Apostasy

Abstract

Abstract Apostasy, generally stated within a religious context, is a falling away from core religious convictions of a community, or abandonment of the community altogether. The potential for apostasy in Christianity arises from the notion, common to many early forms of Christianity, that final salvation is still in the future and requires perseverance in one's religious commitments to experience it. Thus early Christians affirmed the necessity of ongoing fidelity, which would have characterized both their religious heritage, one is to have no other gods before Yahweh, and their cultural heritage, the reciprocal bonds of benefactors and beneficiaries were intended to create enduring fidelity to the relationship. Among the early Christians, three general and interrelated categories of apostasy can be identified arising from embracing vices, embracing heresy, and avoiding persecution. A central concern with apostasy among the early Christians who faced waves of persecution in the 2nd and 3rd centuries and thus defections was whether and upon what basis were the lapsed to be readmitted into the church. There was a range of opinions. The early Christian document of Hebrews does not allow for the apostate to repent and supposedly to reenter the community, whereas The Shepherd of Hermas allows for a second repentance but no more. Repentance entailed readmittance into the worshiping and sacramental life of the church. Out of the struggle over the readmittance of the lapsed, the penitential system developed in order to provide a way for the baptized Christian to reenter the church and have access to the sacraments. Present‐day conversation about apostasy has been primarily shaped by debates within the Reformed tradition between Arminians and Calvinists as to whether the apostate was ever a genuine believer. Current debates also struggle to understand how to relate statements in the Scriptures that give assurance of one's final salvation with warnings against falling away that lead to eschatological condemnation. Rhetorically, are the warnings against apostasy real dangers for true believers or do they merely function to keep authentic members of the community from being presumptuous concerning their status? Ecclesiologically, is the church a mixture of authentic and inauthentic Christians who are not easily distinguished? Pastorally, what is the basis for personal assurance of final salvation? The debates also focus on how to understand such theological concepts as election, God's sovereignty, and anthropological assumptions about human religious ability.