The cutting off a person from fellowship with the community to which he belongs, by way of punishment for some sin committed. The Jews, Selden informs us, reckon up thirty-six crimes, to which they pretend this punishment is due. The rabbins reckon three kinds of excision; one, which destroys only the body; another, which destroys the soul only; and a third which destroys both body and soul. The first kind of excision they pretend is untimely death; the second is an utter extinction of the soul; and the third a compound of the two former: thus making the soul mortal or immortal, says Selden, according to the degree of misbehaviour and wickedness of the people.
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Despite a stated reliance on the plain meaning of the Bible and the dictates of common sense, Buck's Theological Dictionary, first published in London in 1802, seeks to provide a textual basis for the evangelical community. By combining brief essays on orthodox belief and practice with historical entries on various denominations, Buck provided an interpretive lens that allowed antebellum Protestants to see Christianity's almost two millennia as their own history.Wikipedia
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