childlike faith and humility The fourth section details the procedure that must be used in dealing with ‘sin’ among the ‘brothers’ of the community The parable of the unforgiving servant illustrates the spirit of forgiveness that should pervade the Christian community It is this overall structure that places the apparent harshness of the procedure outlined in 18:15–18 within a wider emphasis on forgiveness and acceptance

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Conclusion