“The simple justification for the elders and their work was Christ’s detailed prescription in Matthew’s Gospel for how Christians should deal with sinners among the faithful: first private admonition, then progressively more formal reprimands, and finally, if repentance was not forthcoming, expulsion from the community.” ChristSinChristianity Book:Protestants: The Faith That Made the Modern World Source: Protestants: The Faith That Made the Modern World