"Anathema" was initially used in its ecclesiastical sense by St. Paul to mean the expulsion of someone from the Christian community. By the 6th century, the liturgical meaning evolved again to mean a formal ecclesiastical curse of excommunication and the condemnation of heretical doctrines, the severest form of separation from the Christian church issued against a heretic or group of heretics by a Pope or other church official. The phrase "" ("let him be anathema"), echoing , was thus used in decrees of councils defining Christian faith.