‘Drive out the wicked person’ A Biblical Theology of Exclusion

This article attempts to treat the exclusion of individuals from the community as a topic of biblical theology. It focuses on the neglected rationale or motives of exclusion rather than the practicalities of exclusion (i.e., who gets excluded? in what way? for which sins? by whom?). Five motifs or images serve as lenses to focus and guide the reading of the relevant texts and assist in the task of synthesis. In sum, serious offenders are excluded because of the solidarity of the community , in order to maintain the holiness of the group, due to a breach of covenant , in the hope of restoration and because of the prospect of salvation . By way of conclusion some reflections are offered on the relevance of this teaching for biblical theology in general and for the practice of church discipline today.