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Apostasy in Christianity

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 Judas betrays Jesus with a kiss. Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve Apostles, became an apostate.[1]
Apostasy in Christianity refers to the rejection of Christianity by someone who formerly was a Christian. The term apostasy comes from the Greek word apostasia ("ἀποστασία") meaning defection, departure, revolt or rebellion. It has been described as "a willful falling away from, or rebellion against, Christianity. Apostasy is the rejection of Christ by one who has been a Christian...."[2] "Apostasy is a theological category describing those who have voluntarily and consciously abandoned their faith in the God of the covenant, who manifests himself most completely in Jesus Christ."[3] "Apostasy is the antonym of conversion; it is deconversion."[1]
According to B. J. Oropeza, the warning passages in the New Testament describe at least three dangers which could lead a Christian to commit apostasy:[4]
Temptations: Christians were tempted to engage in various vices that were a part of their lives before they became Christians (idolatry, sexual immorality, covetousness, etc.).Deceptions: Christians encountered various heresies and false teachings spread by false teachers and prophets that threatened to seduce them away from their pure devotion to Christ.Persecutions: Christians were persecuted by the governing powers of the day for their allegiance to Christ. Many Christians were threatened with certain death if they would not deny Christ.
Persecution is highlighted in the Epistle to the Hebrews and the First Epistle of Peter. The issue of false teachers/teachings are found in Johannine and Pauline epistles, and in the Second Epistle of Peter and the Epistle of Jude. A number of sections in the writings of Paul and James focus on vices and virtues. "These and other early texts helped to shape the trajectory of Christian response to the phenomenon of defection in the post-apostolic era. The Christians were to persevere through various types of opposition, standing firm against temptation, false doctrine, hardships and persecution."[5]


Contents  [hide]
1 Biblical teaching 1.1 The Letter to the Hebrews
1.2 Imagery 1.2.1 Rebellion
1.2.2 Turning away
1.2.3 Falling away
1.2.4 Adultery
1.2.5 Other images

2 Views of the early church fathers 2.1 Temptations: avoid vices and practice virtues
2.2 Deceptions: watch out for false teachers and heresies
2.3 Persecutions: perseverance and martyrdom
3 Primary theological perspectives 3.1 Classical or reformed Calvinism
3.2 Moderate Calvinism
3.3 Reformed Arminianism
4 Christian denominations that affirm the possibility of apostasy
5 Theologians who affirmed the possibility of apostasy 5.1 Augustine (354–430)
5.2 Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274)
5.3 Martin Luther (1483–1546)
5.4 Philip Melancthon (1497–1560)
5.5 Thomas Helwys (1550–1616)
5.6 Simon Episcopius (1583–1643)
5.7 John Goodwin (1594–1665)
5.8 John Bunyan (1628–1688)
5.9 Thomas Grantham (1634–1692)
5.10 John Wesley (1703–1791)
6 Implications
7 See also 7.1 Apostasy in other religions
8 Notes
9 References
10 External links

Biblical teaching[edit]
Further information: Conditional preservation of the saints
The Greek noun apostasia (rebellion, abandonment, state of apostasy, defection)[6] is found only twice in the New Testament (Acts 21:21; 2 Thessalonians 2:3).[7] However, "the concept of apostasy is found throughout Scripture."[8] The related verb aphistēmi (go away, withdraw, depart, fall away)[9] carries considerable theological significance in three passages (Luke 8:13; 1 Timothy 4:1; Hebrews 3:12).[10]

Luke 8:11–13 – Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away. (ESV)[11]
1 Timothy 4:1 – But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons. (NASB)
Hebrews 3:12–14 – Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called "today," that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. (ESV)[12]
In The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, Wolfgang Bauder writes:

1 Timothy 4:1 describes "falling away from the faith" in the last days in terms of falling into false, heretical beliefs. Lk. 8:13 probably refers to apostasy as a result of eschatological temptation. Here are people who have come to believe, who have received the gospel "with joy." But under the pressure of persecution and tribulation arising because of the faith, they break off the relationship with God into which they have entered. According to Hebrews 3:12, apostasy consists in an unbelieving and self-willed movement away from God (in contrast to Hebrews 3:14), which must be prevented at all costs. aphistēmi thus connotes in the passages just mentioned the serious situation of becoming separated from the living God after a previous turning towards him, by falling away from the faith. It is a movement of unbelief and sin, which can also be expressed by other words (cf. the par. to Luke 8:13 in Matthew 13:21; Mark 4:17; . . .). Expressions equivalent in meaning to the warning in 1 Timothy 4:1 include nauageō, suffer shipwreck, 1:19; astocheō miss the mark, 1:6; 6:21; 2 Timothy 2:18; cf. also aperchomai, go away, John 6:66; apostrephō, turn away; arneomai, deny; metatithēmi, change, alter; mē menein, do not abide, John 15:6; . . . [see also] the pictures of defection in Matthew 24:9–12, and Revelation 13."[13]
Wolfgang Bauder goes on add that piptō, fall (1 Corinthians 10:12; Hebrews 4:11), and ekpiptō, fall off or from (Galatians 5:4; 2 Peter 3:17), is used figuratively in the New Testament to refer to "the consequent loss of salvation, rather than of a mere failure from which recovery can be made. It is a catastrophic fall, which means eternal ruin. If it were not so, all the warnings against falling would lose their threatening urgency. To fall into sin and guilt, as an expression of a total attitude, is to plunge into irrevocable misfortune."[14]
The following passages where the verb skandalizō ("fall away from faith")[15] and the noun skandalon ("enticement to unbelief, cause of salvation's loss, seduction"):[16] are theologically important as well:[17]

Matthew 5:27-30 – You heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit-adultery'. But I say to you that everyone looking at a woman so as to desire her already committed adultery with her in his heart. And if your right eye is causing you to fall [skandalizō], tear it out and throw it from you. For it is better for you that one of your body-parts perish and your whole body not be thrown into Gehenna. And if your right hand is causing you to fall [skandalizō], cut it off and throw it from you. For it is better for you that one of your body-parts perish and your whole body not go into Gehenna. (Disciples Literal New Testament or DLNT)
Matthew 13:20-21 – The seed sown on rocky ground is the person who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy. But he has no root in himself and does not endure; when trouble or persecution comes because of the word, immediately he falls away [skandalizō]. (NET)
Matthew 13:40-42 – [Jesus is talking to his disciples] Therefore, just as the darnel is collected and burned up with fire, so it will be at the conclusion of the age. The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will collect out of His kingdom all the causes-of-falling [skandalon] and the ones doing lawlessness. And they will throw them into the furnace of fire. In that place, there will be the weeping and the grinding of teeth. (DLNT)[18]
Matthew 18:6-9 – [Jesus is talking to his disciples] But whoever causes one of these little ones believing in Me to fall [skandalizō]—it would be better for him that a donkey’s millstone be hung around his neck and he be sunk in the deep part of the sea. Woe to the world because of the causes-of-falling [skandalon]. For it is a necessity that causes-of-falling [skandalon] should come; nevertheless, woe to the person through whom the cause-of-falling [skandalon] comes. But if your hand or your foot is causing you to fall [skandalizō], cut it off and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter into life crippled or lame than to be thrown into the eternal fire having two hands or two feet. And if your eye is causing you to fall [skandalizō], tear it out and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter into life one-eyed than to be thrown into the Gehenna of fire having two eyes. (DLNT)[19]
Matthew 24:4, 9-10, 13 – And Jesus answered them [his disciples], See that no one leads you astray. . . . They will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. And then many will fall away [skandalizō] and betray one another and hate one another. . . . But the one who endures to the end will be saved. (ESV)
Mark 4:16-17 – These are the ones sown on rocky ground: As soon as they hear the word, they receive it with joy. But they have no root in themselves and do not endure. Then, when trouble or persecution comes because of the word, immediately they fall away [skandalizō]. (NET)
Mark 9:42-48 – [Jesus is talking to his disciples] And whoever causes one of these little ones believing in Me to fall [skandalizō]—it would be better for him if instead a donkey's millstone were lying around his neck, and he had been thrown into the sea.[20] And if your hand should be causing you to fall [skandalizō], cut it off. It is better that you enter into life crippled than go into Gehenna having two hands—into the inextinguishable fire. And if your foot should be causing you to fall [skandalizō], cut it off. It is better that you enter into life lame than be thrown into Gehenna having two feet. And if your eye should be causing you to fall [skandalizō], throw it out. It is better that you enter into the kingdom of God one-eyed than be thrown into Gehenna having two eyes—where their worm does not come to an end, and the fire is not quenched. (DLNT)[21]
Luke 17:1-2 – And He said to His disciples, "It is impossible that the causes-of-falling [skandalon] should not come. Nevertheless, woe to the one through whom they come. It would be better for him if a mill’s stone were lying-around his neck and he had been thrown-off into the sea, than that he should cause one of these little ones to fall [skandalizō]." (DLNT)
John 15:18, 20, 27, 16:1 – [Jesus is talking to his disciples] If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. . . . Remember the word that I said to you: A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. . . . And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning. I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away [skandalizō]. (ESV)
Romans 14:13-15, 20 – Therefore let us no longer be judging one another. But rather judge this: not to be placing an opportunity for stumbling or a cause-of-falling [skandalon] for the brother. (I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that nothing is defiled in itself, except to the one considering anything to be defiled—to that one it is defiled). For if your brother is grieved because of food, you are no longer walking according to love. Do not be destroying with your food that one for whom Christ died. . . . Do not be tearing-down the work of God for the sake of food. (DLNT)[22]
Romans 16:17-18 – Now I urge you, brothers, to be watching-out-for the ones producing the dissensions and the causes-of-falling [skandalon] contrary to the teaching which you learned, and be turning away from them. For such ones are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own stomach. And by smooth-talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the guileless ones. (DLNT)
1 Corinthians 8:9-13 – But be watching-out that this right of yours does not somehow become an opportunity-for-stumbling to the weak ones. For if someone sees you, the one having knowledge, reclining [to eat] in an idol-temple, will not his conscience, being weak, be built-up so as to eat the foods-sacrificed-to-idols? For the one being weak is being destroyed by your knowledge—the brother for the sake of whom Christ died! And in this manner sinning against the brothers and striking their conscience while being weak, you are sinning against Christ. For-this-very-reason, if food causes my brother to fall [skandalizō], I will never eat meats, ever—in-order-that I may not cause my brother to fall [skandalizō]. (DLNT)
1 John 2:9-11 – The one claiming to be in the light and hating his brother is in the darkness until now. The one loving his brother is abiding in the light, and there is no cause-of-falling [skandalon] in him. But the one hating his brother is in the darkness, and is walking in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness blinded his eyes. (DLNT)
Revelation 2:14 – [Jesus is talking to the church in Pergamum] But I have a few things against you, because you have there ones holding on to the teaching of Balaam, who was teaching Balak to put a cause-of-falling [skandalon] before the sons of Israel to eat foods sacrificed to idols and to commit sexual-immorality. (DLNT)[23]
Heinz Giesen, in the Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament, writes:

In the passive voice σκανδαλίζω [skandalizō] more often means . . . "fall away from faith." In the interpretation of the parable of the sower (Mark 4:13-20 par. Matt 13:18-23) those identified with the seeds sown on rocky ground, i.e., those "with no root in themselves," the inconstant ones, go astray to their own ruin when persecuted on account of the word, i.e., they fall away from faith (Mark 4:17 par. Matt 13:21). The Lukan parallel reads appropriately ἀφίστημι [aphistēmi, fall away] (8:13). In Matt 24:10 Jesus predicts that in the end time many will fall away [skandalizō]. The result is that they will hate one another, wickedness will be multiplied, and love will grow cold. Yet whoever endures in love until the end will be saved (vv. 11, 13). . . . In the Johannine farewell address (John 16:1) σκανδαλίζω [skandalizō] does not only imply an "endangering of faith" . . . but rather "falling away from faith" entirely, from which the disciples and Christians are to be kept. . . . In the active voice σκανδαλίζω [skandalizō] means "cause someone to fall away from (or reject) faith," as in the saying of Jesus about the person who "causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin [stumble]" (Mark 9:42 par. Matt 18:6/Luke 17:2). The Christian is enjoined to reject anything that might be an obstacle to faith, as emphasized in Mark 9:43,45,47 in metaphorical, hyperbolic language: Hand, foot, and eye--in Jewish understanding the loci of lust or sinful desires--must be given up if they threaten to become the cause of loss of faith and thus of salvation. This . . . underscores the seriousness of conviction within which one must persevere if one wishes to enter (eternal) life or the kingdom of God. . . . Matt 5:29, 30 also issues an exhortation to decisive action [cf. Matt 18:8, 9]. . . . According to 1 Cor 8:9 a Christian's freedom regarding eating food offered to idols reaches its limit when it becomes a stumbling block to one's brother (πρόσκομμα [proskomma]). Hence Paul emphasizes that he will never again eat meat if by doing so he causes his brother to fall and thus to lose salvation (σκανδαλίζω [skandalizō], v. 13a, b), since otherwise that weaker brother is destroyed by the knowledge of the "stronger" (v. 11). Whoever sins against his brothers sins also against Christ (v. 12). . . . Within the context of the protection of the "little ones" in the Church, i.e., probably the "weak ones" ([Matthew] 18:6-10), Jesus utters an eschatological threat ("woe!") against the world (alienated from God) because of temptations to sin (v. 7a); though he allows that such temptations must come (v. 7b), he finally hurls an eschatological "woe!" against the person by whom the temptation comes (v. 7c). σκάνδαλον [skandalon] used here of the temptation to fall away from faith. The parallel, Luke 17:1, like Matt 18:7b, also underscores that such temptations are unavoidable; nonetheless, the person by whom they come receives the eschatological "woe!" that already places him under divine judgment. . . . In Rom 14:13 Paul admonishes the "strong," whose position he fundamentally shares (v. 14), not to cause the "weak" any stumbling block to faith through eating habits . . . . In Rom 16:17 the σκάνδαλον [skandalon] are the various satanic activities of the false teachers who endanger the salvation of Church members, who are being seduced into falling away from correct teaching; such teachers also threaten both the unity and very existence of the Church. Similarly, in Rev 2:14 σκάνδαλον [skandalon] refers to a stumbling block to faith in the context of false teaching. According to 1 John 2:10 there is no cause for stumbling or sin in a believer who loves his brother . . . i.e., no cause for unbelief and thus a loss of salvation.[24]
Paul Barnett notes that James warns his readers of the possibility of temptation leading to apostasy. While a person is not tempted by God to sin, they can be "lured and enticed by his own desires" to sin (James 1:13–15).[25] He adds, "This letter has in mind a 'way' (hodos, James 5:20) of belief and behavior, from which one may be "led astray" (planasthe, James 1:16; i.e., by the influence of others) or 'stray from' (planēthē, James 5:19; i.e., by one's own decision). Either way the one who is away from the true path is in jeopardy in regard to his or her personal salvation (James 5:20).[25]
Barnett also mentions that "2 Peter addresses the grim situation of apostasy expressed by immorality (2 Peter 2:2–3, 14-16), under the influence of false teachers who have 'denied the master who bought them' (2 Peter 2:1, 17-22)."[25] Furthermore, in the book of Revelation:

It is clear that the churches of Asia are subject to persecution and its accompanying pressure to apostatize that arise from a Jewish quarter in Smyrna and Philadelphia (Revelation 2:9) and from the emperor cult in Pergamum (Revelation 2:13). At the same time various false teachings are touching the churches of Ephesus (Revelation 2:6), Pergamum (Revelation 2:14–15) and Thyatira (Revelation 2:20). The language of "deception," that is, of being "led astray," is applied to the false prophetess, Jezebel (Revelation 2:20). Satan, the source of all these persecution and false teachings, is also "the deceiver of the whole world" (Revelation 12:9). The metaphor, "deception" (planaō), implies a path of truth from which one might be "turned aside." Against these Satan-inspired obstacles the reader are called upon to "conquer," that is, to overcome these problems.[26]
The Letter to the Hebrews[edit]
The Epistle to the Hebrews is the classic text on the subject of apostasy in the New Testament.[27] New Testament scholar Scot McKnight argues that the warning passages (2:1–4; 3:7–4:13; 5:11–6:12; 10:19–39; 12:1–29) should be read and interpreted "as an organic whole, each of which expresses four components of the author’s message."[28] These four components are "(1) the subjects or audience in danger of committing the sin, (2) the sin that leads to (3) the exhortation, which if not followed, leads to (4) the consequences of that sin."[29] McKnight concluded from his study that (1) the subjects of this letter were genuine "believers, persons who . . . had converted to Jesus Christ,” (2) The sin "is apostasy, a deliberate and public act of deconfessing Jesus Christ, a rejection of God's Spirit, and a refusal to submit to God and His will," (3) the exhortation is "to a persevering faithfulness to God and his revelation of the new covenant in Jesus Christ," (4) the consequences involve "eternal damnation if a person does not persevere in the faith."[30]
Imagery[edit]
The Dictionary of Biblical Imagery states that "There are at least four distinct images in Scripture of the concept of apostasy. All connote an intentional defection from the faith."[31] These images are: Rebellion; Turning Away; Falling Away; Adultery.[32]
Rebellion[edit]
"In classical literature apostasia was used to denote a coup or defection. By extension the LXX[33] always uses it to portray a rebellion against God (Joshua 22:22; 2 Chronicles 29:19)."[32]
Turning away[edit]
"Apostasy is also pictured as the heart turning away from God (Jeremiah 17:5–6) and righteousness (Ezekiel 3:20). In the OT it centers on Israel's breaking covenant relationship with God through disobedience to the law (Jeremiah 2:19), especially following other gods (Judges 2:19) and practicing their immorality (Daniel 9:9–11). . . . Following the Lord or journeying with him is one of the chief images of faithfulness in the Scriptures. . . . The . . . Hebrew root (swr) is used to picture those who have turned away and ceased to follow God ('I am grieved that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me,' 1 Samuel 15:11). . . . The image of turning away from the Lord, who is the rightful leader, and following behind false gods is the dominant image for apostasy in the Old Testament."[32]
Falling away[edit]
"The image of falling, with the sense of going to eternal destruction, is particularly evident in the New Testament. . . . In his [Christ’s] parable of the wise and foolish builder, in which the house built on sand falls with a crash in the midst of a storm (Matthew 7:24–27) . . . he painted a highly memorable image of the dangers of falling spiritually."[34]
Adultery[edit]
One of the most common images for apostasy in the Old Testament is adultery.[35] "Apostasy is symbolized as Israel the faithless spouse turning away from Yahweh her marriage partner to pursue the advances of other gods (Jeremiah 2:1–3; Ezekiel 16). . . . 'Your children have forsaken me and sworn by god that are not gods. I supplied all their needs, yet they committed adultery and thronged to the houses of prostitutes' (Jeremiah 5:7, NIV). Adultery is used most often to graphically name the horror of the betrayal and covenant breaking involved in idolatry. Like literal adultery it does include the idea of someone blinded by infatuation, in this case for an idol: 'How I have been grieved by their adulterous hearts . . . which have lusted after their idols' (Ezekiel 6:9)."[32]
Other images[edit]
A variety of colorful images are used to describe Israel’s apostasy: "a rebellious ox, a prostitute, a wild vine, a stain that will not wash off, a camel in heat and a thief caught in thievery (Jeremiah 2:19-28)."[36] Images of peril attend apostasy, for to have forsaken God is to come under his judgment (Exodus 22:20; Deuteronomy 6:14–15; 17:2–7).[36] "The New Testament contains a host of images of apostasy, including a plant taking root among the rocks but withering under the hot sun of testing (Mark 4:5–6, 17 par.), or those who fall prey to the wiles of false teachers (Matthew 24:11), heretical beliefs (1 Timothy 4:1; 2 Timothy 4:3–4), worldliness and its defilement (2 Peter 2:20–22), and persecution (Matthew 24:9–10; Revelation 3:8). The Christian apostate is pictured as a branch that does not abide in the vine of Christ and thus withers and is cast into the fire (John 15:6). Animal behavior is evoked in a dog returning to its vomit or a clean pig returning to the mire (2 Peter 2:22)."[37]
Views of the early church fathers[edit]
Paul Barnett says, "Believers in the era following that of the apostles probably suffered a greater intensity to turn aside from Christ than did their predecessors. They . . . were vulnerable to Jewish reprisals as well as action from the state. Details of the pressure applied to Christians to apostatize is given from both Christian and non-Christian sources . . . . It is understandable, therefore, that the postapostolic literature should contain many warnings not to apostatize."[38] The following warnings not to apostatize come from the translation provided by Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson in the Ante-Nicene Fathers.[39]
Temptations: avoid vices and practice virtues[edit]
Clement of Rome (c. 96) writes to the Corinthian congregation whose unity has been threatened because a "few rash and self-confident persons" have kindled shameful and detestable seditions towards the established leaders (presbyters) in the congregation (1 Clement 1). This jealous rivalry and envy has caused righteousness and peace to depart from the community (1 Clement 3). The writer laments: "Every one abandons the fear of God, and is become blind in His faith, neither walks in the ordinances of His appointment, nor acts a part becoming a Christian, but walks after his own wicked lusts, resuming the practice of an unrighteous and ungodly envy, by which death itself entered into the world." (1 Clement 3) Since history has demonstrated that many evils have flowed from envy and jealously (1 Clement 4-6), the Corinthians are exhorted to repent (1 Clement 7-8), yield obedience to God's "glorious will," and to "forsake all fruitless labors and strife, and envy, which leads to death" (1 Clement 9:1). Furthermore, they are to "be of humble mind, laying aside all haughtiness, and pride, and foolishness, and angry feelings" (1 Clement 13), and "to obey God rather than to follow those who, through pride and sedition, have become the leaders of a detestable emulation [jealous rivalry]" (1 Clement 14). He then warns, "For we shall incur no slight injury, but rather great danger, if we rashly yield ourselves to the inclinations of men who aim at exciting strife and tumults, so as to draw us away from what is good" (1 Clement 14; cf. 47). Clement bids his readers to cleave "to those who cultivate peace with godliness" (1 Clement 15), and to follow the humility and submission that Christ and other saints practiced (1 Clement 16-19), which brings peace and harmony with others (1 Clement 19-20). Clement then gives these exhortations and warnings:
Take heed, beloved, lest His many kindnesses lead to the condemnation of us all. [For thus it must be] unless we walk worthy of Him, and with one mind do those things which are good and well-pleasing in His sight. (1 Clement 21)Since then all things are seen and heard [by God], let us fear Him, and forsake those wicked works which proceed from evil desires; so that, through His mercy, we may be protected from the judgments to come. For whither can any of us flee from His mighty hand? Or what world will receive any of those who run away from Him? (1 Clement 28)Let us therefore earnestly strive to be found in the number of those who wait for Him, in order that we may share in His promised gifts.[40] But how, beloved, shall this be done? If our understanding be fixed by faith towards God; if we earnestly seek the things which are pleasing and acceptable to Him; if we do the things which are in harmony with His blameless will; and if we follow the way of truth, casting away from us all unrighteousness and iniquity, along with all covetousness, strife, evil practices, deceit, whispering, and evil-speaking, all hatred of God, pride and haughtiness, vainglory and ambition. For they that do such things are hateful to God; and not only they that do them, but also those who take pleasure in those who do them. (1 Clement 35)Why are there strifes, and tumults, and divisions, and schisms, and wars among you? Have we not [all] one God and one Christ? Is there not one Spirit of grace poured out upon us? And have we not one calling in Christ? Why do we divide and tear to pieces the members of Christ, and raise up strife against our own body, and have reached such a height of madness as to forget that "we are members one of another?" Remember the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, how He said, "Woe to that man [by whom offences come]! It were better for him that he had never been born, than that he should cast a stumbling-block before one of my elect. Yea, it were better for him that a millstone should be hung about [his neck], and he should be sunk in the depths of the sea, than that he should cast a stumbling-block before one of my little ones." Your schism has subverted [the faith of] many, has discouraged many, has given rise to doubt in many, and has caused grief to us all. And still your sedition continues. (1 Clement 46)
Those responsible for laying the foundation of this sedition are urged to submit to the presbyters, repent, and to lay aside their pride and arrogance. For it is better that they occupy a humble place in the flock of Christ, than being highly exalted and ultimately "cast out from the hope of His people" (1 Clement 57).[41]
Similar to Clement, Ignatius of Antioch (c. 107) warns believers about following a schismatic person:

Keep yourselves from those evil plants which Jesus Christ does not tend, because they are not the planting of the Father. Not that I have found any division among you, but exceeding purity. For as many as are of God and of Jesus Christ are also with the bishop. And as many as shall, in the exercise of repentance, return into the unity of the Church, these, too, shall belong to God, that they may live according to Jesus Christ. Do not err, my brethren. If any man follows him that makes a schism in the Church, he shall not inherit the kingdom of God. (Epistle of the Philadelphians 3)[42]
The author of the epistle of Barnabas (c. 100) both admonishes and warns his readers about coming dangers:
Since, therefore, the days are evil, and Satan possesses the power of this world, we ought to give heed to ourselves, and diligently inquire into the ordinances of the Lord. Fear and patience, then, are helpers of our faith; and long-suffering and continence are things which fight on our side. . . . We ought therefore, brethren, carefully to inquire concerning our salvation, lest the wicked one, having made his entrance by deceit, should hurl us forth from our [true] life. (Barnabas 2:1–2, 10).[43]Let us then utterly flee from all the works of iniquity, lest these should take hold of us; and let us hate the error of the present time, that we may set our love on the world to come: let us not give loose reins to our soul, that it should have power to run with sinners and the wicked, lest we become like them. (Barnabas 4:1–2)[44]We take earnest heed in these last days; for the whole [past] time of your faith will profit you nothing, unless now in this wicked time we also withstand coming sources of danger, as becomes the sons of God. That the Black One may find no means of entrance, let us flee from every vanity, let us utterly hate the works of the way of wickedness. . . . (Barnabas 4:9–10)Let us be spiritually-minded: let us be a perfect temple to God. As much as in us lies, let us meditate upon the fear of God, and let us keep His commandments, that we may rejoice in His ordinances. The Lord will judge the world without respect of persons. Each will receive as he has done: if he is righteous, his righteousness will precede him; if he is wicked, the reward of wickedness is before him. Take heed, lest resting at our ease, as those who are the called [of God], we should fall asleep in our sins, and the wicked prince, acquiring power over us, should thrust us away from the kingdom of the Lord. (Barnabas 4:11–13)
In the last chapters of the epistle of Barnabas (18-21), the author sets two ways before Christians which are described in the metaphors of light and darkness (referring to abstaining from or the practicing of vices).[45] Those who walk in the light "will be glorified in the kingdom of heaven" (Barnabas 21:1), and will be "safe in the day of judgment" (Barnabas 21:6).[46] While those who walk in darkness will experience "eternal death with punishment" (Barnabas 20:1), and will be "destroyed with their works" (Barnabas 21:1).[47] "The Didache (c. 100) also maintains two ways: the way of life or death. The way of life is associated with loving God and one's neighbor. It involves abstaining from vices mentioned in the Ten Commandments or related to bodily lusts, sorcery, and idolatry (including meat sacrificed to idols).[48] The way of death includes the practices of these vices[49] (Didache 1-6).”[45]
In Polycarp's epistle to the Philippians (2nd century) the vice of covetousness is a significant danger.[50] Presbyters are advised to be "keeping far off from all covetousness" (Philippians 6). Polycarp expresses his grief over a former presbyter Valens and his wife who apparently committed some act of covetousness. He hopes that the Lord will grant them repentance.[50] He enjoins his readers to "abstain from covetousness," and "every form of evil," and goes on to give this warning, "If a man does not keep himself from covetousness, he shall be defiled by idolatry, and shall be judged as one of the heathen" (Philippians 11). Polycarp says believers "ought to walk worthy of His commandments and glory," and that deacons are to be blameless, not slanderers or lovers of money, but temperate in all things, "walking according to the truth of the Lord" (Philippians 5). He then adds:

If we please Him in this present world, we shall receive also the future world, according as He has promised to us that He will raise us again from the dead, and that if we live worthily of Him, "we shall also reign together with Him," provided only we believe. In like manner, let the young men also be blameless in all things, being especially careful to preserve purity, and keeping themselves in, as with a bridle, from every kind of evil. For it is well that they should be cut off from the lusts that are in the world, since "every lust wars against the spirit;" [1 Peter 2:11] and "neither fornicators, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, shall inherit the kingdom of God," [1 Corinthians 6:9–10] nor those who do things inconsistent and unbecoming. Wherefore, it is needful to abstain from all these things, being subject to the presbyters and deacons, as unto God and Christ. (Philippians 5)[51]
In an ancient sermon (c. 150) the author exhorts his audience to pursue righteousness and abstain from vices:

Let us, then, not only call Him Lord, for that will not save us. For He saith, "Not everyone that saith to me, Lord, Lord, shall be saved, but he that worketh righteousness." Wherefore, brethren, let us confess Him by our works, by loving one another, by not committing adultery, or speaking evil of one another, or cherishing envy; but by being continent, compassionate, and good. We ought also to sympathize with one another, and not be avaricious.[52] By such works let us confess Him, and not by those that are of an opposite kind. And it is not fitting that we should fear men, but rather God. For this reason, if we should do such [wicked] things, the Lord hath said, "Even though ye were gathered together to me in my very bosom, yet if ye were not to keep my commandments, I would cast you off, and say unto you, Depart from me; I know you not whence ye are, ye workers of iniquity." (2 Clement 4)
The author further summons his readers to "do the will of Him that called us," (2 Clement 5) and to consider

that the sojourning in the flesh in this world is but brief and transient, but the promise of Christ is great and wonderful, even the rest of the kingdom to come, and of life everlasting. By what course of conduct, then, shall we attain these things, but by leading a holy and righteous life, and by deeming these worldly things as not belonging to us, and not fixing our desires upon them? For if we desire to possess them, we fall away from the path of righteousness. (2 Clement 5)
The writer goes on to say that this present world (which urges one to "adultery and corruption, avarice and deceit"), is an enemy to the world to come (which "bids farewell to these things"), and thus, we cannot "be the friends of both" (2 Clement 6). Therefore,
Let us reckon that it is better to hate the things present, since they are trifling, and transient, and corruptible; and to love those [which are to come,] as being good and incorruptible. For if we do the will of Christ, we shall find rest; otherwise, nothing shall deliver us from eternal punishment, if we disobey His commandments. . . . How can we hope to enter into the royal residence of God unless we keep our baptism holy and undefiled? Or who shall be our advocate, unless we be found possessed of works of holiness and righteousness? (2 Clement 6)Let us also, while we are in this world, repent with our whole heart of the evil deeds we have done in the flesh, that we may be saved by the Lord, while we have yet an opportunity of repentance. For after we have gone out of the world, no further power of confessing or repenting will there belong to us. Wherefore, brethren, by doing the will of the Father, and keeping the flesh holy, and observing the commandments of the Lord, we shall obtain eternal life. (2 Clement 8)[53]
B. J. Oropeza writes:
If the warning against vices and the call to repentance marks a facet of apostasy in patristic writings of the late first and early second centuries, the Shepherd of Hermas epitomizes this aspect. Those who have sinned grievously and committed apostasy are beckoned to return. Falling away and repentance are portrayed in complex ways, and this perhaps compliments the multifaceted nature of earliest Christian discourses on the issue. Contrary to the book of Hebrews, which seems to teach that baptized Christians are not given a second chance once they fall away (cf. Hebrews 6:4–6; 10:26–31), the Shepherd of Hermas affirms that apostates may be forgiven while a gap of time remains before the final eschaton. A refusal to respond to this offer will result in final condemnation. Those who have denied the Lord in the past are given a second chance, but those who deny him in the coming tribulation will be rejected "from their life" (Her. Vis. 2.2).In the vision of the tower under construction (the church), numerous stones (believers) are gathered for the building. Among the rejected are those who are not genuine Christians; they received their faith in hypocrisy. Others do not remain in the truth, and others who go astray are finally burned in fire (Vis. 3.6–7). Some others are novices who turn away before they are baptized, and still others fall away due to hardships, being led astray by their riches. They may become useful stones, however, if they are separated from their riches. The penitents receive 12 commands; salvific life depends on their observance (Her. Man. 12.3–6). Repentance would become unprofitable for the Christian who falls again after restoration (Man. 4.1:8; 3:6).In the Parables, rods of various shapes and sizes represent different kinds of believers: the faithful, rich, double-minded, doubtful-minded, and hypocritical deceivers. These are allowed to repent – if they do not, they will lose eternal life (Her. Sim. 8.6–11). Apostates and traitors who blaspheme the Lord by their sins are completely destroyed (Sim. 8.6:4). Another parable describes apostates as certain stones which are cast away from the house of God and delivered to women who represent 12 vices. They may enter the house again if they follow virgins who represent 12 virtues. Certain apostates became worse than they were before they believed and will suffer eternal death even though they had fully known God. Nevertheless, most people, whether apostates or fallen ministers, have an opportunity to repent and be restored (Sim. 9.13–15, 18ff). Hermas and his audience are to persevere and practice repentance if they wish to partake of life (Sim. 10.2–4).[54]
Irenaeus of Lyons (c. 180) recounts how God has recorded the sins of men of old (David and Solomon)

for our instruction . . . that we might know, in the first place, that our God and theirs is one, and that sins do not please Him although committed by men of renown; and in the second place, that we should keep from wickedness. For if these men of old time, who preceded us in the gifts [bestowed upon them], and for whom the Son of God had not yet suffered, when they committed any sin and served fleshly lusts, were rendered objects of such disgrace, what shall the men of the present day suffer, who have despised the Lord’s coming, and become the slaves of their own lusts? And truly the death of the Lord became [the means of] healing and remission of sins to the former, but Christ shall not die again in behalf of those who now commit sin, for death shall no more have dominion over Him. . . . We ought not, therefore, as that presbyter remarks, to be puffed up, nor be severe upon those of old time, but ought ourselves to fear, lest perchance, after [we have come to] the knowledge of Christ, if we do things displeasing to God, we obtain no further forgiveness of sins, but be shut out from His kingdom. And therefore it was that Paul said, "For if [God] spared not the natural branches, [take heed] lest He also spare not thee" [Romans 11:21]. . . . (Against Heresies, Book 4:27.2)
Irenaeus proceeds to quote from 1 Corinthians 10:1–12,[55] where Israel fell under the judgment of God for craving evil things, and then comments:

As then the unrighteous, the idolaters, and fornicators perished, so also is it now: for both the Lord declares, that such persons are sent into eternal fire; and the apostle says, "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, not effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God." [1 Corinthians 6:9–10] And as it was not to those who are without that he said these things, but to us—lest we should be cast forth from the kingdom of God, by doing any such thing. . . . And again does the apostle say, "Let no man deceive you with vain words; for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the sons of mistrust. Be not ye therefore partakers with them." [Ephesians 5:6–7] (Against Heresies, Book 4:27.4)
Deceptions: watch out for false teachers and heresies[edit]
The "early Christians frequently believed that apostasy came by way of deceivers at the instigation of the devil, and terrible consequences awaited such people."[56] The writings of Ignatius have several warnings about being on guard against false teachers and the heresy they disseminate. In the letter to the Christians at Ephesus, Ignatius is happy to report that "all live according to the truth, and that no sect has any dwelling-place among you. Nor, indeed, do you hearken to any one rather than to Jesus Christ speaking in truth" (Epistle to the Ephesians 6). He mentions that there are false teachers who "are in the habit of carrying about the name [of Jesus Christ] in wicked guile, while yet they practice things unworthy of God, whom you must flee as you would wild beasts. For they are ravening dogs, who bite secretly, against whom you must be on your guard" (Epistle to the Ephesians 7).[57] The readers are further admonished to "Let not then any one deceive you" (Epistle to the Ephesians 8), and commended because "you did not allow [false teachers] to sow among you, but stopped your ears, that you might not receive those things [i.e., false doctrines] which were sown by them" (Epistle to the Ephesians 9). Ignatius then gives this solemn warning:

Do not err, my brethren. Those that corrupt families shall not inherit the kingdom of God. If, then, those who do this as respects the flesh have suffered death, how much more shall this be the case with any one who corrupts by wicked doctrine the faith of God, for which Jesus Christ was crucified! Such a one becoming defiled [in this way], shall go away into everlasting fire, and so shall every one that hearkens unto him. . . . Be not anointed with the bad odor of the doctrine of the prince of this world; let him not lead you away captive from the life which is set before you. And why are we not all prudent, since we have received the knowledge of God, which is Jesus Christ? Why do we foolishly perish, not recognizing the gift which the Lord has of a truth sent to us? (Epistle to the Ephesians 16-17)
In the letter to the Magnesians, Ignatius admonishes his readers, "Be not deceived with strange doctrines, nor with old fables, which are unprofitable" (Epistle to Magnesians 8). Later he writes: "I desire to guard you beforehand, that you fall not upon the hooks of vain doctrine, but that you attain to full assurance in regard to the birth, and passion, and resurrection which took place in the time of the government of Pontius Pilate, being truly and certainly accomplished by Jesus Christ, who is our hope, from which may no one of you ever be turned aside" (Epistle to Magnesians 11). In yet another letter, Ignatius entreats his readers to

use Christian nourishment only, and abstain from herbage of a different kind; I mean heresy. For those [that are given to this] mix up Jesus Christ with their own poison, speaking things which are unworthy of credit, like those who administer a deadly drug in sweet wine, which he who is ignorant of does greedily take, with a fatal pleasure leading to his own death. Be on your guard, therefore, against such persons. (Epistle to the Trallians 6-7)
Furthermore:

Stop your ears, therefore, when any one speaks to you at variance with Jesus Christ, who was descended from David, and was also of Mary; who was truly born, and ate and drank. He was truly persecuted under Pontius Pilate; He was truly crucified, and [truly] died, in the sight of beings in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth. He was also truly raised from the dead, His Father quickening Him, even as after the same manner His Father will so raise up us who believe in Him by Christ Jesus, apart from whom we do not possess the true life. (Epistle to the Trallians 9)
"The final section of the Didache echoes the Synoptic tradition (Matthew 24:4–13, 15, 21–26; Mark 13:5ff; Luke 21:8ff; cf. 2 Thessalonians 2:3ff; Revelation 13:13–14) when it warns against apostasy through the deception of false prophets in the last days:"[56]

Watch for your life's sake. Let not your lamps be quenched, nor your loins unloosed; but be ready, for you know not the hour in which our Lord comes. But often shall you come together, seeking the things which are befitting to your souls: for the whole time of your faith will not profit you, if you be not made perfect in the last time. For in the last days false prophets and corrupters shall be multiplied, and the sheep shall be turned into wolves, and love shall be turned into hate; for when lawlessness increases, they shall hate and persecute and betray one another, and then shall appear the world-deceiver as the Son of God, and shall do signs and wonders, and the earth shall be delivered into his hands, and he shall do iniquitous things which have never yet come to pass since the beginning. Then shall the creation of men come into the fire of trial, and many shall be made to stumble and shall perish; but they that endure in their faith shall be saved from under the curse itself. (Didache 16)
Tertullian argues that believers ought not to be surprised or alarmed at the existence of heresies since Christ and his apostles[58] told us beforehand that they would arise and gave, "in anticipation, warnings to avoid them" (Prescription Against Heretics 4, cf. 1).[59] Neither should believers be surprised that heresies "subvert the faith of some" (Prescription Against Heretics 1). Heresies are a trial to faith, giving faith the opportunity to be approved (Prescriptions Against Heretics 1). While heresies "are produced for the weakening and the extinction of faith," they have "no strength whenever they encounter a really powerful faith" (Prescriptions Against Heretics 2). According to Tertullian, heresy is whatever contradicts the "rule of faith" which he defends as

the belief that there is one only God, and that He is none other than the Creator of the world, who produced all things out of nothing through His own Word, first of all sent forth; that this Word is called His Son, and, under the name of God, was seen in diverse manners by the patriarchs, heard at all times in the prophets, at last brought down by the Spirit and Power of the Father into the Virgin Mary, was made flesh in her womb, and, being born of her, went forth as Jesus Christ; thenceforth He preached the new law and the new promise of the kingdom of heaven, worked miracles; having been crucified, He rose again the third day; (then) having ascended into the heavens, He sat at the right hand of the Father; sent instead of Himself the Power of the Holy Ghost to lead such as believe; will come with glory to take the saints to the enjoyment of everlasting life and of the heavenly promises, and to condemn the wicked to everlasting fire, after the resurrection of both these classes shall have happened, together with the restoration of their flesh. This rule, as it will be proved, was taught by Christ, and raises among ourselves no other questions than those which heresies introduce, and which make men heretics. (Prescription Against Heretics 13)[60]
Tertullian sees heretics as ravenous wolves "lurking within to waste the flock of Christ" (Prescription Against Heretics 4). They pervert the Scriptures by interpreting them to suit their own purposes (Prescription Against Heretics 17, cf. 4, 38).[61] Their teaching opposes the teaching "handed down from the apostles, the apostles from Christ, and Christ from God" (Prescription Against Heretics 37). While persecution makes martyrs, "heresy only apostates" (Prescription Against Heretics 4). In the face of heresies, which may cause a bishop or deacon to "have fallen from the rule (of faith)," the Christian must remain true to the faith, for "no one is a Christian but he who perseveres even to the end" (Prescription Against Heretics 3).
Christian apologist Justin Martyr engages in a dialogue with Trypho (c. 160), who says, "I believe, however, that many of those who say that they confess Jesus, and are called Christians, eat meats offered to idols, and declare that they are by no means injured in consequence" (Dialogue with Trypho 35). Justin's response highlights the importance of remaining faithful to "the true and pure doctrine of Jesus Christ" in the face of false teachers:

The fact that there are such men confessing themselves to be Christians, and admitting the crucified Jesus to be both Lord and Christ, yet not teaching His doctrines, but those of the spirits of error, causes us who are disciples of the true and pure doctrine of Jesus Christ, to be more faithful and steadfast in the hope announced by Him. For what things He predicted would take place in His name, these we do see being actually accomplished in our sight. For he said, "Many shall come in My name, clothed outwardly in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves." And, "There shall be schisms and heresies." [1 Corinthians 11:19] And, "Beware of false prophets, who shall come to you clothed outwardly in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves." And, "Many false Christ's and false apostles shall arise, and shall deceive many of the faithful." There are, therefore, and there were many, my friends, who, coming forward in the name of Jesus, taught both to speak and act impious and blasphemous things; and these are called by us after the name of the men from whom each doctrine and opinion had its origin. (For some in one way, others in another, teach to blaspheme the Maker of all things, and Christ . . . Yet they style themselves Christians. . . .) Some are called Marcians, and some Valentinians, and some Basilidians, and some Saturnilians, and others by other names; each called after the originator of the individual opinion. . . . So that, in consequence of these events, we know that Jesus foreknew what would happen after Him, as well as in consequence of many other events which He foretold would befall those who believed on and confessed Him, the Christ. For all that we suffer, even when killed by friends, He foretold would take place; so that it is manifest no word or act of His can be found fault with. Wherefore we pray for you and for all other men who hate us; in order that you, having repented along with us, may not blaspheme Him who, by His works, by the mighty deeds even now wrought through His name, by the words He taught, by the prophecies announced concerning Him, is the blameless, and in all things irreproachable, Christ Jesus; but, believing on Him, may be saved in His second glorious advent, and may not be condemned to fire by Him. (Dialogue with Trypho 35)
Clement of Alexandria (c. 195) advises against giving into heretical men and their heresies in writing:

He who hopes for everlasting rest knows also that the entrance to it is toilsome "and strait." And let him who has once received the Gospel, even in the very hour in which he has come to the knowledge of salvation, "not turn back, like Lot's wife," as is said; and let him not go back either to his former life, which adheres to the things of sense, or to heresies. . . . He, who has spurned the ecclesiastical tradition, and darted off to the opinions of heretical men, has ceased to be a man of God and to remain faithful to the Lord. (The Stromata, Book 7:16)[62]
Cyprian (c. 251) bids his readers to "use foresight and watching with an anxious heart, both to perceive and to beware of the wiles of the crafty foe, that we, who have put on Christ the wisdom of God the Father, may not seem to be wanting in wisdom in the matter of providing for our salvation" (The Treatises of Cyprian 1:1). He cautions that "it is not persecution alone that is to be feared; nor those things which advance by open attack to overwhelm and cast down the servants of God," for we have an enemy who is to be more feared and guarded against because he secretly creeps in to deceive us under the appearance of peace (The Treatises of Cyprian 1:1). By following the example of the Lord in recognizing and resisting the temptations of the devil, Christians will not be "incautiously turned back into the nets of death," but go on to "possess the immortality that we have received" (The Treatises of Cyprian 1:2).[63] Only by standing fast in learning and doing what Christ commanded does the Christian have security against the onslaughts of the world (The Treatises of Cyprian 1:2). He who does not "must of necessity waver and wander, and, caught away by a spirit of error . . . be blown about; and he will make no advance in his walk towards salvation, because he does not keep the truth of the way of salvation." (The Treatises of Cyprian 1:2) Cyprian says the devil, when he see his idols forsaken and temples deserted by new believers, devises a fraud under "the Christian name to deceive the incautious" (The Treatises of Cyprian 1:3):

He has invented heresies and schisms, whereby he might subvert the faith, might corrupt the truth, might divide the unity. Those whom he cannot keep in the darkness of the old way, he circumvents and deceives by the error of a new way. He snatches men from the Church itself; and while they seem to themselves to have already approached to the light, and to have escaped the night of the world, he pours over them again, in their unconsciousness, new darkness; so that, although they do not stand firm with the Gospel of Christ, and with the observation and law of Christ, they still call themselves Christians, and, walking in darkness, they think that they have the light, while the adversary is flattering and deceiving, who, according to the apostle's word, transforms himself into an angel of light, and equips his ministers as if they were the ministers of righteousness, who maintain night instead of day, death for salvation, despair under the offer of hope, perfidy under the pretext of faith, antichrist under the name of Christ; so that, while they feign things like the truth, they make void the truth by their subtlety. This happens, beloved brethren, so long as we do not return to the source of truth, as we do not seek the head nor keep the teaching of the heavenly Master. (The Treatises of Cyprian 1:3)
Oropeza states,

In view of Eusebius (c. 260-340), Simon Magus was the author of heresy (cf. Acts 8:9–24), and the devil is to be blamed for bringing the Samaritan magician to Rome and empowering him with deceitful arts which led many astray (Eus. Hist. Eccl. 2.13). The magician was supposedly aided by demons and venerated as a god, and Helen, his companion, was thought to be his first emanation (Just. Apol. 1.26; Adv. Haer. 1.33; cf. Iren Haer. 1.23:1–4). Simon's successor, Menander of Samaria, was considered to be another instrument of the devil; he claimed to save humans from the aeons through magical arts. After baptism, his followers believed themselves to be immortal in the present life. It is stated that those who claim such people as their saviors have fallen away from the true hope (Eus. Hist. Eccl. 3.26). Basilides of Alexandria and Saturninus of Antioch followed Menander's ways. Adherents of the former declared that eating meat sacrificed to idols or renouncing the faith in times of persecution were maters of indifference. Carpocrates is labeled as the first of the Gnostics. His followers allegedly transmitted Simon’s magic in an open manner. Eusebius asserts that the devil’s intention was to entrap many believers and bring them to the abyss of destruction by following these deceivers (Hist. Eccl. 4.7).[64]
Persecutions: perseverance and martyrdom[edit]
Oropeza writes:
The Martyrdom of Polycarp is sometimes considered to be the first of the "Acts of the Martyrs." In this document Polycarp is killed for refusing to confess Caesar as Lord and offer incense; he refuses to revile Christ (Mar. Pol. 8ff; similarly, Ign. Rom. 7). Other Christians did not always follow his example. Some fell into idolatry in the face of persecutions.Stirred by his own experience under the Diocletian (c. 284-305) persecution, Eusebius wrote Collection of Martyrs and emphasized persecution and martyrdom in his History of the Church. He describes Christians who persevered and others who fell away. Polycarp and Germanicus were found to be faithful in the persecution at Smyrna (c. 160), but Quintus threw away his salvation in the sight of the wild beasts (Eus. Hist. Eccl. 4.15). During Marcus Aurelius' reign (c. 161-80), Eusebius affirms that the Christians confessed their faith despite their suffering from abuse, plundering, stoning, and imprisonment. It is recorded that in Gaul some became martyrs, but others who were untrained and unprepared (about 10 in number) proved to be "abortions" (εξετρωσαν), discouraging the zeal of others. A woman named Biblias, who had earlier denied Christ, confessed him and was joined with the martyrs. Certain defectors did likewise, but others continued to blaspheme the Christian faith, having no understanding of the "wedding garment" (i.e., Matthew 22:11ff) and no faith (Hist. Eccl. 5.1).During the reign of Decius (c. 249-51), the Christians of Alexandria are said to have endured martyrdom, stoning, or having their belongings confiscated for not worshipping at an idol's temple or chanting incantations. But some readily made unholy sacrifices, pretending that they had never been Christians, while others renounced their faith or were tortured until they did (Hist. Eccl. 6.41). In his account of the Diocletian persecution, Eusebius commends the heroic martyrs but is determined to mention nothing about those who made shipwreck of their salvation, believing that such reports would not edify his readers (8.2:3). He recollects Christians who suffered in horrible ways which included their being axed to death or slowly burned, having their eyes gouged out, their limbs severed, or their backs seared with melted lead. Some endured the pain of having reeds driven under their fingernails or unmentionable suffering in their private parts (8.12).[65]
Clement seeks to inspire perseverance in the midst of suffering with these words: "Let us, therefore, work righteousness, that we may be saved to the end. Blessed are they who obey these commandments, even if for a brief space they suffer in this world, and they will gather the imperishable fruit of the resurrection. Let not the godly man, therefore, grieve; if for the present he suffer affliction, blessed is the time that awaits him there; rising up to life again with the fathers he will rejoice for ever without a grief" (2 Clement 19).
Cyprian (c. 250), commands the presbyters and deacons to take care of the poor and "especially those who have stood with unshaken faith and have not forsaken Christ's flock" while in prison (The Epistles of Cyprian 5:2). These "glorious confessors" need to be instructed that

they ought to be humble and modest and peaceable, that they should maintain the honor of their name, so that those who have achieved glory by what they have testified, may achieve glory also by their characters. . . . For there remains more than what is yet seen to be accomplished, since it is written "Praise not any man before his death;" and again, "Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life." [Revelation 2:10] And the Lord also says, "He that endures to the end, the same shall be saved." [Matthew 10:22]. Let them imitate the Lord, who at the very time of His passion was not more proud, but more humble. (The Epistles of Cyprian 5:2)[66]
Ignatius's letter to the Christians in Rome gives valuable insight into the heart of a Christian who is prepared for martyrdom. Ignatius hopes to see them when he arrives as a prisoner. He fears that the love they have for him will, in some way, save him from certain death (Epistle to the Romans 1-2). Yet, he desires to "obtain grace to cling to my lot without hindrance unto the end" so that he may "attain to God" (Epistle to the Romans 1). He requests prayer for "both inward and outward strength" that he might not "merely be called a Christian, but really found to be one,"--a Christian "deemed faithful" (Epistle to the Romans 3). He says:

I write to the Churches, and impress on them all, that I shall willingly die for God, unless you hinder me. . . . Allow me to become food for the wild beasts, through whose instrumentality it will be granted me to attain to God. I am the wheat of God, and let me be ground by the teeth of the wild beasts, that I may be found the pure bread of Christ. Rather entice the wild beasts, that they may become my tomb, and may leave nothing of my body. . . . Then shall I truly be a disciple of Christ, when the world shall not see so much as my body. Entreat Christ for me, that by these instruments I may be found a sacrifice [to God]. . . . But when I suffer, I shall be the freed-man of Jesus, and shall rise again emancipated in Him. And now, being a prisoner, I learn not to desire anything worldly or vain. . . . And let no one, of things visible or invisible, envy me that I should attain to Jesus Christ. Let fire and the cross; let the crowds of wild beasts; let tearings, breakings, and dislocations of bones; let cutting off of members; let shatterings of the whole body; and let all the dreadful torments of the devil come upon me: only let me attain to Jesus Christ. All the pleasures of the world, and all the kingdoms of this earth, shall profit me nothing. It is better for me to die in behalf of Jesus Christ, than to reign over all the ends of the earth. "For what shall a man be profited, if he gain the whole world, but lose his own soul?" Him I seek, who died for us: Him I desire, who rose again for our sake. This is the gain which is laid up for me. . . . Permit me to be an imitator of the passion of my God. (Epistle to the Romans 4-6)
Tertullian believes that martyrdom is necessary at times in order for soldiers in God's army to obey the command to not worship idols.

If, therefore, it is evident that from the beginning this kind of worship [of idols] has both been forbidden—witness the commands so numerous and weighty—and that it has never been engaged in without punishment following, as examples so numerous and impressive show, and that no offense is counted by God so presumptuous as a trespass of this sort, we ought further to perceive the purport of both the divine threatenings and their fulfillments, which was even then commended not only by the not calling in question, but also by the enduring of martyrdoms, for which certainly He had given occasion by forbidding idolatry. . . . The injunction is given me not to make mention of any other god, not even by speaking—as little by the tongue as by the hand—to fashion a god, and not to worship or in any way show reverence to another than Him only who thus commands me, whom I am both bid fear that I may not be forsaken by Him, and love with my whole being, that I may die for Him. Serving as a soldier under this oath, I am challenged by the enemy. If I surrender to them, I am as they are. In maintaining this oath, I fight furiously in battle, am wounded, hewn in pieces, slain. Who wished this fatal issue to his soldier, but he who sealed him by such an oath? (Scorpiace 4)
In the following chapter Tertullian maintains that "martyrdom is good," especially when the Christian faces the temptation to worship idols, which is forbidden. He goes on to write,

For martyrdom strives against and opposes idolatry. But to strive against and oppose evil cannot be ought but good. . . . For martyrdom contends with idolatry, not from some malice which they share, but from its own kindness; for it delivers from idolatry. Who will not proclaim that to be good which delivers from idolatry? What else is the opposition between idolatry and martyrdom, than that between life and death? Life will be counted to be martyrdom as much as idolatry to be death. . . . Thus martyrdoms also rage furiously, but for salvation. God also will be at liberty to heal for everlasting life by means of fires and swords, and all that is painful. (Scorpiace 5)
Tertullian has a long discussion on the certainty of persecutions and the reality of death for followers of Christ. Quoting extensively from the teachings of Jesus, Tertullian urges Christians towards faithful endurance in order to obtain final salvation with God.

When setting forth His chief commands, "Blessed are they who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." [Matthew 5:10] The following statement, indeed, applies first to all without restriction, then especially to the apostles themselves: "Blessed shall you be when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you, for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad, since very great is your reward in heaven; for so used their fathers to do even to the prophets." [Matthew 5:11–12] So that He likewise foretold their having to be themselves also slain, after the example of the prophets. . . . The rule about enduring persecution also would have had respect to us too, as to disciples by inheritance, and, (as it were,) bushes from the apostolic seed. For even thus again does He address words of guidance to the apostles: "Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves;" [Matthew 10:16] and, "Beware of men, for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues; and you shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles," etc. [Matthew 10:17–18] Now when He adds, "But the brother will deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child; and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death," [Matthew 10:21] He has clearly announced with reference to the others, (that they would be subjected to) this form of unrighteous conduct, which we do not find exemplified in the case of the apostles. For none of them had experience of a father or a brother as a betrayer, which very many of us have. Then He returns to the apostles: "And you shall be hated of all men for my name's sake." How much more shall we, for whom there exists the necessity of being delivered up by parents too! Thus, by allotting this very betrayal, now to the apostles, now to all, He pours out the same destruction upon all the possessors of the name, on whom the name, along with the condition that it be an object of hatred, will rest. But he who will endure on to the end—this man will be saved. By enduring what but persecution—betrayal—death? For to endure to the end is naught else than to suffer the end. And therefore there immediately follows, "The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his own lord;" [Matthew 10:24] because, seeing the Master and Lord Himself was steadfast in suffering persecution, betrayal and death, much more will it be the duty of His servants and disciples to bear the same, that they may not seem as if superior to Him, or to have got an immunity from the assaults of unrighteousness, since this itself should be glory enough for them, to be conformed to the sufferings of their Lord and Master; and, preparing them for the endurance of these, He reminds them that they must not fear such persons as kill the body only, but are not able to destroy the soul, but that they must dedicate fear to Him rather who has such power that He can kill both body and soul, and destroy them in hell [Matthew 10:28]. Who, pray, are these slayers of the body only, but the governors and kings aforesaid—men, I suppose? Who is the ruler of the soul also, but God only? Who is this but the threatener of fires hereafter, He without whose will not even one of two sparrows falls to the ground; that is, not even one of the two substances of man, flesh or spirit, because the number of our hairs also has been recorded before Him? Fear not, therefore. When He adds, "You are of more value than many sparrows," He makes promise that we shall not in vain—that is, not without profit—fall to the ground if we choose to be killed by men rather than by God. "Whosoever therefore will confess in me before men, in him will I confess also before my Father who is in heaven; and whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I deny also before my Father who is in heaven." [Matthew 10:32–34] [What] if a Christian is to be stoned . . . burned . . . butchered . . . [or] put an end to by beasts . . . ? He who will endure these assaults to the end, the same shall be saved. . . . For what does He add after finishing with confession and denial? "Think not that I have come to send peace on earth, but a sword,"—undoubtedly on the earth. "For I have come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law. And a man's foes shall be they of his own household." [Matthew 10:34–35] For so is it brought to pass, that the brother delivers up the brother to death, and the father the son: and the children rise up against the parents, and cause them to die. And he who endures to the end let that man be saved. [Matthew 10:22] So that this whole course of procedure characteristic of the Lord's sword, which has been sent not to heaven, but to earth, makes confession also to be there, which by enduring to the end is to issue in the suffering of death. In the same manner, therefore, we maintain that the other announcements too refer to the condition of martyrdom. "He," says Jesus, "who will value his own life also more than me, is not worthy of me," [Luke 14:26] —that is, he who will rather live by denying, than die by confessing, me; and "he who finds his life shall lose it; but he who loses it for my sake shall find it." [Matthew 10:39] Therefore indeed he finds it, who, in winning life, denies; but he who thinks that he wins it by denying, will lose it in hell. On the other hand, he who, through confessing, is killed, will lose it for the present, but is also about to find it unto everlasting life. Who, now, should know better the marrow of the Scriptures than the school of Christ itself?—the persons whom the Lord both chose for Himself as scholars, certainly to be fully instructed in all points, and appointed to us for masters to instruct us in all points. To whom would He have rather made known the veiled import of His own language, than to him to whom He disclosed the likeness of His own glory—to Peter, John, and James, and afterwards to Paul, to whom He granted participation in (the joys of) paradise too, prior to his martyrdom? Or do they also write differently from what they think—teachers using deceit, not truth? Addressing the Christians of Pontus, Peter, at all events, says, "How great indeed is the glory, if you suffer patiently, without being punished as evildoers! For this is a lovely feature, and even hereunto were you called, since Christ also suffered for us, leaving you Himself as an example, that you should follow His own steps." [1 Peter 2:20–21] And again: "Beloved, be not alarmed by the fiery trial which is taking place among you, as though some strange thing happened unto you. For, inasmuch as you are partakers of Christ's sufferings, do you rejoice; that, when His glory shall be revealed, you may be glad also with exceeding joy. If you are reproached for the name of Christ, happy are you; because glory and the Spirit of God rest upon you: if only none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evil-doer, or as a busybody in other men's matters; yet (if any man suffer) as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God on this behalf." [1 Peter 4:12–14] John, in fact, exhorts us to lay down our lives even for our brethren, [1 John 3:16] affirming that there is no fear in love: "For perfect love casts out fear, since fear has punishment; and he who fears is not perfect in love." [1 John 4:18] What fear would it be better to understand (as here meant), than that which gives rise to denial? What love does he assert to be perfect, but that which puts fear to flight, and gives courage to confess? What penalty will he appoint as the punishment of fear, but that which he who denies is about to pay, who has to be slain, body and soul, in hell? And if he teaches that we must die for the brethren, how much more for the Lord,—he being sufficiently prepared, by his own Revelation too, for giving such advice! For indeed the Spirit had sent the injunction to the angel of the church in Smyrna: "Behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that you may be tried ten days. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you a crown of life." [Revelation 2:10] Also to the angel of the church in Pergamus (mention was made) of Antipas, [Revelation 2:13] the very faithful martyr, who was slain where Satan dwells. Also to the angel of the church in Philadelphia [Revelation 3:10] (it was signified) that he who had not denied the name of the Lord was delivered from the last trial. Then to every conqueror the Spirit promises now the tree of life, and exemption from the second death; now the hidden manna with the stone of glistening whiteness, and the name unknown (to every man save him that receives it); now power to rule with a rod of iron, and the brightness of the morning star; now the being clothed in white raiment, and not having the name blotted out of the book of life, and being made in the temple of God a pillar with the inscription on it of the name of God and of the Lord, and of the heavenly Jerusalem; now a sitting with the Lord on His throne . . . . Who, pray, are these so blessed conquerors, but martyrs in the strict sense of the word? For indeed theirs are the victories whose also are the fights; theirs, however, are the fights whose also is the blood. But the souls of the martyrs both peacefully rest in the meantime under the altar, [Revelation 6:9] and support their patience by the assured hope of revenge; and, clothed in their robes, wear the dazzling halo of brightness, until others also may fully share in their glory. For yet again a countless throng are revealed, clothed in white and distinguished by palms of victory, celebrating their triumph doubtless over Antichrist, since one of the elders says, "These are they who come out of that great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." [Revelation 7:14] For the flesh is the clothing of the soul. The uncleanness, indeed, is washed away by baptism, but the stains are changed into dazzling whiteness by martyrdom. . . . When great Babylon likewise is represented as drunk with the blood of the saints, [Revelation 17:6] doubtless the supplies needful for her drunkenness are furnished by the cups of martyrdoms; and what suffering the fear of martyrdoms will entail, is in like manner shown. For among all the castaways, nay, taking precedence of them all, are the fearful. "But the fearful," says John—and then come the others—"will have their part in the lake of fire and brimstone." [Revelation 21:8] Thus fear, which, as stated in his epistle, love drives out, has punishment. (Scorpiace 9–12)
Readings from the early church fathers such as these led patristic scholar David Bercot to conclude: "Since the early Christians believed that our continued faith and obedience are necessary for salvation, it naturally follows that they believed that a 'saved' person could still end up being lost [through apostasy]."[67]
Primary theological perspectives[edit]
See also: Calvinism, Arminianism, History of Calvinist–Arminian debate and Free will in theology
There appears to be three primary perspectives on apostasy in Protestantism: Classical or Reformed Calvinism, Moderate Calvinism, and Reformed Arminianism.[68]
Classical or reformed Calvinism[edit]
According to John Calvin (1509–1564), once the Holy Spirit brings a person to regeneration (i.e., gives them spiritual life) this experience cannot be lost and leads to final salvation with God.[69] In Calvin's theology, God has predestined to regenerate some (the elect) to eternal life and not to regenerate others (the non-elect) which ensures their eternal damnation (Calvin's Institutes 3.21:5; cf. 3.2:15–40, 14.6–9, 18–20, 24.6f.).[70] The elect may fall away from God's grace temporarily, but the truly elect will eventually be restored and not plunge into final apostasy.[70] Calvin believed that "The Lord uses the fear of final apostasy in order to safeguard true believers against it. Only the ones who ignore the threat are in real danger of falling away."[70] Calvin viewed the passages on apostasy found in Hebrews (6:4–6; 10:26–29) as applying to those in the church having a false faith—reprobates (i.e., unbelievers) who have never experienced regeneration.[70] John Jefferson Davis writes:

Even though Calvin believes that regeneration is irreversible . . . he does not conclude that the Christian has any cause for spiritual complacency. Persevering in God's grace requires, on the human side, "severe and arduous effort." . . . The believer needs to continually feed his soul on the preaching of the Word and to grow in faith throughout the whole course of life. Since it is easy for the believer to fall away for a time from the grace of God, there is constant need for "striving and vigilance, if we would persevere in the grace of God." Calvin thus balances his theological certitudes with pastoral warnings. . . . The believer must continually exercise faith and obedience to make "his calling and election sure."[71]
Others in the Reformed tradition followed Calvin's theology on election, regeneration, perseverance, and apostasy: Zacharias Ursinus (1534–1583);[70] William Perkins (1558–1602);[72] John Owen (1616–1683);[73] John Gill (1697–1771);[74] Jonathan Edwards (1703–1758);[75] and George Whitefield (1714–1770).[76] The Reformed confessions such as the Canons of the Synod of Dort (1619) and the Westminster Confession of Faith (1646) also express views parallel with Calvin's theology.[77]
Moderate Calvinism[edit]
In his book, Reign of the Servant Kings: A Study of Eternal Security and the Final Significance of Man, Free Grace author Joseph Dillow seeks to chart a middle position between the Reformed Calvinist and Arminian position on apostasy.[78] Dillow accepts "the Reformed position that those who are truly born again can never lose their salvation."[78] But he also accepts the Arminian position that the warning passages concerning apostasy in the New Testament (e.g., Hebrews 6) are directed to genuine Christians, not merely professing Christians who are in reality unbelievers as reformed Calvinists assert.[78] There are real dangers in these warning passages, but contrary to the Arminian view, it "is not [the] loss of salvation but severe divine discipline (physical death or worse) in the present time and loss of reward, and even rebuke, at the judgment seat of Christ."[79] Dillow, like other Free Grace adherents, disagrees with reformed Calvinists and Arminians in holding that saving faith in Christ must continue in order for a person to obtain final salvation with God.[80] The prominent authors for the Moderate Calvinist perspective are: R. T. Kendall;[81] Zane C. Hodges;[82] Charles C. Ryrie;[83] Charles Stanley;[84] Norman L. Geisler;[85] and Tony Evans.[86]
Reformed Arminianism[edit]
Reformed Arminianism derives its name from pastor and theologian James Arminius (1560–1609). Right up until his death, Arminius was undecided as to whether a believer could commit apostasy.[87] However, he did affirm like Calvin that believers must continually exercise faith in order to obtain final salvation with God.[88] After the death of Arminius, the Remonstrants maintained their leader's view that the believer has power through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit to be victorious over sin, Satan, and the world, and his uncertainty regarding the possibility of apostasy. This is evidenced in the fifth article drafted by its leaders in 1610.[89] Sometime between 1610, and the official proceeding of the Synod of Dort (1618), the Remonstrants became fully persuaded in their minds that the Scriptures taught that a true believer was capable of committing apostasy. They formalized their views in "The Opinion of the Remonstrants" (1618). Points three and four in the fifth article read:

True believers can fall from true faith and can fall into such sins as cannot be consistent with true and justifying faith; not only is it possible for this to happen, but it even happens frequently. True believers are able to fall through their own fault into shameful and atrocious deeds, to persevere and to die in them; and therefore finally to fall and to perish.[90]
Reformed Arminian scholar Robert Picirilli remarks: "Ever since that early period, then, when the issue was being examined again, Arminians have taught that those who are truly saved need to be warned against apostasy as a real and possible danger."[91] Important treatments regarding apostasy have come from the following Arminians: Thomas Olivers (1725–1799);[92] Richard Watson (1781–1833);[93] Thomas O. Summers (1812–1882);[94] Albert Nash (1812–1900);[95] and William Burt Pope (1822–1903).[96]
Christian denominations that affirm the possibility of apostasy[edit]
The following Christian denominations affirm their belief in the possibility of apostasy in either their articles or statements of faith, or by way of a position paper.
Roman Catholic[97]
Eastern Orthodox Church[98]
Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod[99]
The United Methodist Church[100]
Free Methodist Church[101]
General Association of General Baptists[102]
The Salvation Army[103]
Church of the Nazarene[104]
Assembly of God[105]
National Association of Free Will Baptists[106]
Missionary Church[107]
Anabaptist-Mennonite Tradition[108]
Evangelical Friends Church—Eastern Region[109]
Theologians who affirmed the possibility of apostasy[edit]



Augustine
Augustine (354–430)[edit]
Augustine believed "that God's elect will certainly persevere to the end and attain eternal salvation."[110] However, according to Reformed scholar John Jefferson Davis,

Augustine does not believe that the Christian can in this life know with infallible certitude that he is in fact among the elect and that he will finally persevere. According to Augustine "it is uncertain whether anyone has received this gift [of perseverance] so long as he is still alive." The believers life in this world is a state of trial, and he who seems to stand must take heed lest he fall. . . . In fact ones justification and baptismal regeneration could be rejected and lost through sin and unbelief.[111]
Augustine's views "set the parameters for Aquinas, for the Council of Trent, and for the Roman Catholic tradition generally down to the present day."[112]
Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274)[edit]
Like Augustine, Thomas Aquinas holds "that one who has been justified by grace stands continually in need of the grace of God, since the justified can turn away and be finally lost."[113]
Martin Luther (1483–1546)[edit]



Martin Luther
Like Augustine, Martin Luther believed that salvation or "regeneration occurred through the waters of baptism."[114] "But," noted the Reformer, "all of us do not remain with our baptism. Many fall away from Christ and become false Christians." In his commentary on 2 Peter 2:22 he writes as follows on apostates in the Church: "Through baptism these people threw out unbelief, had their unclean way of life washed away, and entered into a pure life of faith and love. Now they fall away into unbelief and their own works, and they soil themselves again in filth."[115]
Luther held that even if one has experienced the justifying grace of God through faith in Christ, they still "can lose that justification through unbelief or false confidence in works."[116] In his comments on Galatians 5:4, "Ye are fallen from grace," Luther writes, "To fall from grace means to lose the atonement, the forgiveness of sins, the righteousness, liberty, and life which Jesus has merited for us by His death and resurrection. To lose the grace of God means to gain the wrath and judgment of God, death, the bondage of the devil, and everlasting condemnation."[117]
Martin Luther shared with Augustine, Aquinas, and "the Roman Catholic Church of his day the belief that the grace of baptismal regeneration and justification could be lost."[116]
Philip Melancthon (1497–1560)[edit]



Philip Melanchthon
Philip Melancthon wrote a commentary on Romans in 1540. On this particular passage: "Brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live" (Rom. 8:12-13, ESV), Melanchthon calls this "teaching about the new obedience." [118] Paul gives this teaching so people "born again by faith" "may understand what the obedience in the saints is like, and what is the nature of the sin on account of which they fall from grace and lose faith and the Holy Spirit."[119] This new obedience "acknowledges God, obeys him, and fights against the impulses of the flesh which carry a person along against the will of God."[120] When Paul says "'If you mortify the actions of the flesh by the Spirit,' he testifies that there are in saints some sinful actions, namely, concupiscence [i.e., strong sexual desire; lust]; various evil desires; . . . being inflamed with desire for revenge; hatred; avarice [i.e., greed]; etc."[121] These sins do not lead to "eternal death" when the saints fight against these sins by faith through Christ their mediator. It is

when those who had been sanctified indulge in and obey such desires, do not fight against them, and are without repentance. Such persons lose faith and the Holy Spirit and are condemned to eternal death unless they return to repentance. Thus when David had become an adulterer, he was without faith and the Holy Spirit, and would have been lost if he had not afterward been restored through repentance. Here belongs what is said in this passage: "If you will live according to the flesh," that is, if you will obey the evil desires, "you will die." The same thought is frequently repeated in Scripture. . . . 1 Cor. 6[:9]: "Do not be deceived; neither the immoral, nor idolaters, ... will inherit the kingdom of God." Gal. 5[:21]: "Those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God." Col. 3[:6]: "On account of which the wrath of God is coming on the disobedient . . ." [122]
Puritan John Goodwin demonstrated that Melanchthon fully supported the possibility of Christians committing apostasy:

"There are two errors . . . of fanatic men, which must briefly be confuted, who conceit that men regenerated cannot lapse” or fall, "and that though they do fall, and this against the light of their conscience, yet they are righteous," or in a state of justification. "This madness is to be condemned, and both instances and sayings from the scriptures of the apostles and prophets are opposed to it. Saul and David pleased God, were righteous, had the Holy Spirit given unto them, yet afterward fell, so that one of them perished utterly; the other returned again to God. There are many sayings" to the same point. And having cited, upon the said account, Matthew 12:43-44; 2 Peter 2:20-21; 1 Corinthians 10:12; Revelation 2:5., he subjoins: "These and the like sayings, being spoken of regenerate men, testify that they may fall, and that in case they fall against their consciences they please not God unless they be converted." Elsewhere thus: "Whereas it hath been said that sins remain in the regenerate, it is necessary that a difference be made; for certain it is that they who rush into sinful practices against conscience do not continue in grace, nor retain faith, righteousness, or the Holy Spirit; neither can faith stand with an evil purpose of heart against conscience." A little after: "But that they fall from grace, and shed faith and the Holy Spirit, and become guilty of the wrath of God and of eternal punishment, who commit sin against conscience, many sayings" in the Scriptures "clearly testify;" to which purpose he cites Galatians 5:19; 1 Corinthians 6:9, etc. . . . Writing upon the those words of the apostle [Paul], 1 Corinthians 10:12, "Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall,"—"But that in some who had the beginnings of faith, and afterwards falling, return not, that faith of theirs was true before it was lost" or shaken out, "the sayings of Peter, 2 Peter 2:20, testifieth."[123]
Thomas Helwys (1550–1616)[edit]
Thomas Helwys was one of the joint founders of the Baptist denomination along with John Smyth.[124] After breaking with Smyth in 1610, Helwys wrote "A Declaration of Faith of English People Remaining at Amsterdam in Holland in 1611."[125] Helwys clearly communicates his stance regarding apostasy in point seven of the Declaration:

Men may fall away from the grace of GOD (Hebrews 12:15) and from the truth, which they have received and acknowledged (Hebrews 10:26) after they have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the HOLY SPIRIT, and have tasted of the good word of GOD, and of the powers of the world to come (Hebrews 6:4, 5). And after they have escaped from the filthiness of the World, may be tangled again therein and overcome (2 Peter 2:20). A righteous man may forsake his righteousness and perish (Ezekiel 18:24, 26). Therefore let no man presume to think that because he has, or once had grace, therefore he shall always have grace. But let all men have assurance, that if they continue to the end, they will be saved. Let no man then presume; but let all work out their salvation with fear and trembling.[126]
Simon Episcopius (1583–1643)[edit]



Simon Episcopius
Simon Episcopius was the leader of the Remonstrants and primary author of "The Opinions of the Remonstrants 1618" and "The Arminian Confession of 1621."[127] In the Confession the Remonstrants were "persuaded that none is to be easily condemned, or blotted out of the register of Christians who holds fast to faith in Christ, and in hope of the good things promised by him, [and who] seek from the heart to obey his commands . . . ."[128] Furthermore,

Even if it is true that those who are adept in the habit of faith and holiness can only with difficulty fall back to their former profaneness and dissoluteness of life (Hebrews 6), yet we believe that it is entirely possible, if not rarely done (Hebrews 6:4; Revelation 2 & 3; 2 Peter 2:18; Ezekiel 18:24; Hebrews 4:1–2; 10:28–29; 10:38–39; 1 Timothy 1:19–20; Romans 11:18) that they fall back little by little and until they completely lack their prior faith and charity. And having abandoned the way of righteousness, they revert to their worldly impurity which they had truly left, returning like pigs to wallowing in the mud and dogs to their vomit, and are again entangled in lusts of the flesh which they had formerly, truly fled. And thus totally and at length also they are finally torn from the grace of God unless they seriously repent in time.[129]
John Goodwin (1594–1665)[edit]
John Goodwin was a Puritan who "presented the Arminian position of falling away in Redemption Redeemed (1651)."[73] Goodwins work was primarily dedicated to refuting the Calvinist doctrine of limited atonement, but he digresses from his main topic and spends 300 pages attempting to disprove the Calvinist doctrine of unconditional perseverance.[130]
John Bunyan (1628–1688)[edit]
Apostasy receives allegorical treatment in John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. Christian and his companion Hopeful, soon after their first encounter with Ignorance, "entered into a very dark lane, where they met a man whom seven devils had bound with seven strong cords, and were carrying him back to the door that they saw on the side of the Hill."[131] Christian believes he recognizes the captive as Turn-Away, who dwells in the town of Apostacy.
Thomas Grantham (1634–1692)[edit]
Thomas Grantham "was for many years the principal minister among the General Baptists," and he wrote "chiefly in explanation or defense of Baptist sentiments. The largest was a folio volume, entitled Christianismus Primitivus."[132] In it he writes,

That such who are true believers, even branches of Christ the vine, and that in the account of Christ whom he exhorts to abide in him, or such who have Charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned, 1 Timothy 1:5, may nevertheless for want of watchfulness, swerve and turn aside from the same, and become dead branches, cast into the fire, and burned [John 15:6]. But such who add unto their Faith Virtue, and unto Virtue Knowledge, and unto Knowledge Temperance, &c. such shall never fall [2 Peter 1:5–10], for they are kept by the power of God though Faith unto Salvation [1 Peter 1:5].[133]
John Wesley (1703–1791)[edit]



John Wesley
John Jefferson Davis writes,

In the treatise "Predestination Calmly Considered" Wesley observed that believers might infer from their own experience of grace that it is impossible to finally fall away. Nevertheless, whatever assurance God might give to particular souls "I find no general promise in holy writ, that none who once believes shall finally fall." Scripture, and not personal experience or inferences drawn from it, states Wesley, must be decisive in the matter. In his treatise "Serious Thoughts on the Perseverance of the Saints" Wesley allows that the apostle Paul—and many believers today—were fully persuaded of their final perseverance. Nevertheless such an assurance does not prove that every believer will persevere or that every believer enjoys such assurance. Based on his reading of Hebrews 6:4, 6; 10:26–29; 2 Peter 2:20–21 and other NT texts, Wesley is persuaded that a true believer can make shipwreck of his faith and perish everlastingly.[134]
Implications[edit]
Michael Fink writes:

Apostasy is certainly a biblical concept, but the implications of the teaching have been hotly debated.[135] The debate has centered on the issue of apostasy and salvation. Based on the concept of God's sovereign grace, some hold that, though true believers may stray, they will never totally fall away. Others affirm that any who fall away were never really saved. Though they may have "believed" for a while, they never experienced regeneration. Still others argue that the biblical warnings against apostasy are real and that believers maintain the freedom, at least potentially, to reject God's salvation.[136]
McKnight says that "apostasy ought not to be used as a continual threat so much as an occasional warning of the disaster that Christians may bring upon themselves if they do not examine themselves. As a warning, apostasy can function as a moral injunction that strengthens commitment to holiness as well as the need to turn in complete trust to God in Christ through his Spirit."[137] Some argue that the desire for salvation shows one does not have "an evil, unbelieving heart" leading to apostasy.[138] As Fink puts it, "persons worried about apostasy should recognize that conviction of sin in itself is evidence that one has not fallen away."[139]
See also[edit]
List of former Christians
Christian atheism
Backsliding
Arminian doctrine of individual apostasy, see Conditional Preservation of the Saints
Christian heresy
Conversion to Christianity
Great Apostasy
Rejection of Jesus
Julian the Apostate
Apostasy in other religions[edit]
Apostasy in Islam
Apostasy in Judaism
Notes[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b Paul W. Barnett, Dictionary of the Later New Testament and its Developments, "Apostasy," 73.
2.Jump up ^ Richard A. Muller, Dictionary of Greek and Latin Theological Terms: Drawn Principally from Protestant Scholastic Theology, 41. "Apostasy is generally defined as the determined, willful rejection of Christ and His teachings by a Christian believer (Heb. 10:26-29; . . .)(Nelson's New Illustrated Bible Dictionary: Completely Revised and Updated Edition by Ronald F. Youngblood (Editor) [Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1995], 91). The Tyndale Bible Dictionary defines apostasy as a "Turning against God, as evidenced by abandonment and repudiation of former beliefs. The term generally refers to a deliberate renouncing of the faith by a once sincere believer . . ." ("Apostasy," Walter A. Elwell and Philip W. Comfort, editors, 95). Holman Treasury of Key Bible Words: "People who commit apostasy abandon their faith and repudiate their former beliefs. . . . Apostasy is a complete and final rejection of God" ("Apostasy," Eugene E. Carpenter & Philip W. Comfort, 227). The Dictionary of Christian Theology (edited by Alan Richardson) says apostasy "means the deliberate disavowal of belief in Christ made by a formerly believing Christian" ("Apostasy," R.P.C. Hanson; The Westminster Press, 1969, 12). Baker's Dictionary of Theology (editor in chief Everett F. Harrison) "Cremer states that apostasia is used in the absolute sense of 'passing over to unbelief,' thus a dissolution of the 'union with God subsisting through faith in Christ'" ("Apostasy," Robert Winston Ross [Baker Book House, 1976], 57).
3.Jump up ^ Scot McKnight, Dictionary of Theological Interpretation of the Bible, "Apostasy," 58.
4.Jump up ^ "Apostasy and Perseverance in Church History" in Paul and Apostasy: Eschatology, Perseverance, and Falling Away in the Corinthian Congregation, 2. Paul Barnett provides four reasons for apostasy: (1) Moral or Spiritual Failure; (2) Persecution; (3) False Teaching; (4) Self-Choice (Dictionary of the Later New Testament, 75)
5.Jump up ^ Oropeza, Paul and Apostasy, 2-3.
6.Jump up ^ Walter Bauder, "Fall, Fall Away," The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology (NIDNTT), 1:606.
7.Jump up ^ Michael Fink, "Apostasy," in the Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, 87. In Acts 21:21, "Paul was falsely accused of teaching the Jews apostasy from Moses . . . [and] he predicted the great apostasy from Christianity, foretold by Jesus (Matthew 24:10–12), which would precede 'the Day of the Lord' (2 Thessalonians 2:2f.)" (D. M. Pratt, International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, "Apostasy," 1:192).
8.Jump up ^ Pratt, International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, 1:192. Holman Treasury of Key Bible Words: "Many New Testament passages, using different words, convey warnings against apostasy" ("Apostasy," Carpenter & Comfort, 227).
9.Jump up ^ Bauder, NIDNTT, 1:606
10.Jump up ^ The Complete Biblical Library: Greek English Dictionary, apostasia, 10:394, and aphistēmi, 10:506. "In the LXX it [aphistēmi] is frequently a technical term for apostasy (from God), e.g., Deut 32:15; Jer 3:14; cf. also 1QS 7:18, 23" (Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament, 1:183).
11.Jump up ^ "The Greek verb [aphistēmi] is related to the noun that means 'apostasy'; it means to abandon, to defect, to forsake. Here it is to lose faith in the Christian message, to quit believing" (Robert G. Bratcher, A Translator's Guide to the Gospel of Luke, 132). Timothy Friberg, Barbara Friberg, Neva F. Miller: "in a religious sense fall away, become apostate (Luke 8:13)" (Analytical Lexicon of the Greek New Testament, 84). Hermann Cremer: "to denote religious apostasy, in contrast to πιστεύειν [believe/trust], Luke 8:13. . . . Thus [aphistēmi] = to dissolve the union formed with God by faith and obedience" (Biblico-Theological Lexicon of the New Testament Greek, 308).
12.Jump up ^ "to make defection, fall away, apostatize, Luke 8:13; 1 Tim. 4:1; Heb. 3:12" (William D. Mounce, Gen. Ed., Mounce's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, aphistēmi, 1103). "To make defection from, to revolt, to apostatize, (Luke 8:13; 1 Tim. 4:1; Heb. 3:12)" (Strong's Complete Word Study Concordance, Expanded Edition, Editor: Warren Baker, aphistēmi, 2039).
13.Jump up ^ NIDNTT, 1:607-608. I. Howard Marshall says piptō, to fall (Romans 11:11, 22; 1 Corinthians 10:12; Hebrews 4:11); parapiptō, to fall away, transgress (Hebrews 6:6), pararrheō, to drift away (Hebrews 2:1); and skandalizō/skandalon, to stumble, offend (John 6:61; 16:1) are also expressions connected to the concept of apostasy (Kept by the Power of God, 217, note 4).
14.Jump up ^ NIDNTT, 1:610-611
15.Jump up ^ Heinz Giesen, Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament, 3:248. Nigel Turner says, "A look at the New Testament and patristic phenomena reveals that the meaning is two-fold, 'either to put someone off from becoming a believer or to cause a believer to fall away. The scandal of the Cross is an instance of the first meaning, to cause to apostatize an instance of the second' [quoting from G. D. Kilpatrick, Journal of Theological Studies NS 10 (1959), p. 129]. (Christian Words [T. Nelson Publishers, 1981], Offence: skandalizō; skandalon, 294 and 304, fn. 5).
16.Jump up ^ Heinz Giesen, Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament, 3:249.
17.Jump up ^ I. Howard Marshall, Kept by the Power of God: A Study of Perseverance and Falling Away, 217.
18.Jump up ^ Gustav Stählin: In Matt. 13:41 . . . [skandalon] here, and only here in the New Testament, is patently used of persons. The Old Testament ring of the second member (transgressor of the Law) suggests that [skandalon] are those who seduce into breaking the Law. In the New Testament interpretation they are those who lead into sin and apostasy . . . . As the [weeds] are sown by the devil (v. 39, cf. 15:13), so the [skandalon] are the devil's children (cf. John 8:38, 41, 44; 1 John 3:10) who work against God in the kingdom of the Son of Man (Matt. 13:41) and try to cause as many as possible to fall. Their end will come with that of the devil and his hosts (on v. 42 cf. Rev. 20:10). The counterpart (cf. v. 30) to the gathering out of the [skandalon] from the kingdom of the Son of Man is the gathering of the elect from all the kingdoms of the world (Matt. 24:31), both by angels. (Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, 7:346-347) Nigel Turner: "To be a skandalon is to achieve the moral ruin of another person. . . . The angels will gather the offenders [i.e., skandalon] out of the Kingdom and [throw them] into the fire (Matt 18:6f.; 13:41; Mark 9:42; Luke 17:1f.)" (Christian Words, 296).
19.Jump up ^ Gustav Stählin: Both woes [in Matt. 18:7] show how terribly dangerous [skandalon] are. At issue are the loss of eternal salvation and eternal perdition. (Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, 7:347)
20.Jump up ^ Gustav Stählin: In Mark 9:42 (which has come down to us in all three Gospels . . .), the point is the avoidance of [skandalon]. This is again an eschatological saying, for the one thing more terrible than being drowned with a mill-stone about one's neck is damnation at the Last Judgment. The punishment fits the offence. [skandalon] means "to cause loss of faith," i.e., "to rob of eternal salvation." Thus the [skandalon] is himself plunged into eternal perdition. (Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, 7:351)
21.Jump up ^ Geoffrey Bromiley: A similar eschatological light falls on Mark 9:43ff.; Matt. 5:29-30; 18:8-9. The meaning of skandalízō here is "to entice into sin" and therefore to plunge into unbelief and perdition. No price is too high to avoid this; hence the relentless demand of Jesus. (Geoffrey W. Bromiley, trans., Gerhard Kittel, Gerhard Friedrich, ed., Theological Dictionary of the New Testament: Abridged in One Volume, 1037-1038)
22.Jump up ^ Geoffrey Bromiley: Tensions in the churches are the occasion of skándalon (cf. the debates between the strong and the weak in Rom. 14-15 and 1 Cor. 8:1ff.; 10:23ff.). The freedom of those who have fully cast off the past causes offense to those who have not, but it also creates the danger that these will act against their consciences or with wavering faith. In this case the danger is the serious one of an ultimate eschatological fall (Rom. 14:15, 23). The strong with their freedom may destroy the weak [v. 15] and therefore overturn God's work in Christ [v. 20]. Paul, then, sides with the weak even though he shares the faith of the strong (Rom. 15:1). (Theological Dictionary of the New Testament: Abridged in One Volume, 1038)
23.Jump up ^ Geoffrey Bromiley: False teachers [in Rom. 16:17 f.] cause both divisions and skándala, which are probably temptations to abandon sound doctrine. A similar use of skándalon occurs in Rev. 2:14 (cf. also Matt. 13:41), where "to put a stumbling block" recalls Lev. 19:14 and carries the sense of seduction into apostasy and immorality (cf. vv. 15, 20). (Theological Dictionary of the New Testament: Abridged in One Volume, 1038)
24.Jump up ^ Heinz Giesen, Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament, 3:248-250.
25.^ Jump up to: a b c Dictionary of the Later New Testament, 74.
26.Jump up ^ Barnett, Dictionary of the Later New Testament, 75
27.Jump up ^ Barnett, Dictionary of the Later New Testament, 73.
28.Jump up ^ "The Warning Passages of Hebrews: A Formal Analysis and Theological Conclusions," Trinity Journal 13.1 (1992): 23.
29.Jump up ^ "The Warning Passages of Hebrews," 25
30.Jump up ^ "The Warning Passages of Hebrews," 54
31.Jump up ^ The Dictionary of Biblical Imagery, "Apostasy," 39.
32.^ Jump up to: a b c d Dictionary of Biblical Imagery, 39.
33.Jump up ^ LXX = the Septuagint—the Greek translation of the Old Testament.
34.Jump up ^ Dictionary of Biblical Imagery, 39. Paul Barnett says, "Jesus foresaw the fact of apostasy and warned both those who would fall into sin as well as those who would cause others to fall (see, e.g., Mark 9:42–49)." (Dictionary of the Later New Testament, 73).
35.Jump up ^ Dictionary of Biblical Imagery, 39
36.^ Jump up to: a b Dictionary of Biblical Imagery, 40
37.Jump up ^ Dictionary of Biblical Imagery, 40.
38.Jump up ^ Dictionary of the Later New Testament, 75. So Oropeza, Paul and Apostasy, 3-12. See also Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs: A Reference Guide to More Than 700 Topics Discussed by the Early Church Fathers, edited by David Bercot, under the topic of "Salvation," "Can those who are saved ever be lost?": 586-591.
39.Jump up ^ Peabody: Hendrickson, 1994, obtained at http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/index.html
40.Jump up ^ Three sentences earlier these "gifts of God" (1 Clement 35:1) are mentioned as: "Life in immortality, splendor in righteousness, truth in perfect confidence, faith in assurance, self-control in holiness!" (1 Clement 35:2)
41.Jump up ^ Clement places a lot of emphasis on works of righteousness—avoiding sin and pursuing holiness. However, one should keep in mind that he says: "And we, too, [like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob] . . . are not justified by ourselves, nor by our own wisdom, or understanding, or godliness, or works which we have wrought in holiness of heart; but by that faith through which, from the beginning, Almighty God has justified all men." (1 Clement 32)
42.Jump up ^ Ignatius later writes: "For where there is division and wrath, God does not dwell. To all them that repent, the Lord grants forgiveness, if they turn in penitence to the unity of God, and to communion with the bishop" (Philadelphians 8:1).
43.Jump up ^ B. J. Oropeza comments that this passage refers to "careless Christians" who forfeit their "salvific life" (Paul and Apostasy, 203)
44.Jump up ^ For believers to become wicked sinners is, in the author's mind, to share in their same fate—"eternal death with punishments" (Barnabas 20:1).
45.^ Jump up to: a b Oropeza, Paul and Apostasy, 3.
46.Jump up ^ The following is a summary of the way of light: to love and glorify God; to not join yourself with those who walk in the way of death; to not forsake the Lord’s commandments; to not exalt or take glory to yourself; to not take evil counsel against your neighbor; to not allow over-boldness to enter into your soul; to not commit fornication or adultery; to not be a corrupter of youth; to not allow any kind of impurity to come out of your mouth; to not be mindful of evil against your brother; to not be of a doubtful mind; to not take the name of the Lord in vain; to not slay the child by procuring abortion, nor destroying it after it is born; to not covet; to not make a schism; to hate what is unpleasing to God and all hypocrisy; to hate the wicked one; to be pure in your soul (as far as possible); to be meek and peaceable; to love your neighbor; and to confess your sins. (Barnabas 19:2–12)
47.Jump up ^ The vices which lead to death and "destroy the soul" (Barnabas 20:1) are the following: idolatry, over-confidence, the arrogance of power, hypocrisy, double-heartedness, adultery, murder, rapine [i.e., plundering], haughtiness, transgression, deceit, malice, self-sufficiency, poisoning, magic, avarice, want of the fear of God. [In this way, too,] are those who persecute the good, those who hate truth, those who love falsehood, those who know not the reward of righteousness, those who cleave not to that which is good, those who attend not with just judgment to the widow and orphan, those who watch not to the fear of God, [but incline] to wickedness, from whom meekness and patience are far off; persons who love vanity, follow after a reward, pity not the needy, labor not in aid of him who is overcome with toil; who are prone to evil-speaking, who know not Him that made them, who are murderers of children, destroyers of the workmanship of God; who turn away him that is in want, who oppress the afflicted, who are advocates of the rich, who are unjust judges of the poor, and who are in every respect transgressors. (Barnabas 20:1–2)
48.Jump up ^ Other vices to be abstained from are: murder, adultery, pederasty, fornication, stealing, practicing magic or witchcraft, killing a child by abortion; coveting; bearing false witness; speaking evil; lying; filthy talking; hypocrisy; hating others, money-loving, lustful, being hot-tempered, jealous, or quarrelsome. (Didache 1–4)
49.Jump up ^ The vices that the author associates with the way of death are: murders, adulteries, lusts, fornications, thefts, idolatries, magic arts, witchcrafts, rapines [i.e., plunderings], false witnessings, hypocrisies, double-heartedness, deceit, haughtiness, depravity, self-will, greediness, filthy talking, jealousy, over-confidence, loftiness, boastfulness; persecutors of the good, hating truth, loving a lie, not knowing a reward for righteousness, not cleaving to good nor to righteous judgment, watching not for that which is good, but for that which is evil; from whom meekness and endurance are far, loving vanities, pursuing requital, not pitying a poor man, not laboring for the afflicted, not knowing Him that made them, murderers of children, destroyers of the handiwork of God, turning away from him that is in want, afflicting him that is distressed, advocates of the rich, lawless judges of the poor, utter sinners. Be delivered, children, from all these. (Didache 5)
50.^ Jump up to: a b Oropeza, Paul and Apostasy, 4.
51.Jump up ^ Polycarp goes on to counsel presbyters to "be compassionate and merciful to all, bringing back those that wander," and to "be zealous in the pursuit of that which is good, keeping ourselves from causes of offense, from false brethren, and from those who in hypocrisy bear the name of the Lord, and draw away vain men into error" (Philippians 6).
52.Jump up ^ To be avaricious is to have an insatiable greed for riches.
53.Jump up ^ Later Clement writes: I think not that I counted trivial counsel concerning continence [i.e., self-restraint]; following it, a man will not repent thereof, but will save both himself and me who counseled. For it is no small reward to turn back a wandering and perishing soul for its salvation. [James 5:19–20] . . . Let us, therefore, continue in that course in which we, righteous and holy, believed. . . . So, then, brethren, having received no small occasion to repent, while we have opportunity, let us turn to God who called us, while yet we have One to receive us. For if we renounce these indulgences and conquer the soul by not fulfilling its wicked desires, we shall be partakers of the mercy of Jesus. . . . Let us, then, repent with our whole heart, that no one of us may perish amiss. For if we have commands and engage in withdrawing from idols and instructing others, how much more ought a soul already knowing God not to perish. Rendering, therefore, mutual help, let us raise the weak also in that which is good, that all of us may be saved. . . . Let us remember the commandments of the Lord, and not be allured back by worldly lusts, but let us . . . draw near and try to make progress in the Lord's commands, that we all having the same mind may be gathered together for life. (2 Clement 15–17)
54.Jump up ^ Paul and Apostasy, 4–5.
55.Jump up ^ Irenaeus wrote: Thou wilt notice, too, that the transgressions of the common people have been described in like manner, not for the sake of those who did then transgress, but as a means of instruction unto us, and that we should understand that it is one and the same God against whom these men sinned, and against whom certain persons do now transgress from among those who profess to have believed in Him. But this also, [as the presbyter states,] has Paul declared most plainly in the Epistle to the Corinthians, when he says, "Brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and were all baptized unto Moses in the sea, and did all eat the same spiritual meat, and did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them; and the rock was Christ. But with many of them God was not well pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. These things were for our example (in figuram nostri), to the intent that we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted; neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them, as it is written: The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them also did, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents. Neither murmur ye, as some of them murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer. But all these things happened to them in a figure, and were written for our admonition, upon whom the end of the world (saeculorum) is come. Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall." (Against Heresies, Book 4:27.3)
56.^ Jump up to: a b Oropeza, Paul and Apostasy, 6.
57.Jump up ^ In another letter Ignatius writes: "Wherefore, as children of light and truth, flee from division and wicked doctrines. . . . For there are many wolves . . . who, by means of a pernicious pleasure, carry captive those that are running towards God; but in your unity they shall have no place" (Epistle to the Philadelphians 2).
58.Jump up ^ Tertullian mentions that it is the same apostle Paul, who in his letter to the Galatians: counts "heresies" among "the sins of the flesh," [Galatians 5:20] who also intimates to Titus, that "a man who is a heretic" must be "rejected after the first admonition," on the ground that "he that is such is perverted, and commits sin, as a self-condemned man." [Titus 3:10–11] Indeed, in almost every epistle, when enjoining on us (the duty) of avoiding false doctrines, he sharply condemns heresies. Of these the practical effects are false doctrines, called in Greek heresies, a word used in the sense of that choice which a man makes when he either teaches them (to others) or takes up with them (for himself). For this reason it is that he calls the heretic self-condemned, because he has himself chosen that for which he is condemned. We, however, are not permitted to cherish any object after our own will, nor yet to make choice of that which another has introduced of his private fancy. In the Lord's apostles we possess our authority; for even they did not of themselves choose to introduce anything, but faithfully delivered to the nations (of mankind) the doctrine which they had received from Christ. If, therefore, even "an angel from heaven should preach any other gospel" (than theirs), he would be called accursed by us. (Prescription Against Heretics 6)
59.Jump up ^ Therefore, heresies "must be shunned" (Prescription Against Heretics 4).
60.Jump up ^ Tertullian believes that all heresies "have been introduced by the devil" (Prescription Against Heretics 40).
61.Jump up ^ Tertullian notes that heretics frequently hang out with loose company, and that ungodliness is the natural effect of their teaching, since "they say that God is not to be feared; therefore all things are in their view free and unchecked" (Prescription against Heretics 43).
62.Jump up ^ Only he who "believes the Scripture and voice of the Lord, which by the Lord acts to the benefiting of men, is rightly [regarded] faithful." (The Stromata, Book 7:16). Heretics are those who are "giving themselves up to pleasures, [and] wrest Scripture, in accordance with their lusts," and "wrest them to their own opinions" (The Stromata, Book 7:16). Furthermore, when they quote from the Scriptures they "alter the meanings . . . according to their true nature" (The Stromata, Book 7:16). Therefore, the author concludes that "we must never, as do those who follow the heresies, adulterate the truth, or steal the canon of the Church, by gratifying our own lusts and vanity, by defrauding our neighbors; whom above all it is our duty, in the exercise of love to them, to teach to adhere to the truth" (The Stromata, Book 7:16).
63.Jump up ^ Cyprian states that this immortality is not possessed "unless we keep those commands of Christ whereby death is driven out and overcome, when He Himself warns us, and says, 'If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments?' [Matthew 19:17] And again: 'If ye do the things that I command you, henceforth I call you not servants, but friends.' [John 16:15]" (The Treatises of Cyprian 1:2)
64.Jump up ^ Paul and Apostasy, 6–7. Oropeza adds: The use of anathemas and excommunications became the normative means of handling heresy. Hippolytus (c. 170–236) affirmed that there was no place for the heretic in the church; expulsion from the earthly Eden was their lot. Cyprian (c. 258) viewed the heretics as those who lose their salvation because they put themselves outside the unity of the church. Cyril of Alexandria (c. 444) anathematized Nestorianism, and creeds (such as the Athanasian) declared anathemas on those who did not hold to the tenets of the creed. The condemnation of heretics gave way to abuse as church and state distinctions were blurred after the time of Constantine. (Paul and Apostasy, 7)
65.Jump up ^ Paul and Apostasy, 8. Terrullian (c. 213) asks, "Does God covet man's blood [i.e., via martyrdom]? And yet I might venture to affirm that He does, if man also covets the kingdom of heaven, if man covets a sure salvation. . . .” (Scorpiace 6).
66.Jump up ^ In another letter, Cyprian rejoices over the presbyter and other confessors of Christ "whom the devil has not been able to overcome," but shares how he is grieved "over those whom a hostile persecution has cast down" (The Epistles of Cyprian 6:1).
67.Jump up ^ Will the Real Heretics Please Stand Up: A New Look at Today's Evangelical Church in the Light of Early Christianity, 65. From his extensive research New Testament scholar B. J. Oropeza arrived at the same conclusion: "The church fathers would affirm the reality of the phenomenon of apostasy" (Paul and Apostasy, 13). For Opropeza's full discussion on "Apostasy and Perseverance in Church History," see pages 1–13. Traditional Calvinists Thomas R. Schreiner and Ardel B. Caneday, in their book The Race Set Before Us: A Biblical Theology of Perseverance and Assurance (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2001), recommend that readers see Oropeza's "excellent history of interpretation on the matter of perseverance and apostasy" (10, footnote 2).
68.Jump up ^ See Oropeza, Paul and Apostasy, 1-34. One can find each of these views being represented in the book Four Views on Eternal Security (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002), which deals with the topic of apostasy. The fourth view in this book, "Wesleyan Arminianism," shares so much in common with "Reformed Arminianism" regarding apostasy that it does not seem to warrant a separate treatment. See also the Four Views on the Warning Passages in Hebrews (Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 2007).
69.Jump up ^ John Jefferson Davis, "The Perseverance of the Saints: A History of the Doctrine," 217. Davis goes on to write: "This view is apparent in Calvin's comment on 1 John 3:9 ('No one born of God commits sin, for God's nature abides in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God'). Calvin argues that the apostle John 'plainly declares that the Spirit continues his grace in us to the last, so that inflexible perseverance is added to newness of life.' Can the fear and love of God be extinguished in the truly regenerate? No, because 'the seed, communicated when God regenerates his elect, as it is incorruptible, retains its virtue perpetually.' The 'seed' is the presence of God's new life in the believer." ("The Perseverance of the Saints: A History of the Doctrine," 217)
70.^ Jump up to: a b c d e Oropeza, Paul and Apostasy, 15.
71.Jump up ^ Davis, "The Perseverance of the Saints: A History of the Doctrine," 222.
72.Jump up ^ Oropeza, Paul and Apostasy, 15-16.
73.^ Jump up to: a b Oropeza, Paul and Apostasy, 17.
74.Jump up ^ Oropeza, Paul and Apostasy, 20.
75.Jump up ^ Oropeza, Paul and Apostasy, 19.
76.Jump up ^ Oropeza, Paul and Apostasy, 19–20.
77.Jump up ^ Davis, "The Perseverance of the Saints: A History of the Doctrine," 222–223.
78.^ Jump up to: a b c Reign of the Servant Kings, xvi.
79.Jump up ^ Reign of the Servant Kings, 22; cf. xvi, 20–21.
80.Jump up ^ Norman Geisler believes that "Continued belief is not a condition for keeping one's salvation." ("Moderate Calvinism," Four Views on Eternal Security, 109). Zane Hodges says: ". . . We miss the point to insist that true saving faith must necessarily continue. Of course, our faith in Christ should continue. But the claim that it absolutely must . . . has no support at all in the Bible" (Absolutely Free! A Biblical Reply to Lordship Salvation, 63). Charles Stanley writes, "To say that our salvation can be taken from us for any reason, whether it be sin or disbelief, is to ignore the plain meaning of this text [Ephesians 2:8–9]" (Eternal Security, 81). Dillow believes: "it is possible for true Christians to fail to persevere in faith and, in remote cases, even to deny the faith altogether (Hebrews 10:26, 35)" (Reign of the Servant Kings, 21). What a Christian "forfeits when he 'falls away' [into unbelief and apostasy] is not his eternal destiny but his opportunity to reign with Christ's metochoi [companions] in the coming kingdom" (The Reign of the Servant Kings, 202). Dillow comments, "Even though [Arminian] Robert Shank would not agree, it is definitely true that saving faith is 'the act of a single moment whereby all the benefits of Christ's life, death, and resurrection suddenly become the irrevocable possession of the individual, per se, despite any and all eventualities'" (The Reign of the Servant Kings, 202). For Dillow, any and all eventualities would include falling away from the Christian faith and to "cease believing." (The Reign of the Servant Kings, 199).
81.Jump up ^ Once Saved, Always Saved (1983, 1995).
82.Jump up ^ Absolutely Free! A Biblical Reply to Lordship Salvation (1989).
83.Jump up ^ So Great Salvation: What it Means to Believe in Jesus Christ (1989, 1997).
84.Jump up ^ Eternal Security: Can You Be Sure? (1990).
85.Jump up ^ Chosen But Free: A Balanced View of Divine Election, 2nd edition (1999, 2001); also Four Views on Eternal Security, "Moderate Calvinism," (2002).
86.Jump up ^ Totally Saved (2004).
87.Jump up ^ Arminius wrote: "My sentiments respecting the perseverance of the Saints are, that those persons who have been grafted into Christ by true faith, and have thus been made partakers of his life-giving Spirit, possess sufficient powers [or strength] to fight against Satan, sin, the world and their own flesh, and to gain the victory over these enemies – yet not without the assistance of the grace of the same Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ also by his Spirit assists them in all their temptations, and affords them the ready aid of his hand; and, provided they stand prepared for the battle, implore his help, and be not wanting to themselves, Christ preserves them from falling. So that it is not possible for them, by any of the cunning craftiness or power of Satan, to be either seduced or dragged out of the hands of Christ. But I think it is useful and will be quite necessary in our first convention, [or Synod] to institute a diligent inquiry from the Scriptures, whether it is not possible for some individuals through negligence to desert the commencement of their existence in Christ, to cleave again to the present evil world, to decline from the sound doctrine which was once delivered to them, to lose a good conscience, and to cause Divine grace to be ineffectual. Though I here openly and ingenuously affirm, I never taught that a true believer can, either totally or finally fall away from the faith, and perish; yet I will not conceal, that there are passages of scripture which seem to me to wear this aspect; and those answers to them which I have been permitted to see, are not of such a kind as to approve themselves on all points to my understanding. On the other hand, certain passages are produced for the contrary doctrine [of unconditional perseverance] which are worthy of much consideration" (Works of Arminius, 2:219-220). William Nichols notes: "Arminius spoke nearly the same modest words when interrogated on this subject in the last Conference which he had with Gomarus [a Calvinist], before the states of Holland, on the 12th of Aug. 1609, only two months prior to his decease" (Works of Arminius, 1:665). B. J. Oropeza says, "Although Arminius denied having taught final apostasy in his Declaration of Sentiments, in the Examination of the Treatise of Perkins on the Order and Mode of Predestination he writes that a person who is being 'built' into the church of Christ may resist the continuation of this process. Concerning the believers, 'It may suffice to encourage them, if they know that no power or prudence can dislodge them from the rock, unless they of their own will forsake their position.' [Works of Arminius, 3:455, cf. 1:667] A believing member of Christ may become slothful, give place to sin, and gradually die altogether, ceasing to be a member. [Works of Arminius, 3:458] The covenant of God (Jeremiah 23) 'does not contain in itself an impossibility of defection from God, but a promise of the gift of fear, whereby they shall be hindered from going away from God so long as that shall flourish in their hearts.' If there is any consistency in Arminius' position, he did not seem to deny the possibility of falling away" (Paul and Apostasy, 16).
88.Jump up ^ Arminius writes: "God resolves to receive into favor those who repent and believe, and to save in Christ, on account of Christ, and through Christ, those who persevere [in faith], but to leave under sin and wrath those who are impenitent and unbelievers, and to condemn them as aliens from Christ" (Works of Arminius, 2:465; cf. 2:466). In another place he writes: "[God] wills that they, who believe and persevere in faith, shall be saved, but that those, who are unbelieving and impenitent, shall remain under condemnation" (Works of Arminius, 3:412; cf. 3:413).
89.Jump up ^ The article reads: That those who are incorporated into Christ by a true faith, and have thereby become partakers of his life-giving Spirit, have thereby full power to strive against Satan, sin, the world, and their own flesh, and to win the victory; it being well understood that it is ever through the assisting grace of the Holy Ghost; and that Jesus Christ assists them through his Spirit in all temptations, extends to them his hand, and if only they are ready for the conflict, and desire his help, and are not inactive, keeps them from falling, so that they, by not craft or power of Satan, can be misled nor plucked out of Christ's hand, according to the Word of Christ, John 10:28: 'Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.' But whether they are capable, through negligence, of forsaking again the first beginnings of their life in Christ, of again returning to this present evil world, of turning away from the holy doctrine which was delivered them, of losing a good conscience, of becoming devoid of grace, that must be more particularly determined out of the Holy Scripture, before we ourselves can teach it with full persuasion of our minds.(Philip Schaff, editor. The Creeds of Christendom Volume III: The Evangelical Protestant Creeds, "The Articles of the Remonstrants," 3:548-549)
90.Jump up ^ Peter Y. DeJong, Crisis in the Reformed Churches: Essays in Commemoration of the Great Synod of Dordt, 1618–1619, 220ff.
91.Jump up ^ Grace, Faith, Free Will, 198.
92.Jump up ^ A Full Refutation of the Doctrine of Unconditional Perseverance: In a Discourse on Hebrews 2:3 (1790).
93.Jump up ^ Theological Institutes (1851): Volume 2, Chapter 25.
94.Jump up ^ Systematic Theology: A Complete Body of Wesleyan Arminian Divinity Consisting of Lectures on the Twenty-Five Articles of Religion (1888): 2:173-210.
95.Jump up ^ Perseverance and Apostasy: Being an Argument in Proof of the Arminian Doctrine on that Subject (1871).
96.Jump up ^ A Compendium of Christian Theology: Being Analytical Outlines of a Course of Theological Study, Biblical, Dogmatic, Historical (1879), 3:131-147; A Higher Catechism of Theology (1883): 276-291.
97.Jump up ^ The Catholic teaching on apostasy is found in The Catechism of the Catholic Church (first published in the United States in 1994, and the Second Edition in 2003). According to Pope John Paul II it is "presented as a full, complete exposition of Catholic doctrine" (Catechism, "Apostolic Letter"). See sections 161-162; and 1849-1861, obtained at http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/ccc_toc2.htm
98.Jump up ^ While the Orthodox Church has no statement of faith or position paper on the possibility of apostasy, two Orthodox resources support the conditional security of the believer and the possibility of apostasy—see http://evangelicalarminians.org/files/Orthodox%20Church%20Affirms%20Conditional%20Security.pdf
99.Jump up ^ "The Solid Declaration of the Formula of Concord" reads: "Thus many receive the Word with joy, but afterwards fall away again, Luke 8:13. But the cause is not as though God were unwilling to grant grace for perseverance to those in whom He has begun the good work, for that is contrary to St. Paul, Philippians 1:6; but the cause is that they wilfully turn away again from the holy commandment [of God], grieve and embitter the Holy Ghost, implicate themselves again in the filth of the world, and garnish again the habitation of the heart for the devil. With them the last state is worse than the first, 2 Peter 2:10, 20; Ephesians 4:30; Hebrews 10:26; Luke 11:25" (XI. Election, #42, Obtained at http://bookofconcord.org/sd-election.php). Also, "The Solid Declaration of the Formula of Concord" reads: "Above all, therefore, the false Epicurean delusion is to be earnestly censured and rejected, namely, that some imagine that faith and the righteousness and salvation which they have received can be lost through no sins or wicked deeds, not even through willful and intentional ones, but that a Christian although he indulges his wicked lusts without fear and shame, resists the Holy Ghost, and purposely engages in sins against conscience, yet none the less retains faith, God's grace, righteousness, and salvation. Against this pernicious delusion the following true, immutable, divine threats and severe punishments and admonitions should be often repeated and impressed upon Christians who are justified by faith: 1 Cor. 6:9: Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, etc., shall inherit the kingdom of God. Gal. 5:21; Eph. 5:5: They which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Rom. 8:13: If ye live after the flesh, ye shall die. Col. 3:6: For which thing's sake the wrath of God cometh upon the children of disobedience" (IV. Good Works, #31-32, obtained at http://bookofconcord.org/sd-goodworks.php)
100.Jump up ^ Cyclopaedia of Methodism (Philadelphia: Louis H. Everts, 1882): "Arminian churches . . . do not believe that those who are converted will necessarily be [finally] saved. They ground their belief further on the warnings which are given by our Savior and his apostles, in teaching the necessity of watchfulness and prayer, in the warnings against falling away contained in many passages of Scripture, and the express declaration that some had been made 'shipwreck of faith' and had fallen away. . . . The Methodist Churches, being Arminian in theology, totally reject the doctrine of the necessary perseverance of the saints, while at the same time they teach that the prayerful and obedient, while they remain in that condition, can never be separated from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. They believe it, however, to be necessary to use all diligence to make their 'calling and election sure'" ("Perseverance, Final," 708-709). Leland Scott, in Encyclopedia of World Methodism, (Nashville: The United Methodist Publishing House, 1974): [John Wesley says] "Arminians hold, that a true believer may 'make shipwreck of faith and a good conscience;' that he may fall, not only foully, but finally, so as to perish forever." (The Question, "What is an Arminian?" Answered. 1770). . . . [According to Wesley] "a man may forfeit the free gift of God, either by sins of omission or commission." ("What is an Arminian?" question 11) How important, therefore, for every believer to beware, "lest his heart be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin;' . . . lest he should sink lower and lower, till he wholly fall away, till he become as salt that hath lost its savor: for if he thus sin willfully, after we have received the experimental 'knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins' . . ." (Sermon on the Mount, IV, i, 8, 1747). . . . Perseverance in grace, therefore, was conditioned upon the believer's persevering! Although the believer continued dependent upon atoning, redeeming grace throughout the course of his salvation, nevertheless—for Wesley—such grace (as seen through Scripture) must be considered finally resistible, the Spirit could finally be quenched. Thus the believer is "saved from the fear, though not from the possibility, of falling away from the grace of God" (Sermon 1. ii. 4.) ("Perseverance, Final," 1888-1889). Mark B. Stokes says: "Other people say, 'once in grace always in grace.' . . . But we United Methodist believe that we are still free to turn away from Christ even while we are Christians. . . . The Bible is filled with examples of people who started out well and ended up tragically. . . . We experience no state of grace which is beyond the possibility of falling" (Major United Methodist Beliefs, Revised and Enlarged [Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1990], 117-118). Article XII—Of Sin After Justification: "Not every sin willingly committed after justification is the sin against the Holy Ghost, and unpardonable. Wherefore, the grant of repentance is not to be denied to such as fall into sin after justification. After we have received the Holy Ghost, we may depart from grace given, and fall into sin, and, by the grace of God, rise again and amend our lives. And therefore they are to be condemned who say they can no more sin as long as they live here; or deny the place of forgiveness to such as truly repent. (The Articles of Religion of the Methodist Church, obtained at http://archives.umc.org/interior.asp?ptid=1&mid=1650) Charles Yrigoyen writes: "Article XII addresses the problem of our disobedience and sin after we have been prepared by grace and have accepted God's offer of pardon and forgiveness (justifying grace) by faith. . . . After justification, any of us 'may depart from grace given, and fall into sin, and, by the grace of God, rise again and amend our lives.' In this Article there is a plain denial of what some call 'eternal security' or 'once saved, always saved,' which claims that once people have received the saving grace of God, they cannot lose their salvation" (Belief Matters: United Methodism's Doctrinal Standards [Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2001], 85).
101.Jump up ^ See "Does Doctrine Matter?" By Donald N. Bastian available at http://wilmorefmc.org/truth/theology/
102.Jump up ^ "We believe that those who abide in Christ have the assurance of salvation. However, we believe that the Christian retains his freedom of choice; therefore, it is possible for him to turn away from God and be finally lost. (A) Assurance: Matthew 28:20; 1 Corinthians 10:13; Hebrews 5:9. (B) Endurance: Matthew 10:22; Luke 9:62; Colossians 1:23; Revelation 2:10-11; 3:3-5. (C) Warnings: John 15:6; Romans 11:20-23; Galatians 5:4; Hebrews 3:12; 10:26-29; 2 Peter 2:20-21. (D) Finally Lost: John 15:6; 1 Corinthians 9:27; Hebrews 6:4-6." "Statements of Faith," obtained at http://s3.amazonaws.com/mychurchwebsite/c1707/statementsoffaith.pdf
103.Jump up ^ See The Salvation Army Handbook of Doctrine [2010], 179-190, obtained at http://salvationist.ca/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/26defc89-e794-4e5a-a567-0793f3742430_English+Handbook+of+Doctrine+web.pdf
104.Jump up ^ "We believe that all persons, though in the possession of the experience of regeneration and entire sanctification, may fall from grace and apostatize and, unless they repent of their sins, be hopelessly and eternally lost." "Articles of Faith," obtained at http://www.nazarene.org/ministries/administration/visitorcenter/articles/display.aspx
105.Jump up ^ See Position Paper "The Security of the Believer" at http://www.ag.org/top/beliefs/position_papers/pp_downloads/pp_4178_security.pdf
106.Jump up ^ See A Trestise of the Faith and Practice of the National Association of Free Will Baptists, Inc., Chapter XIII Perseverance of the Saints and the Appendix to Chapter XIII available at http://www.nafwb.org/files/images/treatise09.pdf
107.Jump up ^ See Position Paper "The Assurance of the Believer," available at http://www.mcusa.org/AboutMC/PositionPapers/TheAssuranceoftheBeliever.aspx
108.Jump up ^ See J. C. Wenger, Introduction to Theology: A Brief Introduction to the Doctrinal Content of Scripture Written in the Anabaptist-Mennonite Tradition (Scottdale: Herald Press, 1954), 306-309, obtained at http://evangelicalarminians.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Wenger-Anabaptist-Mennonite-on-Apostasy.pdf
109.Jump up ^ See Faith and Practice: The Book of Discipline 2013, obtained at http://efcer.org/media/1/9/Faith-and-Practice-2013.pdf. "We further believe that the fullness of the Holy Spirit does not make believers incapable of choosing to sin, nor even from completely falling away from God, yet it so cleanses and empowers them as to enable them to have victory over sin, to endeavor fully to love God and people, and to witness to the living Christ. [2 Corinthians 7:1; 2 Peter 2:20-22; Acts 1:8]” (Faith and Practice, 11). "Security of the Believer: Evangelical Friends believe that the security of the believer, even for eternity, is indicated in God’s Word and witnessed to by the Holy Spirit to the individual, but we do not hold this security to be unconditional. As repentance and faith are the human conditions of acceptance of God’s free offer of salvation, so faith manifested by obedience is necessary to continuance in that salvation (Hebrews 5:9; I John 2:4)." (Faith and Practice, 22) Evangelical Friends Church—Eastern Region is associated with Evangelical Friends International.
110.Jump up ^ John Jefferson Davis, "The Perseverance of the Saints: A History of the Doctrine," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 34:2 (June 1991), 213.
111.Jump up ^ "Perseverance of the Saints," 213-214.
112.Jump up ^ Davis, "Perseverance of the Saints," 214. So Oropeza: [According to Augustine] "The graces of justification and salvation could still be lost" (Paul and Apostasy, 10).
113.Jump up ^ Davis, "Perseverance of the Saints," 214
114.Jump up ^ Davis, "Perseverance of the Saints," 215.
115.Jump up ^ Davis, "Perseverance of the Saints," 215-216.
116.^ Jump up to: a b Davis, "Perseverance of the Saints," 216.
117.Jump up ^ Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians (1535), translated by Theodore Graebner (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1949). Obtained from Project Wittenberg at http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/wittenberg/luther/gal/web/gal5-01.html On Galatians 5:1, "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free," Luther comments: "Our liberty is founded on Christ Himself, who sits at the right hand of God and intercedes for us. Therefore our liberty is sure and valid as long as we believe in Christ. As long as we cling to Him with a steadfast faith we possess His priceless gifts [forgiveness of sins and eternal life are two that Luther mentions in the previous paragraph]. But if we are careless and indifferent we shall lose them. It is not without good reason that Paul urges us to watch and to stand fast. He knew that the devil delights in taking this liberty away from us" (Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians). Stephen Pfurtner cites Luther's commentary on Hebrews 3:16, where Lurther warns, "We must therefore fear lest through apostasy we should lose again the beginning of a new creation" (Luther and Aquinas on Salvation, 142).
118.Jump up ^ Philipp Melanchthon, Commentary on Romans, translated by Fred Kramer [Concordia Publishing House, 2010], 172.
119.Jump up ^ Melanchthon, Commentary on Romans, 172.
120.Jump up ^ Melanchthon, Commentary on Romans, 172.
121.Jump up ^ Melanchthon, Commentary on Romans, 173.
122.Jump up ^ Melanchthon, Commentary on Romans, 173. Later in the commentary Melanchthon says, "He [Jesus] sits at the right hand of the Father and saves the believers with divine power, sustains and vivifies them, if only we do not fall away from him" (Commentary on Romans, 183). In his Annotations on the First Epistle to the Corinthians, Melanchthon comments on 1 Corinthians 10:1 (which seem to take in the fuller context of verses 2–12) appear to support apostasy. He says Paul "urges them to persevere in the justification which is taking place. His argument is by example. There are also the histories or examples of prophecy in Scripture. The fathers were rejected because of their sins, idolatry, laziness, lust, unbelief, etc. We must therefore be on guard lest the same sins cheat us of salvation" (109).
123.Jump up ^ John Goodwin, Redemption Redeemed, 503-504.
124.Jump up ^ Helwys, Thomas
125.Jump up ^ Joe Early Jr., The Life and Writings of Thomas Helwys, 64. Early says the "purpose of A Declaration of Faith was to differentiate the beliefs of Helwys congregation from that of Smyths" (Life and Writings of Thomas Helwys, 64). This Declaration is "Recognized by the majority of Baptist scholars as the first true English Baptist confession of the faith" (Early, The Life and Writings of Thomas Helwys, 64).
126.Jump up ^ Early, The Life and Writings of Thomas Helwys, 69-70.
127.Jump up ^ Keith D. Stanglin says "that the Opinions of the Remonstrants, [was] drawn up by Episcopius in 1618" ("Arminius and Arminianism: An Overview," 17, as found in Arminius, Arminianism, and Europe: Jacobus Arminius (1559/60-1609)). Mark A. Ellis, says the Remonstrants "selected Episcopius and two others to write it [the Confession] but in the end, he did the work alone" ("Introduction," The Arminian Confession of 1621, ix).
128.Jump up ^ The Arminian Confession of 1621, Preface, 30.
129.Jump up ^ The Arminian Confession of 1621, 11.7. See "Arminian Confession of 1621 and Apostasy" at http://evangelicalarminians.org/files/Arminian%20Confession%20of%201621%20and%20Apostasy.pdf In "The Opinions of the Remonstrants 1618" points three and four in the fifth article read: "True believers can fall from true faith and can fall into such sins as cannot be consistent with true and justifying faith; not only is it possible for this to happen, but it even happens frequently. True believers are able to fall through their own fault into shameful and atrocious deeds, to persevere and to die in them; and therefore finally to fall and to perish." See "The Opinions of the Remonstrants (1618)" at http://evangelicalarminians.org/files/Opinions%20of%20the%20Remonstrants%20%281618%29.pdf
130.Jump up ^ See Redemption Redeemed, 226–527. Goodwin's book can be read at http://evangelicalarminians.org/Goodwin-Redemption-Redeemed
131.Jump up ^ John Bunyan, The Pilgrim's Progress, 103.
132.Jump up ^ baptistlibraryonline.com
133.Jump up ^ Christianismus Primitives, 2:70. In A Dialogue Between the Baptist and the Presbyterian, the exchange appears to reveal Grantham's belief in apostasy: "Presbyterian: . . . It is certain that Judas could not but betray Christ, seeing God’s Decrees are immutable. . . . Baptist: . . . And as to the Instance of Judas, Antiquity is against you. For thus saith Chrysostom, Judas, my Beloved, was at first a Child of the Kingdom, when he heard it said to him with the Disciples, Ye shall sit on twelve Thrones; but at last he became a Child of Hell. Chrysostom Orat. 52 as quoted by Mr. John Goodwin. Presbyterian: I perceive you hold that a Child of God may possibly fall away and perish. This is a dangerous Error. Baptist: That Some may depart from the Faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, is clear in the Word of God [1 Timothy 4:1] . . . . For my part, though I doubt not but there is a state attainable, even in this Life, from which by the Grace of God Christians shall not fall, yet I hold it a vanity for any Man to affirm of himself, or of any other Person in particular, that it is impossible for him to fall. I hold it better by far, for the best, as well as others, to take heed lest they fall [1 Corinthians 10:12]. (19–20)
134.Jump up ^ Davis, "Perseverance of the Saints," 224.
135.Jump up ^ McKnight adds: "Because apostasy is disputed among Christian theologians, it must be recognized that ones overall hermeneutic and theology (including ones general philosophical orientation) shapes how one reads texts dealing with apostasy." Dictionary of Theological Interpretation of the Bible, 59.
136.Jump up ^ Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, "Apostasy," 87.
137.Jump up ^ Dictionary of Theological Interpretation of the Bible, 60.
138.Jump up ^ Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, 87-88
139.Jump up ^ Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, 87
References[edit]
Atwood, Craig D., Hill, Samuel S., and Mead, Frank S. Handbook of Denominations in the United States, 12th Edition (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2005).
Bercot, David W, editor. A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs: A Reference Guide to More Than 700 Topics Discussed by the Early Church Fathers (Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers, 1998).
Bercot, David W. Will the Real Heretics Please Stand Up: A New Look at Today's Evangelical Church in the Light of Early Christianity (Amberson: Scroll Publishing Company, 1989).
Bromiley, Geoffrey W, general editor. International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (Grand Rapids: Williams B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1979).
Brown, Colin, editor, The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, 3 Volumes (Grand Rapids: Regency Reference Library/Zondervan, 1975–1978).
Davis, John Jefferson. "The Perseverance of the Saints: A History of the Doctrine," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 34:2 (June 1991), 213-228.
Draper, Charles W., Brand, Chad, England, Archie, editors. Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary (Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers, 2003).
Early, Joe Jr. The Life and Writings of Thomas Helwys (Macon: Mercer University Press, 2009).
Ellis, Mark A. translator and editor, The Arminian Confession of 1621 (Eugene: Pickwick Publications, 2005).
Elwell, Walter A. and Comfort, Philip W. editors, Tyndale Bible Dictionary (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, 2001).
Gilbrant, Thoralf, and Ralph W. Harris, eds. The Complete Biblical Library: New Testament, 16 Volumes (Springfield: The Complete Biblical Library, 1986–1991).
Hildebrand, Dietrich von. The New Tower of Babel: Modern Man's Flight from God. Manchester, N.H.: Sophia Press, 1994, cop. 1953. 217 p. ISBN 0-918477-22-0
Leeuwen, Van Marius Th., Stanglin, Keith D. and Tolsma, Marijke, editors. Arminius, Arminianism, and Europe: Jacobus Arminius (1559/60-1609) (London: Brill, 2009).
Luther, Martin. Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians (1535), translated by Theodore Graebner (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1949). Obtained from Project Wittenberg at http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/wittenberg/luther/gal/web/gal5-01.html
Marshall, I. Howard. Kept by the Power of God: A Study of Perseverance and Falling Away (Minneapolis: Bethany Fellowship, Inc., 1969).
Martin, Ralph P. and Davids, Peter H., editors, Dictionary of the Later New Testament and its Developments, (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1997).
McKnight, Scot. "The Warning Passages of Hebrews: A Formal Analysis and Theological Conclusions," Trinity Journal 13:1 (1992): 21-59.
Melanchthon, Philip. Annotations on the First Epistle to the Corinthians, translated by John Patrick Donnelly (Milwaukee: Marquette University Press, 1995).
Muller, Richard A. Dictionary of Greek and Latin Theological Terms: Drawn Principally from Protestant Scholastic Theology (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1985).
Oropeza, B. J. Paul and Apostasy: Eschatology, Perseverance, and Falling Away in the Corinthian Congregation (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2000).
Pfürtner, Stephen. Luther and Aquinas on Salvation (New York: Sheed and Ward, 1964).
Ryken, Leland, Wilhoit, Jim, Longman, Tremper, Duriez, Colin, Penny, Douglas, Reid, Daniel G., editors, Dictionary of Biblical Imagery (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1998).
Summers, Thomas O. Systematic Theology: A Complete Body of Wesleyan Arminian Divinity, Consisting of Lectures on the Twenty-Five Articles of Religion (Nashville: Methodist Episcopal Church, South, 1888).
Vanhoozer, Kevin J. editor, Dictionary of Theological Interpretation of the Bible (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House Company, 2005).
External links[edit]
"Perseverance of the Saints: A History of the Doctrine" by John Jefferson Davis (a Traditional Calvinist)
"Early Christian Writers on Apostasy and Perseverance" by Steve Witzki
  


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Apostasy in Christianity

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 Judas betrays Jesus with a kiss. Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve Apostles, became an apostate.[1]
Apostasy in Christianity refers to the rejection of Christianity by someone who formerly was a Christian. The term apostasy comes from the Greek word apostasia ("ἀποστασία") meaning defection, departure, revolt or rebellion. It has been described as "a willful falling away from, or rebellion against, Christianity. Apostasy is the rejection of Christ by one who has been a Christian...."[2] "Apostasy is a theological category describing those who have voluntarily and consciously abandoned their faith in the God of the covenant, who manifests himself most completely in Jesus Christ."[3] "Apostasy is the antonym of conversion; it is deconversion."[1]
According to B. J. Oropeza, the warning passages in the New Testament describe at least three dangers which could lead a Christian to commit apostasy:[4]
Temptations: Christians were tempted to engage in various vices that were a part of their lives before they became Christians (idolatry, sexual immorality, covetousness, etc.).Deceptions: Christians encountered various heresies and false teachings spread by false teachers and prophets that threatened to seduce them away from their pure devotion to Christ.Persecutions: Christians were persecuted by the governing powers of the day for their allegiance to Christ. Many Christians were threatened with certain death if they would not deny Christ.
Persecution is highlighted in the Epistle to the Hebrews and the First Epistle of Peter. The issue of false teachers/teachings are found in Johannine and Pauline epistles, and in the Second Epistle of Peter and the Epistle of Jude. A number of sections in the writings of Paul and James focus on vices and virtues. "These and other early texts helped to shape the trajectory of Christian response to the phenomenon of defection in the post-apostolic era. The Christians were to persevere through various types of opposition, standing firm against temptation, false doctrine, hardships and persecution."[5]


Contents  [hide]
1 Biblical teaching 1.1 The Letter to the Hebrews
1.2 Imagery 1.2.1 Rebellion
1.2.2 Turning away
1.2.3 Falling away
1.2.4 Adultery
1.2.5 Other images

2 Views of the early church fathers 2.1 Temptations: avoid vices and practice virtues
2.2 Deceptions: watch out for false teachers and heresies
2.3 Persecutions: perseverance and martyrdom
3 Primary theological perspectives 3.1 Classical or reformed Calvinism
3.2 Moderate Calvinism
3.3 Reformed Arminianism
4 Christian denominations that affirm the possibility of apostasy
5 Theologians who affirmed the possibility of apostasy 5.1 Augustine (354–430)
5.2 Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274)
5.3 Martin Luther (1483–1546)
5.4 Philip Melancthon (1497–1560)
5.5 Thomas Helwys (1550–1616)
5.6 Simon Episcopius (1583–1643)
5.7 John Goodwin (1594–1665)
5.8 John Bunyan (1628–1688)
5.9 Thomas Grantham (1634–1692)
5.10 John Wesley (1703–1791)
6 Implications
7 See also 7.1 Apostasy in other religions
8 Notes
9 References
10 External links

Biblical teaching[edit]
Further information: Conditional preservation of the saints
The Greek noun apostasia (rebellion, abandonment, state of apostasy, defection)[6] is found only twice in the New Testament (Acts 21:21; 2 Thessalonians 2:3).[7] However, "the concept of apostasy is found throughout Scripture."[8] The related verb aphistēmi (go away, withdraw, depart, fall away)[9] carries considerable theological significance in three passages (Luke 8:13; 1 Timothy 4:1; Hebrews 3:12).[10]

Luke 8:11–13 – Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away. (ESV)[11]
1 Timothy 4:1 – But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons. (NASB)
Hebrews 3:12–14 – Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called "today," that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. (ESV)[12]
In The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, Wolfgang Bauder writes:

1 Timothy 4:1 describes "falling away from the faith" in the last days in terms of falling into false, heretical beliefs. Lk. 8:13 probably refers to apostasy as a result of eschatological temptation. Here are people who have come to believe, who have received the gospel "with joy." But under the pressure of persecution and tribulation arising because of the faith, they break off the relationship with God into which they have entered. According to Hebrews 3:12, apostasy consists in an unbelieving and self-willed movement away from God (in contrast to Hebrews 3:14), which must be prevented at all costs. aphistēmi thus connotes in the passages just mentioned the serious situation of becoming separated from the living God after a previous turning towards him, by falling away from the faith. It is a movement of unbelief and sin, which can also be expressed by other words (cf. the par. to Luke 8:13 in Matthew 13:21; Mark 4:17; . . .). Expressions equivalent in meaning to the warning in 1 Timothy 4:1 include nauageō, suffer shipwreck, 1:19; astocheō miss the mark, 1:6; 6:21; 2 Timothy 2:18; cf. also aperchomai, go away, John 6:66; apostrephō, turn away; arneomai, deny; metatithēmi, change, alter; mē menein, do not abide, John 15:6; . . . [see also] the pictures of defection in Matthew 24:9–12, and Revelation 13."[13]
Wolfgang Bauder goes on add that piptō, fall (1 Corinthians 10:12; Hebrews 4:11), and ekpiptō, fall off or from (Galatians 5:4; 2 Peter 3:17), is used figuratively in the New Testament to refer to "the consequent loss of salvation, rather than of a mere failure from which recovery can be made. It is a catastrophic fall, which means eternal ruin. If it were not so, all the warnings against falling would lose their threatening urgency. To fall into sin and guilt, as an expression of a total attitude, is to plunge into irrevocable misfortune."[14]
The following passages where the verb skandalizō ("fall away from faith")[15] and the noun skandalon ("enticement to unbelief, cause of salvation's loss, seduction"):[16] are theologically important as well:[17]

Matthew 5:27-30 – You heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit-adultery'. But I say to you that everyone looking at a woman so as to desire her already committed adultery with her in his heart. And if your right eye is causing you to fall [skandalizō], tear it out and throw it from you. For it is better for you that one of your body-parts perish and your whole body not be thrown into Gehenna. And if your right hand is causing you to fall [skandalizō], cut it off and throw it from you. For it is better for you that one of your body-parts perish and your whole body not go into Gehenna. (Disciples Literal New Testament or DLNT)
Matthew 13:20-21 – The seed sown on rocky ground is the person who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy. But he has no root in himself and does not endure; when trouble or persecution comes because of the word, immediately he falls away [skandalizō]. (NET)
Matthew 13:40-42 – [Jesus is talking to his disciples] Therefore, just as the darnel is collected and burned up with fire, so it will be at the conclusion of the age. The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will collect out of His kingdom all the causes-of-falling [skandalon] and the ones doing lawlessness. And they will throw them into the furnace of fire. In that place, there will be the weeping and the grinding of teeth. (DLNT)[18]
Matthew 18:6-9 – [Jesus is talking to his disciples] But whoever causes one of these little ones believing in Me to fall [skandalizō]—it would be better for him that a donkey’s millstone be hung around his neck and he be sunk in the deep part of the sea. Woe to the world because of the causes-of-falling [skandalon]. For it is a necessity that causes-of-falling [skandalon] should come; nevertheless, woe to the person through whom the cause-of-falling [skandalon] comes. But if your hand or your foot is causing you to fall [skandalizō], cut it off and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter into life crippled or lame than to be thrown into the eternal fire having two hands or two feet. And if your eye is causing you to fall [skandalizō], tear it out and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter into life one-eyed than to be thrown into the Gehenna of fire having two eyes. (DLNT)[19]
Matthew 24:4, 9-10, 13 – And Jesus answered them [his disciples], See that no one leads you astray. . . . They will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. And then many will fall away [skandalizō] and betray one another and hate one another. . . . But the one who endures to the end will be saved. (ESV)
Mark 4:16-17 – These are the ones sown on rocky ground: As soon as they hear the word, they receive it with joy. But they have no root in themselves and do not endure. Then, when trouble or persecution comes because of the word, immediately they fall away [skandalizō]. (NET)
Mark 9:42-48 – [Jesus is talking to his disciples] And whoever causes one of these little ones believing in Me to fall [skandalizō]—it would be better for him if instead a donkey's millstone were lying around his neck, and he had been thrown into the sea.[20] And if your hand should be causing you to fall [skandalizō], cut it off. It is better that you enter into life crippled than go into Gehenna having two hands—into the inextinguishable fire. And if your foot should be causing you to fall [skandalizō], cut it off. It is better that you enter into life lame than be thrown into Gehenna having two feet. And if your eye should be causing you to fall [skandalizō], throw it out. It is better that you enter into the kingdom of God one-eyed than be thrown into Gehenna having two eyes—where their worm does not come to an end, and the fire is not quenched. (DLNT)[21]
Luke 17:1-2 – And He said to His disciples, "It is impossible that the causes-of-falling [skandalon] should not come. Nevertheless, woe to the one through whom they come. It would be better for him if a mill’s stone were lying-around his neck and he had been thrown-off into the sea, than that he should cause one of these little ones to fall [skandalizō]." (DLNT)
John 15:18, 20, 27, 16:1 – [Jesus is talking to his disciples] If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. . . . Remember the word that I said to you: A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. . . . And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning. I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away [skandalizō]. (ESV)
Romans 14:13-15, 20 – Therefore let us no longer be judging one another. But rather judge this: not to be placing an opportunity for stumbling or a cause-of-falling [skandalon] for the brother. (I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that nothing is defiled in itself, except to the one considering anything to be defiled—to that one it is defiled). For if your brother is grieved because of food, you are no longer walking according to love. Do not be destroying with your food that one for whom Christ died. . . . Do not be tearing-down the work of God for the sake of food. (DLNT)[22]
Romans 16:17-18 – Now I urge you, brothers, to be watching-out-for the ones producing the dissensions and the causes-of-falling [skandalon] contrary to the teaching which you learned, and be turning away from them. For such ones are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own stomach. And by smooth-talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the guileless ones. (DLNT)
1 Corinthians 8:9-13 – But be watching-out that this right of yours does not somehow become an opportunity-for-stumbling to the weak ones. For if someone sees you, the one having knowledge, reclining [to eat] in an idol-temple, will not his conscience, being weak, be built-up so as to eat the foods-sacrificed-to-idols? For the one being weak is being destroyed by your knowledge—the brother for the sake of whom Christ died! And in this manner sinning against the brothers and striking their conscience while being weak, you are sinning against Christ. For-this-very-reason, if food causes my brother to fall [skandalizō], I will never eat meats, ever—in-order-that I may not cause my brother to fall [skandalizō]. (DLNT)
1 John 2:9-11 – The one claiming to be in the light and hating his brother is in the darkness until now. The one loving his brother is abiding in the light, and there is no cause-of-falling [skandalon] in him. But the one hating his brother is in the darkness, and is walking in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness blinded his eyes. (DLNT)
Revelation 2:14 – [Jesus is talking to the church in Pergamum] But I have a few things against you, because you have there ones holding on to the teaching of Balaam, who was teaching Balak to put a cause-of-falling [skandalon] before the sons of Israel to eat foods sacrificed to idols and to commit sexual-immorality. (DLNT)[23]
Heinz Giesen, in the Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament, writes:

In the passive voice σκανδαλίζω [skandalizō] more often means . . . "fall away from faith." In the interpretation of the parable of the sower (Mark 4:13-20 par. Matt 13:18-23) those identified with the seeds sown on rocky ground, i.e., those "with no root in themselves," the inconstant ones, go astray to their own ruin when persecuted on account of the word, i.e., they fall away from faith (Mark 4:17 par. Matt 13:21). The Lukan parallel reads appropriately ἀφίστημι [aphistēmi, fall away] (8:13). In Matt 24:10 Jesus predicts that in the end time many will fall away [skandalizō]. The result is that they will hate one another, wickedness will be multiplied, and love will grow cold. Yet whoever endures in love until the end will be saved (vv. 11, 13). . . . In the Johannine farewell address (John 16:1) σκανδαλίζω [skandalizō] does not only imply an "endangering of faith" . . . but rather "falling away from faith" entirely, from which the disciples and Christians are to be kept. . . . In the active voice σκανδαλίζω [skandalizō] means "cause someone to fall away from (or reject) faith," as in the saying of Jesus about the person who "causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin [stumble]" (Mark 9:42 par. Matt 18:6/Luke 17:2). The Christian is enjoined to reject anything that might be an obstacle to faith, as emphasized in Mark 9:43,45,47 in metaphorical, hyperbolic language: Hand, foot, and eye--in Jewish understanding the loci of lust or sinful desires--must be given up if they threaten to become the cause of loss of faith and thus of salvation. This . . . underscores the seriousness of conviction within which one must persevere if one wishes to enter (eternal) life or the kingdom of God. . . . Matt 5:29, 30 also issues an exhortation to decisive action [cf. Matt 18:8, 9]. . . . According to 1 Cor 8:9 a Christian's freedom regarding eating food offered to idols reaches its limit when it becomes a stumbling block to one's brother (πρόσκομμα [proskomma]). Hence Paul emphasizes that he will never again eat meat if by doing so he causes his brother to fall and thus to lose salvation (σκανδαλίζω [skandalizō], v. 13a, b), since otherwise that weaker brother is destroyed by the knowledge of the "stronger" (v. 11). Whoever sins against his brothers sins also against Christ (v. 12). . . . Within the context of the protection of the "little ones" in the Church, i.e., probably the "weak ones" ([Matthew] 18:6-10), Jesus utters an eschatological threat ("woe!") against the world (alienated from God) because of temptations to sin (v. 7a); though he allows that such temptations must come (v. 7b), he finally hurls an eschatological "woe!" against the person by whom the temptation comes (v. 7c). σκάνδαλον [skandalon] used here of the temptation to fall away from faith. The parallel, Luke 17:1, like Matt 18:7b, also underscores that such temptations are unavoidable; nonetheless, the person by whom they come receives the eschatological "woe!" that already places him under divine judgment. . . . In Rom 14:13 Paul admonishes the "strong," whose position he fundamentally shares (v. 14), not to cause the "weak" any stumbling block to faith through eating habits . . . . In Rom 16:17 the σκάνδαλον [skandalon] are the various satanic activities of the false teachers who endanger the salvation of Church members, who are being seduced into falling away from correct teaching; such teachers also threaten both the unity and very existence of the Church. Similarly, in Rev 2:14 σκάνδαλον [skandalon] refers to a stumbling block to faith in the context of false teaching. According to 1 John 2:10 there is no cause for stumbling or sin in a believer who loves his brother . . . i.e., no cause for unbelief and thus a loss of salvation.[24]
Paul Barnett notes that James warns his readers of the possibility of temptation leading to apostasy. While a person is not tempted by God to sin, they can be "lured and enticed by his own desires" to sin (James 1:13–15).[25] He adds, "This letter has in mind a 'way' (hodos, James 5:20) of belief and behavior, from which one may be "led astray" (planasthe, James 1:16; i.e., by the influence of others) or 'stray from' (planēthē, James 5:19; i.e., by one's own decision). Either way the one who is away from the true path is in jeopardy in regard to his or her personal salvation (James 5:20).[25]
Barnett also mentions that "2 Peter addresses the grim situation of apostasy expressed by immorality (2 Peter 2:2–3, 14-16), under the influence of false teachers who have 'denied the master who bought them' (2 Peter 2:1, 17-22)."[25] Furthermore, in the book of Revelation:

It is clear that the churches of Asia are subject to persecution and its accompanying pressure to apostatize that arise from a Jewish quarter in Smyrna and Philadelphia (Revelation 2:9) and from the emperor cult in Pergamum (Revelation 2:13). At the same time various false teachings are touching the churches of Ephesus (Revelation 2:6), Pergamum (Revelation 2:14–15) and Thyatira (Revelation 2:20). The language of "deception," that is, of being "led astray," is applied to the false prophetess, Jezebel (Revelation 2:20). Satan, the source of all these persecution and false teachings, is also "the deceiver of the whole world" (Revelation 12:9). The metaphor, "deception" (planaō), implies a path of truth from which one might be "turned aside." Against these Satan-inspired obstacles the reader are called upon to "conquer," that is, to overcome these problems.[26]
The Letter to the Hebrews[edit]
The Epistle to the Hebrews is the classic text on the subject of apostasy in the New Testament.[27] New Testament scholar Scot McKnight argues that the warning passages (2:1–4; 3:7–4:13; 5:11–6:12; 10:19–39; 12:1–29) should be read and interpreted "as an organic whole, each of which expresses four components of the author’s message."[28] These four components are "(1) the subjects or audience in danger of committing the sin, (2) the sin that leads to (3) the exhortation, which if not followed, leads to (4) the consequences of that sin."[29] McKnight concluded from his study that (1) the subjects of this letter were genuine "believers, persons who . . . had converted to Jesus Christ,” (2) The sin "is apostasy, a deliberate and public act of deconfessing Jesus Christ, a rejection of God's Spirit, and a refusal to submit to God and His will," (3) the exhortation is "to a persevering faithfulness to God and his revelation of the new covenant in Jesus Christ," (4) the consequences involve "eternal damnation if a person does not persevere in the faith."[30]
Imagery[edit]
The Dictionary of Biblical Imagery states that "There are at least four distinct images in Scripture of the concept of apostasy. All connote an intentional defection from the faith."[31] These images are: Rebellion; Turning Away; Falling Away; Adultery.[32]
Rebellion[edit]
"In classical literature apostasia was used to denote a coup or defection. By extension the LXX[33] always uses it to portray a rebellion against God (Joshua 22:22; 2 Chronicles 29:19)."[32]
Turning away[edit]
"Apostasy is also pictured as the heart turning away from God (Jeremiah 17:5–6) and righteousness (Ezekiel 3:20). In the OT it centers on Israel's breaking covenant relationship with God through disobedience to the law (Jeremiah 2:19), especially following other gods (Judges 2:19) and practicing their immorality (Daniel 9:9–11). . . . Following the Lord or journeying with him is one of the chief images of faithfulness in the Scriptures. . . . The . . . Hebrew root (swr) is used to picture those who have turned away and ceased to follow God ('I am grieved that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me,' 1 Samuel 15:11). . . . The image of turning away from the Lord, who is the rightful leader, and following behind false gods is the dominant image for apostasy in the Old Testament."[32]
Falling away[edit]
"The image of falling, with the sense of going to eternal destruction, is particularly evident in the New Testament. . . . In his [Christ’s] parable of the wise and foolish builder, in which the house built on sand falls with a crash in the midst of a storm (Matthew 7:24–27) . . . he painted a highly memorable image of the dangers of falling spiritually."[34]
Adultery[edit]
One of the most common images for apostasy in the Old Testament is adultery.[35] "Apostasy is symbolized as Israel the faithless spouse turning away from Yahweh her marriage partner to pursue the advances of other gods (Jeremiah 2:1–3; Ezekiel 16). . . . 'Your children have forsaken me and sworn by god that are not gods. I supplied all their needs, yet they committed adultery and thronged to the houses of prostitutes' (Jeremiah 5:7, NIV). Adultery is used most often to graphically name the horror of the betrayal and covenant breaking involved in idolatry. Like literal adultery it does include the idea of someone blinded by infatuation, in this case for an idol: 'How I have been grieved by their adulterous hearts . . . which have lusted after their idols' (Ezekiel 6:9)."[32]
Other images[edit]
A variety of colorful images are used to describe Israel’s apostasy: "a rebellious ox, a prostitute, a wild vine, a stain that will not wash off, a camel in heat and a thief caught in thievery (Jeremiah 2:19-28)."[36] Images of peril attend apostasy, for to have forsaken God is to come under his judgment (Exodus 22:20; Deuteronomy 6:14–15; 17:2–7).[36] "The New Testament contains a host of images of apostasy, including a plant taking root among the rocks but withering under the hot sun of testing (Mark 4:5–6, 17 par.), or those who fall prey to the wiles of false teachers (Matthew 24:11), heretical beliefs (1 Timothy 4:1; 2 Timothy 4:3–4), worldliness and its defilement (2 Peter 2:20–22), and persecution (Matthew 24:9–10; Revelation 3:8). The Christian apostate is pictured as a branch that does not abide in the vine of Christ and thus withers and is cast into the fire (John 15:6). Animal behavior is evoked in a dog returning to its vomit or a clean pig returning to the mire (2 Peter 2:22)."[37]
Views of the early church fathers[edit]
Paul Barnett says, "Believers in the era following that of the apostles probably suffered a greater intensity to turn aside from Christ than did their predecessors. They . . . were vulnerable to Jewish reprisals as well as action from the state. Details of the pressure applied to Christians to apostatize is given from both Christian and non-Christian sources . . . . It is understandable, therefore, that the postapostolic literature should contain many warnings not to apostatize."[38] The following warnings not to apostatize come from the translation provided by Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson in the Ante-Nicene Fathers.[39]
Temptations: avoid vices and practice virtues[edit]
Clement of Rome (c. 96) writes to the Corinthian congregation whose unity has been threatened because a "few rash and self-confident persons" have kindled shameful and detestable seditions towards the established leaders (presbyters) in the congregation (1 Clement 1). This jealous rivalry and envy has caused righteousness and peace to depart from the community (1 Clement 3). The writer laments: "Every one abandons the fear of God, and is become blind in His faith, neither walks in the ordinances of His appointment, nor acts a part becoming a Christian, but walks after his own wicked lusts, resuming the practice of an unrighteous and ungodly envy, by which death itself entered into the world." (1 Clement 3) Since history has demonstrated that many evils have flowed from envy and jealously (1 Clement 4-6), the Corinthians are exhorted to repent (1 Clement 7-8), yield obedience to God's "glorious will," and to "forsake all fruitless labors and strife, and envy, which leads to death" (1 Clement 9:1). Furthermore, they are to "be of humble mind, laying aside all haughtiness, and pride, and foolishness, and angry feelings" (1 Clement 13), and "to obey God rather than to follow those who, through pride and sedition, have become the leaders of a detestable emulation [jealous rivalry]" (1 Clement 14). He then warns, "For we shall incur no slight injury, but rather great danger, if we rashly yield ourselves to the inclinations of men who aim at exciting strife and tumults, so as to draw us away from what is good" (1 Clement 14; cf. 47). Clement bids his readers to cleave "to those who cultivate peace with godliness" (1 Clement 15), and to follow the humility and submission that Christ and other saints practiced (1 Clement 16-19), which brings peace and harmony with others (1 Clement 19-20). Clement then gives these exhortations and warnings:
Take heed, beloved, lest His many kindnesses lead to the condemnation of us all. [For thus it must be] unless we walk worthy of Him, and with one mind do those things which are good and well-pleasing in His sight. (1 Clement 21)Since then all things are seen and heard [by God], let us fear Him, and forsake those wicked works which proceed from evil desires; so that, through His mercy, we may be protected from the judgments to come. For whither can any of us flee from His mighty hand? Or what world will receive any of those who run away from Him? (1 Clement 28)Let us therefore earnestly strive to be found in the number of those who wait for Him, in order that we may share in His promised gifts.[40] But how, beloved, shall this be done? If our understanding be fixed by faith towards God; if we earnestly seek the things which are pleasing and acceptable to Him; if we do the things which are in harmony with His blameless will; and if we follow the way of truth, casting away from us all unrighteousness and iniquity, along with all covetousness, strife, evil practices, deceit, whispering, and evil-speaking, all hatred of God, pride and haughtiness, vainglory and ambition. For they that do such things are hateful to God; and not only they that do them, but also those who take pleasure in those who do them. (1 Clement 35)Why are there strifes, and tumults, and divisions, and schisms, and wars among you? Have we not [all] one God and one Christ? Is there not one Spirit of grace poured out upon us? And have we not one calling in Christ? Why do we divide and tear to pieces the members of Christ, and raise up strife against our own body, and have reached such a height of madness as to forget that "we are members one of another?" Remember the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, how He said, "Woe to that man [by whom offences come]! It were better for him that he had never been born, than that he should cast a stumbling-block before one of my elect. Yea, it were better for him that a millstone should be hung about [his neck], and he should be sunk in the depths of the sea, than that he should cast a stumbling-block before one of my little ones." Your schism has subverted [the faith of] many, has discouraged many, has given rise to doubt in many, and has caused grief to us all. And still your sedition continues. (1 Clement 46)
Those responsible for laying the foundation of this sedition are urged to submit to the presbyters, repent, and to lay aside their pride and arrogance. For it is better that they occupy a humble place in the flock of Christ, than being highly exalted and ultimately "cast out from the hope of His people" (1 Clement 57).[41]
Similar to Clement, Ignatius of Antioch (c. 107) warns believers about following a schismatic person:

Keep yourselves from those evil plants which Jesus Christ does not tend, because they are not the planting of the Father. Not that I have found any division among you, but exceeding purity. For as many as are of God and of Jesus Christ are also with the bishop. And as many as shall, in the exercise of repentance, return into the unity of the Church, these, too, shall belong to God, that they may live according to Jesus Christ. Do not err, my brethren. If any man follows him that makes a schism in the Church, he shall not inherit the kingdom of God. (Epistle of the Philadelphians 3)[42]
The author of the epistle of Barnabas (c. 100) both admonishes and warns his readers about coming dangers:
Since, therefore, the days are evil, and Satan possesses the power of this world, we ought to give heed to ourselves, and diligently inquire into the ordinances of the Lord. Fear and patience, then, are helpers of our faith; and long-suffering and continence are things which fight on our side. . . . We ought therefore, brethren, carefully to inquire concerning our salvation, lest the wicked one, having made his entrance by deceit, should hurl us forth from our [true] life. (Barnabas 2:1–2, 10).[43]Let us then utterly flee from all the works of iniquity, lest these should take hold of us; and let us hate the error of the present time, that we may set our love on the world to come: let us not give loose reins to our soul, that it should have power to run with sinners and the wicked, lest we become like them. (Barnabas 4:1–2)[44]We take earnest heed in these last days; for the whole [past] time of your faith will profit you nothing, unless now in this wicked time we also withstand coming sources of danger, as becomes the sons of God. That the Black One may find no means of entrance, let us flee from every vanity, let us utterly hate the works of the way of wickedness. . . . (Barnabas 4:9–10)Let us be spiritually-minded: let us be a perfect temple to God. As much as in us lies, let us meditate upon the fear of God, and let us keep His commandments, that we may rejoice in His ordinances. The Lord will judge the world without respect of persons. Each will receive as he has done: if he is righteous, his righteousness will precede him; if he is wicked, the reward of wickedness is before him. Take heed, lest resting at our ease, as those who are the called [of God], we should fall asleep in our sins, and the wicked prince, acquiring power over us, should thrust us away from the kingdom of the Lord. (Barnabas 4:11–13)
In the last chapters of the epistle of Barnabas (18-21), the author sets two ways before Christians which are described in the metaphors of light and darkness (referring to abstaining from or the practicing of vices).[45] Those who walk in the light "will be glorified in the kingdom of heaven" (Barnabas 21:1), and will be "safe in the day of judgment" (Barnabas 21:6).[46] While those who walk in darkness will experience "eternal death with punishment" (Barnabas 20:1), and will be "destroyed with their works" (Barnabas 21:1).[47] "The Didache (c. 100) also maintains two ways: the way of life or death. The way of life is associated with loving God and one's neighbor. It involves abstaining from vices mentioned in the Ten Commandments or related to bodily lusts, sorcery, and idolatry (including meat sacrificed to idols).[48] The way of death includes the practices of these vices[49] (Didache 1-6).”[45]
In Polycarp's epistle to the Philippians (2nd century) the vice of covetousness is a significant danger.[50] Presbyters are advised to be "keeping far off from all covetousness" (Philippians 6). Polycarp expresses his grief over a former presbyter Valens and his wife who apparently committed some act of covetousness. He hopes that the Lord will grant them repentance.[50] He enjoins his readers to "abstain from covetousness," and "every form of evil," and goes on to give this warning, "If a man does not keep himself from covetousness, he shall be defiled by idolatry, and shall be judged as one of the heathen" (Philippians 11). Polycarp says believers "ought to walk worthy of His commandments and glory," and that deacons are to be blameless, not slanderers or lovers of money, but temperate in all things, "walking according to the truth of the Lord" (Philippians 5). He then adds:

If we please Him in this present world, we shall receive also the future world, according as He has promised to us that He will raise us again from the dead, and that if we live worthily of Him, "we shall also reign together with Him," provided only we believe. In like manner, let the young men also be blameless in all things, being especially careful to preserve purity, and keeping themselves in, as with a bridle, from every kind of evil. For it is well that they should be cut off from the lusts that are in the world, since "every lust wars against the spirit;" [1 Peter 2:11] and "neither fornicators, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, shall inherit the kingdom of God," [1 Corinthians 6:9–10] nor those who do things inconsistent and unbecoming. Wherefore, it is needful to abstain from all these things, being subject to the presbyters and deacons, as unto God and Christ. (Philippians 5)[51]
In an ancient sermon (c. 150) the author exhorts his audience to pursue righteousness and abstain from vices:

Let us, then, not only call Him Lord, for that will not save us. For He saith, "Not everyone that saith to me, Lord, Lord, shall be saved, but he that worketh righteousness." Wherefore, brethren, let us confess Him by our works, by loving one another, by not committing adultery, or speaking evil of one another, or cherishing envy; but by being continent, compassionate, and good. We ought also to sympathize with one another, and not be avaricious.[52] By such works let us confess Him, and not by those that are of an opposite kind. And it is not fitting that we should fear men, but rather God. For this reason, if we should do such [wicked] things, the Lord hath said, "Even though ye were gathered together to me in my very bosom, yet if ye were not to keep my commandments, I would cast you off, and say unto you, Depart from me; I know you not whence ye are, ye workers of iniquity." (2 Clement 4)
The author further summons his readers to "do the will of Him that called us," (2 Clement 5) and to consider

that the sojourning in the flesh in this world is but brief and transient, but the promise of Christ is great and wonderful, even the rest of the kingdom to come, and of life everlasting. By what course of conduct, then, shall we attain these things, but by leading a holy and righteous life, and by deeming these worldly things as not belonging to us, and not fixing our desires upon them? For if we desire to possess them, we fall away from the path of righteousness. (2 Clement 5)
The writer goes on to say that this present world (which urges one to "adultery and corruption, avarice and deceit"), is an enemy to the world to come (which "bids farewell to these things"), and thus, we cannot "be the friends of both" (2 Clement 6). Therefore,
Let us reckon that it is better to hate the things present, since they are trifling, and transient, and corruptible; and to love those [which are to come,] as being good and incorruptible. For if we do the will of Christ, we shall find rest; otherwise, nothing shall deliver us from eternal punishment, if we disobey His commandments. . . . How can we hope to enter into the royal residence of God unless we keep our baptism holy and undefiled? Or who shall be our advocate, unless we be found possessed of works of holiness and righteousness? (2 Clement 6)Let us also, while we are in this world, repent with our whole heart of the evil deeds we have done in the flesh, that we may be saved by the Lord, while we have yet an opportunity of repentance. For after we have gone out of the world, no further power of confessing or repenting will there belong to us. Wherefore, brethren, by doing the will of the Father, and keeping the flesh holy, and observing the commandments of the Lord, we shall obtain eternal life. (2 Clement 8)[53]
B. J. Oropeza writes:
If the warning against vices and the call to repentance marks a facet of apostasy in patristic writings of the late first and early second centuries, the Shepherd of Hermas epitomizes this aspect. Those who have sinned grievously and committed apostasy are beckoned to return. Falling away and repentance are portrayed in complex ways, and this perhaps compliments the multifaceted nature of earliest Christian discourses on the issue. Contrary to the book of Hebrews, which seems to teach that baptized Christians are not given a second chance once they fall away (cf. Hebrews 6:4–6; 10:26–31), the Shepherd of Hermas affirms that apostates may be forgiven while a gap of time remains before the final eschaton. A refusal to respond to this offer will result in final condemnation. Those who have denied the Lord in the past are given a second chance, but those who deny him in the coming tribulation will be rejected "from their life" (Her. Vis. 2.2).In the vision of the tower under construction (the church), numerous stones (believers) are gathered for the building. Among the rejected are those who are not genuine Christians; they received their faith in hypocrisy. Others do not remain in the truth, and others who go astray are finally burned in fire (Vis. 3.6–7). Some others are novices who turn away before they are baptized, and still others fall away due to hardships, being led astray by their riches. They may become useful stones, however, if they are separated from their riches. The penitents receive 12 commands; salvific life depends on their observance (Her. Man. 12.3–6). Repentance would become unprofitable for the Christian who falls again after restoration (Man. 4.1:8; 3:6).In the Parables, rods of various shapes and sizes represent different kinds of believers: the faithful, rich, double-minded, doubtful-minded, and hypocritical deceivers. These are allowed to repent – if they do not, they will lose eternal life (Her. Sim. 8.6–11). Apostates and traitors who blaspheme the Lord by their sins are completely destroyed (Sim. 8.6:4). Another parable describes apostates as certain stones which are cast away from the house of God and delivered to women who represent 12 vices. They may enter the house again if they follow virgins who represent 12 virtues. Certain apostates became worse than they were before they believed and will suffer eternal death even though they had fully known God. Nevertheless, most people, whether apostates or fallen ministers, have an opportunity to repent and be restored (Sim. 9.13–15, 18ff). Hermas and his audience are to persevere and practice repentance if they wish to partake of life (Sim. 10.2–4).[54]
Irenaeus of Lyons (c. 180) recounts how God has recorded the sins of men of old (David and Solomon)

for our instruction . . . that we might know, in the first place, that our God and theirs is one, and that sins do not please Him although committed by men of renown; and in the second place, that we should keep from wickedness. For if these men of old time, who preceded us in the gifts [bestowed upon them], and for whom the Son of God had not yet suffered, when they committed any sin and served fleshly lusts, were rendered objects of such disgrace, what shall the men of the present day suffer, who have despised the Lord’s coming, and become the slaves of their own lusts? And truly the death of the Lord became [the means of] healing and remission of sins to the former, but Christ shall not die again in behalf of those who now commit sin, for death shall no more have dominion over Him. . . . We ought not, therefore, as that presbyter remarks, to be puffed up, nor be severe upon those of old time, but ought ourselves to fear, lest perchance, after [we have come to] the knowledge of Christ, if we do things displeasing to God, we obtain no further forgiveness of sins, but be shut out from His kingdom. And therefore it was that Paul said, "For if [God] spared not the natural branches, [take heed] lest He also spare not thee" [Romans 11:21]. . . . (Against Heresies, Book 4:27.2)
Irenaeus proceeds to quote from 1 Corinthians 10:1–12,[55] where Israel fell under the judgment of God for craving evil things, and then comments:

As then the unrighteous, the idolaters, and fornicators perished, so also is it now: for both the Lord declares, that such persons are sent into eternal fire; and the apostle says, "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, not effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God." [1 Corinthians 6:9–10] And as it was not to those who are without that he said these things, but to us—lest we should be cast forth from the kingdom of God, by doing any such thing. . . . And again does the apostle say, "Let no man deceive you with vain words; for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the sons of mistrust. Be not ye therefore partakers with them." [Ephesians 5:6–7] (Against Heresies, Book 4:27.4)
Deceptions: watch out for false teachers and heresies[edit]
The "early Christians frequently believed that apostasy came by way of deceivers at the instigation of the devil, and terrible consequences awaited such people."[56] The writings of Ignatius have several warnings about being on guard against false teachers and the heresy they disseminate. In the letter to the Christians at Ephesus, Ignatius is happy to report that "all live according to the truth, and that no sect has any dwelling-place among you. Nor, indeed, do you hearken to any one rather than to Jesus Christ speaking in truth" (Epistle to the Ephesians 6). He mentions that there are false teachers who "are in the habit of carrying about the name [of Jesus Christ] in wicked guile, while yet they practice things unworthy of God, whom you must flee as you would wild beasts. For they are ravening dogs, who bite secretly, against whom you must be on your guard" (Epistle to the Ephesians 7).[57] The readers are further admonished to "Let not then any one deceive you" (Epistle to the Ephesians 8), and commended because "you did not allow [false teachers] to sow among you, but stopped your ears, that you might not receive those things [i.e., false doctrines] which were sown by them" (Epistle to the Ephesians 9). Ignatius then gives this solemn warning:

Do not err, my brethren. Those that corrupt families shall not inherit the kingdom of God. If, then, those who do this as respects the flesh have suffered death, how much more shall this be the case with any one who corrupts by wicked doctrine the faith of God, for which Jesus Christ was crucified! Such a one becoming defiled [in this way], shall go away into everlasting fire, and so shall every one that hearkens unto him. . . . Be not anointed with the bad odor of the doctrine of the prince of this world; let him not lead you away captive from the life which is set before you. And why are we not all prudent, since we have received the knowledge of God, which is Jesus Christ? Why do we foolishly perish, not recognizing the gift which the Lord has of a truth sent to us? (Epistle to the Ephesians 16-17)
In the letter to the Magnesians, Ignatius admonishes his readers, "Be not deceived with strange doctrines, nor with old fables, which are unprofitable" (Epistle to Magnesians 8). Later he writes: "I desire to guard you beforehand, that you fall not upon the hooks of vain doctrine, but that you attain to full assurance in regard to the birth, and passion, and resurrection which took place in the time of the government of Pontius Pilate, being truly and certainly accomplished by Jesus Christ, who is our hope, from which may no one of you ever be turned aside" (Epistle to Magnesians 11). In yet another letter, Ignatius entreats his readers to

use Christian nourishment only, and abstain from herbage of a different kind; I mean heresy. For those [that are given to this] mix up Jesus Christ with their own poison, speaking things which are unworthy of credit, like those who administer a deadly drug in sweet wine, which he who is ignorant of does greedily take, with a fatal pleasure leading to his own death. Be on your guard, therefore, against such persons. (Epistle to the Trallians 6-7)
Furthermore:

Stop your ears, therefore, when any one speaks to you at variance with Jesus Christ, who was descended from David, and was also of Mary; who was truly born, and ate and drank. He was truly persecuted under Pontius Pilate; He was truly crucified, and [truly] died, in the sight of beings in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth. He was also truly raised from the dead, His Father quickening Him, even as after the same manner His Father will so raise up us who believe in Him by Christ Jesus, apart from whom we do not possess the true life. (Epistle to the Trallians 9)
"The final section of the Didache echoes the Synoptic tradition (Matthew 24:4–13, 15, 21–26; Mark 13:5ff; Luke 21:8ff; cf. 2 Thessalonians 2:3ff; Revelation 13:13–14) when it warns against apostasy through the deception of false prophets in the last days:"[56]

Watch for your life's sake. Let not your lamps be quenched, nor your loins unloosed; but be ready, for you know not the hour in which our Lord comes. But often shall you come together, seeking the things which are befitting to your souls: for the whole time of your faith will not profit you, if you be not made perfect in the last time. For in the last days false prophets and corrupters shall be multiplied, and the sheep shall be turned into wolves, and love shall be turned into hate; for when lawlessness increases, they shall hate and persecute and betray one another, and then shall appear the world-deceiver as the Son of God, and shall do signs and wonders, and the earth shall be delivered into his hands, and he shall do iniquitous things which have never yet come to pass since the beginning. Then shall the creation of men come into the fire of trial, and many shall be made to stumble and shall perish; but they that endure in their faith shall be saved from under the curse itself. (Didache 16)
Tertullian argues that believers ought not to be surprised or alarmed at the existence of heresies since Christ and his apostles[58] told us beforehand that they would arise and gave, "in anticipation, warnings to avoid them" (Prescription Against Heretics 4, cf. 1).[59] Neither should believers be surprised that heresies "subvert the faith of some" (Prescription Against Heretics 1). Heresies are a trial to faith, giving faith the opportunity to be approved (Prescriptions Against Heretics 1). While heresies "are produced for the weakening and the extinction of faith," they have "no strength whenever they encounter a really powerful faith" (Prescriptions Against Heretics 2). According to Tertullian, heresy is whatever contradicts the "rule of faith" which he defends as

the belief that there is one only God, and that He is none other than the Creator of the world, who produced all things out of nothing through His own Word, first of all sent forth; that this Word is called His Son, and, under the name of God, was seen in diverse manners by the patriarchs, heard at all times in the prophets, at last brought down by the Spirit and Power of the Father into the Virgin Mary, was made flesh in her womb, and, being born of her, went forth as Jesus Christ; thenceforth He preached the new law and the new promise of the kingdom of heaven, worked miracles; having been crucified, He rose again the third day; (then) having ascended into the heavens, He sat at the right hand of the Father; sent instead of Himself the Power of the Holy Ghost to lead such as believe; will come with glory to take the saints to the enjoyment of everlasting life and of the heavenly promises, and to condemn the wicked to everlasting fire, after the resurrection of both these classes shall have happened, together with the restoration of their flesh. This rule, as it will be proved, was taught by Christ, and raises among ourselves no other questions than those which heresies introduce, and which make men heretics. (Prescription Against Heretics 13)[60]
Tertullian sees heretics as ravenous wolves "lurking within to waste the flock of Christ" (Prescription Against Heretics 4). They pervert the Scriptures by interpreting them to suit their own purposes (Prescription Against Heretics 17, cf. 4, 38).[61] Their teaching opposes the teaching "handed down from the apostles, the apostles from Christ, and Christ from God" (Prescription Against Heretics 37). While persecution makes martyrs, "heresy only apostates" (Prescription Against Heretics 4). In the face of heresies, which may cause a bishop or deacon to "have fallen from the rule (of faith)," the Christian must remain true to the faith, for "no one is a Christian but he who perseveres even to the end" (Prescription Against Heretics 3).
Christian apologist Justin Martyr engages in a dialogue with Trypho (c. 160), who says, "I believe, however, that many of those who say that they confess Jesus, and are called Christians, eat meats offered to idols, and declare that they are by no means injured in consequence" (Dialogue with Trypho 35). Justin's response highlights the importance of remaining faithful to "the true and pure doctrine of Jesus Christ" in the face of false teachers:

The fact that there are such men confessing themselves to be Christians, and admitting the crucified Jesus to be both Lord and Christ, yet not teaching His doctrines, but those of the spirits of error, causes us who are disciples of the true and pure doctrine of Jesus Christ, to be more faithful and steadfast in the hope announced by Him. For what things He predicted would take place in His name, these we do see being actually accomplished in our sight. For he said, "Many shall come in My name, clothed outwardly in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves." And, "There shall be schisms and heresies." [1 Corinthians 11:19] And, "Beware of false prophets, who shall come to you clothed outwardly in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves." And, "Many false Christ's and false apostles shall arise, and shall deceive many of the faithful." There are, therefore, and there were many, my friends, who, coming forward in the name of Jesus, taught both to speak and act impious and blasphemous things; and these are called by us after the name of the men from whom each doctrine and opinion had its origin. (For some in one way, others in another, teach to blaspheme the Maker of all things, and Christ . . . Yet they style themselves Christians. . . .) Some are called Marcians, and some Valentinians, and some Basilidians, and some Saturnilians, and others by other names; each called after the originator of the individual opinion. . . . So that, in consequence of these events, we know that Jesus foreknew what would happen after Him, as well as in consequence of many other events which He foretold would befall those who believed on and confessed Him, the Christ. For all that we suffer, even when killed by friends, He foretold would take place; so that it is manifest no word or act of His can be found fault with. Wherefore we pray for you and for all other men who hate us; in order that you, having repented along with us, may not blaspheme Him who, by His works, by the mighty deeds even now wrought through His name, by the words He taught, by the prophecies announced concerning Him, is the blameless, and in all things irreproachable, Christ Jesus; but, believing on Him, may be saved in His second glorious advent, and may not be condemned to fire by Him. (Dialogue with Trypho 35)
Clement of Alexandria (c. 195) advises against giving into heretical men and their heresies in writing:

He who hopes for everlasting rest knows also that the entrance to it is toilsome "and strait." And let him who has once received the Gospel, even in the very hour in which he has come to the knowledge of salvation, "not turn back, like Lot's wife," as is said; and let him not go back either to his former life, which adheres to the things of sense, or to heresies. . . . He, who has spurned the ecclesiastical tradition, and darted off to the opinions of heretical men, has ceased to be a man of God and to remain faithful to the Lord. (The Stromata, Book 7:16)[62]
Cyprian (c. 251) bids his readers to "use foresight and watching with an anxious heart, both to perceive and to beware of the wiles of the crafty foe, that we, who have put on Christ the wisdom of God the Father, may not seem to be wanting in wisdom in the matter of providing for our salvation" (The Treatises of Cyprian 1:1). He cautions that "it is not persecution alone that is to be feared; nor those things which advance by open attack to overwhelm and cast down the servants of God," for we have an enemy who is to be more feared and guarded against because he secretly creeps in to deceive us under the appearance of peace (The Treatises of Cyprian 1:1). By following the example of the Lord in recognizing and resisting the temptations of the devil, Christians will not be "incautiously turned back into the nets of death," but go on to "possess the immortality that we have received" (The Treatises of Cyprian 1:2).[63] Only by standing fast in learning and doing what Christ commanded does the Christian have security against the onslaughts of the world (The Treatises of Cyprian 1:2). He who does not "must of necessity waver and wander, and, caught away by a spirit of error . . . be blown about; and he will make no advance in his walk towards salvation, because he does not keep the truth of the way of salvation." (The Treatises of Cyprian 1:2) Cyprian says the devil, when he see his idols forsaken and temples deserted by new believers, devises a fraud under "the Christian name to deceive the incautious" (The Treatises of Cyprian 1:3):

He has invented heresies and schisms, whereby he might subvert the faith, might corrupt the truth, might divide the unity. Those whom he cannot keep in the darkness of the old way, he circumvents and deceives by the error of a new way. He snatches men from the Church itself; and while they seem to themselves to have already approached to the light, and to have escaped the night of the world, he pours over them again, in their unconsciousness, new darkness; so that, although they do not stand firm with the Gospel of Christ, and with the observation and law of Christ, they still call themselves Christians, and, walking in darkness, they think that they have the light, while the adversary is flattering and deceiving, who, according to the apostle's word, transforms himself into an angel of light, and equips his ministers as if they were the ministers of righteousness, who maintain night instead of day, death for salvation, despair under the offer of hope, perfidy under the pretext of faith, antichrist under the name of Christ; so that, while they feign things like the truth, they make void the truth by their subtlety. This happens, beloved brethren, so long as we do not return to the source of truth, as we do not seek the head nor keep the teaching of the heavenly Master. (The Treatises of Cyprian 1:3)
Oropeza states,

In view of Eusebius (c. 260-340), Simon Magus was the author of heresy (cf. Acts 8:9–24), and the devil is to be blamed for bringing the Samaritan magician to Rome and empowering him with deceitful arts which led many astray (Eus. Hist. Eccl. 2.13). The magician was supposedly aided by demons and venerated as a god, and Helen, his companion, was thought to be his first emanation (Just. Apol. 1.26; Adv. Haer. 1.33; cf. Iren Haer. 1.23:1–4). Simon's successor, Menander of Samaria, was considered to be another instrument of the devil; he claimed to save humans from the aeons through magical arts. After baptism, his followers believed themselves to be immortal in the present life. It is stated that those who claim such people as their saviors have fallen away from the true hope (Eus. Hist. Eccl. 3.26). Basilides of Alexandria and Saturninus of Antioch followed Menander's ways. Adherents of the former declared that eating meat sacrificed to idols or renouncing the faith in times of persecution were maters of indifference. Carpocrates is labeled as the first of the Gnostics. His followers allegedly transmitted Simon’s magic in an open manner. Eusebius asserts that the devil’s intention was to entrap many believers and bring them to the abyss of destruction by following these deceivers (Hist. Eccl. 4.7).[64]
Persecutions: perseverance and martyrdom[edit]
Oropeza writes:
The Martyrdom of Polycarp is sometimes considered to be the first of the "Acts of the Martyrs." In this document Polycarp is killed for refusing to confess Caesar as Lord and offer incense; he refuses to revile Christ (Mar. Pol. 8ff; similarly, Ign. Rom. 7). Other Christians did not always follow his example. Some fell into idolatry in the face of persecutions.Stirred by his own experience under the Diocletian (c. 284-305) persecution, Eusebius wrote Collection of Martyrs and emphasized persecution and martyrdom in his History of the Church. He describes Christians who persevered and others who fell away. Polycarp and Germanicus were found to be faithful in the persecution at Smyrna (c. 160), but Quintus threw away his salvation in the sight of the wild beasts (Eus. Hist. Eccl. 4.15). During Marcus Aurelius' reign (c. 161-80), Eusebius affirms that the Christians confessed their faith despite their suffering from abuse, plundering, stoning, and imprisonment. It is recorded that in Gaul some became martyrs, but others who were untrained and unprepared (about 10 in number) proved to be "abortions" (εξετρωσαν), discouraging the zeal of others. A woman named Biblias, who had earlier denied Christ, confessed him and was joined with the martyrs. Certain defectors did likewise, but others continued to blaspheme the Christian faith, having no understanding of the "wedding garment" (i.e., Matthew 22:11ff) and no faith (Hist. Eccl. 5.1).During the reign of Decius (c. 249-51), the Christians of Alexandria are said to have endured martyrdom, stoning, or having their belongings confiscated for not worshipping at an idol's temple or chanting incantations. But some readily made unholy sacrifices, pretending that they had never been Christians, while others renounced their faith or were tortured until they did (Hist. Eccl. 6.41). In his account of the Diocletian persecution, Eusebius commends the heroic martyrs but is determined to mention nothing about those who made shipwreck of their salvation, believing that such reports would not edify his readers (8.2:3). He recollects Christians who suffered in horrible ways which included their being axed to death or slowly burned, having their eyes gouged out, their limbs severed, or their backs seared with melted lead. Some endured the pain of having reeds driven under their fingernails or unmentionable suffering in their private parts (8.12).[65]
Clement seeks to inspire perseverance in the midst of suffering with these words: "Let us, therefore, work righteousness, that we may be saved to the end. Blessed are they who obey these commandments, even if for a brief space they suffer in this world, and they will gather the imperishable fruit of the resurrection. Let not the godly man, therefore, grieve; if for the present he suffer affliction, blessed is the time that awaits him there; rising up to life again with the fathers he will rejoice for ever without a grief" (2 Clement 19).
Cyprian (c. 250), commands the presbyters and deacons to take care of the poor and "especially those who have stood with unshaken faith and have not forsaken Christ's flock" while in prison (The Epistles of Cyprian 5:2). These "glorious confessors" need to be instructed that

they ought to be humble and modest and peaceable, that they should maintain the honor of their name, so that those who have achieved glory by what they have testified, may achieve glory also by their characters. . . . For there remains more than what is yet seen to be accomplished, since it is written "Praise not any man before his death;" and again, "Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life." [Revelation 2:10] And the Lord also says, "He that endures to the end, the same shall be saved." [Matthew 10:22]. Let them imitate the Lord, who at the very time of His passion was not more proud, but more humble. (The Epistles of Cyprian 5:2)[66]
Ignatius's letter to the Christians in Rome gives valuable insight into the heart of a Christian who is prepared for martyrdom. Ignatius hopes to see them when he arrives as a prisoner. He fears that the love they have for him will, in some way, save him from certain death (Epistle to the Romans 1-2). Yet, he desires to "obtain grace to cling to my lot without hindrance unto the end" so that he may "attain to God" (Epistle to the Romans 1). He requests prayer for "both inward and outward strength" that he might not "merely be called a Christian, but really found to be one,"--a Christian "deemed faithful" (Epistle to the Romans 3). He says:

I write to the Churches, and impress on them all, that I shall willingly die for God, unless you hinder me. . . . Allow me to become food for the wild beasts, through whose instrumentality it will be granted me to attain to God. I am the wheat of God, and let me be ground by the teeth of the wild beasts, that I may be found the pure bread of Christ. Rather entice the wild beasts, that they may become my tomb, and may leave nothing of my body. . . . Then shall I truly be a disciple of Christ, when the world shall not see so much as my body. Entreat Christ for me, that by these instruments I may be found a sacrifice [to God]. . . . But when I suffer, I shall be the freed-man of Jesus, and shall rise again emancipated in Him. And now, being a prisoner, I learn not to desire anything worldly or vain. . . . And let no one, of things visible or invisible, envy me that I should attain to Jesus Christ. Let fire and the cross; let the crowds of wild beasts; let tearings, breakings, and dislocations of bones; let cutting off of members; let shatterings of the whole body; and let all the dreadful torments of the devil come upon me: only let me attain to Jesus Christ. All the pleasures of the world, and all the kingdoms of this earth, shall profit me nothing. It is better for me to die in behalf of Jesus Christ, than to reign over all the ends of the earth. "For what shall a man be profited, if he gain the whole world, but lose his own soul?" Him I seek, who died for us: Him I desire, who rose again for our sake. This is the gain which is laid up for me. . . . Permit me to be an imitator of the passion of my God. (Epistle to the Romans 4-6)
Tertullian believes that martyrdom is necessary at times in order for soldiers in God's army to obey the command to not worship idols.

If, therefore, it is evident that from the beginning this kind of worship [of idols] has both been forbidden—witness the commands so numerous and weighty—and that it has never been engaged in without punishment following, as examples so numerous and impressive show, and that no offense is counted by God so presumptuous as a trespass of this sort, we ought further to perceive the purport of both the divine threatenings and their fulfillments, which was even then commended not only by the not calling in question, but also by the enduring of martyrdoms, for which certainly He had given occasion by forbidding idolatry. . . . The injunction is given me not to make mention of any other god, not even by speaking—as little by the tongue as by the hand—to fashion a god, and not to worship or in any way show reverence to another than Him only who thus commands me, whom I am both bid fear that I may not be forsaken by Him, and love with my whole being, that I may die for Him. Serving as a soldier under this oath, I am challenged by the enemy. If I surrender to them, I am as they are. In maintaining this oath, I fight furiously in battle, am wounded, hewn in pieces, slain. Who wished this fatal issue to his soldier, but he who sealed him by such an oath? (Scorpiace 4)
In the following chapter Tertullian maintains that "martyrdom is good," especially when the Christian faces the temptation to worship idols, which is forbidden. He goes on to write,

For martyrdom strives against and opposes idolatry. But to strive against and oppose evil cannot be ought but good. . . . For martyrdom contends with idolatry, not from some malice which they share, but from its own kindness; for it delivers from idolatry. Who will not proclaim that to be good which delivers from idolatry? What else is the opposition between idolatry and martyrdom, than that between life and death? Life will be counted to be martyrdom as much as idolatry to be death. . . . Thus martyrdoms also rage furiously, but for salvation. God also will be at liberty to heal for everlasting life by means of fires and swords, and all that is painful. (Scorpiace 5)
Tertullian has a long discussion on the certainty of persecutions and the reality of death for followers of Christ. Quoting extensively from the teachings of Jesus, Tertullian urges Christians towards faithful endurance in order to obtain final salvation with God.

When setting forth His chief commands, "Blessed are they who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." [Matthew 5:10] The following statement, indeed, applies first to all without restriction, then especially to the apostles themselves: "Blessed shall you be when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you, for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad, since very great is your reward in heaven; for so used their fathers to do even to the prophets." [Matthew 5:11–12] So that He likewise foretold their having to be themselves also slain, after the example of the prophets. . . . The rule about enduring persecution also would have had respect to us too, as to disciples by inheritance, and, (as it were,) bushes from the apostolic seed. For even thus again does He address words of guidance to the apostles: "Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves;" [Matthew 10:16] and, "Beware of men, for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues; and you shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles," etc. [Matthew 10:17–18] Now when He adds, "But the brother will deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child; and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death," [Matthew 10:21] He has clearly announced with reference to the others, (that they would be subjected to) this form of unrighteous conduct, which we do not find exemplified in the case of the apostles. For none of them had experience of a father or a brother as a betrayer, which very many of us have. Then He returns to the apostles: "And you shall be hated of all men for my name's sake." How much more shall we, for whom there exists the necessity of being delivered up by parents too! Thus, by allotting this very betrayal, now to the apostles, now to all, He pours out the same destruction upon all the possessors of the name, on whom the name, along with the condition that it be an object of hatred, will rest. But he who will endure on to the end—this man will be saved. By enduring what but persecution—betrayal—death? For to endure to the end is naught else than to suffer the end. And therefore there immediately follows, "The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his own lord;" [Matthew 10:24] because, seeing the Master and Lord Himself was steadfast in suffering persecution, betrayal and death, much more will it be the duty of His servants and disciples to bear the same, that they may not seem as if superior to Him, or to have got an immunity from the assaults of unrighteousness, since this itself should be glory enough for them, to be conformed to the sufferings of their Lord and Master; and, preparing them for the endurance of these, He reminds them that they must not fear such persons as kill the body only, but are not able to destroy the soul, but that they must dedicate fear to Him rather who has such power that He can kill both body and soul, and destroy them in hell [Matthew 10:28]. Who, pray, are these slayers of the body only, but the governors and kings aforesaid—men, I suppose? Who is the ruler of the soul also, but God only? Who is this but the threatener of fires hereafter, He without whose will not even one of two sparrows falls to the ground; that is, not even one of the two substances of man, flesh or spirit, because the number of our hairs also has been recorded before Him? Fear not, therefore. When He adds, "You are of more value than many sparrows," He makes promise that we shall not in vain—that is, not without profit—fall to the ground if we choose to be killed by men rather than by God. "Whosoever therefore will confess in me before men, in him will I confess also before my Father who is in heaven; and whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I deny also before my Father who is in heaven." [Matthew 10:32–34] [What] if a Christian is to be stoned . . . burned . . . butchered . . . [or] put an end to by beasts . . . ? He who will endure these assaults to the end, the same shall be saved. . . . For what does He add after finishing with confession and denial? "Think not that I have come to send peace on earth, but a sword,"—undoubtedly on the earth. "For I have come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law. And a man's foes shall be they of his own household." [Matthew 10:34–35] For so is it brought to pass, that the brother delivers up the brother to death, and the father the son: and the children rise up against the parents, and cause them to die. And he who endures to the end let that man be saved. [Matthew 10:22] So that this whole course of procedure characteristic of the Lord's sword, which has been sent not to heaven, but to earth, makes confession also to be there, which by enduring to the end is to issue in the suffering of death. In the same manner, therefore, we maintain that the other announcements too refer to the condition of martyrdom. "He," says Jesus, "who will value his own life also more than me, is not worthy of me," [Luke 14:26] —that is, he who will rather live by denying, than die by confessing, me; and "he who finds his life shall lose it; but he who loses it for my sake shall find it." [Matthew 10:39] Therefore indeed he finds it, who, in winning life, denies; but he who thinks that he wins it by denying, will lose it in hell. On the other hand, he who, through confessing, is killed, will lose it for the present, but is also about to find it unto everlasting life. Who, now, should know better the marrow of the Scriptures than the school of Christ itself?—the persons whom the Lord both chose for Himself as scholars, certainly to be fully instructed in all points, and appointed to us for masters to instruct us in all points. To whom would He have rather made known the veiled import of His own language, than to him to whom He disclosed the likeness of His own glory—to Peter, John, and James, and afterwards to Paul, to whom He granted participation in (the joys of) paradise too, prior to his martyrdom? Or do they also write differently from what they think—teachers using deceit, not truth? Addressing the Christians of Pontus, Peter, at all events, says, "How great indeed is the glory, if you suffer patiently, without being punished as evildoers! For this is a lovely feature, and even hereunto were you called, since Christ also suffered for us, leaving you Himself as an example, that you should follow His own steps." [1 Peter 2:20–21] And again: "Beloved, be not alarmed by the fiery trial which is taking place among you, as though some strange thing happened unto you. For, inasmuch as you are partakers of Christ's sufferings, do you rejoice; that, when His glory shall be revealed, you may be glad also with exceeding joy. If you are reproached for the name of Christ, happy are you; because glory and the Spirit of God rest upon you: if only none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evil-doer, or as a busybody in other men's matters; yet (if any man suffer) as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God on this behalf." [1 Peter 4:12–14] John, in fact, exhorts us to lay down our lives even for our brethren, [1 John 3:16] affirming that there is no fear in love: "For perfect love casts out fear, since fear has punishment; and he who fears is not perfect in love." [1 John 4:18] What fear would it be better to understand (as here meant), than that which gives rise to denial? What love does he assert to be perfect, but that which puts fear to flight, and gives courage to confess? What penalty will he appoint as the punishment of fear, but that which he who denies is about to pay, who has to be slain, body and soul, in hell? And if he teaches that we must die for the brethren, how much more for the Lord,—he being sufficiently prepared, by his own Revelation too, for giving such advice! For indeed the Spirit had sent the injunction to the angel of the church in Smyrna: "Behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that you may be tried ten days. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you a crown of life." [Revelation 2:10] Also to the angel of the church in Pergamus (mention was made) of Antipas, [Revelation 2:13] the very faithful martyr, who was slain where Satan dwells. Also to the angel of the church in Philadelphia [Revelation 3:10] (it was signified) that he who had not denied the name of the Lord was delivered from the last trial. Then to every conqueror the Spirit promises now the tree of life, and exemption from the second death; now the hidden manna with the stone of glistening whiteness, and the name unknown (to every man save him that receives it); now power to rule with a rod of iron, and the brightness of the morning star; now the being clothed in white raiment, and not having the name blotted out of the book of life, and being made in the temple of God a pillar with the inscription on it of the name of God and of the Lord, and of the heavenly Jerusalem; now a sitting with the Lord on His throne . . . . Who, pray, are these so blessed conquerors, but martyrs in the strict sense of the word? For indeed theirs are the victories whose also are the fights; theirs, however, are the fights whose also is the blood. But the souls of the martyrs both peacefully rest in the meantime under the altar, [Revelation 6:9] and support their patience by the assured hope of revenge; and, clothed in their robes, wear the dazzling halo of brightness, until others also may fully share in their glory. For yet again a countless throng are revealed, clothed in white and distinguished by palms of victory, celebrating their triumph doubtless over Antichrist, since one of the elders says, "These are they who come out of that great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." [Revelation 7:14] For the flesh is the clothing of the soul. The uncleanness, indeed, is washed away by baptism, but the stains are changed into dazzling whiteness by martyrdom. . . . When great Babylon likewise is represented as drunk with the blood of the saints, [Revelation 17:6] doubtless the supplies needful for her drunkenness are furnished by the cups of martyrdoms; and what suffering the fear of martyrdoms will entail, is in like manner shown. For among all the castaways, nay, taking precedence of them all, are the fearful. "But the fearful," says John—and then come the others—"will have their part in the lake of fire and brimstone." [Revelation 21:8] Thus fear, which, as stated in his epistle, love drives out, has punishment. (Scorpiace 9–12)
Readings from the early church fathers such as these led patristic scholar David Bercot to conclude: "Since the early Christians believed that our continued faith and obedience are necessary for salvation, it naturally follows that they believed that a 'saved' person could still end up being lost [through apostasy]."[67]
Primary theological perspectives[edit]
See also: Calvinism, Arminianism, History of Calvinist–Arminian debate and Free will in theology
There appears to be three primary perspectives on apostasy in Protestantism: Classical or Reformed Calvinism, Moderate Calvinism, and Reformed Arminianism.[68]
Classical or reformed Calvinism[edit]
According to John Calvin (1509–1564), once the Holy Spirit brings a person to regeneration (i.e., gives them spiritual life) this experience cannot be lost and leads to final salvation with God.[69] In Calvin's theology, God has predestined to regenerate some (the elect) to eternal life and not to regenerate others (the non-elect) which ensures their eternal damnation (Calvin's Institutes 3.21:5; cf. 3.2:15–40, 14.6–9, 18–20, 24.6f.).[70] The elect may fall away from God's grace temporarily, but the truly elect will eventually be restored and not plunge into final apostasy.[70] Calvin believed that "The Lord uses the fear of final apostasy in order to safeguard true believers against it. Only the ones who ignore the threat are in real danger of falling away."[70] Calvin viewed the passages on apostasy found in Hebrews (6:4–6; 10:26–29) as applying to those in the church having a false faith—reprobates (i.e., unbelievers) who have never experienced regeneration.[70] John Jefferson Davis writes:

Even though Calvin believes that regeneration is irreversible . . . he does not conclude that the Christian has any cause for spiritual complacency. Persevering in God's grace requires, on the human side, "severe and arduous effort." . . . The believer needs to continually feed his soul on the preaching of the Word and to grow in faith throughout the whole course of life. Since it is easy for the believer to fall away for a time from the grace of God, there is constant need for "striving and vigilance, if we would persevere in the grace of God." Calvin thus balances his theological certitudes with pastoral warnings. . . . The believer must continually exercise faith and obedience to make "his calling and election sure."[71]
Others in the Reformed tradition followed Calvin's theology on election, regeneration, perseverance, and apostasy: Zacharias Ursinus (1534–1583);[70] William Perkins (1558–1602);[72] John Owen (1616–1683);[73] John Gill (1697–1771);[74] Jonathan Edwards (1703–1758);[75] and George Whitefield (1714–1770).[76] The Reformed confessions such as the Canons of the Synod of Dort (1619) and the Westminster Confession of Faith (1646) also express views parallel with Calvin's theology.[77]
Moderate Calvinism[edit]
In his book, Reign of the Servant Kings: A Study of Eternal Security and the Final Significance of Man, Free Grace author Joseph Dillow seeks to chart a middle position between the Reformed Calvinist and Arminian position on apostasy.[78] Dillow accepts "the Reformed position that those who are truly born again can never lose their salvation."[78] But he also accepts the Arminian position that the warning passages concerning apostasy in the New Testament (e.g., Hebrews 6) are directed to genuine Christians, not merely professing Christians who are in reality unbelievers as reformed Calvinists assert.[78] There are real dangers in these warning passages, but contrary to the Arminian view, it "is not [the] loss of salvation but severe divine discipline (physical death or worse) in the present time and loss of reward, and even rebuke, at the judgment seat of Christ."[79] Dillow, like other Free Grace adherents, disagrees with reformed Calvinists and Arminians in holding that saving faith in Christ must continue in order for a person to obtain final salvation with God.[80] The prominent authors for the Moderate Calvinist perspective are: R. T. Kendall;[81] Zane C. Hodges;[82] Charles C. Ryrie;[83] Charles Stanley;[84] Norman L. Geisler;[85] and Tony Evans.[86]
Reformed Arminianism[edit]
Reformed Arminianism derives its name from pastor and theologian James Arminius (1560–1609). Right up until his death, Arminius was undecided as to whether a believer could commit apostasy.[87] However, he did affirm like Calvin that believers must continually exercise faith in order to obtain final salvation with God.[88] After the death of Arminius, the Remonstrants maintained their leader's view that the believer has power through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit to be victorious over sin, Satan, and the world, and his uncertainty regarding the possibility of apostasy. This is evidenced in the fifth article drafted by its leaders in 1610.[89] Sometime between 1610, and the official proceeding of the Synod of Dort (1618), the Remonstrants became fully persuaded in their minds that the Scriptures taught that a true believer was capable of committing apostasy. They formalized their views in "The Opinion of the Remonstrants" (1618). Points three and four in the fifth article read:

True believers can fall from true faith and can fall into such sins as cannot be consistent with true and justifying faith; not only is it possible for this to happen, but it even happens frequently. True believers are able to fall through their own fault into shameful and atrocious deeds, to persevere and to die in them; and therefore finally to fall and to perish.[90]
Reformed Arminian scholar Robert Picirilli remarks: "Ever since that early period, then, when the issue was being examined again, Arminians have taught that those who are truly saved need to be warned against apostasy as a real and possible danger."[91] Important treatments regarding apostasy have come from the following Arminians: Thomas Olivers (1725–1799);[92] Richard Watson (1781–1833);[93] Thomas O. Summers (1812–1882);[94] Albert Nash (1812–1900);[95] and William Burt Pope (1822–1903).[96]
Christian denominations that affirm the possibility of apostasy[edit]
The following Christian denominations affirm their belief in the possibility of apostasy in either their articles or statements of faith, or by way of a position paper.
Roman Catholic[97]
Eastern Orthodox Church[98]
Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod[99]
The United Methodist Church[100]
Free Methodist Church[101]
General Association of General Baptists[102]
The Salvation Army[103]
Church of the Nazarene[104]
Assembly of God[105]
National Association of Free Will Baptists[106]
Missionary Church[107]
Anabaptist-Mennonite Tradition[108]
Evangelical Friends Church—Eastern Region[109]
Theologians who affirmed the possibility of apostasy[edit]



Augustine
Augustine (354–430)[edit]
Augustine believed "that God's elect will certainly persevere to the end and attain eternal salvation."[110] However, according to Reformed scholar John Jefferson Davis,

Augustine does not believe that the Christian can in this life know with infallible certitude that he is in fact among the elect and that he will finally persevere. According to Augustine "it is uncertain whether anyone has received this gift [of perseverance] so long as he is still alive." The believers life in this world is a state of trial, and he who seems to stand must take heed lest he fall. . . . In fact ones justification and baptismal regeneration could be rejected and lost through sin and unbelief.[111]
Augustine's views "set the parameters for Aquinas, for the Council of Trent, and for the Roman Catholic tradition generally down to the present day."[112]
Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274)[edit]
Like Augustine, Thomas Aquinas holds "that one who has been justified by grace stands continually in need of the grace of God, since the justified can turn away and be finally lost."[113]
Martin Luther (1483–1546)[edit]



Martin Luther
Like Augustine, Martin Luther believed that salvation or "regeneration occurred through the waters of baptism."[114] "But," noted the Reformer, "all of us do not remain with our baptism. Many fall away from Christ and become false Christians." In his commentary on 2 Peter 2:22 he writes as follows on apostates in the Church: "Through baptism these people threw out unbelief, had their unclean way of life washed away, and entered into a pure life of faith and love. Now they fall away into unbelief and their own works, and they soil themselves again in filth."[115]
Luther held that even if one has experienced the justifying grace of God through faith in Christ, they still "can lose that justification through unbelief or false confidence in works."[116] In his comments on Galatians 5:4, "Ye are fallen from grace," Luther writes, "To fall from grace means to lose the atonement, the forgiveness of sins, the righteousness, liberty, and life which Jesus has merited for us by His death and resurrection. To lose the grace of God means to gain the wrath and judgment of God, death, the bondage of the devil, and everlasting condemnation."[117]
Martin Luther shared with Augustine, Aquinas, and "the Roman Catholic Church of his day the belief that the grace of baptismal regeneration and justification could be lost."[116]
Philip Melancthon (1497–1560)[edit]



Philip Melanchthon
Philip Melancthon wrote a commentary on Romans in 1540. On this particular passage: "Brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live" (Rom. 8:12-13, ESV), Melanchthon calls this "teaching about the new obedience." [118] Paul gives this teaching so people "born again by faith" "may understand what the obedience in the saints is like, and what is the nature of the sin on account of which they fall from grace and lose faith and the Holy Spirit."[119] This new obedience "acknowledges God, obeys him, and fights against the impulses of the flesh which carry a person along against the will of God."[120] When Paul says "'If you mortify the actions of the flesh by the Spirit,' he testifies that there are in saints some sinful actions, namely, concupiscence [i.e., strong sexual desire; lust]; various evil desires; . . . being inflamed with desire for revenge; hatred; avarice [i.e., greed]; etc."[121] These sins do not lead to "eternal death" when the saints fight against these sins by faith through Christ their mediator. It is

when those who had been sanctified indulge in and obey such desires, do not fight against them, and are without repentance. Such persons lose faith and the Holy Spirit and are condemned to eternal death unless they return to repentance. Thus when David had become an adulterer, he was without faith and the Holy Spirit, and would have been lost if he had not afterward been restored through repentance. Here belongs what is said in this passage: "If you will live according to the flesh," that is, if you will obey the evil desires, "you will die." The same thought is frequently repeated in Scripture. . . . 1 Cor. 6[:9]: "Do not be deceived; neither the immoral, nor idolaters, ... will inherit the kingdom of God." Gal. 5[:21]: "Those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God." Col. 3[:6]: "On account of which the wrath of God is coming on the disobedient . . ." [122]
Puritan John Goodwin demonstrated that Melanchthon fully supported the possibility of Christians committing apostasy:

"There are two errors . . . of fanatic men, which must briefly be confuted, who conceit that men regenerated cannot lapse” or fall, "and that though they do fall, and this against the light of their conscience, yet they are righteous," or in a state of justification. "This madness is to be condemned, and both instances and sayings from the scriptures of the apostles and prophets are opposed to it. Saul and David pleased God, were righteous, had the Holy Spirit given unto them, yet afterward fell, so that one of them perished utterly; the other returned again to God. There are many sayings" to the same point. And having cited, upon the said account, Matthew 12:43-44; 2 Peter 2:20-21; 1 Corinthians 10:12; Revelation 2:5., he subjoins: "These and the like sayings, being spoken of regenerate men, testify that they may fall, and that in case they fall against their consciences they please not God unless they be converted." Elsewhere thus: "Whereas it hath been said that sins remain in the regenerate, it is necessary that a difference be made; for certain it is that they who rush into sinful practices against conscience do not continue in grace, nor retain faith, righteousness, or the Holy Spirit; neither can faith stand with an evil purpose of heart against conscience." A little after: "But that they fall from grace, and shed faith and the Holy Spirit, and become guilty of the wrath of God and of eternal punishment, who commit sin against conscience, many sayings" in the Scriptures "clearly testify;" to which purpose he cites Galatians 5:19; 1 Corinthians 6:9, etc. . . . Writing upon the those words of the apostle [Paul], 1 Corinthians 10:12, "Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall,"—"But that in some who had the beginnings of faith, and afterwards falling, return not, that faith of theirs was true before it was lost" or shaken out, "the sayings of Peter, 2 Peter 2:20, testifieth."[123]
Thomas Helwys (1550–1616)[edit]
Thomas Helwys was one of the joint founders of the Baptist denomination along with John Smyth.[124] After breaking with Smyth in 1610, Helwys wrote "A Declaration of Faith of English People Remaining at Amsterdam in Holland in 1611."[125] Helwys clearly communicates his stance regarding apostasy in point seven of the Declaration:

Men may fall away from the grace of GOD (Hebrews 12:15) and from the truth, which they have received and acknowledged (Hebrews 10:26) after they have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the HOLY SPIRIT, and have tasted of the good word of GOD, and of the powers of the world to come (Hebrews 6:4, 5). And after they have escaped from the filthiness of the World, may be tangled again therein and overcome (2 Peter 2:20). A righteous man may forsake his righteousness and perish (Ezekiel 18:24, 26). Therefore let no man presume to think that because he has, or once had grace, therefore he shall always have grace. But let all men have assurance, that if they continue to the end, they will be saved. Let no man then presume; but let all work out their salvation with fear and trembling.[126]
Simon Episcopius (1583–1643)[edit]



Simon Episcopius
Simon Episcopius was the leader of the Remonstrants and primary author of "The Opinions of the Remonstrants 1618" and "The Arminian Confession of 1621."[127] In the Confession the Remonstrants were "persuaded that none is to be easily condemned, or blotted out of the register of Christians who holds fast to faith in Christ, and in hope of the good things promised by him, [and who] seek from the heart to obey his commands . . . ."[128] Furthermore,

Even if it is true that those who are adept in the habit of faith and holiness can only with difficulty fall back to their former profaneness and dissoluteness of life (Hebrews 6), yet we believe that it is entirely possible, if not rarely done (Hebrews 6:4; Revelation 2 & 3; 2 Peter 2:18; Ezekiel 18:24; Hebrews 4:1–2; 10:28–29; 10:38–39; 1 Timothy 1:19–20; Romans 11:18) that they fall back little by little and until they completely lack their prior faith and charity. And having abandoned the way of righteousness, they revert to their worldly impurity which they had truly left, returning like pigs to wallowing in the mud and dogs to their vomit, and are again entangled in lusts of the flesh which they had formerly, truly fled. And thus totally and at length also they are finally torn from the grace of God unless they seriously repent in time.[129]
John Goodwin (1594–1665)[edit]
John Goodwin was a Puritan who "presented the Arminian position of falling away in Redemption Redeemed (1651)."[73] Goodwins work was primarily dedicated to refuting the Calvinist doctrine of limited atonement, but he digresses from his main topic and spends 300 pages attempting to disprove the Calvinist doctrine of unconditional perseverance.[130]
John Bunyan (1628–1688)[edit]
Apostasy receives allegorical treatment in John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. Christian and his companion Hopeful, soon after their first encounter with Ignorance, "entered into a very dark lane, where they met a man whom seven devils had bound with seven strong cords, and were carrying him back to the door that they saw on the side of the Hill."[131] Christian believes he recognizes the captive as Turn-Away, who dwells in the town of Apostacy.
Thomas Grantham (1634–1692)[edit]
Thomas Grantham "was for many years the principal minister among the General Baptists," and he wrote "chiefly in explanation or defense of Baptist sentiments. The largest was a folio volume, entitled Christianismus Primitivus."[132] In it he writes,

That such who are true believers, even branches of Christ the vine, and that in the account of Christ whom he exhorts to abide in him, or such who have Charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned, 1 Timothy 1:5, may nevertheless for want of watchfulness, swerve and turn aside from the same, and become dead branches, cast into the fire, and burned [John 15:6]. But such who add unto their Faith Virtue, and unto Virtue Knowledge, and unto Knowledge Temperance, &c. such shall never fall [2 Peter 1:5–10], for they are kept by the power of God though Faith unto Salvation [1 Peter 1:5].[133]
John Wesley (1703–1791)[edit]



John Wesley
John Jefferson Davis writes,

In the treatise "Predestination Calmly Considered" Wesley observed that believers might infer from their own experience of grace that it is impossible to finally fall away. Nevertheless, whatever assurance God might give to particular souls "I find no general promise in holy writ, that none who once believes shall finally fall." Scripture, and not personal experience or inferences drawn from it, states Wesley, must be decisive in the matter. In his treatise "Serious Thoughts on the Perseverance of the Saints" Wesley allows that the apostle Paul—and many believers today—were fully persuaded of their final perseverance. Nevertheless such an assurance does not prove that every believer will persevere or that every believer enjoys such assurance. Based on his reading of Hebrews 6:4, 6; 10:26–29; 2 Peter 2:20–21 and other NT texts, Wesley is persuaded that a true believer can make shipwreck of his faith and perish everlastingly.[134]
Implications[edit]
Michael Fink writes:

Apostasy is certainly a biblical concept, but the implications of the teaching have been hotly debated.[135] The debate has centered on the issue of apostasy and salvation. Based on the concept of God's sovereign grace, some hold that, though true believers may stray, they will never totally fall away. Others affirm that any who fall away were never really saved. Though they may have "believed" for a while, they never experienced regeneration. Still others argue that the biblical warnings against apostasy are real and that believers maintain the freedom, at least potentially, to reject God's salvation.[136]
McKnight says that "apostasy ought not to be used as a continual threat so much as an occasional warning of the disaster that Christians may bring upon themselves if they do not examine themselves. As a warning, apostasy can function as a moral injunction that strengthens commitment to holiness as well as the need to turn in complete trust to God in Christ through his Spirit."[137] Some argue that the desire for salvation shows one does not have "an evil, unbelieving heart" leading to apostasy.[138] As Fink puts it, "persons worried about apostasy should recognize that conviction of sin in itself is evidence that one has not fallen away."[139]
See also[edit]
List of former Christians
Christian atheism
Backsliding
Arminian doctrine of individual apostasy, see Conditional Preservation of the Saints
Christian heresy
Conversion to Christianity
Great Apostasy
Rejection of Jesus
Julian the Apostate
Apostasy in other religions[edit]
Apostasy in Islam
Apostasy in Judaism
Notes[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b Paul W. Barnett, Dictionary of the Later New Testament and its Developments, "Apostasy," 73.
2.Jump up ^ Richard A. Muller, Dictionary of Greek and Latin Theological Terms: Drawn Principally from Protestant Scholastic Theology, 41. "Apostasy is generally defined as the determined, willful rejection of Christ and His teachings by a Christian believer (Heb. 10:26-29; . . .)(Nelson's New Illustrated Bible Dictionary: Completely Revised and Updated Edition by Ronald F. Youngblood (Editor) [Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1995], 91). The Tyndale Bible Dictionary defines apostasy as a "Turning against God, as evidenced by abandonment and repudiation of former beliefs. The term generally refers to a deliberate renouncing of the faith by a once sincere believer . . ." ("Apostasy," Walter A. Elwell and Philip W. Comfort, editors, 95). Holman Treasury of Key Bible Words: "People who commit apostasy abandon their faith and repudiate their former beliefs. . . . Apostasy is a complete and final rejection of God" ("Apostasy," Eugene E. Carpenter & Philip W. Comfort, 227). The Dictionary of Christian Theology (edited by Alan Richardson) says apostasy "means the deliberate disavowal of belief in Christ made by a formerly believing Christian" ("Apostasy," R.P.C. Hanson; The Westminster Press, 1969, 12). Baker's Dictionary of Theology (editor in chief Everett F. Harrison) "Cremer states that apostasia is used in the absolute sense of 'passing over to unbelief,' thus a dissolution of the 'union with God subsisting through faith in Christ'" ("Apostasy," Robert Winston Ross [Baker Book House, 1976], 57).
3.Jump up ^ Scot McKnight, Dictionary of Theological Interpretation of the Bible, "Apostasy," 58.
4.Jump up ^ "Apostasy and Perseverance in Church History" in Paul and Apostasy: Eschatology, Perseverance, and Falling Away in the Corinthian Congregation, 2. Paul Barnett provides four reasons for apostasy: (1) Moral or Spiritual Failure; (2) Persecution; (3) False Teaching; (4) Self-Choice (Dictionary of the Later New Testament, 75)
5.Jump up ^ Oropeza, Paul and Apostasy, 2-3.
6.Jump up ^ Walter Bauder, "Fall, Fall Away," The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology (NIDNTT), 1:606.
7.Jump up ^ Michael Fink, "Apostasy," in the Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, 87. In Acts 21:21, "Paul was falsely accused of teaching the Jews apostasy from Moses . . . [and] he predicted the great apostasy from Christianity, foretold by Jesus (Matthew 24:10–12), which would precede 'the Day of the Lord' (2 Thessalonians 2:2f.)" (D. M. Pratt, International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, "Apostasy," 1:192).
8.Jump up ^ Pratt, International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, 1:192. Holman Treasury of Key Bible Words: "Many New Testament passages, using different words, convey warnings against apostasy" ("Apostasy," Carpenter & Comfort, 227).
9.Jump up ^ Bauder, NIDNTT, 1:606
10.Jump up ^ The Complete Biblical Library: Greek English Dictionary, apostasia, 10:394, and aphistēmi, 10:506. "In the LXX it [aphistēmi] is frequently a technical term for apostasy (from God), e.g., Deut 32:15; Jer 3:14; cf. also 1QS 7:18, 23" (Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament, 1:183).
11.Jump up ^ "The Greek verb [aphistēmi] is related to the noun that means 'apostasy'; it means to abandon, to defect, to forsake. Here it is to lose faith in the Christian message, to quit believing" (Robert G. Bratcher, A Translator's Guide to the Gospel of Luke, 132). Timothy Friberg, Barbara Friberg, Neva F. Miller: "in a religious sense fall away, become apostate (Luke 8:13)" (Analytical Lexicon of the Greek New Testament, 84). Hermann Cremer: "to denote religious apostasy, in contrast to πιστεύειν [believe/trust], Luke 8:13. . . . Thus [aphistēmi] = to dissolve the union formed with God by faith and obedience" (Biblico-Theological Lexicon of the New Testament Greek, 308).
12.Jump up ^ "to make defection, fall away, apostatize, Luke 8:13; 1 Tim. 4:1; Heb. 3:12" (William D. Mounce, Gen. Ed., Mounce's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, aphistēmi, 1103). "To make defection from, to revolt, to apostatize, (Luke 8:13; 1 Tim. 4:1; Heb. 3:12)" (Strong's Complete Word Study Concordance, Expanded Edition, Editor: Warren Baker, aphistēmi, 2039).
13.Jump up ^ NIDNTT, 1:607-608. I. Howard Marshall says piptō, to fall (Romans 11:11, 22; 1 Corinthians 10:12; Hebrews 4:11); parapiptō, to fall away, transgress (Hebrews 6:6), pararrheō, to drift away (Hebrews 2:1); and skandalizō/skandalon, to stumble, offend (John 6:61; 16:1) are also expressions connected to the concept of apostasy (Kept by the Power of God, 217, note 4).
14.Jump up ^ NIDNTT, 1:610-611
15.Jump up ^ Heinz Giesen, Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament, 3:248. Nigel Turner says, "A look at the New Testament and patristic phenomena reveals that the meaning is two-fold, 'either to put someone off from becoming a believer or to cause a believer to fall away. The scandal of the Cross is an instance of the first meaning, to cause to apostatize an instance of the second' [quoting from G. D. Kilpatrick, Journal of Theological Studies NS 10 (1959), p. 129]. (Christian Words [T. Nelson Publishers, 1981], Offence: skandalizō; skandalon, 294 and 304, fn. 5).
16.Jump up ^ Heinz Giesen, Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament, 3:249.
17.Jump up ^ I. Howard Marshall, Kept by the Power of God: A Study of Perseverance and Falling Away, 217.
18.Jump up ^ Gustav Stählin: In Matt. 13:41 . . . [skandalon] here, and only here in the New Testament, is patently used of persons. The Old Testament ring of the second member (transgressor of the Law) suggests that [skandalon] are those who seduce into breaking the Law. In the New Testament interpretation they are those who lead into sin and apostasy . . . . As the [weeds] are sown by the devil (v. 39, cf. 15:13), so the [skandalon] are the devil's children (cf. John 8:38, 41, 44; 1 John 3:10) who work against God in the kingdom of the Son of Man (Matt. 13:41) and try to cause as many as possible to fall. Their end will come with that of the devil and his hosts (on v. 42 cf. Rev. 20:10). The counterpart (cf. v. 30) to the gathering out of the [skandalon] from the kingdom of the Son of Man is the gathering of the elect from all the kingdoms of the world (Matt. 24:31), both by angels. (Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, 7:346-347) Nigel Turner: "To be a skandalon is to achieve the moral ruin of another person. . . . The angels will gather the offenders [i.e., skandalon] out of the Kingdom and [throw them] into the fire (Matt 18:6f.; 13:41; Mark 9:42; Luke 17:1f.)" (Christian Words, 296).
19.Jump up ^ Gustav Stählin: Both woes [in Matt. 18:7] show how terribly dangerous [skandalon] are. At issue are the loss of eternal salvation and eternal perdition. (Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, 7:347)
20.Jump up ^ Gustav Stählin: In Mark 9:42 (which has come down to us in all three Gospels . . .), the point is the avoidance of [skandalon]. This is again an eschatological saying, for the one thing more terrible than being drowned with a mill-stone about one's neck is damnation at the Last Judgment. The punishment fits the offence. [skandalon] means "to cause loss of faith," i.e., "to rob of eternal salvation." Thus the [skandalon] is himself plunged into eternal perdition. (Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, 7:351)
21.Jump up ^ Geoffrey Bromiley: A similar eschatological light falls on Mark 9:43ff.; Matt. 5:29-30; 18:8-9. The meaning of skandalízō here is "to entice into sin" and therefore to plunge into unbelief and perdition. No price is too high to avoid this; hence the relentless demand of Jesus. (Geoffrey W. Bromiley, trans., Gerhard Kittel, Gerhard Friedrich, ed., Theological Dictionary of the New Testament: Abridged in One Volume, 1037-1038)
22.Jump up ^ Geoffrey Bromiley: Tensions in the churches are the occasion of skándalon (cf. the debates between the strong and the weak in Rom. 14-15 and 1 Cor. 8:1ff.; 10:23ff.). The freedom of those who have fully cast off the past causes offense to those who have not, but it also creates the danger that these will act against their consciences or with wavering faith. In this case the danger is the serious one of an ultimate eschatological fall (Rom. 14:15, 23). The strong with their freedom may destroy the weak [v. 15] and therefore overturn God's work in Christ [v. 20]. Paul, then, sides with the weak even though he shares the faith of the strong (Rom. 15:1). (Theological Dictionary of the New Testament: Abridged in One Volume, 1038)
23.Jump up ^ Geoffrey Bromiley: False teachers [in Rom. 16:17 f.] cause both divisions and skándala, which are probably temptations to abandon sound doctrine. A similar use of skándalon occurs in Rev. 2:14 (cf. also Matt. 13:41), where "to put a stumbling block" recalls Lev. 19:14 and carries the sense of seduction into apostasy and immorality (cf. vv. 15, 20). (Theological Dictionary of the New Testament: Abridged in One Volume, 1038)
24.Jump up ^ Heinz Giesen, Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament, 3:248-250.
25.^ Jump up to: a b c Dictionary of the Later New Testament, 74.
26.Jump up ^ Barnett, Dictionary of the Later New Testament, 75
27.Jump up ^ Barnett, Dictionary of the Later New Testament, 73.
28.Jump up ^ "The Warning Passages of Hebrews: A Formal Analysis and Theological Conclusions," Trinity Journal 13.1 (1992): 23.
29.Jump up ^ "The Warning Passages of Hebrews," 25
30.Jump up ^ "The Warning Passages of Hebrews," 54
31.Jump up ^ The Dictionary of Biblical Imagery, "Apostasy," 39.
32.^ Jump up to: a b c d Dictionary of Biblical Imagery, 39.
33.Jump up ^ LXX = the Septuagint—the Greek translation of the Old Testament.
34.Jump up ^ Dictionary of Biblical Imagery, 39. Paul Barnett says, "Jesus foresaw the fact of apostasy and warned both those who would fall into sin as well as those who would cause others to fall (see, e.g., Mark 9:42–49)." (Dictionary of the Later New Testament, 73).
35.Jump up ^ Dictionary of Biblical Imagery, 39
36.^ Jump up to: a b Dictionary of Biblical Imagery, 40
37.Jump up ^ Dictionary of Biblical Imagery, 40.
38.Jump up ^ Dictionary of the Later New Testament, 75. So Oropeza, Paul and Apostasy, 3-12. See also Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs: A Reference Guide to More Than 700 Topics Discussed by the Early Church Fathers, edited by David Bercot, under the topic of "Salvation," "Can those who are saved ever be lost?": 586-591.
39.Jump up ^ Peabody: Hendrickson, 1994, obtained at http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/index.html
40.Jump up ^ Three sentences earlier these "gifts of God" (1 Clement 35:1) are mentioned as: "Life in immortality, splendor in righteousness, truth in perfect confidence, faith in assurance, self-control in holiness!" (1 Clement 35:2)
41.Jump up ^ Clement places a lot of emphasis on works of righteousness—avoiding sin and pursuing holiness. However, one should keep in mind that he says: "And we, too, [like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob] . . . are not justified by ourselves, nor by our own wisdom, or understanding, or godliness, or works which we have wrought in holiness of heart; but by that faith through which, from the beginning, Almighty God has justified all men." (1 Clement 32)
42.Jump up ^ Ignatius later writes: "For where there is division and wrath, God does not dwell. To all them that repent, the Lord grants forgiveness, if they turn in penitence to the unity of God, and to communion with the bishop" (Philadelphians 8:1).
43.Jump up ^ B. J. Oropeza comments that this passage refers to "careless Christians" who forfeit their "salvific life" (Paul and Apostasy, 203)
44.Jump up ^ For believers to become wicked sinners is, in the author's mind, to share in their same fate—"eternal death with punishments" (Barnabas 20:1).
45.^ Jump up to: a b Oropeza, Paul and Apostasy, 3.
46.Jump up ^ The following is a summary of the way of light: to love and glorify God; to not join yourself with those who walk in the way of death; to not forsake the Lord’s commandments; to not exalt or take glory to yourself; to not take evil counsel against your neighbor; to not allow over-boldness to enter into your soul; to not commit fornication or adultery; to not be a corrupter of youth; to not allow any kind of impurity to come out of your mouth; to not be mindful of evil against your brother; to not be of a doubtful mind; to not take the name of the Lord in vain; to not slay the child by procuring abortion, nor destroying it after it is born; to not covet; to not make a schism; to hate what is unpleasing to God and all hypocrisy; to hate the wicked one; to be pure in your soul (as far as possible); to be meek and peaceable; to love your neighbor; and to confess your sins. (Barnabas 19:2–12)
47.Jump up ^ The vices which lead to death and "destroy the soul" (Barnabas 20:1) are the following: idolatry, over-confidence, the arrogance of power, hypocrisy, double-heartedness, adultery, murder, rapine [i.e., plundering], haughtiness, transgression, deceit, malice, self-sufficiency, poisoning, magic, avarice, want of the fear of God. [In this way, too,] are those who persecute the good, those who hate truth, those who love falsehood, those who know not the reward of righteousness, those who cleave not to that which is good, those who attend not with just judgment to the widow and orphan, those who watch not to the fear of God, [but incline] to wickedness, from whom meekness and patience are far off; persons who love vanity, follow after a reward, pity not the needy, labor not in aid of him who is overcome with toil; who are prone to evil-speaking, who know not Him that made them, who are murderers of children, destroyers of the workmanship of God; who turn away him that is in want, who oppress the afflicted, who are advocates of the rich, who are unjust judges of the poor, and who are in every respect transgressors. (Barnabas 20:1–2)
48.Jump up ^ Other vices to be abstained from are: murder, adultery, pederasty, fornication, stealing, practicing magic or witchcraft, killing a child by abortion; coveting; bearing false witness; speaking evil; lying; filthy talking; hypocrisy; hating others, money-loving, lustful, being hot-tempered, jealous, or quarrelsome. (Didache 1–4)
49.Jump up ^ The vices that the author associates with the way of death are: murders, adulteries, lusts, fornications, thefts, idolatries, magic arts, witchcrafts, rapines [i.e., plunderings], false witnessings, hypocrisies, double-heartedness, deceit, haughtiness, depravity, self-will, greediness, filthy talking, jealousy, over-confidence, loftiness, boastfulness; persecutors of the good, hating truth, loving a lie, not knowing a reward for righteousness, not cleaving to good nor to righteous judgment, watching not for that which is good, but for that which is evil; from whom meekness and endurance are far, loving vanities, pursuing requital, not pitying a poor man, not laboring for the afflicted, not knowing Him that made them, murderers of children, destroyers of the handiwork of God, turning away from him that is in want, afflicting him that is distressed, advocates of the rich, lawless judges of the poor, utter sinners. Be delivered, children, from all these. (Didache 5)
50.^ Jump up to: a b Oropeza, Paul and Apostasy, 4.
51.Jump up ^ Polycarp goes on to counsel presbyters to "be compassionate and merciful to all, bringing back those that wander," and to "be zealous in the pursuit of that which is good, keeping ourselves from causes of offense, from false brethren, and from those who in hypocrisy bear the name of the Lord, and draw away vain men into error" (Philippians 6).
52.Jump up ^ To be avaricious is to have an insatiable greed for riches.
53.Jump up ^ Later Clement writes: I think not that I counted trivial counsel concerning continence [i.e., self-restraint]; following it, a man will not repent thereof, but will save both himself and me who counseled. For it is no small reward to turn back a wandering and perishing soul for its salvation. [James 5:19–20] . . . Let us, therefore, continue in that course in which we, righteous and holy, believed. . . . So, then, brethren, having received no small occasion to repent, while we have opportunity, let us turn to God who called us, while yet we have One to receive us. For if we renounce these indulgences and conquer the soul by not fulfilling its wicked desires, we shall be partakers of the mercy of Jesus. . . . Let us, then, repent with our whole heart, that no one of us may perish amiss. For if we have commands and engage in withdrawing from idols and instructing others, how much more ought a soul already knowing God not to perish. Rendering, therefore, mutual help, let us raise the weak also in that which is good, that all of us may be saved. . . . Let us remember the commandments of the Lord, and not be allured back by worldly lusts, but let us . . . draw near and try to make progress in the Lord's commands, that we all having the same mind may be gathered together for life. (2 Clement 15–17)
54.Jump up ^ Paul and Apostasy, 4–5.
55.Jump up ^ Irenaeus wrote: Thou wilt notice, too, that the transgressions of the common people have been described in like manner, not for the sake of those who did then transgress, but as a means of instruction unto us, and that we should understand that it is one and the same God against whom these men sinned, and against whom certain persons do now transgress from among those who profess to have believed in Him. But this also, [as the presbyter states,] has Paul declared most plainly in the Epistle to the Corinthians, when he says, "Brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and were all baptized unto Moses in the sea, and did all eat the same spiritual meat, and did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them; and the rock was Christ. But with many of them God was not well pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. These things were for our example (in figuram nostri), to the intent that we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted; neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them, as it is written: The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them also did, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents. Neither murmur ye, as some of them murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer. But all these things happened to them in a figure, and were written for our admonition, upon whom the end of the world (saeculorum) is come. Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall." (Against Heresies, Book 4:27.3)
56.^ Jump up to: a b Oropeza, Paul and Apostasy, 6.
57.Jump up ^ In another letter Ignatius writes: "Wherefore, as children of light and truth, flee from division and wicked doctrines. . . . For there are many wolves . . . who, by means of a pernicious pleasure, carry captive those that are running towards God; but in your unity they shall have no place" (Epistle to the Philadelphians 2).
58.Jump up ^ Tertullian mentions that it is the same apostle Paul, who in his letter to the Galatians: counts "heresies" among "the sins of the flesh," [Galatians 5:20] who also intimates to Titus, that "a man who is a heretic" must be "rejected after the first admonition," on the ground that "he that is such is perverted, and commits sin, as a self-condemned man." [Titus 3:10–11] Indeed, in almost every epistle, when enjoining on us (the duty) of avoiding false doctrines, he sharply condemns heresies. Of these the practical effects are false doctrines, called in Greek heresies, a word used in the sense of that choice which a man makes when he either teaches them (to others) or takes up with them (for himself). For this reason it is that he calls the heretic self-condemned, because he has himself chosen that for which he is condemned. We, however, are not permitted to cherish any object after our own will, nor yet to make choice of that which another has introduced of his private fancy. In the Lord's apostles we possess our authority; for even they did not of themselves choose to introduce anything, but faithfully delivered to the nations (of mankind) the doctrine which they had received from Christ. If, therefore, even "an angel from heaven should preach any other gospel" (than theirs), he would be called accursed by us. (Prescription Against Heretics 6)
59.Jump up ^ Therefore, heresies "must be shunned" (Prescription Against Heretics 4).
60.Jump up ^ Tertullian believes that all heresies "have been introduced by the devil" (Prescription Against Heretics 40).
61.Jump up ^ Tertullian notes that heretics frequently hang out with loose company, and that ungodliness is the natural effect of their teaching, since "they say that God is not to be feared; therefore all things are in their view free and unchecked" (Prescription against Heretics 43).
62.Jump up ^ Only he who "believes the Scripture and voice of the Lord, which by the Lord acts to the benefiting of men, is rightly [regarded] faithful." (The Stromata, Book 7:16). Heretics are those who are "giving themselves up to pleasures, [and] wrest Scripture, in accordance with their lusts," and "wrest them to their own opinions" (The Stromata, Book 7:16). Furthermore, when they quote from the Scriptures they "alter the meanings . . . according to their true nature" (The Stromata, Book 7:16). Therefore, the author concludes that "we must never, as do those who follow the heresies, adulterate the truth, or steal the canon of the Church, by gratifying our own lusts and vanity, by defrauding our neighbors; whom above all it is our duty, in the exercise of love to them, to teach to adhere to the truth" (The Stromata, Book 7:16).
63.Jump up ^ Cyprian states that this immortality is not possessed "unless we keep those commands of Christ whereby death is driven out and overcome, when He Himself warns us, and says, 'If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments?' [Matthew 19:17] And again: 'If ye do the things that I command you, henceforth I call you not servants, but friends.' [John 16:15]" (The Treatises of Cyprian 1:2)
64.Jump up ^ Paul and Apostasy, 6–7. Oropeza adds: The use of anathemas and excommunications became the normative means of handling heresy. Hippolytus (c. 170–236) affirmed that there was no place for the heretic in the church; expulsion from the earthly Eden was their lot. Cyprian (c. 258) viewed the heretics as those who lose their salvation because they put themselves outside the unity of the church. Cyril of Alexandria (c. 444) anathematized Nestorianism, and creeds (such as the Athanasian) declared anathemas on those who did not hold to the tenets of the creed. The condemnation of heretics gave way to abuse as church and state distinctions were blurred after the time of Constantine. (Paul and Apostasy, 7)
65.Jump up ^ Paul and Apostasy, 8. Terrullian (c. 213) asks, "Does God covet man's blood [i.e., via martyrdom]? And yet I might venture to affirm that He does, if man also covets the kingdom of heaven, if man covets a sure salvation. . . .” (Scorpiace 6).
66.Jump up ^ In another letter, Cyprian rejoices over the presbyter and other confessors of Christ "whom the devil has not been able to overcome," but shares how he is grieved "over those whom a hostile persecution has cast down" (The Epistles of Cyprian 6:1).
67.Jump up ^ Will the Real Heretics Please Stand Up: A New Look at Today's Evangelical Church in the Light of Early Christianity, 65. From his extensive research New Testament scholar B. J. Oropeza arrived at the same conclusion: "The church fathers would affirm the reality of the phenomenon of apostasy" (Paul and Apostasy, 13). For Opropeza's full discussion on "Apostasy and Perseverance in Church History," see pages 1–13. Traditional Calvinists Thomas R. Schreiner and Ardel B. Caneday, in their book The Race Set Before Us: A Biblical Theology of Perseverance and Assurance (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2001), recommend that readers see Oropeza's "excellent history of interpretation on the matter of perseverance and apostasy" (10, footnote 2).
68.Jump up ^ See Oropeza, Paul and Apostasy, 1-34. One can find each of these views being represented in the book Four Views on Eternal Security (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002), which deals with the topic of apostasy. The fourth view in this book, "Wesleyan Arminianism," shares so much in common with "Reformed Arminianism" regarding apostasy that it does not seem to warrant a separate treatment. See also the Four Views on the Warning Passages in Hebrews (Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 2007).
69.Jump up ^ John Jefferson Davis, "The Perseverance of the Saints: A History of the Doctrine," 217. Davis goes on to write: "This view is apparent in Calvin's comment on 1 John 3:9 ('No one born of God commits sin, for God's nature abides in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God'). Calvin argues that the apostle John 'plainly declares that the Spirit continues his grace in us to the last, so that inflexible perseverance is added to newness of life.' Can the fear and love of God be extinguished in the truly regenerate? No, because 'the seed, communicated when God regenerates his elect, as it is incorruptible, retains its virtue perpetually.' The 'seed' is the presence of God's new life in the believer." ("The Perseverance of the Saints: A History of the Doctrine," 217)
70.^ Jump up to: a b c d e Oropeza, Paul and Apostasy, 15.
71.Jump up ^ Davis, "The Perseverance of the Saints: A History of the Doctrine," 222.
72.Jump up ^ Oropeza, Paul and Apostasy, 15-16.
73.^ Jump up to: a b Oropeza, Paul and Apostasy, 17.
74.Jump up ^ Oropeza, Paul and Apostasy, 20.
75.Jump up ^ Oropeza, Paul and Apostasy, 19.
76.Jump up ^ Oropeza, Paul and Apostasy, 19–20.
77.Jump up ^ Davis, "The Perseverance of the Saints: A History of the Doctrine," 222–223.
78.^ Jump up to: a b c Reign of the Servant Kings, xvi.
79.Jump up ^ Reign of the Servant Kings, 22; cf. xvi, 20–21.
80.Jump up ^ Norman Geisler believes that "Continued belief is not a condition for keeping one's salvation." ("Moderate Calvinism," Four Views on Eternal Security, 109). Zane Hodges says: ". . . We miss the point to insist that true saving faith must necessarily continue. Of course, our faith in Christ should continue. But the claim that it absolutely must . . . has no support at all in the Bible" (Absolutely Free! A Biblical Reply to Lordship Salvation, 63). Charles Stanley writes, "To say that our salvation can be taken from us for any reason, whether it be sin or disbelief, is to ignore the plain meaning of this text [Ephesians 2:8–9]" (Eternal Security, 81). Dillow believes: "it is possible for true Christians to fail to persevere in faith and, in remote cases, even to deny the faith altogether (Hebrews 10:26, 35)" (Reign of the Servant Kings, 21). What a Christian "forfeits when he 'falls away' [into unbelief and apostasy] is not his eternal destiny but his opportunity to reign with Christ's metochoi [companions] in the coming kingdom" (The Reign of the Servant Kings, 202). Dillow comments, "Even though [Arminian] Robert Shank would not agree, it is definitely true that saving faith is 'the act of a single moment whereby all the benefits of Christ's life, death, and resurrection suddenly become the irrevocable possession of the individual, per se, despite any and all eventualities'" (The Reign of the Servant Kings, 202). For Dillow, any and all eventualities would include falling away from the Christian faith and to "cease believing." (The Reign of the Servant Kings, 199).
81.Jump up ^ Once Saved, Always Saved (1983, 1995).
82.Jump up ^ Absolutely Free! A Biblical Reply to Lordship Salvation (1989).
83.Jump up ^ So Great Salvation: What it Means to Believe in Jesus Christ (1989, 1997).
84.Jump up ^ Eternal Security: Can You Be Sure? (1990).
85.Jump up ^ Chosen But Free: A Balanced View of Divine Election, 2nd edition (1999, 2001); also Four Views on Eternal Security, "Moderate Calvinism," (2002).
86.Jump up ^ Totally Saved (2004).
87.Jump up ^ Arminius wrote: "My sentiments respecting the perseverance of the Saints are, that those persons who have been grafted into Christ by true faith, and have thus been made partakers of his life-giving Spirit, possess sufficient powers [or strength] to fight against Satan, sin, the world and their own flesh, and to gain the victory over these enemies – yet not without the assistance of the grace of the same Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ also by his Spirit assists them in all their temptations, and affords them the ready aid of his hand; and, provided they stand prepared for the battle, implore his help, and be not wanting to themselves, Christ preserves them from falling. So that it is not possible for them, by any of the cunning craftiness or power of Satan, to be either seduced or dragged out of the hands of Christ. But I think it is useful and will be quite necessary in our first convention, [or Synod] to institute a diligent inquiry from the Scriptures, whether it is not possible for some individuals through negligence to desert the commencement of their existence in Christ, to cleave again to the present evil world, to decline from the sound doctrine which was once delivered to them, to lose a good conscience, and to cause Divine grace to be ineffectual. Though I here openly and ingenuously affirm, I never taught that a true believer can, either totally or finally fall away from the faith, and perish; yet I will not conceal, that there are passages of scripture which seem to me to wear this aspect; and those answers to them which I have been permitted to see, are not of such a kind as to approve themselves on all points to my understanding. On the other hand, certain passages are produced for the contrary doctrine [of unconditional perseverance] which are worthy of much consideration" (Works of Arminius, 2:219-220). William Nichols notes: "Arminius spoke nearly the same modest words when interrogated on this subject in the last Conference which he had with Gomarus [a Calvinist], before the states of Holland, on the 12th of Aug. 1609, only two months prior to his decease" (Works of Arminius, 1:665). B. J. Oropeza says, "Although Arminius denied having taught final apostasy in his Declaration of Sentiments, in the Examination of the Treatise of Perkins on the Order and Mode of Predestination he writes that a person who is being 'built' into the church of Christ may resist the continuation of this process. Concerning the believers, 'It may suffice to encourage them, if they know that no power or prudence can dislodge them from the rock, unless they of their own will forsake their position.' [Works of Arminius, 3:455, cf. 1:667] A believing member of Christ may become slothful, give place to sin, and gradually die altogether, ceasing to be a member. [Works of Arminius, 3:458] The covenant of God (Jeremiah 23) 'does not contain in itself an impossibility of defection from God, but a promise of the gift of fear, whereby they shall be hindered from going away from God so long as that shall flourish in their hearts.' If there is any consistency in Arminius' position, he did not seem to deny the possibility of falling away" (Paul and Apostasy, 16).
88.Jump up ^ Arminius writes: "God resolves to receive into favor those who repent and believe, and to save in Christ, on account of Christ, and through Christ, those who persevere [in faith], but to leave under sin and wrath those who are impenitent and unbelievers, and to condemn them as aliens from Christ" (Works of Arminius, 2:465; cf. 2:466). In another place he writes: "[God] wills that they, who believe and persevere in faith, shall be saved, but that those, who are unbelieving and impenitent, shall remain under condemnation" (Works of Arminius, 3:412; cf. 3:413).
89.Jump up ^ The article reads: That those who are incorporated into Christ by a true faith, and have thereby become partakers of his life-giving Spirit, have thereby full power to strive against Satan, sin, the world, and their own flesh, and to win the victory; it being well understood that it is ever through the assisting grace of the Holy Ghost; and that Jesus Christ assists them through his Spirit in all temptations, extends to them his hand, and if only they are ready for the conflict, and desire his help, and are not inactive, keeps them from falling, so that they, by not craft or power of Satan, can be misled nor plucked out of Christ's hand, according to the Word of Christ, John 10:28: 'Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.' But whether they are capable, through negligence, of forsaking again the first beginnings of their life in Christ, of again returning to this present evil world, of turning away from the holy doctrine which was delivered them, of losing a good conscience, of becoming devoid of grace, that must be more particularly determined out of the Holy Scripture, before we ourselves can teach it with full persuasion of our minds.(Philip Schaff, editor. The Creeds of Christendom Volume III: The Evangelical Protestant Creeds, "The Articles of the Remonstrants," 3:548-549)
90.Jump up ^ Peter Y. DeJong, Crisis in the Reformed Churches: Essays in Commemoration of the Great Synod of Dordt, 1618–1619, 220ff.
91.Jump up ^ Grace, Faith, Free Will, 198.
92.Jump up ^ A Full Refutation of the Doctrine of Unconditional Perseverance: In a Discourse on Hebrews 2:3 (1790).
93.Jump up ^ Theological Institutes (1851): Volume 2, Chapter 25.
94.Jump up ^ Systematic Theology: A Complete Body of Wesleyan Arminian Divinity Consisting of Lectures on the Twenty-Five Articles of Religion (1888): 2:173-210.
95.Jump up ^ Perseverance and Apostasy: Being an Argument in Proof of the Arminian Doctrine on that Subject (1871).
96.Jump up ^ A Compendium of Christian Theology: Being Analytical Outlines of a Course of Theological Study, Biblical, Dogmatic, Historical (1879), 3:131-147; A Higher Catechism of Theology (1883): 276-291.
97.Jump up ^ The Catholic teaching on apostasy is found in The Catechism of the Catholic Church (first published in the United States in 1994, and the Second Edition in 2003). According to Pope John Paul II it is "presented as a full, complete exposition of Catholic doctrine" (Catechism, "Apostolic Letter"). See sections 161-162; and 1849-1861, obtained at http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/ccc_toc2.htm
98.Jump up ^ While the Orthodox Church has no statement of faith or position paper on the possibility of apostasy, two Orthodox resources support the conditional security of the believer and the possibility of apostasy—see http://evangelicalarminians.org/files/Orthodox%20Church%20Affirms%20Conditional%20Security.pdf
99.Jump up ^ "The Solid Declaration of the Formula of Concord" reads: "Thus many receive the Word with joy, but afterwards fall away again, Luke 8:13. But the cause is not as though God were unwilling to grant grace for perseverance to those in whom He has begun the good work, for that is contrary to St. Paul, Philippians 1:6; but the cause is that they wilfully turn away again from the holy commandment [of God], grieve and embitter the Holy Ghost, implicate themselves again in the filth of the world, and garnish again the habitation of the heart for the devil. With them the last state is worse than the first, 2 Peter 2:10, 20; Ephesians 4:30; Hebrews 10:26; Luke 11:25" (XI. Election, #42, Obtained at http://bookofconcord.org/sd-election.php). Also, "The Solid Declaration of the Formula of Concord" reads: "Above all, therefore, the false Epicurean delusion is to be earnestly censured and rejected, namely, that some imagine that faith and the righteousness and salvation which they have received can be lost through no sins or wicked deeds, not even through willful and intentional ones, but that a Christian although he indulges his wicked lusts without fear and shame, resists the Holy Ghost, and purposely engages in sins against conscience, yet none the less retains faith, God's grace, righteousness, and salvation. Against this pernicious delusion the following true, immutable, divine threats and severe punishments and admonitions should be often repeated and impressed upon Christians who are justified by faith: 1 Cor. 6:9: Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, etc., shall inherit the kingdom of God. Gal. 5:21; Eph. 5:5: They which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Rom. 8:13: If ye live after the flesh, ye shall die. Col. 3:6: For which thing's sake the wrath of God cometh upon the children of disobedience" (IV. Good Works, #31-32, obtained at http://bookofconcord.org/sd-goodworks.php)
100.Jump up ^ Cyclopaedia of Methodism (Philadelphia: Louis H. Everts, 1882): "Arminian churches . . . do not believe that those who are converted will necessarily be [finally] saved. They ground their belief further on the warnings which are given by our Savior and his apostles, in teaching the necessity of watchfulness and prayer, in the warnings against falling away contained in many passages of Scripture, and the express declaration that some had been made 'shipwreck of faith' and had fallen away. . . . The Methodist Churches, being Arminian in theology, totally reject the doctrine of the necessary perseverance of the saints, while at the same time they teach that the prayerful and obedient, while they remain in that condition, can never be separated from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. They believe it, however, to be necessary to use all diligence to make their 'calling and election sure'" ("Perseverance, Final," 708-709). Leland Scott, in Encyclopedia of World Methodism, (Nashville: The United Methodist Publishing House, 1974): [John Wesley says] "Arminians hold, that a true believer may 'make shipwreck of faith and a good conscience;' that he may fall, not only foully, but finally, so as to perish forever." (The Question, "What is an Arminian?" Answered. 1770). . . . [According to Wesley] "a man may forfeit the free gift of God, either by sins of omission or commission." ("What is an Arminian?" question 11) How important, therefore, for every believer to beware, "lest his heart be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin;' . . . lest he should sink lower and lower, till he wholly fall away, till he become as salt that hath lost its savor: for if he thus sin willfully, after we have received the experimental 'knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins' . . ." (Sermon on the Mount, IV, i, 8, 1747). . . . Perseverance in grace, therefore, was conditioned upon the believer's persevering! Although the believer continued dependent upon atoning, redeeming grace throughout the course of his salvation, nevertheless—for Wesley—such grace (as seen through Scripture) must be considered finally resistible, the Spirit could finally be quenched. Thus the believer is "saved from the fear, though not from the possibility, of falling away from the grace of God" (Sermon 1. ii. 4.) ("Perseverance, Final," 1888-1889). Mark B. Stokes says: "Other people say, 'once in grace always in grace.' . . . But we United Methodist believe that we are still free to turn away from Christ even while we are Christians. . . . The Bible is filled with examples of people who started out well and ended up tragically. . . . We experience no state of grace which is beyond the possibility of falling" (Major United Methodist Beliefs, Revised and Enlarged [Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1990], 117-118). Article XII—Of Sin After Justification: "Not every sin willingly committed after justification is the sin against the Holy Ghost, and unpardonable. Wherefore, the grant of repentance is not to be denied to such as fall into sin after justification. After we have received the Holy Ghost, we may depart from grace given, and fall into sin, and, by the grace of God, rise again and amend our lives. And therefore they are to be condemned who say they can no more sin as long as they live here; or deny the place of forgiveness to such as truly repent. (The Articles of Religion of the Methodist Church, obtained at http://archives.umc.org/interior.asp?ptid=1&mid=1650) Charles Yrigoyen writes: "Article XII addresses the problem of our disobedience and sin after we have been prepared by grace and have accepted God's offer of pardon and forgiveness (justifying grace) by faith. . . . After justification, any of us 'may depart from grace given, and fall into sin, and, by the grace of God, rise again and amend our lives.' In this Article there is a plain denial of what some call 'eternal security' or 'once saved, always saved,' which claims that once people have received the saving grace of God, they cannot lose their salvation" (Belief Matters: United Methodism's Doctrinal Standards [Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2001], 85).
101.Jump up ^ See "Does Doctrine Matter?" By Donald N. Bastian available at http://wilmorefmc.org/truth/theology/
102.Jump up ^ "We believe that those who abide in Christ have the assurance of salvation. However, we believe that the Christian retains his freedom of choice; therefore, it is possible for him to turn away from God and be finally lost. (A) Assurance: Matthew 28:20; 1 Corinthians 10:13; Hebrews 5:9. (B) Endurance: Matthew 10:22; Luke 9:62; Colossians 1:23; Revelation 2:10-11; 3:3-5. (C) Warnings: John 15:6; Romans 11:20-23; Galatians 5:4; Hebrews 3:12; 10:26-29; 2 Peter 2:20-21. (D) Finally Lost: John 15:6; 1 Corinthians 9:27; Hebrews 6:4-6." "Statements of Faith," obtained at http://s3.amazonaws.com/mychurchwebsite/c1707/statementsoffaith.pdf
103.Jump up ^ See The Salvation Army Handbook of Doctrine [2010], 179-190, obtained at http://salvationist.ca/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/26defc89-e794-4e5a-a567-0793f3742430_English+Handbook+of+Doctrine+web.pdf
104.Jump up ^ "We believe that all persons, though in the possession of the experience of regeneration and entire sanctification, may fall from grace and apostatize and, unless they repent of their sins, be hopelessly and eternally lost." "Articles of Faith," obtained at http://www.nazarene.org/ministries/administration/visitorcenter/articles/display.aspx
105.Jump up ^ See Position Paper "The Security of the Believer" at http://www.ag.org/top/beliefs/position_papers/pp_downloads/pp_4178_security.pdf
106.Jump up ^ See A Trestise of the Faith and Practice of the National Association of Free Will Baptists, Inc., Chapter XIII Perseverance of the Saints and the Appendix to Chapter XIII available at http://www.nafwb.org/files/images/treatise09.pdf
107.Jump up ^ See Position Paper "The Assurance of the Believer," available at http://www.mcusa.org/AboutMC/PositionPapers/TheAssuranceoftheBeliever.aspx
108.Jump up ^ See J. C. Wenger, Introduction to Theology: A Brief Introduction to the Doctrinal Content of Scripture Written in the Anabaptist-Mennonite Tradition (Scottdale: Herald Press, 1954), 306-309, obtained at http://evangelicalarminians.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Wenger-Anabaptist-Mennonite-on-Apostasy.pdf
109.Jump up ^ See Faith and Practice: The Book of Discipline 2013, obtained at http://efcer.org/media/1/9/Faith-and-Practice-2013.pdf. "We further believe that the fullness of the Holy Spirit does not make believers incapable of choosing to sin, nor even from completely falling away from God, yet it so cleanses and empowers them as to enable them to have victory over sin, to endeavor fully to love God and people, and to witness to the living Christ. [2 Corinthians 7:1; 2 Peter 2:20-22; Acts 1:8]” (Faith and Practice, 11). "Security of the Believer: Evangelical Friends believe that the security of the believer, even for eternity, is indicated in God’s Word and witnessed to by the Holy Spirit to the individual, but we do not hold this security to be unconditional. As repentance and faith are the human conditions of acceptance of God’s free offer of salvation, so faith manifested by obedience is necessary to continuance in that salvation (Hebrews 5:9; I John 2:4)." (Faith and Practice, 22) Evangelical Friends Church—Eastern Region is associated with Evangelical Friends International.
110.Jump up ^ John Jefferson Davis, "The Perseverance of the Saints: A History of the Doctrine," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 34:2 (June 1991), 213.
111.Jump up ^ "Perseverance of the Saints," 213-214.
112.Jump up ^ Davis, "Perseverance of the Saints," 214. So Oropeza: [According to Augustine] "The graces of justification and salvation could still be lost" (Paul and Apostasy, 10).
113.Jump up ^ Davis, "Perseverance of the Saints," 214
114.Jump up ^ Davis, "Perseverance of the Saints," 215.
115.Jump up ^ Davis, "Perseverance of the Saints," 215-216.
116.^ Jump up to: a b Davis, "Perseverance of the Saints," 216.
117.Jump up ^ Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians (1535), translated by Theodore Graebner (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1949). Obtained from Project Wittenberg at http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/wittenberg/luther/gal/web/gal5-01.html On Galatians 5:1, "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free," Luther comments: "Our liberty is founded on Christ Himself, who sits at the right hand of God and intercedes for us. Therefore our liberty is sure and valid as long as we believe in Christ. As long as we cling to Him with a steadfast faith we possess His priceless gifts [forgiveness of sins and eternal life are two that Luther mentions in the previous paragraph]. But if we are careless and indifferent we shall lose them. It is not without good reason that Paul urges us to watch and to stand fast. He knew that the devil delights in taking this liberty away from us" (Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians). Stephen Pfurtner cites Luther's commentary on Hebrews 3:16, where Lurther warns, "We must therefore fear lest through apostasy we should lose again the beginning of a new creation" (Luther and Aquinas on Salvation, 142).
118.Jump up ^ Philipp Melanchthon, Commentary on Romans, translated by Fred Kramer [Concordia Publishing House, 2010], 172.
119.Jump up ^ Melanchthon, Commentary on Romans, 172.
120.Jump up ^ Melanchthon, Commentary on Romans, 172.
121.Jump up ^ Melanchthon, Commentary on Romans, 173.
122.Jump up ^ Melanchthon, Commentary on Romans, 173. Later in the commentary Melanchthon says, "He [Jesus] sits at the right hand of the Father and saves the believers with divine power, sustains and vivifies them, if only we do not fall away from him" (Commentary on Romans, 183). In his Annotations on the First Epistle to the Corinthians, Melanchthon comments on 1 Corinthians 10:1 (which seem to take in the fuller context of verses 2–12) appear to support apostasy. He says Paul "urges them to persevere in the justification which is taking place. His argument is by example. There are also the histories or examples of prophecy in Scripture. The fathers were rejected because of their sins, idolatry, laziness, lust, unbelief, etc. We must therefore be on guard lest the same sins cheat us of salvation" (109).
123.Jump up ^ John Goodwin, Redemption Redeemed, 503-504.
124.Jump up ^ Helwys, Thomas
125.Jump up ^ Joe Early Jr., The Life and Writings of Thomas Helwys, 64. Early says the "purpose of A Declaration of Faith was to differentiate the beliefs of Helwys congregation from that of Smyths" (Life and Writings of Thomas Helwys, 64). This Declaration is "Recognized by the majority of Baptist scholars as the first true English Baptist confession of the faith" (Early, The Life and Writings of Thomas Helwys, 64).
126.Jump up ^ Early, The Life and Writings of Thomas Helwys, 69-70.
127.Jump up ^ Keith D. Stanglin says "that the Opinions of the Remonstrants, [was] drawn up by Episcopius in 1618" ("Arminius and Arminianism: An Overview," 17, as found in Arminius, Arminianism, and Europe: Jacobus Arminius (1559/60-1609)). Mark A. Ellis, says the Remonstrants "selected Episcopius and two others to write it [the Confession] but in the end, he did the work alone" ("Introduction," The Arminian Confession of 1621, ix).
128.Jump up ^ The Arminian Confession of 1621, Preface, 30.
129.Jump up ^ The Arminian Confession of 1621, 11.7. See "Arminian Confession of 1621 and Apostasy" at http://evangelicalarminians.org/files/Arminian%20Confession%20of%201621%20and%20Apostasy.pdf In "The Opinions of the Remonstrants 1618" points three and four in the fifth article read: "True believers can fall from true faith and can fall into such sins as cannot be consistent with true and justifying faith; not only is it possible for this to happen, but it even happens frequently. True believers are able to fall through their own fault into shameful and atrocious deeds, to persevere and to die in them; and therefore finally to fall and to perish." See "The Opinions of the Remonstrants (1618)" at http://evangelicalarminians.org/files/Opinions%20of%20the%20Remonstrants%20%281618%29.pdf
130.Jump up ^ See Redemption Redeemed, 226–527. Goodwin's book can be read at http://evangelicalarminians.org/Goodwin-Redemption-Redeemed
131.Jump up ^ John Bunyan, The Pilgrim's Progress, 103.
132.Jump up ^ baptistlibraryonline.com
133.Jump up ^ Christianismus Primitives, 2:70. In A Dialogue Between the Baptist and the Presbyterian, the exchange appears to reveal Grantham's belief in apostasy: "Presbyterian: . . . It is certain that Judas could not but betray Christ, seeing God’s Decrees are immutable. . . . Baptist: . . . And as to the Instance of Judas, Antiquity is against you. For thus saith Chrysostom, Judas, my Beloved, was at first a Child of the Kingdom, when he heard it said to him with the Disciples, Ye shall sit on twelve Thrones; but at last he became a Child of Hell. Chrysostom Orat. 52 as quoted by Mr. John Goodwin. Presbyterian: I perceive you hold that a Child of God may possibly fall away and perish. This is a dangerous Error. Baptist: That Some may depart from the Faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, is clear in the Word of God [1 Timothy 4:1] . . . . For my part, though I doubt not but there is a state attainable, even in this Life, from which by the Grace of God Christians shall not fall, yet I hold it a vanity for any Man to affirm of himself, or of any other Person in particular, that it is impossible for him to fall. I hold it better by far, for the best, as well as others, to take heed lest they fall [1 Corinthians 10:12]. (19–20)
134.Jump up ^ Davis, "Perseverance of the Saints," 224.
135.Jump up ^ McKnight adds: "Because apostasy is disputed among Christian theologians, it must be recognized that ones overall hermeneutic and theology (including ones general philosophical orientation) shapes how one reads texts dealing with apostasy." Dictionary of Theological Interpretation of the Bible, 59.
136.Jump up ^ Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, "Apostasy," 87.
137.Jump up ^ Dictionary of Theological Interpretation of the Bible, 60.
138.Jump up ^ Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, 87-88
139.Jump up ^ Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, 87
References[edit]
Atwood, Craig D., Hill, Samuel S., and Mead, Frank S. Handbook of Denominations in the United States, 12th Edition (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2005).
Bercot, David W, editor. A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs: A Reference Guide to More Than 700 Topics Discussed by the Early Church Fathers (Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers, 1998).
Bercot, David W. Will the Real Heretics Please Stand Up: A New Look at Today's Evangelical Church in the Light of Early Christianity (Amberson: Scroll Publishing Company, 1989).
Bromiley, Geoffrey W, general editor. International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (Grand Rapids: Williams B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1979).
Brown, Colin, editor, The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, 3 Volumes (Grand Rapids: Regency Reference Library/Zondervan, 1975–1978).
Davis, John Jefferson. "The Perseverance of the Saints: A History of the Doctrine," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 34:2 (June 1991), 213-228.
Draper, Charles W., Brand, Chad, England, Archie, editors. Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary (Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers, 2003).
Early, Joe Jr. The Life and Writings of Thomas Helwys (Macon: Mercer University Press, 2009).
Ellis, Mark A. translator and editor, The Arminian Confession of 1621 (Eugene: Pickwick Publications, 2005).
Elwell, Walter A. and Comfort, Philip W. editors, Tyndale Bible Dictionary (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, 2001).
Gilbrant, Thoralf, and Ralph W. Harris, eds. The Complete Biblical Library: New Testament, 16 Volumes (Springfield: The Complete Biblical Library, 1986–1991).
Hildebrand, Dietrich von. The New Tower of Babel: Modern Man's Flight from God. Manchester, N.H.: Sophia Press, 1994, cop. 1953. 217 p. ISBN 0-918477-22-0
Leeuwen, Van Marius Th., Stanglin, Keith D. and Tolsma, Marijke, editors. Arminius, Arminianism, and Europe: Jacobus Arminius (1559/60-1609) (London: Brill, 2009).
Luther, Martin. Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians (1535), translated by Theodore Graebner (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1949). Obtained from Project Wittenberg at http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/wittenberg/luther/gal/web/gal5-01.html
Marshall, I. Howard. Kept by the Power of God: A Study of Perseverance and Falling Away (Minneapolis: Bethany Fellowship, Inc., 1969).
Martin, Ralph P. and Davids, Peter H., editors, Dictionary of the Later New Testament and its Developments, (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1997).
McKnight, Scot. "The Warning Passages of Hebrews: A Formal Analysis and Theological Conclusions," Trinity Journal 13:1 (1992): 21-59.
Melanchthon, Philip. Annotations on the First Epistle to the Corinthians, translated by John Patrick Donnelly (Milwaukee: Marquette University Press, 1995).
Muller, Richard A. Dictionary of Greek and Latin Theological Terms: Drawn Principally from Protestant Scholastic Theology (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1985).
Oropeza, B. J. Paul and Apostasy: Eschatology, Perseverance, and Falling Away in the Corinthian Congregation (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2000).
Pfürtner, Stephen. Luther and Aquinas on Salvation (New York: Sheed and Ward, 1964).
Ryken, Leland, Wilhoit, Jim, Longman, Tremper, Duriez, Colin, Penny, Douglas, Reid, Daniel G., editors, Dictionary of Biblical Imagery (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1998).
Summers, Thomas O. Systematic Theology: A Complete Body of Wesleyan Arminian Divinity, Consisting of Lectures on the Twenty-Five Articles of Religion (Nashville: Methodist Episcopal Church, South, 1888).
Vanhoozer, Kevin J. editor, Dictionary of Theological Interpretation of the Bible (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House Company, 2005).
External links[edit]
"Perseverance of the Saints: A History of the Doctrine" by John Jefferson Davis (a Traditional Calvinist)
"Early Christian Writers on Apostasy and Perseverance" by Steve Witzki
  


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In Judaism, apostasy refers to the rejection of Judaism and possible defection to another religion by a Jew.[1] The term apostasy is derived from Ancient Greek: ἀποστάτης, meaning "rebellious"[2] (Hebrew: מרד‎.[3]) Equivalent expressions for apostate in Hebrew that are used by rabbinical scholars include mumar (מומר, literally "the one that was changed"), poshea Yisrael (פושע ישראל, literally, "transgressor of Israel"), and kofer (כופר, literally "denier").[3] Similar terms are meshumad (משומד, lit. "destroyed one"), one who has abandoned his faith, and min (מין) or epikoros (אפיקורוס), which denote the negation of God and Judaism, implying atheism.[3]


Contents  [hide]
1 Examples 1.1 In the Bible
1.2 In the Talmud
1.3 Medieval Spain
1.4 Sabbatai Zevi and Jacob Frank
2 See also
3 Notes and references
4 External links

Examples[edit]
In the Bible[edit]
The first recorded reference to apostasy from Judaism is in Deuteronomy 13:6-11, which states:

"If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you love, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, "Let us go and worship other gods" (gods that neither you nor your fathers have known, gods of the peoples around you, whether near or far, from one end of the land to the other), do not yield to him or listen to him. Show him no pity. Do not spare him or shield him. You must certainly put him to death. Your hand must be the first in putting him to death, and then the hands of all the people. Stone him to death, because he tried to turn you away from the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. Then all Israel will hear and be afraid, and no one among you will do such an evil thing again."
In the Talmud[edit]
In the Talmud, Elisha ben Abuyah (referred to as Acher, the "Other One") is singled out as an apostate by the rabbis.[4]
Medieval Spain[edit]
In Medieval Spain, a systematic conversion of Jews to Christianity took place, largely under threats and force.[5] The apostasy of these conversos provoked the indignation of some Jews in Spain and it was made illegal to call a converso by the epithet tornadizo (renegade).[6]
Several inquisitors of the Spanish Inquisition, such as Tomás de Torquemada, and Francis Quiñones the Bishop of Coria, are thought to be descendants of apostate Jews. Known apostates who made their mark in history by attempting to convert other Jews in the 14th and 15th centuries include Juan de Valladolid and Astruc Remoch.
Some Spanish Jews, however, remained crypto-Jews despite being compelled to convert to Christianity (see Anusim). They are also called Marranos.[7]
Sabbatai Zevi and Jacob Frank[edit]
In 1648 Sabbatai Zevi claimed to be the Jewish Messiah. His Jewish followers were known as Sabbateans. Zevi converted to Islam in 1666. Afterwards, some of his followers willingly converted but continued to practice Sabbatean rituals. These people became known as the Dönmeh.[8]
In the 1750s Jacob Frank claimed he was the reincarnation of Zevi and attracted many followers in Poland, known as Frankists.[9] In 1759, with Frank's encouragement, more than 500 Frankists were baptized as Catholics. Frank himself was also baptized, with the King of Poland as his godfather.[9]
See also[edit]
List of converts to Christianity from Judaism
Ex-Haredim
Heresy in Orthodox Judaism
Jewish atheism
Jewish secularism
Religious disaffiliation
Schisms among the Jews
Notes and references[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Apostasy is defined as "renunciation of a religious faith".
2.Jump up ^ Merriam Webster: Apostasy
3.^ Jump up to: a b c Kaufmann Kohler and Richard Gottheil. Apostasy and Apostates from Judaism. Jewish Encyclopedia.
4.Jump up ^ Hagigah 14b (in Hebrew). Wikisource link to חגיגה יד ב. Wikisource.
5.Jump up ^ Figures of Conversion: The Jewish Question and English National Identity - By Michael Ragussis - Duke University Press, 1995, Page 128, Quote: "The persecutions of the Jews that dominated fifteenth-century Spain, including the forced conversion of masses of Spanish Jews"
6.Jump up ^ A Social and Religious History of the Jews - By Salo Wittmayer Baron - Columbia University Press
7.Jump up ^ Joseph Jacobs and Meyer Kayserling. "Marano." Jewish Encyclopedia. JewishEncyclopedia.com.
8.Jump up ^ God-Optional Judaism: Alternatives for Cultural Jews Who Love Their History By Judith Seid, Published 2001, Citadel Press: Quote: "Sabbatai Zevi converted to Islam under threat of death"
9.^ Jump up to: a b Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of World Religions - By Wendy Doniger - Page 358 - Published by Merriam-Webster
External links[edit]
Jewish Encyclopedia: Apostasy and Apostates from Judaism
 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Jewish Encyclopedia. 1901–1906.
  


Categories: Apostasy
Heresy in Judaism
Judaism-related controversies
Converts from Judaism
Jewish law








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Apostasy in Judaism

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In Judaism, apostasy refers to the rejection of Judaism and possible defection to another religion by a Jew.[1] The term apostasy is derived from Ancient Greek: ἀποστάτης, meaning "rebellious"[2] (Hebrew: מרד‎.[3]) Equivalent expressions for apostate in Hebrew that are used by rabbinical scholars include mumar (מומר, literally "the one that was changed"), poshea Yisrael (פושע ישראל, literally, "transgressor of Israel"), and kofer (כופר, literally "denier").[3] Similar terms are meshumad (משומד, lit. "destroyed one"), one who has abandoned his faith, and min (מין) or epikoros (אפיקורוס), which denote the negation of God and Judaism, implying atheism.[3]


Contents  [hide]
1 Examples 1.1 In the Bible
1.2 In the Talmud
1.3 Medieval Spain
1.4 Sabbatai Zevi and Jacob Frank
2 See also
3 Notes and references
4 External links

Examples[edit]
In the Bible[edit]
The first recorded reference to apostasy from Judaism is in Deuteronomy 13:6-11, which states:

"If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you love, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, "Let us go and worship other gods" (gods that neither you nor your fathers have known, gods of the peoples around you, whether near or far, from one end of the land to the other), do not yield to him or listen to him. Show him no pity. Do not spare him or shield him. You must certainly put him to death. Your hand must be the first in putting him to death, and then the hands of all the people. Stone him to death, because he tried to turn you away from the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. Then all Israel will hear and be afraid, and no one among you will do such an evil thing again."
In the Talmud[edit]
In the Talmud, Elisha ben Abuyah (referred to as Acher, the "Other One") is singled out as an apostate by the rabbis.[4]
Medieval Spain[edit]
In Medieval Spain, a systematic conversion of Jews to Christianity took place, largely under threats and force.[5] The apostasy of these conversos provoked the indignation of some Jews in Spain and it was made illegal to call a converso by the epithet tornadizo (renegade).[6]
Several inquisitors of the Spanish Inquisition, such as Tomás de Torquemada, and Francis Quiñones the Bishop of Coria, are thought to be descendants of apostate Jews. Known apostates who made their mark in history by attempting to convert other Jews in the 14th and 15th centuries include Juan de Valladolid and Astruc Remoch.
Some Spanish Jews, however, remained crypto-Jews despite being compelled to convert to Christianity (see Anusim). They are also called Marranos.[7]
Sabbatai Zevi and Jacob Frank[edit]
In 1648 Sabbatai Zevi claimed to be the Jewish Messiah. His Jewish followers were known as Sabbateans. Zevi converted to Islam in 1666. Afterwards, some of his followers willingly converted but continued to practice Sabbatean rituals. These people became known as the Dönmeh.[8]
In the 1750s Jacob Frank claimed he was the reincarnation of Zevi and attracted many followers in Poland, known as Frankists.[9] In 1759, with Frank's encouragement, more than 500 Frankists were baptized as Catholics. Frank himself was also baptized, with the King of Poland as his godfather.[9]
See also[edit]
List of converts to Christianity from Judaism
Ex-Haredim
Heresy in Orthodox Judaism
Jewish atheism
Jewish secularism
Religious disaffiliation
Schisms among the Jews
Notes and references[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Apostasy is defined as "renunciation of a religious faith".
2.Jump up ^ Merriam Webster: Apostasy
3.^ Jump up to: a b c Kaufmann Kohler and Richard Gottheil. Apostasy and Apostates from Judaism. Jewish Encyclopedia.
4.Jump up ^ Hagigah 14b (in Hebrew). Wikisource link to חגיגה יד ב. Wikisource.
5.Jump up ^ Figures of Conversion: The Jewish Question and English National Identity - By Michael Ragussis - Duke University Press, 1995, Page 128, Quote: "The persecutions of the Jews that dominated fifteenth-century Spain, including the forced conversion of masses of Spanish Jews"
6.Jump up ^ A Social and Religious History of the Jews - By Salo Wittmayer Baron - Columbia University Press
7.Jump up ^ Joseph Jacobs and Meyer Kayserling. "Marano." Jewish Encyclopedia. JewishEncyclopedia.com.
8.Jump up ^ God-Optional Judaism: Alternatives for Cultural Jews Who Love Their History By Judith Seid, Published 2001, Citadel Press: Quote: "Sabbatai Zevi converted to Islam under threat of death"
9.^ Jump up to: a b Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of World Religions - By Wendy Doniger - Page 358 - Published by Merriam-Webster
External links[edit]
Jewish Encyclopedia: Apostasy and Apostates from Judaism
 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Jewish Encyclopedia. 1901–1906.
  


Categories: Apostasy
Heresy in Judaism
Judaism-related controversies
Converts from Judaism
Jewish law








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Apostasy in Islam

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Apostasy in Islam (Arabic: ردة‎ riddah or ارتداد irtidād') is commonly defined as the conscious abandonment of Islam by a Muslim in word or through deed.[1][2] It includes the act of converting to another religion by a person who was born in a Muslim family or who had previously accepted Islam.[3][not specific enough to verify][4][not specific enough to verify]
Apostasy in Islam includes in its scope not only former Muslims who have renounced Islam to join another religion or become non-religious, but Muslims who have questioned or denied any "fundamental tenet or creed" of Islam such as Sharia law, or who have mocked Allah, worshipped one or more idols, or knowingly believed in an interpretation of Sharia that is contrary to the consensus of ummah (Islamic community).[5][not specific enough to verify] The term has also been used for people of religions that trace their origins to Islam, such as Bahá'ís in Iran, and Ahmadiyya Muslims in Pakistan and Indonesia.[6][7]
The definition of apostasy from Islam and its appropriate punishment are controversial, and they vary among Islamic scholars.[8] In Islam’s history, the vast majority of scholars have held that apostasy in Islam is a crime punishable with the death penalty, typically after a waiting period to allow the apostate time to repent and return to Islam.[9][10][11] Some contemporary Muslim scholars also hold the traditional view that the death penalty for apostasy is required by the two primary sources of Sharia - the Quran and the Hadiths - while others argue that the death penalty is an inappropriate punishment.[12][13][14][15][16] A majority considers apostasy in Islam to be some form of religious crime, although a minority does not.[8][17][18]
Under current laws in Islamic countries, the actual punishment for the apostate (or murtadd مرتد) ranges from execution to prison term to no punishment.[19][20] Islamic nations with sharia courts use civil code to void the Muslim apostate’s marriage and deny child custody rights, as well as his or her inheritance rights for apostasy.[14][15][16] Twenty-three Muslim-majority countries, as of 2013, additionally covered apostasy in Islam through their criminal laws.[21]
According to critics, punishment for apostasy in Islam is a violation of universal human rights, and an issue of freedom of faith and conscience.[12][22]


Contents  [hide]
1 Scriptural references 1.1 Qur'an
1.2 Hadith
1.3 What constitutes apostasy in Islam
1.4 Proselytization recommended, apostasy forbidden
2 Punishment 2.1 Execution
2.2 Civil liabilities
2.3 Other views on punishment
2.4 Opposition to execution 2.4.1 Qur'an
2.4.2 Hadiths

3 Historic impact
4 Apostasy in the recent past 4.1 Background
4.2 Afghanistan
4.3 Algeria
4.4 Bangladesh
4.5 Brunei
4.6 Egypt
4.7 Indonesia
4.8 Iran
4.9 Jordan
4.10 Kuwait
4.11 Malaysia
4.12 Mauritania
4.13 Morocco
4.14 Oman
4.15 Pakistan
4.16 Qatar
4.17 Saudi Arabia
4.18 Somalia
4.19 Sudan
4.20 United Arab Emirates
4.21 Yemen
4.22 West and immigrant communities
4.23 Other countries
5 Effects on Islamic learning 5.1 Applying law in the Muslim world
6 Universal Declaration of Human Rights
7 See also
8 References
9 Further reading
10 External links

Scriptural references[edit]
Qur'an[edit]
Quran discusses apostasy in many of its verses. For example:[23]

But those who reject Faith after they accepted it, and then go on adding to their defiance of Faith,- never will their repentance be accepted; for they are those who have (of set purpose) gone astray.
— Quran 3:90

Make ye no excuses: ye have rejected Faith after ye had accepted it. If We pardon some of you, We will punish others amongst you, for that they are in sin.
— Quran 9:66

He who disbelieves in Allah after his having believed, not he who is compelled while his heart is at rest on account of faith, but he who opens (his) breast to disbelief-- on these is the wrath of Allah, and they shall have a grievous chastisement.
— Quran 16:106
There are other Qur'anic verses,[24] that reference apostasy. However, although apostates are usually assigned a place in hell, there is no mention of any specific corporeal punishment to which they are to be subjected in this world.[25][26]
Hadith[edit]
Within the different Hadith collections, there are references to punishments for committing apostasy in Islam.[15] For example, in the Sahih al-Bukhari, the most trusted book in Islam after Quran,[27] punishments for apostasy are described:[28]

Allah's Apostle said, "The blood of a Muslim who confesses that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and that I am His Apostle, cannot be shed except in three cases: In Qisas for murder, a married person who commits illegal sexual intercourse and the one who reverts from Islam (apostate) and leaves the Muslims."
— Sahih al-Bukhari, 9:83:17

Ali burnt some people and this news reached Ibn 'Abbas, who said, "Had I been in his place I would not have burnt them, as the Prophet said, 'Don't punish (anybody) with Allah's Punishment.' No doubt, I would have killed them, for the Prophet said, 'If somebody (a Muslim) discards his religion, kill him.'
— Sahih al-Bukhari, 4:52:260

A man embraced Islam and then reverted back to Judaism. Mu'adh bin Jabal came and saw the man with Abu Musa. Mu'adh asked, "What is wrong with this (man)?" Abu Musa replied, "He embraced Islam and then reverted back to Judaism." Mu'adh said, "I will not sit down unless you kill him (as it is) the verdict of Allah and His Apostle.
— Sahih al-Bukhari, 9:89:271
The Sahih Muslim collection, reiterates and confirms that which is in the Sahih al-Bukhari collection:[29]

"(4152) 'Abdullah (b. Mas'ūd) reported Allah's Messenger as saying: It is not permissible to take the life of a Muslim who bears testimony (to the fact) that there is no god but Allah, and I am the Messenger of Allah, but in one of the three cases: the married adulterer, a life for a life, and the deserter of his Din (Islam), abandoning the community."[30]
— Sahih Muslim, 16:4152 see also Sahih Muslim, 16:4154, Sahih Muslim, 20:4490
There are many other sunnah that describe capital punishments for apostasy in Islam.[31][32]
What constitutes apostasy in Islam[edit]
Apostasy is called irtidād (which literally means relapse or regress) or ridda in Islamic literature; an apostate is called murtadd, which means 'one who turns back' from Islam.[33] Someone born to a Muslim parent, or who has previously converted to Islam, becomes a murtadd if he or she verbally denies any principle of belief prescribed by Qur'an or a Hadith, deviates from approved Islamic tenets (ilhad), or if he or she commits a blasphemy such as treating a copy of the Qurʾan with disrespect.[34][35][36] A person born to a Muslim parent who later rejects Islam is called a murtad fitri, and a person who converted to Islam and later rejects the religion is called a murtad milli.[37][38][39]
A person is considered apostate if he or she converts from Islam to another religion.[40] A person is an apostate even if he or she believes in most of Islam, but verbally or in writing denies of one or more principles or precepts of Islam.[34] For example, doubting the existence of Allah, entering a church or temple, making offerings to and worshiping a symbol of Christ, an idol or stupa or any image of God, celebrating festivals of any non-Muslim religion, helping to build a church or temple, confessing a belief in the rebirth or reincarnation of God, showing disrespect to the Qur'an or Islam's Prophet, are all individually sufficient evidence of apostasy.[3][41][42]
Example evidence of Apostasy in Islam, according to Sunni Shafi'i school of jurisprudence (Fiqh), are:[43]
 (a) bowing before sun, moon, objects of nature, idols, cross or any images symbolically representing God whether in mere contrariness, sarcastically or with conviction;
 (b) intention, hesitation or actually committing unbelief in Islam;
 (c) speak words such as "Allah is part of trinity", "Jesus is the son of Allah",[3] "I am a Prophet", or "I am Allah";
 (d) revile, question, wonder, doubt, mock or deny the existence of Allah or Prophet of Islam or that the Prophet was sent by Allah;
 (e) revile, deny, doubt or mock any verse of the Quran, or the religion of Islam;
 (f) deny or fail to practice that which is considered obligatory by Ijma (consensus of Muslims);
 (g) believe that things in themselves or by their nature have cause rather than it being the will of Allah;
 (h) to pay respect to a non-Muslim.[3] In the Shafi'i school, it is an act of apostasy for a sane adult Muslim to accuse or describe another devout Muslim of being an unbeliever.[5]
Al-Ghazali held that apostasy occurs when a Muslim
 (a) denies, intends to deny or doubts that "there is no God but Allah, Muhammad is the messenger of Allah";
 (b) denies, doubts or refuses to obey Quran and the Law (Sharia), or questions the validity of sharia courts; and
 (c) denies, doubts or questions through action or intent Muhammad's prophecy about the end of the world and last judgment.[3][44][45]
 This opinion later came to be favoured by the Hanafi Ottoman scholars. In early Islamic history, after Muhammad's death, the declaration of Prophethood by anyone was automatically deemed to be proof of apostasy. This view has continued to the modern age in the rejection of the Ahmadiyya sect of Islam as apostates by mainstream Sunni and Shia sects of Islam, because Ahmadis consider Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, founder of Ahmadiyya, as a modern day Prophet.[46][47] Other Fiqhs such as Hanifi and Shafi'i schools of jurisprudence also disagree on whether ridiculing (Islamic) scholars is an act of apostasy.[48] Some Fiqhs of Islam include additional requirements as evidence of apostasy, such as joining the enemies of Islam.
There are disagreements among Islamic scholars, and Islamic schools of jurisprudence, as to who can be judged for the crime of apostasy in Islam. Some in Shafii fiqh such as Nawawi and al-Misri state that the apostasy code applies to a Muslim who
 (a) has understood and professed that "there is no god but Allah, Muhammad is the messenger of Allah" (shahada),
 (b) knows the shariah necessarily known by all Muslims,
 (c) is of sound mind at the time of apostasy,
 (d) has reached or passed puberty, and
 (e) has consciously and deliberately rejected or consciously and deliberately intends to reject any part or all of Quran or of Islam religion (Sharia).[49][50]
Maliki scholars additionally require that the person in question has publicly engaged in the obligatory practices of the religion.[51] In contrast, Hanafi, Hanbali and Ja'fari fiqh set no such screening requirements; a Muslim's history has no bearing on when and on whom to apply the sharia code for apostasy.[3]
Proselytization recommended, apostasy forbidden[edit]
The verses of Quran[52] recommend Muslims to da`wah (proselytize) non-Muslims to leave their religion and join Islam, according to Islamic scholars.[53] However, proselytization and apostasy of Muslims to leave Islam and join another religion is considered a religious crime in Islamic scriptures.[53][54] Throughout the history of Islam, proselytization of non-Muslims was recommended, while proselytization and apostasy of Muslims forbidden in a region ruled by an Islamic Sultan.[55][56] In his review, Abdul Rashied Omar states,

The right to be convinced and to convert from Islam to another religion is held by only a minority of Muslim scholars. This view of religious freedom is, however, not shared by the vast majority of Muslim scholars both past as well as present. Most classical and modern Muslim jurists regard apostasy (riddah), defined by them as an act of rejection of faith committed by a Muslim whose Islam had been affirmed without coercion, as a crime deserving the death penalty.
— Abdul Rashied Omar[9]
There are differences of opinion among Islamic scholars about whether, when and how apostasy in Islam should be punished.[3][8][57]
Punishment[edit]



 "Execution of a Moroccan Jewess (Sol Hachuel)" a painting by Alfred Dehodencq
Execution[edit]



 Legal opinion on apostasy by the Fatwa committee at Al-Azhar University in Cairo, concerning the case of a man who converted to Christianity: "Since he left Islam, he will be invited to express his regret. If he does not regret, he will be killed according to rights and obligations of the Islamic law." The Fatwa also mentions that the same applies to his children if they entered Islam and left it after they reach maturity.[58][59]
In Islamic law (sharia), the view among the majority of medieval jurists was that a male apostate must be put to death unless he suffers from a mental disorder or converted under duress, for example, due to an imminent danger of being killed. A female apostate must be either executed, according to Shafi'i, Maliki, and Hanbali schools of Sunni Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh), or imprisoned until she reverts to Islam as advocated by the Sunni Hanafi school and by Shi'a scholars.[57]
Many Islamic scholars, but not all, consider apostasy as a Hudud (or Hadd) crime, that is one of six "crimes against God" a Muslim can commit, which deserves the fixed punishment of death as that is a "claim of God".[3][6][60]
Under traditional Islamic law an apostate may be given a waiting period while in incarceration to repent and accept Islam again and if not the apostate is to be killed without any reservations.[3] This traditional view of Sunni and Shia Islamic fiqhs, or schools of jurisprudence each with their own interpretation of Sharia, varies as follows:[14][15][61]
Hanafi - recommends three days of imprisonment before execution, although the delay before killing the Muslim apostate is not mandatory. Apostates who are men must be killed, states the Hanafi Sunni fiqh, while women must be held in solitary confinement and beaten every three days till they recant and return to Islam.[3]Maliki - allows up to ten days for recantation, after which the apostate must be killed. Both men and women apostates deserve death penalty according to the traditional view of Sunni Maliki fiqh.[61]Shafi'i - waiting period of three days is required to allow the Muslim apostate to repent and return to Islam. After the wait, execution is the traditional recommended punishment for both men and women apostates.[61]Hanbali - waiting period not necessary, but may be granted. Execution is traditional recommended punishment for both genders of Muslim apostates.[61]Ja'fari - waiting period not necessary, but may be granted according to this Shia fiqh. Male apostate must be executed, states the Jafari fiqh, while a female apostate must be held in solitary confinement till she repents and returns to Islam.
Civil liabilities[edit]
In Islam, apostasy has been traditionally considered both a religious crime and a civil liability; the punishment for former includes death or prison while the latter leads to civil penalties.[3] Therefore, in all madhhabs of Islam, (a) the property of the apostate is seized and distributed to his or her Muslim relatives; (b) his or her marriage annulled (faskh); (c) any children removed and considered ward of the Islamic state.[3] In case the entire family has left Islam, or there are no surviving Muslim relatives recognized by Sharia, the apostate's property is liquidated by the Islamic state (part of fay, الْفيء). In case the apostate is not executed, such as in case of women apostates in Hanafi school, the person also loses all inheritance rights.[15][16] Hanafi Sunni school of jurisprudence allows waiting till execution, before children and property are seized; other schools do not consider this wait as mandatory.[62]
Other views on punishment[edit]


 This article contains too many or too-lengthy quotations for an encyclopedic entry. Please help improve the article by editing it to take facts from excessively quoted material and rewrite them as sourced original prose. Consider transferring direct quotations to Wikiquote. (June 2015)
Various early Muslim scholars did not agree with the death penalty, among them Ibrahim al-Nakha'i (d. 715) and Sufyan al-Thawri and their followers, who rejected the death penalty and prescribed indefinite imprisonment until repentance. The Hanafi jurist Sarakhsi also called for different punishments between the non-seditious religious apostasy and that of seditious and political nature, or high treason.[63][64]
Medieval Islamic scholars also differed on the punishment of a female apostate: death, enslavement, or imprisonment until repentance. Abu Hanifa and his followers refused the death penalty for female apostates, supporting imprisonment until they re-embrace Islam. Hanafi scholars maintain that a female apostate should not be killed because it was forbidden to kill women under Sharia.[64] In contrast, Maliki, Shafii, Hanbali and Ja'fari scholars interpreted other parts of Sharia to permit death as possible punishment for Muslim apostate women, in addition to confinement.[15]
Contemporary reform Muslims such as Quran Alone Ahmed Subhy Mansour,[65] Edip Yuksel, and Mohammed Shahrour have suffered from accusations of apostasy and demands to execute them, issued by Islamic clerics such as Mahmoud Ashur, Mustafa Al-Shak'a, Mohammed Ra'fat Othman and Yusif Al-Badri.[66] Despite claiming to have received death threats, Edip Yuksel also believes that high profile apostates who are controversial should be killed. He wrote, “Apostasy is not what gets one killed. It’s a combination of being controversial and having a high profile.”[67]
Some scholars such as S.A. Rahman[68] highlight a phrase from Quran's verse 256 from Al-Bakara, "there is no compulsion in religion,"[69] to conclude that Quran never intended a punishment for apostasy in this life and that Quran suggests tolerance for apostates. Other Islamic scholars disagree for several reasons, disagreements Rahman acknowledges.[70] First, the "no compulsion" phrase should not be used out of context and all exegesis of Quran that is "linear-atomistic" analysis of one small phrase in one verse is flawed.[71] The complete verse and nearby verses[72] should be read to understand the "complex hermeneutic totality" of context for anything in Quran.[73] The context of "no compulsion" phrase is not apostates, but those who refuse to accept the Faith (Islam) and continue to worship the Shaitan (evil, false deity).[74][75] Second, no single phrase or verse in Quran is less or more relevant in Islam than other phrases or verses in Quran; and other verses in Quran such as verse 66[76] of At-Tawba state "if we pardon some of you (for apostasy), we will punish others amongst you, for that they are in sin".[76] Rahman lists a number of historic Islamic scholars who concede Quran teaches coercion against Muslim apostates.[70] Third, in the history of Islamic exegesis scholarship, that verse is considered as an early revelation, and abrogated by verses that were revealed to Muhammad at a later stage in his life.[73][77] This is called the principle of Naskh (نسخ) by Islamic scholars. Finally, to understand Quran and for guidance in case of verses with conflicting interpretations, the sayings and actions of Muhammad as recorded in Sahih Hadiths are considered by Islamic scholars. Taken together, the vast majority of Islamic scholars of every fiqh have traditionally disagreed with the alternate position that there should be no punishment for apostasy in Islam.[9]
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, a minority sect found in South and Southeast Asia, rejects any form of punishment for apostasy whatsoever, citing hadith, Quran, and the opinions of classical Islamic jurists to justify its views.[78] However, Ahmadiyya Muslims are widely considered as non-Muslim apostates and persecuted by mainstream Islam, because of their beliefs.[46][47]
Prominent recent examples of writers and activists killed because of apostasy claims include Mahmoud Mohammed Taha,[79] and Faraj Foda.[80] The Egyptian Nobel prize winner Najib Mahfouz was injured in an attempted assassination, paralyzing his right arm.[81] The case of Abdul Rahman, an Afghan who converted from Islam to Christianity, sparked debate on the issue. While he initially faced the death penalty, he was eventually released as he was deemed mentally unfit to stand trial.[82]
Opposition to execution[edit]
Abdullah Saeed and Hassan Saeed state that early development of the law of apostasy was a religio-political tool. Over time, a diversity of opinion emerged among Muslims on the punishment.[83]
A minority of medieval Islamic jurists, notably the Hanafi jurist Sarakhsi (d. 1090),[63][dubious – discuss] Maliki jurist Ibn al-Walid al-Baji (d. 494 AH) and Hanbali jurist Ibn Taymiyyah (1263–1328), held that apostasy carries no legal punishment.[84][dubious – discuss]
Contemporary Islamic Shafi`i jurists such as the Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa,[85][86] Shi'a jurists such as Grand Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri,[87] and some jurists, scholars and writers of other Islamic sects, have argued or issued fatwas that either the changing of religion is not punishable or is only punishable under restricted circumstances, but these minority opinions have not found broad acceptance among the majority of Islamic scholars.[8][88][89][90]
Medieval Muslim scholars (e.g. Sufyan al-Thawri) and modern (e.g. Hasan at-Turabi), also have argued that the hadith used to justify execution of apostates should be taken to apply only to political betrayal of the Muslim community, rather than to apostasy in general. These scholars argue for the freedom to convert to and from Islam without legal penalty.[citation needed] Other Islamic scholars like the Grand Mufti of Cairo Ali Gomaa have stated that while God will punish apostates in the afterlife they should not be executed by human beings.[91] Ali Gomaa later clarified that leaving Islam without punishment was not what he meant: "What I actually said is that Islam prohibits a Muslim from changing his religion and that apostasy is a crime, which must be punished."[92]
Javed Ahmad Ghamidi writes that punishment for apostasy was part of divine punishment for only those who denied the truth even after clarification in its ultimate form by Muhammad (Itmaam-i-hujjat), hence, he considers it a time-bound command and no longer punishable.[93]
Hamza Yusuf argues that "punishment in this world for apostasy is not mentioned in the Qur’an; however, some sound hadiths indicate that it is a capital offense. These are not absolutely certain (mutawatir) traditions, and some scholars, such as al-Nakhi’ and others, argued against it... Today, it could be strongly argued that the aim (maqsad) of considering apostasy a capital offense, which was to protect the faith, is lost in application, given that modern people suffer a crisis of faith due to such applications."[94]
Tariq Ramadan makes the case that given the way the Prophet behaved with the people who left Islam (like Hishâm and 'Ayyash) or who converted to Christianity (such as Ubaydallah ibn Jahsh), it should be stated that one who changes her/his religion should not be killed. He further explains that there can be no compulsion or coercion in matters of faith not only because it is explicitly forbidden in the Qur'an but also because free conscious and choice and willing submission are foundational to the first pillar (declaration of faith) and essential to the very definition of "Islam".[95]
Qur'an[edit]
The basis for an opposition to that punishment in the Qur'an stems from the following cluster of verses:

There is no compulsion in religion; truly the right way has become clearly distinct from error; therefore, whoever disbelieves in the Shaitan and believes in Allah he indeed has laid hold on the firmest handle, which shall not break off, and Allah is Hearing, Knowing.
— Quran 2:256

Say, "The truth is from your Lord": Let him who will believe, and let him who will, reject (it): for the wrong-doers We have prepared a Fire whose (smoke and flames), like the walls and roof of a tent, will hem them in: if they implore relief they will be granted water like melted brass, that will scald their faces, how dreadful the drink! How uncomfortable a couch to recline on!
— Quran 18:29

And if your Lord had pleased, surely all those who are in the earth would have believed, all of them; will you then force men till they become believers?
— Quran 10:99
Jonathan A.C. Brown explains that "According to all the theories of language elaborated by Muslim legal scholars, the Qur'anic proclamation that 'There is no compulsion in religion. The right path has been distinguished from error' is as absolute and universal a statement as one finds.", and hence the Qur'an granted religious freedom.[96]
S. A. Rahman, a former Chief Justice of Pakistan, argues that there is no indication of the death penalty for apostasy in the Qur'an.[68] W. Heffening states that in Quran "a Muslim apostate is threatened with punishment in the next world", adding that Shafi'is interpreted verse [Quran 2:217] as adducing to the death penalty in the Qur'an. Wael Hallaq holds that nothing in the law governing apostate and apostasy derives from the letter of Quran.[97] The late dissenting Shia jurist Grand Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri stated that the Quranic verses do not prescribe an earthly penalty for apostasy.[87]
Islamist author Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi argued that verses [Quran 9:11] of the Qur'an sanction death for apostasy. In contrast, Pakistan's jurist S. A. Rahman states "that not only is there no punishment for apostasy provided in the Book but that the Word of God clearly envisages the natural death of the apostate. He will be punished only in the Hereafter…"[98] Rahman also highlights that there is no reference to the death penalty in any of the 20 instances of apostasy mentioned in the Qur'an.
Mahmud Shaltut, the late Grand Imam of Al-Azhar University argued that a worldly punishment for apostasy was not mentioned in the Qur'an and whenever it mentions apostasy it speaks about a punishment in the hereafter.[99]
Ahmet Albayrak explains in The Qur'an: An Encyclopedia that regarding apostasy as a wrongdoing is not a sign of intolerance of other religions, and is not aimed at one’s freedom to choose a religion or to leave Islam and embrace another faith, but that on the contrary, it is more correct to say that the punishment is enforced as a safety precaution when warranted if apostasy becomes a mechanism of public disobedience and disorder (fitna). At this point, what is punished is the action of ridiculing the high moral flavour of Islam and posing a threat to public order. Otherwise, Islam prohibits spying on people and investigating their private lives, beliefs and personal opinions.[100]
Hadiths[edit]
Writing in the Encyclopedia of Islam, Heffening holds that contrary to the Qur'an, "in traditions [i.e. hadith], there is little echo of these punishments in the next world... and instead, we have in many traditions a new element, the death penalty."[101] Wael Hallaq states the death penalty reflects a later reality and does not stand in accord with the deeds of the Prophet.[97]
Ayatollah Montazeri holds that it is probable that the punishment was prescribed by Muhammad during early Islam to combat political conspiracies against Islam and Muslims, and is not intended for those who simply change their belief or express a change in belief. Montazeri defines different types of apostasy; he argues that capital punishment should be reserved for those who desert Islam out of malice and enmity towards the Muslim community, and not those who convert to another religion after investigation and research.[87]
Historic impact[edit]
The charge of apostasy is often used by religious authorities to condemn and punish skeptics, dissidents, and minorities in their communities.[26] From the earliest history of Islam, the crime of apostasy and execution for apostasy has driven major events in Islam. For example, the Ridda wars (civil wars of apostasy) shook the Muslim community in 632 AD, immediately after the death of Muhammad.[26][102] The apostasy wars split the two major sects of Islam - Sunni and Shia, and caused numerous deaths.[103][104] Sunni and Shia sects of Islam have long called each other as apostates of Islam.[105]
From the 7th century through the 18th century, atheists, materialists, Sufi, and Shii sects were accused and executed for apostasy in Islam. In the 8th century, apostates of Islam were killed in West Asia and Sind.[106] In the 8th century, the founder of Hanifi fiqh of jurisprudence in Islam, Abū Ḥanīfa, was charged with apostasy and punished. In 9th-century Spain, apostasy and blasphemy charges were brought against residents who refused to accept Islam;[107] 10th-century Iraq, Sufi mystic Al-Hallaj was executed for apostasy; in 12th-century Iran, al-Suhrawardi along with followers of Ismaili sect of Islam were killed on charges of being apostates;[26] in 14th-century Syria, Ibn Taymiyyah declared Central Asian Turko-Mongol Muslims as apostates to support an Islamic civil war, and was himself charged at the end of his life with apostasy and punished in Damascus;[108] in 17th-century India, Dara Shikoh and other sons of Shah Jahan were captured and executed on charges of apostasy from Islam by his brother Aurangzeb.[109]
During the colonial era, death for apostasy was abolished in many Muslim-majority colonies. Similarly, under intense European pressure, death sentence for apostasy from Islam was abolished by the Edict of Toleration, and substituted with other forms of punishment by the Ottoman government in 1844 AD; the implementation of this ban was resisted by religious officials and proved difficult.[110][111] A series of edicts followed during Ottoman's Tanzimat period, such as the 1856 Reform Edict. Despite these edicts, there was constant pressure on non-Muslims to convert to Islam, and apostates from Islam continued to be persecuted, punished and threatened with execution, particularly in eastern and Levant parts of the then Ottoman Empire.[110] The Edict of Toleration ultimately failed when Sultan Abdul Hamid II assumed power, re-asserted pan-Islamism with sharia as Ottoman state philosophy, and initiated Hamidian massacres in 1894 against Christians, particularly of Armenians, Assyrians and crypto-Christian apostates from Islam in Turkey (Stavriotes, Kromlides).[112][113][114]
Apostasy in the recent past[edit]



 Penalties (actual or proposed) for apostasy in some Muslim-majority countries as of 2013.
Background[edit]
More than 20 Muslim nations have laws that declare apostasy by Muslims to be a crime, many imposing the death penalty for apostates.[19] In addition, some Islamic countries without laws specifically addressing apostasy have prosecuted individuals or minorities for apostasy using broadly-defined blasphemy laws.[115] In many nations, the Hisbah doctrine of Islam has traditionally allowed any Muslim to accuse another Muslim or ex-Muslim for beliefs that may harm Islamic society. This principle has been used in countries such as Egypt, Pakistan and others to bring blasphemy charges against apostates.[116]
The violence or threats of violence against apostates in the Muslim world in recent years has derived primarily not from government authorities but from other individuals or groups operating unrestricted by the government.[40] There has also been social persecution for Muslims converting to Christianity. For example, the Christian organisation Barnabas Fund reports:

The field of apostasy and blasphemy and related "crimes" is thus obviously a complex syndrome within all Muslim societies which touches a raw nerve and always arouses great emotional outbursts against the perceived acts of treason, betrayal and attacks on Islam and its honour. While there are a few brave dissenting voices within Muslim societies, the threat of the application of the apostasy and blasphemy laws against any who criticize its application is an efficient weapon used to intimidate opponents, silence criticism, punish rivals, reject innovations and reform, and keep non-Muslim communities in their place.[117]
Similar views are expressed by the non-theistic International Humanist and Ethical Union.[118]
A survey conducted by the Pew Research Center in 2010 found relatively widespread popular support for the death penalty as a punishment for apostasy in Egypt (84% of respondents in favor of death penalty), Jordan (86% in favor), Indonesia (30%), Pakistan (76%), Nigeria (51%), and relatively minor support in Lebanon (6% in favor) and Turkey (5%).[119]
Another survey conducted by Pew Research Center in 2012 among Muslim populations in many Islamic countries found continuing support for the death penalty for those who leave Islam to become an atheist or to convert to another religion.[120] During this survey, Muslims who favored making Sharia the law of the land were asked for their views on the death penalty for apostasy from Islam.[120] The results are summarized in the table below. Note that % apostasy figures do not include Muslims who may not support sharia but do support the death penalty for apostasy.[120]

Middle East and North Africa

Country
% sharia
% punish apostasy among % sharia
% support death penalty for Muslim apostasy

Egypt 74 86 63,6
Palestine 89 66 58,7
Jordan 71 82 58,2
Iraq 91 42 38,2
Tunisia 56 29 16,2
Lebanon 29 46 13,3

South and Southeast Asia

Country
% sharia
% punish apostasy among % sharia
% support death penalty for Muslim apostasy

Afghanistan 99 79 78,2
Pakistan 84 76 63,8
Malaysia 86 62 53,3
Bangladesh 82 44 36,1
Thailand 77 27 20,8
Indonesia 72 18 13,0

Southeast Europe and Central Asia

Country
% sharia
% punish apostasy among % sharia
% support death penalty for Muslim apostasy

Russia 42 15 6,3
Tajikistan 27 22 5,9
Kyrgyzstan 35 14 4,9
Bosnia 15 15 2,3
Kosovo 20 11 2,2
Turkey 12 17 2,0
Albania 12 8 1,0
Kazakhstan 10 4 0,4

Overall, the figures in the 2012 survey suggest that a minimum of about 36% of Muslims in the countries surveyed approve the death penalty for Muslims who leave Islam to become an atheist or convert to another religion.[120] Governments of six Gulf countries - Saudi Arabia, UAE, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait - did not permit Pew Research to survey nationwide public opinion on apostasy in 2010 or 2012.
Afghanistan[edit]
Article 130 of the Afghan Constitution requires its courts to apply provisions of Hanafi Sunni fiqh for crimes of apostasy in Islam. Article 1 of the Afghan Penal Code requires hudud crimes be punished per Hanafi religious jurisprudence. Prevailing Hanafi jurisprudence, per consensus of its school of Islamic scholars, prescribes death penalty for the crime of apostasy. The apostate can avoid prosecution and/or punishment if he or she confesses of having made a mistake of apostasy and rejoins Islam.[121] In addition to death, the family of the accused can be deprived of all property and possessions, and the individual’s marriage is considered dissolved in accordance with Hanafi Sunni jurisprudence.[122]
In March 2006, an Afghan citizen Abdul Rahman was charged with apostasy and could have faced the death penalty for converting to Christianity. His case attracted much international attention with Western countries condemning Afghanistan for persecuting a convert. Charges against Abdul Rahman were dismissed on technical grounds by the Afghan court after intervention by the president Hamid Karzai. He was released and left the country to find refuge in Italy.[40]
Two other Afghan converts to Christianity, Sayed Mussa and Shoaib Assadullah, were arrested in March 2006 and their fate is unknown. In February 2006, yet other converts had their homes raided by police.[40] After serving five years in jail, Sayed Mussa was released in 2011.[123]
Algeria[edit]
On 21 March 2006, the Algerian parliament approved a new law requiring imprisonment for two to five years and a fine between five and ten thousand euros for anyone "trying to call on a Muslim to embrace another religion." The same penalty applies to anyone who "stores or circulates publications or audio-visual or other means aiming at destabilizing attachment to Islam."[40]
Bangladesh[edit]
Bangladesh does not have a law against apostasy, but incidences of persecution of apostates have been reported. Some Bangladeshi Imams have encouraged the killing of converts from Islam. An example is the stabbing of a Bangladeshi Christian evangelist (a "murtad fitri" or Muslim-born apostate) while returning home from a film adaptation of the Gospel of Luke.[124]
Brunei[edit]
Brunei is the latest Muslim country to enact a law that makes apostasy a crime punishable with death. In 2013, it enacted Syariah (Sharia’a) Penal Code. Section 112(1) of the new law states that a Muslim who declares himself non-Muslim commits a crime punishable with death, or with imprisonment for a term not exceeding thirty years, depending on evidence.[125] Under the required wait period between notification of law and its validity under Brunei’s constitution, its new apostasy law and corporal punishment will be applied starting October 2014, and capital punishment will be imposed starting October 2015.[126]
Egypt[edit]
The blasphemy laws and Article 98(f) of Egyptian Penal Code, as amended by Law 147, has been used to prosecute Muslims who have converted to Christianity.[127] For example, in May 2007, Bahaa El-Din El-Akkad, a former Egyptian Muslim and someone who worked on Dawah to spread Islam, was imprisoned after he converted to Christianity, under the charge of “blasphemy against Islam”. He was freed in 2011.[127]
Egypt's penal code is silent about the punishment for apostasy from Islam. Contemporary Egyptian jurisprudence prohibits apostasy from Islam, but has also remained silent about death penalty.[128] Article 2 of the Constitution of Egypt enshrines sharia.[129] Both Court of Cassation and the Supreme Administrative Court of Egypt have ruled that, “it is completely acceptable for non-Muslims to embrace Islam but by consensus Muslims are not allowed to embrace another religion or to become of no religion at all [in Egypt].”[128] The silence about punishment for apostasy along with constitutional enshrinement of Sharia, means death sentence for apostasy is possibility. In practice, Egypt has prosecuted apostasy from Islam under its blasphemy laws using the Hisbah doctrine;[130] and non-state Islamic groups have taken the law into their own hands and executed apostates.[131]
A 2010 Pew Research Center poll showed that 84% of Egyptian Muslims believe those who leave Islam should be punished by death.[132]
In 1992 Islamist militants gunned down Egyptian secularist and sharia law opponent Farag Foda. Before his death he had been declared an apostate and foe of Islam by ulama at Al Azhar. During the trial of the murderers, Al-Azhar scholar Mohammed al-Ghazali testified that when the state fails to punish apostates, somebody else has to do it.[131]
In 1993, a liberal Islamic theologian, Nasr Abu Zayd was denied promotion at Cairo University after a court decision of apostasy against him. Following this an Islamist lawyer filed a lawsuit before the Giza Lower Personal Status Court demanding the divorce of Abu Zayd from his wife, Dr. Ibtihal Younis, on the grounds that a Muslim woman cannot be married to an apostate—notwithstanding the fact his wife wished to remain married to him. The case went to the Cairo Appeals Court where his marriage was declared null and void in 1995.[133]
After the verdict, the Egyptian Islamic Jihad organization (which had assassinated Egyptian president Anwar Sadat in 1981) declared Abu Zayd should be killed for abandoning his Muslim faith. Abu Zayd was given police protection, but felt he could not function under heavy guard, noting that one police guard referred to him as "the kafir".[134] On 23 July 1995, he and his wife flew to Europe where they lived in exile but continued to teach.[133]
In April 2006, after a court case in Egypt recognized the Bahá'í Faith, members of the clergy convinced the government to appeal the court decision. One member of parliament, Gamal Akl of the opposition Muslim Brotherhood, said the Bahá'ís were infidels who should be killed on the grounds that they had changed their religion, this despite the fact that most living Bahá'í have not, in fact, ever been Muslim.[135]
In 2007 Mohammed Hegazy, a Muslim-born Egyptian who had converted to Christianity based on "readings and comparative studies in religions", sued the Egyptian court to change his religion from "Islam" to "Christianity" on his national identification card. His case caused considerable public uproar, with not only Muslim clerics, but his own father and wife's father calling for his death. Two lawyers he had hired or agreed to hire both quit his case, and two Christian human rights workers thought to be involved in his case were arrested. As of 2007, he and his wife were in hiding. In 2008, the judge trying his case ruled that according to sharia, Islam is the final and most complete religion and therefore Muslims already practice full freedom of religion and cannot convert to an older belief.[136][137][138]
In February 2009, another case of a convert to Christianity (Maher Ahmad El-Mo’otahssem Bellah El-Gohary), came to court. El-Gohary's effort to officially convert to Christianity triggered state prosecutors charging him of "apostasy," or leaving Islam, and seeking a sentence of death penalty.

"Our rights in Egypt, as Christians or converts, are less than the rights of animals," El-Gohary said. "We are deprived of social and civil rights, deprived of our inheritance and left to the fundamentalists to be killed. Nobody bothers to investigate or care about us." El-Gohary, 56, has been attacked in the street, spat at and knocked down in his effort to win the right to officially convert. He said he and his 14-year-old daughter continue to receive death threats by text message and phone call.[139]
Indonesia[edit]
Indonesia does not have a law against apostasy, but has laws making it illegal for anyone to attempt converting people from Islam, as well as a broad blasphemy law (Article 156) and a Presidential Decree (1965) that permits prosecution of people who commit apostasy.[140] The Decree prohibits every Indonesian from “intentionally conveying, endorsing or attempting to gain public support in the interpretation of a certain religion; or undertaking religious based activities that resemble the religious activities of the religion in question, where such interpretation and activities are in deviation of the basic teachings of the religion.”[141] These laws have been used to arrest and convict apostates in Indonesia, such as the case of 30-year old Aan who declared himself to be an atheist, declared “God does not exist”, and stopped praying and fasting as required by Islam. He received death threats from Islamic groups and in 2012 was arrested and sentenced to two and a half years in prison.[142][143]
Iran[edit]
Salman Rushdie is a prominent[144] contemporary figure accused of apostasy. In 1989 a fatwa was issued by Ayatollah Khomeini, the ruler of Iran at the time, calling for the death of Salman Rushdie for the blasphemy of authoring the book The Satanic Verses.
Hossein Soodmand, who converted from Islam to Christianity when he was 13 years old, was executed by hanging in 1990 for apostasy.[145]
According to US think tank Freedom House, since the 1990s the Islamic Republic of Iran has sometimes used death squads against converts, including major Protestant leaders. Under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the regime has engaged in a systematic campaign to track down and reconvert or kill those who have changed their religion from Islam.[40]
15 ex-Muslim Christians[146] were incarcerated on 15 May 2008 under charges of apostasy. They may face the death penalty if convicted. A new penal code is being proposed in Iran that would require the death penalty in cases of apostasy on the Internet.[147]
At least two Iranians – Hashem Aghajari and Hassan Youssefi Eshkevari – have been arrested and charged with apostasy in the Islamic Republic (though not executed), not for self-professed conversion to another faith, but for statements and/or activities deemed by courts of the Islamic Republic to be in violation of Islam, and that appear to outsiders to be Islamic reformist political expression.[148] Hashem Aghajari, was found guilty of apostasy for a speech urging Iranians to "not blindly follow" Islamic clerics;[149] Hassan Youssefi Eshkevari was charged with apostasy for attending the 'Iran After the Elections' Conference in Berlin Germany which was disrupted by anti-regime demonstrators.[150]
The Bahá'ís in Iran, the nation of origin of the Bahá'í Faith and Iran's largest religious minority, were accused of apostasy in the 19th century by the Shi'a clergy because of their adherence to religious revelations by another prophet after those of Muhammad. These allegations led to mob attacks, public executions and torture of early Bahais, including the Báb.[151] More recently, Musa Talibi was arrested in 1994, and Dhabihu'llah Mahrami was arrested in 1995, then sentenced to death on charges of apostasy. Later their death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment.They are still in prison.[citation needed]
Jordan[edit]
Jordan does not explicitly ban apostasy in its penal code; however, it permits any Jordanian to charge another with apostasy and its Islamic courts to consider conversion trials.[152] If an Islamic court convicts a person of apostasy, it has the power to sentence a prison term, annul that person’s marriage, seize property and disqualify him or her from inheritance rights. The Jordanian poet Islam Samhan was accused of apostasy for poems he wrote in 2008, and sentenced to a prison term in 2009.[153][154]
Kuwait[edit]
Article 2 of Kuwait's constitution declares the Islamic Sharia as a main source of legislation.[155][156] Articles 18 and 145 of its law require the court to annul the marriage of a Muslim husband who leaves Islam during the marital relationship. Law 111 of Kuwait's Penal Code to use statements posted on internet as evidence of apostasy.[157] Article 294 of Law 51 of Kuwait rescinds property and inheritance rights of a Muslim apostate.[158][159]
Since adoption of its modern constitution, Kuwait has prosecuted apostates. For example, the arrest and prosecution of Hussein Qambar ‘Ali in an Islamic court, on charges of apostasy, after he converted from Islam to Christianity.[160][161]
Malaysia[edit]
Malaysia does not have a national law that criminalizes apostasy and its Article 11 grants freedom of religion to its diverse population of different religions.[162] However, Malaysia's constitution grants its states (Negeri) the power to create and enforce laws relating to Islamic matters and Muslim community.[162] State laws in Kelantan and Terengganu make apostasy in Islam a crime punishable with death, while state laws of Perak, Malacca, Sabah, and Pahang declare apostasy by Muslims as a crime punishable with jail terms. In these states, apostasy is defined as conversion from Islam to another faith, but converting to Islam is not a crime. The central government has not attempted to nullify these state laws, but stated that any death sentence for apostasy would require review by national courts.[163][164]
National laws of Malaysia require Muslim apostates who seek to convert from Islam to another religion to first obtain approval from a sharia court. The procedure demands that anyone born to a Muslim parent, or who previously converted to Islam, must declare himself apostate of Islam before a Sharia court if he or she wants to convert. The Sharia courts have the power to impose penalties such as jail, caning and enforced “rehabilitation” on apostates - which is the typical practice. In the states of Perak, Malacca, Sabah, and Pahang, apostates of Islam face jail term; in Pahang, caning; others, confinement with rehabilitation process.[163]
The state laws of Malaysia allow apostates of other religion to become Muslim without any equivalent review or process. The state laws of Perak, Kedah, Negeri Sembilan, Sarawak, and Malacca allow one parent to convert children to Islam even if the other parent does not consent to his or her child's conversion to Islam.[163]
Mauritania[edit]
Article 306 of the criminal code of Mauritania declares apostasy in Islam as illegal and provides a death sentence for the crime of leaving Islam.[165] Its law provides a provision where the guilty is given the opportunity to repent and return to Islam within three days. Failure to do so leads to a death sentence, dissolution of family rights and property confiscation by the government. The Mauritanian law requires that an apostate who has repented should be placed in custody and jailed for a period for the crime.[165]
In 2014, Jemal Oumar, a Mauritanian journalist, was arrested for apostasy, after he posted a critique of Mohammad online.[166] While local law enforcement agencies held him in prison for trial, local media announced offers by local Muslims of cash reward to anyone who would kill Jemal Oumar. In a separate case, Ould Mkhaitir, a Mauritanian engineer, was arrested for apostasy in 2014 as well, for publishing an essay on racism in Mauritanian society with criticism of Islamic history and a claim that Mohammad's discriminated in his treatment of people from different tribes and races.[167]



Morocco[edit]
The penal code of Morocco does not impose the death penalty for apostasy. However, Islam is the official state religion of Morocco under its constitution. Article 41 of the Moroccan constitution gives fatwa powers (habilitée, religious decree legislation) to the Supreme Council of Religious Scholars, which issued a religious decree, or fatwa, in April 2013 that Moroccan Muslims who leave Islam must be sentenced to death.[168][169] However, Mahjoub El Hiba, a senior Moroccan government official, denied that the fatwa was in any way legally binding.[170]
Oman[edit]
Oman does not have an apostasy law. However, under Law 32 of 1997 on Personal Status for Muslims, an apostate's marriage is considered annulled and inheritance rights denied when the individual commits apostasy.[171] The Basic Law of Oman, since its enactment in 1995, declares Oman to be an Islamic state and Sharia as the final word and source of all legislation. Omani jurists state that this deference to Sharia, and alternatively the blasphemy law under Article 209 of Omani law, allows the state to pursue death penalty against Muslim apostates, if it wants to.[171][172]
Pakistan[edit]
While several attempts have been made to enact laws prescribing "death penalty for apostasy" in Pakistan, it has no apostasy law as of 2013. Pakistani jurists note that Pakistan's constitution defers gaps in its penal code to Sharia, and the lack of law on apostasy and lack of right to convert from Islam to another religion in Pakistan's law implies apostasy defaults to Sharia.[173] Further, Pakistan has blasphemy law that carries death penalty, but the law does not define blasphemy. Under Article 295-C of its penal code, any Pakistani Muslim who feels his or her religious feelings have been hurt, directly or indirectly, for any reason or any action of another Pakistani citizen can accuse blasphemy and open a criminal case against anyone.[174] Inheritance and property rights for apostates was prohibited by Pakistan in 1963.[13]
An apostasy case law precedence was set in Pakistan in 1990, when Tahir Iqbal was arrested after he converted to Christianity, on charges filed by a Muslim neighbor against Iqbal for becoming an apostate and thereby hurting his religious feelings. Tahir Iqbal was arrested on blasphemy charges, accused that he had defiled Islam by his actions, and for an additional charge of making notes inside his English translation of Quran.[175] His application for bail was refused in 1991 by the Pakistan Sessions Court Judge, with the ruling, "conversion from Islam into Christianity is itself a cognizable offence involving serious implications". Tahir Iqbal's appeal to the Lahore High Court against this ruling was also denied with the explanation that re-asserted "conversion from Islam to Christianity is a serious offence". While Iqbal's trial progressed, public demands for death penalty and life threats were persistently made outside and during court hearings. His crime was considered severe enough that he, a paraplegic, was held in a cell without water, light or toilet facilities. In July 1992, after he had served 19 months in jail while his trial progressed, he was found murdered inside the prison where he was being held.[175][176]
Qatar[edit]
Apostasy in Islam is a crime in Qatar.[177] Its Law 11 of 2004 specific traditional Sharia prosecution and punishment for apostasy, considering it a hudud crime punishable by death penalty.[178]
Proselytizing of Muslims to convert to another religion is also a crime in Qatar under Article 257 of its law,[178] punishable with prison term. According to its law passed in 2004, if proselytizing is done in Qatar, for any religion other than Islam, the sentence is imprisonment of up to five years. Anyone who travels to and enters Qatar with written or recorded materials or items that support or promote conversion of Muslims to apostasy are to be imprisoned for up two years.[179]
Casual discussion or “sharing one’s faith” with any Muslim resident in Qatar has been deemed a violation of Qatari law, leading to deportation or prison time.[180] There is no law against proselytizing non-Muslims to join Islam.
Saudi Arabia[edit]
Saudi Arabia has no penal code, and defaults its law entirely to Sharia and its implementation to religious courts. The case law in Saudi Arabia, and consensus of its jurists is that Islamic law imposes the death penalty on apostates.[181]
Apostasy law is actively enforced in Saudi Arabia. For example, Saudi authorities charged Hamza Kashgari, a Saudi writer, in 2012 with apostasy based on comments he made on Twitter. He fled to Malaysia, where he was arrested and then extradited on request by Saudi Arabia to face charges.[182] Kashgari repented, upon which the courts ordered that he be placed in protective custody. Similarly, two Saudi Sunni Muslim citizens were arrested and charged with apostasy for adopting the Ahmadiyya sect of Islam.[183] As of May 2014, the two accused of apostasy had served two years in prison awaiting trial.[184]
Saudi Arabia school textbooks include chapters with justification for the social exclusion and killing of apostates.[185]
According to the "Online Saudi-arabian Curriculum مناهج السعودية الألكترونية",[186] taught at schools, we read under the title "Judgements on Apostates أحكام المرتدين" the following (in Arabic):[187]
"An Apostate will be suppressed three days in prison in order that he may repent ..... otherwise, he should be killed, because he has changed his true religion, therefore, there is no use from his living, regardless of being a man or a woman, as Mohammed said: "Whoever changes his religion, kill him", narrated by Al-Bukhari and Muslim."
Somalia[edit]
Apostasy is a crime in Somalia.[177] Articles 3(1) and 4(1) of Somalia's constitution declare that religious law of Sharia is the nation's highest law. The punishment for apostasy prescribed is death penalty.[188][189]
There have been numerous reports of execution of people for apostasy, particularly of Muslims who have converted to Christianity. However, the reported executions have been by extra-state Islamist groups and local mobs, rather than after the accused has been tried under a Somali court of law.[190][191]
Sudan[edit]
Article 126.2 of the Penal Code of Sudan (1991) reads,

`Whoever is guilty of apostasy is invited to repent over a period to be determined by the tribunal. If he persists in his apostasy and was not recently converted to Islam, he will be put to death.` [6]
Some notable cases of apostasy in Sudan include: Mahmoud Mohammed Taha, a Sudanese religious thinker, leader, and trained engineer, who was executed for apostasy in 1985 at the age of 76 by the regime of Gaafar Nimeiry.[192][193] Meriam Ibrahim, a 27-year-old Christian Sudanese woman was sentenced to death for apostasy in May 2014, but allowed to leave the country in July after an international outcry.[194]
United Arab Emirates[edit]
Apostasy is a crime in the United Arab Emirates.[195] In 1978, UAE began the process of Islamising the nation's law, after its council of ministers voted to appoint a High Committee to identify all its laws that conflicted with Sharia. Among the many changes that followed, UAE incorporated hudud crimes of Sharia into its Penal Code - apostasy being one of them.[196] Article 1 and Article 66 of UAE's Penal Code requires hudud crimes to be punished with the death penalty.[197][198]
UAE law considers it a crime and imposes penalties for using the Internet to preach against Islam or to proselytize Muslims inside the international borders of the nation. Its laws and officials do not recognize conversion from Islam to another religion. In contrast, conversion from another religion to Islam is recognized, and the government publishes through mass media an annual list of foreign residents who have converted to Islam.[199]
Yemen[edit]
Apostasy is a crime in Yemen. Articles 12 and 259 of the Yemen Penal Code address apostasy, the former requires Sharia sentence be used for apostasy and the latter specifies death penalty for apostates of Islam.[200] Yemeni law waives the punishment to an apostate if he or she recants, repents and returns to Islam while denouncing his or her new faith.
In 2012, Yemeni citizen Ali Qasim Al-Saeedi was arrested and charged with apostasy by Yemeni law enforcement agency after he posted his personal views questioning the teachings of Islam, on a Yemeni blogging site and his Facebook page.[201]
West and immigrant communities[edit]
Ex-Muslims in Great Britain have faced abuse, violence, and even murder at the hands of Muslims.[202] There are similar reports of violent intimidation of those electing to reject Islam in other Western countries.[203]
Other countries[edit]
Apostasy is also a crime in smaller Muslim-majority countries such as Maldives and Comoros.[177] In Nigeria, there is no law that explicitly makes apostasy a crime; however, several Muslim-majority states of Nigeria such as Zamfara have laws invoking Sharia, which have been used to persecute Muslim apostates, particularly Muslims who have converted to Christianity.[204]
In December 2005, Nigerian pastor Zacheous Habu Bu Ngwenche was attacked for allegedly hiding a convert. In January 2006, in Turkey, Kamil Kiroglu was beaten unconscious and threatened with death if he refused to deny his Christian faith and return to Islam.[40] In a highly public case, the Malaysian Federal Court did not allow Lina Joy to change her religion status in her I/C in a 2–1 decision.
The Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain is the British branch of the Central Council of Ex-Muslims, who represent former Muslims who fear for their lives because they have renounced Islam. It was launched in Westminster on 22 June 2007. The Council protests against Islamic states that still punish Muslim apostates with death under the Sharia law. The Council is led by Maryam Namazie, who was awarded Secularist of the Year in 2005 and has faced death threats.[205] The British Humanist Association and National Secular Society sponsored the launch of the organisation and have supported its activities since.[206]
Ehsan Jami, co-founder of the Central Committee for Ex-Muslims in the Netherlands has received several death threats, and due to the amount of threats its members received, the Committee was dismantled.[207]
A 2007 poll by the Policy Exchange think-tank revealed that 31% of British Muslims believed that leaving the Muslim religion should be punishable by death.[208]
Effects on Islamic learning[edit]


 This section may stray from the topic of the article. Please help improve this section or discuss this issue on the talk page. (August 2014)
The English historian C. E. Bosworth argues that while the organizational form of the Christian university allowed them to develop and flourish into the modern university, "the Muslim ones remained constricted by the doctrine of waqf alone, with their physical plant often deteriorating hopelessly and their curricula narrowed by the exclusion of the non-traditional religious sciences like philosophy and natural science," out of fear that these could evolve into potential toe-holds for kufr, those people who reject God."[209]
Applying law in the Muslim world[edit]
Most countries of the Middle East and North Africa maintain a dual system of secular courts and religious courts, in which the religious courts mainly regulate marriage and inheritance. Saudi Arabia and Iran maintain religious courts for all aspects of jurisprudence, and religious police assert social compliance. Sharia is also used in Sudan, Libya, Afghanistan, and Somalia. Some states in northern Nigeria have reintroduced Sharia courts. In practice the new Sharia courts in Nigeria have most often meant the reintroduction of relatively harsh punishments without respecting the much tougher rules of evidence and testimony of regular courts. The punishments include amputation of one/both hand(s) for theft, stoning for adultery, and execution for apostasy. In 1980, Pakistan, under the leadership of President Zia-ul-Haq, the Federal Shariat Court was created and given jurisdiction to examine any existing law to ensure it was not repugnant to Islam[101] and in its early acts it passed ordinances that included five that explicitly targeted religious minorities: a law against blasphemy; a law punishing the defiling of the Qur'an; a prohibition against insulting the wives, family, or companions of the Prophet of Islam; and two laws specifically restricting the activities of Ahmadis, who were declared non-Muslims.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights[edit]
Laws prohibiting religious conversion run contrary[210] to Article 18 of the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states the following:
"Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance."[211]
Islamic nations have criticized the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as a non-Muslim world's attempt to impose their values on Islamic people, and presumption of cultural superiority.[212] They responded with the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam, as a joint declaration of the member states of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference in Cairo, Egypt, in 1990.[213] The Cairo Declaration asserted an Islamic perspective on human rights, gender roles, and bounds of behavior that affirm Islamic Shari'ah as the sole source of rights.[213]
Apostasy and blasphemy are some of many points of differences between the UN Declaration and Cairo Declaration.[214][215][216] Islamic scholars such as Muhammad Rashid Rida in Tafsir al-Minar, state that freedom of religion neither grants nor requires "freedom to apostatize", because apostasy infringes on the freedom of others and disrespects the religion of the State.[217]
See also[edit]
Al-Baqara 256
Apostasy in Christianity
Apostasy in Judaism
Apostasy in Malaysia
Islam and blasphemy
List of former Muslims
Takfir
Ex-Muslims of North America
Anwar Shaikh
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Further reading[edit]
Ahmad, Mirza Tahir (1968). Murder in the Name of Allah. Guildford: Lutterworth Press. ISBN 978-0-7188-2805-9. OCLC 243438689.
Cottee, Simon (2015). The Apostates: When Muslims Leave Islam. Hurst. p. 288. ISBN 9781849044691.
Peters, Rudolph; De Vries, Gert J. J. (1976). "Apostasy in Islam". Die Welt des Islams 17 (1/4): 1–25. doi:10.1163/157006076X00017. JSTOR 1570336.
External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has quotations related to: Apostasy in Islam
Apostasy, Freedom and Da’wah: Full Disclosure in a Business-Like Manner by Dr. Mohammad Omar Farooq
Al-Munajjid, Sheikh Muhammed Salih. "Why should a person who disbelieves after becoming Muslim be executed?". Retrieved 15 October 2009.
Eltahawy, Mona (20 October 1999). "Lives torn apart in battle for the soul of the Arab world". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 15 October 2009.
"Punishment for Apostasy". Understanding Islam. 6 December 1998. Retrieved 15 October 2009.
Apostasy: Oxford Bibliographies, Islamic Studies Andrew March (2010), Oxford University Press


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Apostasy in Islam

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Apostasy in Islam (Arabic: ردة‎ riddah or ارتداد irtidād') is commonly defined as the conscious abandonment of Islam by a Muslim in word or through deed.[1][2] It includes the act of converting to another religion by a person who was born in a Muslim family or who had previously accepted Islam.[3][not specific enough to verify][4][not specific enough to verify]
Apostasy in Islam includes in its scope not only former Muslims who have renounced Islam to join another religion or become non-religious, but Muslims who have questioned or denied any "fundamental tenet or creed" of Islam such as Sharia law, or who have mocked Allah, worshipped one or more idols, or knowingly believed in an interpretation of Sharia that is contrary to the consensus of ummah (Islamic community).[5][not specific enough to verify] The term has also been used for people of religions that trace their origins to Islam, such as Bahá'ís in Iran, and Ahmadiyya Muslims in Pakistan and Indonesia.[6][7]
The definition of apostasy from Islam and its appropriate punishment are controversial, and they vary among Islamic scholars.[8] In Islam’s history, the vast majority of scholars have held that apostasy in Islam is a crime punishable with the death penalty, typically after a waiting period to allow the apostate time to repent and return to Islam.[9][10][11] Some contemporary Muslim scholars also hold the traditional view that the death penalty for apostasy is required by the two primary sources of Sharia - the Quran and the Hadiths - while others argue that the death penalty is an inappropriate punishment.[12][13][14][15][16] A majority considers apostasy in Islam to be some form of religious crime, although a minority does not.[8][17][18]
Under current laws in Islamic countries, the actual punishment for the apostate (or murtadd مرتد) ranges from execution to prison term to no punishment.[19][20] Islamic nations with sharia courts use civil code to void the Muslim apostate’s marriage and deny child custody rights, as well as his or her inheritance rights for apostasy.[14][15][16] Twenty-three Muslim-majority countries, as of 2013, additionally covered apostasy in Islam through their criminal laws.[21]
According to critics, punishment for apostasy in Islam is a violation of universal human rights, and an issue of freedom of faith and conscience.[12][22]


Contents  [hide]
1 Scriptural references 1.1 Qur'an
1.2 Hadith
1.3 What constitutes apostasy in Islam
1.4 Proselytization recommended, apostasy forbidden
2 Punishment 2.1 Execution
2.2 Civil liabilities
2.3 Other views on punishment
2.4 Opposition to execution 2.4.1 Qur'an
2.4.2 Hadiths

3 Historic impact
4 Apostasy in the recent past 4.1 Background
4.2 Afghanistan
4.3 Algeria
4.4 Bangladesh
4.5 Brunei
4.6 Egypt
4.7 Indonesia
4.8 Iran
4.9 Jordan
4.10 Kuwait
4.11 Malaysia
4.12 Mauritania
4.13 Morocco
4.14 Oman
4.15 Pakistan
4.16 Qatar
4.17 Saudi Arabia
4.18 Somalia
4.19 Sudan
4.20 United Arab Emirates
4.21 Yemen
4.22 West and immigrant communities
4.23 Other countries
5 Effects on Islamic learning 5.1 Applying law in the Muslim world
6 Universal Declaration of Human Rights
7 See also
8 References
9 Further reading
10 External links

Scriptural references[edit]
Qur'an[edit]
Quran discusses apostasy in many of its verses. For example:[23]

But those who reject Faith after they accepted it, and then go on adding to their defiance of Faith,- never will their repentance be accepted; for they are those who have (of set purpose) gone astray.
— Quran 3:90

Make ye no excuses: ye have rejected Faith after ye had accepted it. If We pardon some of you, We will punish others amongst you, for that they are in sin.
— Quran 9:66

He who disbelieves in Allah after his having believed, not he who is compelled while his heart is at rest on account of faith, but he who opens (his) breast to disbelief-- on these is the wrath of Allah, and they shall have a grievous chastisement.
— Quran 16:106
There are other Qur'anic verses,[24] that reference apostasy. However, although apostates are usually assigned a place in hell, there is no mention of any specific corporeal punishment to which they are to be subjected in this world.[25][26]
Hadith[edit]
Within the different Hadith collections, there are references to punishments for committing apostasy in Islam.[15] For example, in the Sahih al-Bukhari, the most trusted book in Islam after Quran,[27] punishments for apostasy are described:[28]

Allah's Apostle said, "The blood of a Muslim who confesses that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and that I am His Apostle, cannot be shed except in three cases: In Qisas for murder, a married person who commits illegal sexual intercourse and the one who reverts from Islam (apostate) and leaves the Muslims."
— Sahih al-Bukhari, 9:83:17

Ali burnt some people and this news reached Ibn 'Abbas, who said, "Had I been in his place I would not have burnt them, as the Prophet said, 'Don't punish (anybody) with Allah's Punishment.' No doubt, I would have killed them, for the Prophet said, 'If somebody (a Muslim) discards his religion, kill him.'
— Sahih al-Bukhari, 4:52:260

A man embraced Islam and then reverted back to Judaism. Mu'adh bin Jabal came and saw the man with Abu Musa. Mu'adh asked, "What is wrong with this (man)?" Abu Musa replied, "He embraced Islam and then reverted back to Judaism." Mu'adh said, "I will not sit down unless you kill him (as it is) the verdict of Allah and His Apostle.
— Sahih al-Bukhari, 9:89:271
The Sahih Muslim collection, reiterates and confirms that which is in the Sahih al-Bukhari collection:[29]

"(4152) 'Abdullah (b. Mas'ūd) reported Allah's Messenger as saying: It is not permissible to take the life of a Muslim who bears testimony (to the fact) that there is no god but Allah, and I am the Messenger of Allah, but in one of the three cases: the married adulterer, a life for a life, and the deserter of his Din (Islam), abandoning the community."[30]
— Sahih Muslim, 16:4152 see also Sahih Muslim, 16:4154, Sahih Muslim, 20:4490
There are many other sunnah that describe capital punishments for apostasy in Islam.[31][32]
What constitutes apostasy in Islam[edit]
Apostasy is called irtidād (which literally means relapse or regress) or ridda in Islamic literature; an apostate is called murtadd, which means 'one who turns back' from Islam.[33] Someone born to a Muslim parent, or who has previously converted to Islam, becomes a murtadd if he or she verbally denies any principle of belief prescribed by Qur'an or a Hadith, deviates from approved Islamic tenets (ilhad), or if he or she commits a blasphemy such as treating a copy of the Qurʾan with disrespect.[34][35][36] A person born to a Muslim parent who later rejects Islam is called a murtad fitri, and a person who converted to Islam and later rejects the religion is called a murtad milli.[37][38][39]
A person is considered apostate if he or she converts from Islam to another religion.[40] A person is an apostate even if he or she believes in most of Islam, but verbally or in writing denies of one or more principles or precepts of Islam.[34] For example, doubting the existence of Allah, entering a church or temple, making offerings to and worshiping a symbol of Christ, an idol or stupa or any image of God, celebrating festivals of any non-Muslim religion, helping to build a church or temple, confessing a belief in the rebirth or reincarnation of God, showing disrespect to the Qur'an or Islam's Prophet, are all individually sufficient evidence of apostasy.[3][41][42]
Example evidence of Apostasy in Islam, according to Sunni Shafi'i school of jurisprudence (Fiqh), are:[43]
 (a) bowing before sun, moon, objects of nature, idols, cross or any images symbolically representing God whether in mere contrariness, sarcastically or with conviction;
 (b) intention, hesitation or actually committing unbelief in Islam;
 (c) speak words such as "Allah is part of trinity", "Jesus is the son of Allah",[3] "I am a Prophet", or "I am Allah";
 (d) revile, question, wonder, doubt, mock or deny the existence of Allah or Prophet of Islam or that the Prophet was sent by Allah;
 (e) revile, deny, doubt or mock any verse of the Quran, or the religion of Islam;
 (f) deny or fail to practice that which is considered obligatory by Ijma (consensus of Muslims);
 (g) believe that things in themselves or by their nature have cause rather than it being the will of Allah;
 (h) to pay respect to a non-Muslim.[3] In the Shafi'i school, it is an act of apostasy for a sane adult Muslim to accuse or describe another devout Muslim of being an unbeliever.[5]
Al-Ghazali held that apostasy occurs when a Muslim
 (a) denies, intends to deny or doubts that "there is no God but Allah, Muhammad is the messenger of Allah";
 (b) denies, doubts or refuses to obey Quran and the Law (Sharia), or questions the validity of sharia courts; and
 (c) denies, doubts or questions through action or intent Muhammad's prophecy about the end of the world and last judgment.[3][44][45]
 This opinion later came to be favoured by the Hanafi Ottoman scholars. In early Islamic history, after Muhammad's death, the declaration of Prophethood by anyone was automatically deemed to be proof of apostasy. This view has continued to the modern age in the rejection of the Ahmadiyya sect of Islam as apostates by mainstream Sunni and Shia sects of Islam, because Ahmadis consider Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, founder of Ahmadiyya, as a modern day Prophet.[46][47] Other Fiqhs such as Hanifi and Shafi'i schools of jurisprudence also disagree on whether ridiculing (Islamic) scholars is an act of apostasy.[48] Some Fiqhs of Islam include additional requirements as evidence of apostasy, such as joining the enemies of Islam.
There are disagreements among Islamic scholars, and Islamic schools of jurisprudence, as to who can be judged for the crime of apostasy in Islam. Some in Shafii fiqh such as Nawawi and al-Misri state that the apostasy code applies to a Muslim who
 (a) has understood and professed that "there is no god but Allah, Muhammad is the messenger of Allah" (shahada),
 (b) knows the shariah necessarily known by all Muslims,
 (c) is of sound mind at the time of apostasy,
 (d) has reached or passed puberty, and
 (e) has consciously and deliberately rejected or consciously and deliberately intends to reject any part or all of Quran or of Islam religion (Sharia).[49][50]
Maliki scholars additionally require that the person in question has publicly engaged in the obligatory practices of the religion.[51] In contrast, Hanafi, Hanbali and Ja'fari fiqh set no such screening requirements; a Muslim's history has no bearing on when and on whom to apply the sharia code for apostasy.[3]
Proselytization recommended, apostasy forbidden[edit]
The verses of Quran[52] recommend Muslims to da`wah (proselytize) non-Muslims to leave their religion and join Islam, according to Islamic scholars.[53] However, proselytization and apostasy of Muslims to leave Islam and join another religion is considered a religious crime in Islamic scriptures.[53][54] Throughout the history of Islam, proselytization of non-Muslims was recommended, while proselytization and apostasy of Muslims forbidden in a region ruled by an Islamic Sultan.[55][56] In his review, Abdul Rashied Omar states,

The right to be convinced and to convert from Islam to another religion is held by only a minority of Muslim scholars. This view of religious freedom is, however, not shared by the vast majority of Muslim scholars both past as well as present. Most classical and modern Muslim jurists regard apostasy (riddah), defined by them as an act of rejection of faith committed by a Muslim whose Islam had been affirmed without coercion, as a crime deserving the death penalty.
— Abdul Rashied Omar[9]
There are differences of opinion among Islamic scholars about whether, when and how apostasy in Islam should be punished.[3][8][57]
Punishment[edit]



 "Execution of a Moroccan Jewess (Sol Hachuel)" a painting by Alfred Dehodencq
Execution[edit]



 Legal opinion on apostasy by the Fatwa committee at Al-Azhar University in Cairo, concerning the case of a man who converted to Christianity: "Since he left Islam, he will be invited to express his regret. If he does not regret, he will be killed according to rights and obligations of the Islamic law." The Fatwa also mentions that the same applies to his children if they entered Islam and left it after they reach maturity.[58][59]
In Islamic law (sharia), the view among the majority of medieval jurists was that a male apostate must be put to death unless he suffers from a mental disorder or converted under duress, for example, due to an imminent danger of being killed. A female apostate must be either executed, according to Shafi'i, Maliki, and Hanbali schools of Sunni Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh), or imprisoned until she reverts to Islam as advocated by the Sunni Hanafi school and by Shi'a scholars.[57]
Many Islamic scholars, but not all, consider apostasy as a Hudud (or Hadd) crime, that is one of six "crimes against God" a Muslim can commit, which deserves the fixed punishment of death as that is a "claim of God".[3][6][60]
Under traditional Islamic law an apostate may be given a waiting period while in incarceration to repent and accept Islam again and if not the apostate is to be killed without any reservations.[3] This traditional view of Sunni and Shia Islamic fiqhs, or schools of jurisprudence each with their own interpretation of Sharia, varies as follows:[14][15][61]
Hanafi - recommends three days of imprisonment before execution, although the delay before killing the Muslim apostate is not mandatory. Apostates who are men must be killed, states the Hanafi Sunni fiqh, while women must be held in solitary confinement and beaten every three days till they recant and return to Islam.[3]Maliki - allows up to ten days for recantation, after which the apostate must be killed. Both men and women apostates deserve death penalty according to the traditional view of Sunni Maliki fiqh.[61]Shafi'i - waiting period of three days is required to allow the Muslim apostate to repent and return to Islam. After the wait, execution is the traditional recommended punishment for both men and women apostates.[61]Hanbali - waiting period not necessary, but may be granted. Execution is traditional recommended punishment for both genders of Muslim apostates.[61]Ja'fari - waiting period not necessary, but may be granted according to this Shia fiqh. Male apostate must be executed, states the Jafari fiqh, while a female apostate must be held in solitary confinement till she repents and returns to Islam.
Civil liabilities[edit]
In Islam, apostasy has been traditionally considered both a religious crime and a civil liability; the punishment for former includes death or prison while the latter leads to civil penalties.[3] Therefore, in all madhhabs of Islam, (a) the property of the apostate is seized and distributed to his or her Muslim relatives; (b) his or her marriage annulled (faskh); (c) any children removed and considered ward of the Islamic state.[3] In case the entire family has left Islam, or there are no surviving Muslim relatives recognized by Sharia, the apostate's property is liquidated by the Islamic state (part of fay, الْفيء). In case the apostate is not executed, such as in case of women apostates in Hanafi school, the person also loses all inheritance rights.[15][16] Hanafi Sunni school of jurisprudence allows waiting till execution, before children and property are seized; other schools do not consider this wait as mandatory.[62]
Other views on punishment[edit]


 This article contains too many or too-lengthy quotations for an encyclopedic entry. Please help improve the article by editing it to take facts from excessively quoted material and rewrite them as sourced original prose. Consider transferring direct quotations to Wikiquote. (June 2015)
Various early Muslim scholars did not agree with the death penalty, among them Ibrahim al-Nakha'i (d. 715) and Sufyan al-Thawri and their followers, who rejected the death penalty and prescribed indefinite imprisonment until repentance. The Hanafi jurist Sarakhsi also called for different punishments between the non-seditious religious apostasy and that of seditious and political nature, or high treason.[63][64]
Medieval Islamic scholars also differed on the punishment of a female apostate: death, enslavement, or imprisonment until repentance. Abu Hanifa and his followers refused the death penalty for female apostates, supporting imprisonment until they re-embrace Islam. Hanafi scholars maintain that a female apostate should not be killed because it was forbidden to kill women under Sharia.[64] In contrast, Maliki, Shafii, Hanbali and Ja'fari scholars interpreted other parts of Sharia to permit death as possible punishment for Muslim apostate women, in addition to confinement.[15]
Contemporary reform Muslims such as Quran Alone Ahmed Subhy Mansour,[65] Edip Yuksel, and Mohammed Shahrour have suffered from accusations of apostasy and demands to execute them, issued by Islamic clerics such as Mahmoud Ashur, Mustafa Al-Shak'a, Mohammed Ra'fat Othman and Yusif Al-Badri.[66] Despite claiming to have received death threats, Edip Yuksel also believes that high profile apostates who are controversial should be killed. He wrote, “Apostasy is not what gets one killed. It’s a combination of being controversial and having a high profile.”[67]
Some scholars such as S.A. Rahman[68] highlight a phrase from Quran's verse 256 from Al-Bakara, "there is no compulsion in religion,"[69] to conclude that Quran never intended a punishment for apostasy in this life and that Quran suggests tolerance for apostates. Other Islamic scholars disagree for several reasons, disagreements Rahman acknowledges.[70] First, the "no compulsion" phrase should not be used out of context and all exegesis of Quran that is "linear-atomistic" analysis of one small phrase in one verse is flawed.[71] The complete verse and nearby verses[72] should be read to understand the "complex hermeneutic totality" of context for anything in Quran.[73] The context of "no compulsion" phrase is not apostates, but those who refuse to accept the Faith (Islam) and continue to worship the Shaitan (evil, false deity).[74][75] Second, no single phrase or verse in Quran is less or more relevant in Islam than other phrases or verses in Quran; and other verses in Quran such as verse 66[76] of At-Tawba state "if we pardon some of you (for apostasy), we will punish others amongst you, for that they are in sin".[76] Rahman lists a number of historic Islamic scholars who concede Quran teaches coercion against Muslim apostates.[70] Third, in the history of Islamic exegesis scholarship, that verse is considered as an early revelation, and abrogated by verses that were revealed to Muhammad at a later stage in his life.[73][77] This is called the principle of Naskh (نسخ) by Islamic scholars. Finally, to understand Quran and for guidance in case of verses with conflicting interpretations, the sayings and actions of Muhammad as recorded in Sahih Hadiths are considered by Islamic scholars. Taken together, the vast majority of Islamic scholars of every fiqh have traditionally disagreed with the alternate position that there should be no punishment for apostasy in Islam.[9]
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, a minority sect found in South and Southeast Asia, rejects any form of punishment for apostasy whatsoever, citing hadith, Quran, and the opinions of classical Islamic jurists to justify its views.[78] However, Ahmadiyya Muslims are widely considered as non-Muslim apostates and persecuted by mainstream Islam, because of their beliefs.[46][47]
Prominent recent examples of writers and activists killed because of apostasy claims include Mahmoud Mohammed Taha,[79] and Faraj Foda.[80] The Egyptian Nobel prize winner Najib Mahfouz was injured in an attempted assassination, paralyzing his right arm.[81] The case of Abdul Rahman, an Afghan who converted from Islam to Christianity, sparked debate on the issue. While he initially faced the death penalty, he was eventually released as he was deemed mentally unfit to stand trial.[82]
Opposition to execution[edit]
Abdullah Saeed and Hassan Saeed state that early development of the law of apostasy was a religio-political tool. Over time, a diversity of opinion emerged among Muslims on the punishment.[83]
A minority of medieval Islamic jurists, notably the Hanafi jurist Sarakhsi (d. 1090),[63][dubious – discuss] Maliki jurist Ibn al-Walid al-Baji (d. 494 AH) and Hanbali jurist Ibn Taymiyyah (1263–1328), held that apostasy carries no legal punishment.[84][dubious – discuss]
Contemporary Islamic Shafi`i jurists such as the Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa,[85][86] Shi'a jurists such as Grand Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri,[87] and some jurists, scholars and writers of other Islamic sects, have argued or issued fatwas that either the changing of religion is not punishable or is only punishable under restricted circumstances, but these minority opinions have not found broad acceptance among the majority of Islamic scholars.[8][88][89][90]
Medieval Muslim scholars (e.g. Sufyan al-Thawri) and modern (e.g. Hasan at-Turabi), also have argued that the hadith used to justify execution of apostates should be taken to apply only to political betrayal of the Muslim community, rather than to apostasy in general. These scholars argue for the freedom to convert to and from Islam without legal penalty.[citation needed] Other Islamic scholars like the Grand Mufti of Cairo Ali Gomaa have stated that while God will punish apostates in the afterlife they should not be executed by human beings.[91] Ali Gomaa later clarified that leaving Islam without punishment was not what he meant: "What I actually said is that Islam prohibits a Muslim from changing his religion and that apostasy is a crime, which must be punished."[92]
Javed Ahmad Ghamidi writes that punishment for apostasy was part of divine punishment for only those who denied the truth even after clarification in its ultimate form by Muhammad (Itmaam-i-hujjat), hence, he considers it a time-bound command and no longer punishable.[93]
Hamza Yusuf argues that "punishment in this world for apostasy is not mentioned in the Qur’an; however, some sound hadiths indicate that it is a capital offense. These are not absolutely certain (mutawatir) traditions, and some scholars, such as al-Nakhi’ and others, argued against it... Today, it could be strongly argued that the aim (maqsad) of considering apostasy a capital offense, which was to protect the faith, is lost in application, given that modern people suffer a crisis of faith due to such applications."[94]
Tariq Ramadan makes the case that given the way the Prophet behaved with the people who left Islam (like Hishâm and 'Ayyash) or who converted to Christianity (such as Ubaydallah ibn Jahsh), it should be stated that one who changes her/his religion should not be killed. He further explains that there can be no compulsion or coercion in matters of faith not only because it is explicitly forbidden in the Qur'an but also because free conscious and choice and willing submission are foundational to the first pillar (declaration of faith) and essential to the very definition of "Islam".[95]
Qur'an[edit]
The basis for an opposition to that punishment in the Qur'an stems from the following cluster of verses:

There is no compulsion in religion; truly the right way has become clearly distinct from error; therefore, whoever disbelieves in the Shaitan and believes in Allah he indeed has laid hold on the firmest handle, which shall not break off, and Allah is Hearing, Knowing.
— Quran 2:256

Say, "The truth is from your Lord": Let him who will believe, and let him who will, reject (it): for the wrong-doers We have prepared a Fire whose (smoke and flames), like the walls and roof of a tent, will hem them in: if they implore relief they will be granted water like melted brass, that will scald their faces, how dreadful the drink! How uncomfortable a couch to recline on!
— Quran 18:29

And if your Lord had pleased, surely all those who are in the earth would have believed, all of them; will you then force men till they become believers?
— Quran 10:99
Jonathan A.C. Brown explains that "According to all the theories of language elaborated by Muslim legal scholars, the Qur'anic proclamation that 'There is no compulsion in religion. The right path has been distinguished from error' is as absolute and universal a statement as one finds.", and hence the Qur'an granted religious freedom.[96]
S. A. Rahman, a former Chief Justice of Pakistan, argues that there is no indication of the death penalty for apostasy in the Qur'an.[68] W. Heffening states that in Quran "a Muslim apostate is threatened with punishment in the next world", adding that Shafi'is interpreted verse [Quran 2:217] as adducing to the death penalty in the Qur'an. Wael Hallaq holds that nothing in the law governing apostate and apostasy derives from the letter of Quran.[97] The late dissenting Shia jurist Grand Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri stated that the Quranic verses do not prescribe an earthly penalty for apostasy.[87]
Islamist author Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi argued that verses [Quran 9:11] of the Qur'an sanction death for apostasy. In contrast, Pakistan's jurist S. A. Rahman states "that not only is there no punishment for apostasy provided in the Book but that the Word of God clearly envisages the natural death of the apostate. He will be punished only in the Hereafter…"[98] Rahman also highlights that there is no reference to the death penalty in any of the 20 instances of apostasy mentioned in the Qur'an.
Mahmud Shaltut, the late Grand Imam of Al-Azhar University argued that a worldly punishment for apostasy was not mentioned in the Qur'an and whenever it mentions apostasy it speaks about a punishment in the hereafter.[99]
Ahmet Albayrak explains in The Qur'an: An Encyclopedia that regarding apostasy as a wrongdoing is not a sign of intolerance of other religions, and is not aimed at one’s freedom to choose a religion or to leave Islam and embrace another faith, but that on the contrary, it is more correct to say that the punishment is enforced as a safety precaution when warranted if apostasy becomes a mechanism of public disobedience and disorder (fitna). At this point, what is punished is the action of ridiculing the high moral flavour of Islam and posing a threat to public order. Otherwise, Islam prohibits spying on people and investigating their private lives, beliefs and personal opinions.[100]
Hadiths[edit]
Writing in the Encyclopedia of Islam, Heffening holds that contrary to the Qur'an, "in traditions [i.e. hadith], there is little echo of these punishments in the next world... and instead, we have in many traditions a new element, the death penalty."[101] Wael Hallaq states the death penalty reflects a later reality and does not stand in accord with the deeds of the Prophet.[97]
Ayatollah Montazeri holds that it is probable that the punishment was prescribed by Muhammad during early Islam to combat political conspiracies against Islam and Muslims, and is not intended for those who simply change their belief or express a change in belief. Montazeri defines different types of apostasy; he argues that capital punishment should be reserved for those who desert Islam out of malice and enmity towards the Muslim community, and not those who convert to another religion after investigation and research.[87]
Historic impact[edit]
The charge of apostasy is often used by religious authorities to condemn and punish skeptics, dissidents, and minorities in their communities.[26] From the earliest history of Islam, the crime of apostasy and execution for apostasy has driven major events in Islam. For example, the Ridda wars (civil wars of apostasy) shook the Muslim community in 632 AD, immediately after the death of Muhammad.[26][102] The apostasy wars split the two major sects of Islam - Sunni and Shia, and caused numerous deaths.[103][104] Sunni and Shia sects of Islam have long called each other as apostates of Islam.[105]
From the 7th century through the 18th century, atheists, materialists, Sufi, and Shii sects were accused and executed for apostasy in Islam. In the 8th century, apostates of Islam were killed in West Asia and Sind.[106] In the 8th century, the founder of Hanifi fiqh of jurisprudence in Islam, Abū Ḥanīfa, was charged with apostasy and punished. In 9th-century Spain, apostasy and blasphemy charges were brought against residents who refused to accept Islam;[107] 10th-century Iraq, Sufi mystic Al-Hallaj was executed for apostasy; in 12th-century Iran, al-Suhrawardi along with followers of Ismaili sect of Islam were killed on charges of being apostates;[26] in 14th-century Syria, Ibn Taymiyyah declared Central Asian Turko-Mongol Muslims as apostates to support an Islamic civil war, and was himself charged at the end of his life with apostasy and punished in Damascus;[108] in 17th-century India, Dara Shikoh and other sons of Shah Jahan were captured and executed on charges of apostasy from Islam by his brother Aurangzeb.[109]
During the colonial era, death for apostasy was abolished in many Muslim-majority colonies. Similarly, under intense European pressure, death sentence for apostasy from Islam was abolished by the Edict of Toleration, and substituted with other forms of punishment by the Ottoman government in 1844 AD; the implementation of this ban was resisted by religious officials and proved difficult.[110][111] A series of edicts followed during Ottoman's Tanzimat period, such as the 1856 Reform Edict. Despite these edicts, there was constant pressure on non-Muslims to convert to Islam, and apostates from Islam continued to be persecuted, punished and threatened with execution, particularly in eastern and Levant parts of the then Ottoman Empire.[110] The Edict of Toleration ultimately failed when Sultan Abdul Hamid II assumed power, re-asserted pan-Islamism with sharia as Ottoman state philosophy, and initiated Hamidian massacres in 1894 against Christians, particularly of Armenians, Assyrians and crypto-Christian apostates from Islam in Turkey (Stavriotes, Kromlides).[112][113][114]
Apostasy in the recent past[edit]



 Penalties (actual or proposed) for apostasy in some Muslim-majority countries as of 2013.
Background[edit]
More than 20 Muslim nations have laws that declare apostasy by Muslims to be a crime, many imposing the death penalty for apostates.[19] In addition, some Islamic countries without laws specifically addressing apostasy have prosecuted individuals or minorities for apostasy using broadly-defined blasphemy laws.[115] In many nations, the Hisbah doctrine of Islam has traditionally allowed any Muslim to accuse another Muslim or ex-Muslim for beliefs that may harm Islamic society. This principle has been used in countries such as Egypt, Pakistan and others to bring blasphemy charges against apostates.[116]
The violence or threats of violence against apostates in the Muslim world in recent years has derived primarily not from government authorities but from other individuals or groups operating unrestricted by the government.[40] There has also been social persecution for Muslims converting to Christianity. For example, the Christian organisation Barnabas Fund reports:

The field of apostasy and blasphemy and related "crimes" is thus obviously a complex syndrome within all Muslim societies which touches a raw nerve and always arouses great emotional outbursts against the perceived acts of treason, betrayal and attacks on Islam and its honour. While there are a few brave dissenting voices within Muslim societies, the threat of the application of the apostasy and blasphemy laws against any who criticize its application is an efficient weapon used to intimidate opponents, silence criticism, punish rivals, reject innovations and reform, and keep non-Muslim communities in their place.[117]
Similar views are expressed by the non-theistic International Humanist and Ethical Union.[118]
A survey conducted by the Pew Research Center in 2010 found relatively widespread popular support for the death penalty as a punishment for apostasy in Egypt (84% of respondents in favor of death penalty), Jordan (86% in favor), Indonesia (30%), Pakistan (76%), Nigeria (51%), and relatively minor support in Lebanon (6% in favor) and Turkey (5%).[119]
Another survey conducted by Pew Research Center in 2012 among Muslim populations in many Islamic countries found continuing support for the death penalty for those who leave Islam to become an atheist or to convert to another religion.[120] During this survey, Muslims who favored making Sharia the law of the land were asked for their views on the death penalty for apostasy from Islam.[120] The results are summarized in the table below. Note that % apostasy figures do not include Muslims who may not support sharia but do support the death penalty for apostasy.[120]

Middle East and North Africa

Country
% sharia
% punish apostasy among % sharia
% support death penalty for Muslim apostasy

Egypt 74 86 63,6
Palestine 89 66 58,7
Jordan 71 82 58,2
Iraq 91 42 38,2
Tunisia 56 29 16,2
Lebanon 29 46 13,3

South and Southeast Asia

Country
% sharia
% punish apostasy among % sharia
% support death penalty for Muslim apostasy

Afghanistan 99 79 78,2
Pakistan 84 76 63,8
Malaysia 86 62 53,3
Bangladesh 82 44 36,1
Thailand 77 27 20,8
Indonesia 72 18 13,0

Southeast Europe and Central Asia

Country
% sharia
% punish apostasy among % sharia
% support death penalty for Muslim apostasy

Russia 42 15 6,3
Tajikistan 27 22 5,9
Kyrgyzstan 35 14 4,9
Bosnia 15 15 2,3
Kosovo 20 11 2,2
Turkey 12 17 2,0
Albania 12 8 1,0
Kazakhstan 10 4 0,4

Overall, the figures in the 2012 survey suggest that a minimum of about 36% of Muslims in the countries surveyed approve the death penalty for Muslims who leave Islam to become an atheist or convert to another religion.[120] Governments of six Gulf countries - Saudi Arabia, UAE, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait - did not permit Pew Research to survey nationwide public opinion on apostasy in 2010 or 2012.
Afghanistan[edit]
Article 130 of the Afghan Constitution requires its courts to apply provisions of Hanafi Sunni fiqh for crimes of apostasy in Islam. Article 1 of the Afghan Penal Code requires hudud crimes be punished per Hanafi religious jurisprudence. Prevailing Hanafi jurisprudence, per consensus of its school of Islamic scholars, prescribes death penalty for the crime of apostasy. The apostate can avoid prosecution and/or punishment if he or she confesses of having made a mistake of apostasy and rejoins Islam.[121] In addition to death, the family of the accused can be deprived of all property and possessions, and the individual’s marriage is considered dissolved in accordance with Hanafi Sunni jurisprudence.[122]
In March 2006, an Afghan citizen Abdul Rahman was charged with apostasy and could have faced the death penalty for converting to Christianity. His case attracted much international attention with Western countries condemning Afghanistan for persecuting a convert. Charges against Abdul Rahman were dismissed on technical grounds by the Afghan court after intervention by the president Hamid Karzai. He was released and left the country to find refuge in Italy.[40]
Two other Afghan converts to Christianity, Sayed Mussa and Shoaib Assadullah, were arrested in March 2006 and their fate is unknown. In February 2006, yet other converts had their homes raided by police.[40] After serving five years in jail, Sayed Mussa was released in 2011.[123]
Algeria[edit]
On 21 March 2006, the Algerian parliament approved a new law requiring imprisonment for two to five years and a fine between five and ten thousand euros for anyone "trying to call on a Muslim to embrace another religion." The same penalty applies to anyone who "stores or circulates publications or audio-visual or other means aiming at destabilizing attachment to Islam."[40]
Bangladesh[edit]
Bangladesh does not have a law against apostasy, but incidences of persecution of apostates have been reported. Some Bangladeshi Imams have encouraged the killing of converts from Islam. An example is the stabbing of a Bangladeshi Christian evangelist (a "murtad fitri" or Muslim-born apostate) while returning home from a film adaptation of the Gospel of Luke.[124]
Brunei[edit]
Brunei is the latest Muslim country to enact a law that makes apostasy a crime punishable with death. In 2013, it enacted Syariah (Sharia’a) Penal Code. Section 112(1) of the new law states that a Muslim who declares himself non-Muslim commits a crime punishable with death, or with imprisonment for a term not exceeding thirty years, depending on evidence.[125] Under the required wait period between notification of law and its validity under Brunei’s constitution, its new apostasy law and corporal punishment will be applied starting October 2014, and capital punishment will be imposed starting October 2015.[126]
Egypt[edit]
The blasphemy laws and Article 98(f) of Egyptian Penal Code, as amended by Law 147, has been used to prosecute Muslims who have converted to Christianity.[127] For example, in May 2007, Bahaa El-Din El-Akkad, a former Egyptian Muslim and someone who worked on Dawah to spread Islam, was imprisoned after he converted to Christianity, under the charge of “blasphemy against Islam”. He was freed in 2011.[127]
Egypt's penal code is silent about the punishment for apostasy from Islam. Contemporary Egyptian jurisprudence prohibits apostasy from Islam, but has also remained silent about death penalty.[128] Article 2 of the Constitution of Egypt enshrines sharia.[129] Both Court of Cassation and the Supreme Administrative Court of Egypt have ruled that, “it is completely acceptable for non-Muslims to embrace Islam but by consensus Muslims are not allowed to embrace another religion or to become of no religion at all [in Egypt].”[128] The silence about punishment for apostasy along with constitutional enshrinement of Sharia, means death sentence for apostasy is possibility. In practice, Egypt has prosecuted apostasy from Islam under its blasphemy laws using the Hisbah doctrine;[130] and non-state Islamic groups have taken the law into their own hands and executed apostates.[131]
A 2010 Pew Research Center poll showed that 84% of Egyptian Muslims believe those who leave Islam should be punished by death.[132]
In 1992 Islamist militants gunned down Egyptian secularist and sharia law opponent Farag Foda. Before his death he had been declared an apostate and foe of Islam by ulama at Al Azhar. During the trial of the murderers, Al-Azhar scholar Mohammed al-Ghazali testified that when the state fails to punish apostates, somebody else has to do it.[131]
In 1993, a liberal Islamic theologian, Nasr Abu Zayd was denied promotion at Cairo University after a court decision of apostasy against him. Following this an Islamist lawyer filed a lawsuit before the Giza Lower Personal Status Court demanding the divorce of Abu Zayd from his wife, Dr. Ibtihal Younis, on the grounds that a Muslim woman cannot be married to an apostate—notwithstanding the fact his wife wished to remain married to him. The case went to the Cairo Appeals Court where his marriage was declared null and void in 1995.[133]
After the verdict, the Egyptian Islamic Jihad organization (which had assassinated Egyptian president Anwar Sadat in 1981) declared Abu Zayd should be killed for abandoning his Muslim faith. Abu Zayd was given police protection, but felt he could not function under heavy guard, noting that one police guard referred to him as "the kafir".[134] On 23 July 1995, he and his wife flew to Europe where they lived in exile but continued to teach.[133]
In April 2006, after a court case in Egypt recognized the Bahá'í Faith, members of the clergy convinced the government to appeal the court decision. One member of parliament, Gamal Akl of the opposition Muslim Brotherhood, said the Bahá'ís were infidels who should be killed on the grounds that they had changed their religion, this despite the fact that most living Bahá'í have not, in fact, ever been Muslim.[135]
In 2007 Mohammed Hegazy, a Muslim-born Egyptian who had converted to Christianity based on "readings and comparative studies in religions", sued the Egyptian court to change his religion from "Islam" to "Christianity" on his national identification card. His case caused considerable public uproar, with not only Muslim clerics, but his own father and wife's father calling for his death. Two lawyers he had hired or agreed to hire both quit his case, and two Christian human rights workers thought to be involved in his case were arrested. As of 2007, he and his wife were in hiding. In 2008, the judge trying his case ruled that according to sharia, Islam is the final and most complete religion and therefore Muslims already practice full freedom of religion and cannot convert to an older belief.[136][137][138]
In February 2009, another case of a convert to Christianity (Maher Ahmad El-Mo’otahssem Bellah El-Gohary), came to court. El-Gohary's effort to officially convert to Christianity triggered state prosecutors charging him of "apostasy," or leaving Islam, and seeking a sentence of death penalty.

"Our rights in Egypt, as Christians or converts, are less than the rights of animals," El-Gohary said. "We are deprived of social and civil rights, deprived of our inheritance and left to the fundamentalists to be killed. Nobody bothers to investigate or care about us." El-Gohary, 56, has been attacked in the street, spat at and knocked down in his effort to win the right to officially convert. He said he and his 14-year-old daughter continue to receive death threats by text message and phone call.[139]
Indonesia[edit]
Indonesia does not have a law against apostasy, but has laws making it illegal for anyone to attempt converting people from Islam, as well as a broad blasphemy law (Article 156) and a Presidential Decree (1965) that permits prosecution of people who commit apostasy.[140] The Decree prohibits every Indonesian from “intentionally conveying, endorsing or attempting to gain public support in the interpretation of a certain religion; or undertaking religious based activities that resemble the religious activities of the religion in question, where such interpretation and activities are in deviation of the basic teachings of the religion.”[141] These laws have been used to arrest and convict apostates in Indonesia, such as the case of 30-year old Aan who declared himself to be an atheist, declared “God does not exist”, and stopped praying and fasting as required by Islam. He received death threats from Islamic groups and in 2012 was arrested and sentenced to two and a half years in prison.[142][143]
Iran[edit]
Salman Rushdie is a prominent[144] contemporary figure accused of apostasy. In 1989 a fatwa was issued by Ayatollah Khomeini, the ruler of Iran at the time, calling for the death of Salman Rushdie for the blasphemy of authoring the book The Satanic Verses.
Hossein Soodmand, who converted from Islam to Christianity when he was 13 years old, was executed by hanging in 1990 for apostasy.[145]
According to US think tank Freedom House, since the 1990s the Islamic Republic of Iran has sometimes used death squads against converts, including major Protestant leaders. Under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the regime has engaged in a systematic campaign to track down and reconvert or kill those who have changed their religion from Islam.[40]
15 ex-Muslim Christians[146] were incarcerated on 15 May 2008 under charges of apostasy. They may face the death penalty if convicted. A new penal code is being proposed in Iran that would require the death penalty in cases of apostasy on the Internet.[147]
At least two Iranians – Hashem Aghajari and Hassan Youssefi Eshkevari – have been arrested and charged with apostasy in the Islamic Republic (though not executed), not for self-professed conversion to another faith, but for statements and/or activities deemed by courts of the Islamic Republic to be in violation of Islam, and that appear to outsiders to be Islamic reformist political expression.[148] Hashem Aghajari, was found guilty of apostasy for a speech urging Iranians to "not blindly follow" Islamic clerics;[149] Hassan Youssefi Eshkevari was charged with apostasy for attending the 'Iran After the Elections' Conference in Berlin Germany which was disrupted by anti-regime demonstrators.[150]
The Bahá'ís in Iran, the nation of origin of the Bahá'í Faith and Iran's largest religious minority, were accused of apostasy in the 19th century by the Shi'a clergy because of their adherence to religious revelations by another prophet after those of Muhammad. These allegations led to mob attacks, public executions and torture of early Bahais, including the Báb.[151] More recently, Musa Talibi was arrested in 1994, and Dhabihu'llah Mahrami was arrested in 1995, then sentenced to death on charges of apostasy. Later their death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment.They are still in prison.[citation needed]
Jordan[edit]
Jordan does not explicitly ban apostasy in its penal code; however, it permits any Jordanian to charge another with apostasy and its Islamic courts to consider conversion trials.[152] If an Islamic court convicts a person of apostasy, it has the power to sentence a prison term, annul that person’s marriage, seize property and disqualify him or her from inheritance rights. The Jordanian poet Islam Samhan was accused of apostasy for poems he wrote in 2008, and sentenced to a prison term in 2009.[153][154]
Kuwait[edit]
Article 2 of Kuwait's constitution declares the Islamic Sharia as a main source of legislation.[155][156] Articles 18 and 145 of its law require the court to annul the marriage of a Muslim husband who leaves Islam during the marital relationship. Law 111 of Kuwait's Penal Code to use statements posted on internet as evidence of apostasy.[157] Article 294 of Law 51 of Kuwait rescinds property and inheritance rights of a Muslim apostate.[158][159]
Since adoption of its modern constitution, Kuwait has prosecuted apostates. For example, the arrest and prosecution of Hussein Qambar ‘Ali in an Islamic court, on charges of apostasy, after he converted from Islam to Christianity.[160][161]
Malaysia[edit]
Malaysia does not have a national law that criminalizes apostasy and its Article 11 grants freedom of religion to its diverse population of different religions.[162] However, Malaysia's constitution grants its states (Negeri) the power to create and enforce laws relating to Islamic matters and Muslim community.[162] State laws in Kelantan and Terengganu make apostasy in Islam a crime punishable with death, while state laws of Perak, Malacca, Sabah, and Pahang declare apostasy by Muslims as a crime punishable with jail terms. In these states, apostasy is defined as conversion from Islam to another faith, but converting to Islam is not a crime. The central government has not attempted to nullify these state laws, but stated that any death sentence for apostasy would require review by national courts.[163][164]
National laws of Malaysia require Muslim apostates who seek to convert from Islam to another religion to first obtain approval from a sharia court. The procedure demands that anyone born to a Muslim parent, or who previously converted to Islam, must declare himself apostate of Islam before a Sharia court if he or she wants to convert. The Sharia courts have the power to impose penalties such as jail, caning and enforced “rehabilitation” on apostates - which is the typical practice. In the states of Perak, Malacca, Sabah, and Pahang, apostates of Islam face jail term; in Pahang, caning; others, confinement with rehabilitation process.[163]
The state laws of Malaysia allow apostates of other religion to become Muslim without any equivalent review or process. The state laws of Perak, Kedah, Negeri Sembilan, Sarawak, and Malacca allow one parent to convert children to Islam even if the other parent does not consent to his or her child's conversion to Islam.[163]
Mauritania[edit]
Article 306 of the criminal code of Mauritania declares apostasy in Islam as illegal and provides a death sentence for the crime of leaving Islam.[165] Its law provides a provision where the guilty is given the opportunity to repent and return to Islam within three days. Failure to do so leads to a death sentence, dissolution of family rights and property confiscation by the government. The Mauritanian law requires that an apostate who has repented should be placed in custody and jailed for a period for the crime.[165]
In 2014, Jemal Oumar, a Mauritanian journalist, was arrested for apostasy, after he posted a critique of Mohammad online.[166] While local law enforcement agencies held him in prison for trial, local media announced offers by local Muslims of cash reward to anyone who would kill Jemal Oumar. In a separate case, Ould Mkhaitir, a Mauritanian engineer, was arrested for apostasy in 2014 as well, for publishing an essay on racism in Mauritanian society with criticism of Islamic history and a claim that Mohammad's discriminated in his treatment of people from different tribes and races.[167]



Morocco[edit]
The penal code of Morocco does not impose the death penalty for apostasy. However, Islam is the official state religion of Morocco under its constitution. Article 41 of the Moroccan constitution gives fatwa powers (habilitée, religious decree legislation) to the Supreme Council of Religious Scholars, which issued a religious decree, or fatwa, in April 2013 that Moroccan Muslims who leave Islam must be sentenced to death.[168][169] However, Mahjoub El Hiba, a senior Moroccan government official, denied that the fatwa was in any way legally binding.[170]
Oman[edit]
Oman does not have an apostasy law. However, under Law 32 of 1997 on Personal Status for Muslims, an apostate's marriage is considered annulled and inheritance rights denied when the individual commits apostasy.[171] The Basic Law of Oman, since its enactment in 1995, declares Oman to be an Islamic state and Sharia as the final word and source of all legislation. Omani jurists state that this deference to Sharia, and alternatively the blasphemy law under Article 209 of Omani law, allows the state to pursue death penalty against Muslim apostates, if it wants to.[171][172]
Pakistan[edit]
While several attempts have been made to enact laws prescribing "death penalty for apostasy" in Pakistan, it has no apostasy law as of 2013. Pakistani jurists note that Pakistan's constitution defers gaps in its penal code to Sharia, and the lack of law on apostasy and lack of right to convert from Islam to another religion in Pakistan's law implies apostasy defaults to Sharia.[173] Further, Pakistan has blasphemy law that carries death penalty, but the law does not define blasphemy. Under Article 295-C of its penal code, any Pakistani Muslim who feels his or her religious feelings have been hurt, directly or indirectly, for any reason or any action of another Pakistani citizen can accuse blasphemy and open a criminal case against anyone.[174] Inheritance and property rights for apostates was prohibited by Pakistan in 1963.[13]
An apostasy case law precedence was set in Pakistan in 1990, when Tahir Iqbal was arrested after he converted to Christianity, on charges filed by a Muslim neighbor against Iqbal for becoming an apostate and thereby hurting his religious feelings. Tahir Iqbal was arrested on blasphemy charges, accused that he had defiled Islam by his actions, and for an additional charge of making notes inside his English translation of Quran.[175] His application for bail was refused in 1991 by the Pakistan Sessions Court Judge, with the ruling, "conversion from Islam into Christianity is itself a cognizable offence involving serious implications". Tahir Iqbal's appeal to the Lahore High Court against this ruling was also denied with the explanation that re-asserted "conversion from Islam to Christianity is a serious offence". While Iqbal's trial progressed, public demands for death penalty and life threats were persistently made outside and during court hearings. His crime was considered severe enough that he, a paraplegic, was held in a cell without water, light or toilet facilities. In July 1992, after he had served 19 months in jail while his trial progressed, he was found murdered inside the prison where he was being held.[175][176]
Qatar[edit]
Apostasy in Islam is a crime in Qatar.[177] Its Law 11 of 2004 specific traditional Sharia prosecution and punishment for apostasy, considering it a hudud crime punishable by death penalty.[178]
Proselytizing of Muslims to convert to another religion is also a crime in Qatar under Article 257 of its law,[178] punishable with prison term. According to its law passed in 2004, if proselytizing is done in Qatar, for any religion other than Islam, the sentence is imprisonment of up to five years. Anyone who travels to and enters Qatar with written or recorded materials or items that support or promote conversion of Muslims to apostasy are to be imprisoned for up two years.[179]
Casual discussion or “sharing one’s faith” with any Muslim resident in Qatar has been deemed a violation of Qatari law, leading to deportation or prison time.[180] There is no law against proselytizing non-Muslims to join Islam.
Saudi Arabia[edit]
Saudi Arabia has no penal code, and defaults its law entirely to Sharia and its implementation to religious courts. The case law in Saudi Arabia, and consensus of its jurists is that Islamic law imposes the death penalty on apostates.[181]
Apostasy law is actively enforced in Saudi Arabia. For example, Saudi authorities charged Hamza Kashgari, a Saudi writer, in 2012 with apostasy based on comments he made on Twitter. He fled to Malaysia, where he was arrested and then extradited on request by Saudi Arabia to face charges.[182] Kashgari repented, upon which the courts ordered that he be placed in protective custody. Similarly, two Saudi Sunni Muslim citizens were arrested and charged with apostasy for adopting the Ahmadiyya sect of Islam.[183] As of May 2014, the two accused of apostasy had served two years in prison awaiting trial.[184]
Saudi Arabia school textbooks include chapters with justification for the social exclusion and killing of apostates.[185]
According to the "Online Saudi-arabian Curriculum مناهج السعودية الألكترونية",[186] taught at schools, we read under the title "Judgements on Apostates أحكام المرتدين" the following (in Arabic):[187]
"An Apostate will be suppressed three days in prison in order that he may repent ..... otherwise, he should be killed, because he has changed his true religion, therefore, there is no use from his living, regardless of being a man or a woman, as Mohammed said: "Whoever changes his religion, kill him", narrated by Al-Bukhari and Muslim."
Somalia[edit]
Apostasy is a crime in Somalia.[177] Articles 3(1) and 4(1) of Somalia's constitution declare that religious law of Sharia is the nation's highest law. The punishment for apostasy prescribed is death penalty.[188][189]
There have been numerous reports of execution of people for apostasy, particularly of Muslims who have converted to Christianity. However, the reported executions have been by extra-state Islamist groups and local mobs, rather than after the accused has been tried under a Somali court of law.[190][191]
Sudan[edit]
Article 126.2 of the Penal Code of Sudan (1991) reads,

`Whoever is guilty of apostasy is invited to repent over a period to be determined by the tribunal. If he persists in his apostasy and was not recently converted to Islam, he will be put to death.` [6]
Some notable cases of apostasy in Sudan include: Mahmoud Mohammed Taha, a Sudanese religious thinker, leader, and trained engineer, who was executed for apostasy in 1985 at the age of 76 by the regime of Gaafar Nimeiry.[192][193] Meriam Ibrahim, a 27-year-old Christian Sudanese woman was sentenced to death for apostasy in May 2014, but allowed to leave the country in July after an international outcry.[194]
United Arab Emirates[edit]
Apostasy is a crime in the United Arab Emirates.[195] In 1978, UAE began the process of Islamising the nation's law, after its council of ministers voted to appoint a High Committee to identify all its laws that conflicted with Sharia. Among the many changes that followed, UAE incorporated hudud crimes of Sharia into its Penal Code - apostasy being one of them.[196] Article 1 and Article 66 of UAE's Penal Code requires hudud crimes to be punished with the death penalty.[197][198]
UAE law considers it a crime and imposes penalties for using the Internet to preach against Islam or to proselytize Muslims inside the international borders of the nation. Its laws and officials do not recognize conversion from Islam to another religion. In contrast, conversion from another religion to Islam is recognized, and the government publishes through mass media an annual list of foreign residents who have converted to Islam.[199]
Yemen[edit]
Apostasy is a crime in Yemen. Articles 12 and 259 of the Yemen Penal Code address apostasy, the former requires Sharia sentence be used for apostasy and the latter specifies death penalty for apostates of Islam.[200] Yemeni law waives the punishment to an apostate if he or she recants, repents and returns to Islam while denouncing his or her new faith.
In 2012, Yemeni citizen Ali Qasim Al-Saeedi was arrested and charged with apostasy by Yemeni law enforcement agency after he posted his personal views questioning the teachings of Islam, on a Yemeni blogging site and his Facebook page.[201]
West and immigrant communities[edit]
Ex-Muslims in Great Britain have faced abuse, violence, and even murder at the hands of Muslims.[202] There are similar reports of violent intimidation of those electing to reject Islam in other Western countries.[203]
Other countries[edit]
Apostasy is also a crime in smaller Muslim-majority countries such as Maldives and Comoros.[177] In Nigeria, there is no law that explicitly makes apostasy a crime; however, several Muslim-majority states of Nigeria such as Zamfara have laws invoking Sharia, which have been used to persecute Muslim apostates, particularly Muslims who have converted to Christianity.[204]
In December 2005, Nigerian pastor Zacheous Habu Bu Ngwenche was attacked for allegedly hiding a convert. In January 2006, in Turkey, Kamil Kiroglu was beaten unconscious and threatened with death if he refused to deny his Christian faith and return to Islam.[40] In a highly public case, the Malaysian Federal Court did not allow Lina Joy to change her religion status in her I/C in a 2–1 decision.
The Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain is the British branch of the Central Council of Ex-Muslims, who represent former Muslims who fear for their lives because they have renounced Islam. It was launched in Westminster on 22 June 2007. The Council protests against Islamic states that still punish Muslim apostates with death under the Sharia law. The Council is led by Maryam Namazie, who was awarded Secularist of the Year in 2005 and has faced death threats.[205] The British Humanist Association and National Secular Society sponsored the launch of the organisation and have supported its activities since.[206]
Ehsan Jami, co-founder of the Central Committee for Ex-Muslims in the Netherlands has received several death threats, and due to the amount of threats its members received, the Committee was dismantled.[207]
A 2007 poll by the Policy Exchange think-tank revealed that 31% of British Muslims believed that leaving the Muslim religion should be punishable by death.[208]
Effects on Islamic learning[edit]


 This section may stray from the topic of the article. Please help improve this section or discuss this issue on the talk page. (August 2014)
The English historian C. E. Bosworth argues that while the organizational form of the Christian university allowed them to develop and flourish into the modern university, "the Muslim ones remained constricted by the doctrine of waqf alone, with their physical plant often deteriorating hopelessly and their curricula narrowed by the exclusion of the non-traditional religious sciences like philosophy and natural science," out of fear that these could evolve into potential toe-holds for kufr, those people who reject God."[209]
Applying law in the Muslim world[edit]
Most countries of the Middle East and North Africa maintain a dual system of secular courts and religious courts, in which the religious courts mainly regulate marriage and inheritance. Saudi Arabia and Iran maintain religious courts for all aspects of jurisprudence, and religious police assert social compliance. Sharia is also used in Sudan, Libya, Afghanistan, and Somalia. Some states in northern Nigeria have reintroduced Sharia courts. In practice the new Sharia courts in Nigeria have most often meant the reintroduction of relatively harsh punishments without respecting the much tougher rules of evidence and testimony of regular courts. The punishments include amputation of one/both hand(s) for theft, stoning for adultery, and execution for apostasy. In 1980, Pakistan, under the leadership of President Zia-ul-Haq, the Federal Shariat Court was created and given jurisdiction to examine any existing law to ensure it was not repugnant to Islam[101] and in its early acts it passed ordinances that included five that explicitly targeted religious minorities: a law against blasphemy; a law punishing the defiling of the Qur'an; a prohibition against insulting the wives, family, or companions of the Prophet of Islam; and two laws specifically restricting the activities of Ahmadis, who were declared non-Muslims.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights[edit]
Laws prohibiting religious conversion run contrary[210] to Article 18 of the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states the following:
"Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance."[211]
Islamic nations have criticized the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as a non-Muslim world's attempt to impose their values on Islamic people, and presumption of cultural superiority.[212] They responded with the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam, as a joint declaration of the member states of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference in Cairo, Egypt, in 1990.[213] The Cairo Declaration asserted an Islamic perspective on human rights, gender roles, and bounds of behavior that affirm Islamic Shari'ah as the sole source of rights.[213]
Apostasy and blasphemy are some of many points of differences between the UN Declaration and Cairo Declaration.[214][215][216] Islamic scholars such as Muhammad Rashid Rida in Tafsir al-Minar, state that freedom of religion neither grants nor requires "freedom to apostatize", because apostasy infringes on the freedom of others and disrespects the religion of the State.[217]
See also[edit]
Al-Baqara 256
Apostasy in Christianity
Apostasy in Judaism
Apostasy in Malaysia
Islam and blasphemy
List of former Muslims
Takfir
Ex-Muslims of North America
Anwar Shaikh
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Further reading[edit]
Ahmad, Mirza Tahir (1968). Murder in the Name of Allah. Guildford: Lutterworth Press. ISBN 978-0-7188-2805-9. OCLC 243438689.
Cottee, Simon (2015). The Apostates: When Muslims Leave Islam. Hurst. p. 288. ISBN 9781849044691.
Peters, Rudolph; De Vries, Gert J. J. (1976). "Apostasy in Islam". Die Welt des Islams 17 (1/4): 1–25. doi:10.1163/157006076X00017. JSTOR 1570336.
External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has quotations related to: Apostasy in Islam
Apostasy, Freedom and Da’wah: Full Disclosure in a Business-Like Manner by Dr. Mohammad Omar Farooq
Al-Munajjid, Sheikh Muhammed Salih. "Why should a person who disbelieves after becoming Muslim be executed?". Retrieved 15 October 2009.
Eltahawy, Mona (20 October 1999). "Lives torn apart in battle for the soul of the Arab world". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 15 October 2009.
"Punishment for Apostasy". Understanding Islam. 6 December 1998. Retrieved 15 October 2009.
Apostasy: Oxford Bibliographies, Islamic Studies Andrew March (2010), Oxford University Press


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Antitheism

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"αθεοι" (atheoi), Greek for "those without god", as it appears in the Epistle to the Ephesians on the third-century papyrus known as "Papyrus 46"

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See also: Antireligion and Religious discrimination
Antitheism (sometimes anti-theism) is active opposition to theism. The term has had a range of applications; in secular contexts, it typically refers to direct opposition to organized religion or to the belief in any deity, while in a theistic context, it sometimes refers to opposition to a specific god or gods.


Contents  [hide]
1 Opposition to theism
2 Opposition to the idea of God
3 Other uses
4 Etymology
5 See also
6 Notes
7 References

Opposition to theism[edit]
The Oxford English Dictionary defines antitheist as "One opposed to belief in the existence of a god". The earliest citation given for this meaning dates from 1833.[1] An antitheist may oppose belief in the existence of any god or gods, and not merely one in particular.
Antitheism has been adopted as a label by those who regard theism as dangerous or destructive. Christopher Hitchens offers an example of this approach in Letters to a Young Contrarian (2001), in which he writes: "I'm not even an atheist so much as I am an antitheist; I not only maintain that all religions are versions of the same untruth, but I hold that the influence of churches, and the effect of religious belief, is positively harmful."[2]
Opposition to the idea of God[edit]
The Chambers Dictionary defines antitheism in three different ways: "doctrine antagonistic to theism; 'denial' of the existence of a God; opposition to God." To be clear, "opposition to God" is not in most meanings a statement that an anti-theist believes in a deity but opposes the being in the manner of maltheism, but for various reasons the position that it would be bad/immoral for such a being to exist. All three match Hitchens' usage, not only a generally anti-religious belief and disbelief in a deity, but also opposition to a god's existence. The second is synonymous with strong atheism. The third and first, on the other hand, need not be atheistic at all.
Earlier definitions of antitheism include that of the French Catholic philosopher Jacques Maritain (1953), for whom it is "an active struggle against everything that reminds us of God" (p. 104), and that of Robert Flint (1877), Professor of Divinity at the University of Edinburgh. Flint's Baird Lecture for 1877 was entitled Anti-Theistic Theories.[3] He used it as a very general umbrella term for all opposition to his own form of theism, which he defined as the "belief that the heavens and the earth and all that they contain owe their existence and continuance to the wisdom and will of a supreme, self-existent, omnipotent, omniscient, righteous, and benevolent Being, who is distinct from, and independent of, what He has created."[4] He wrote:

In dealing with theories which have nothing in common except that they are antagonistic to theism, it is necessary to have a general term to designate them. Anti-theism appears to be the appropriate word. It is, of course, much more comprehensive in meaning than the term atheism. It applies to all systems which are opposed to theism. It includes, therefore, atheism... But short of atheism there are anti-theistic theories. Polytheism is not atheism, for it does not deny that there is a Deity; but it is anti-theistic, since it denies that there is only one. Pantheism is not atheism, for it admits that there is a God; but it is anti-theism, for it denies that God is a being distinct from creation and possessed of such attributes as wisdom, and holiness, and love. Every theory which refuses to ascribe to God an attribute which is essential to a worthy conception of His character is anti-theistic. Only those theories which refuse to acknowledge that there is evidence even for the existence of a God are atheistic.[5]
However, Flint also acknowledges that antitheism is typically understood differently from how he defines it. In particular, he notes that it has been used as a subdivision of atheism, descriptive of the view that theism has been disproven, rather than as the more general term that Flint prefers. He rejects non-theistic as an alternative, "not merely because of its hybrid origin and character, but also because it is far too comprehensive. Theories of physical and mental science are non-theistic, even when in no degree, directly or indirectly, antagonistic to theism."[6]
Opposition to God is frequently referred to as dystheism (which means "belief in a deity that is not benevolent") or misotheism (strictly speaking, this means "hatred of God"). Examples of belief systems founded on the principle of opposition to God include some forms of Atheistic or Theistic Satanism, and maltheism.
Other uses[edit]
See also: Misotheism § Terminology
Another use of the term antitheism was coined by Christopher New in a thought experiment published in 1993. In his article, he imagines what arguments for the existence of an evil God would look like: "Antitheists, like theists, would have believed in an omnipotent, omniscient, eternal creator; but whereas theists in fact believe that the supreme being is also perfectly good, antitheists would have believed that he was perfectly evil."[7] New's usage has reappeared in the work of Wallace A. Murphree.[8]
Etymology[edit]
The word "antitheism" (or the hyphenated "anti-theism") has been recorded in English since 1788.[9] The etymological roots of the word are the Greek anti and theos.
See also[edit]

Portal icon Atheism portal
Anti-clericalism
Antireligion
Atheism
Criticism of atheism
Criticism of religion
Evil God Challenge
Humanism
Misotheism
New atheism
Nontheistic religions
Post-theism
Religious intolerance
State atheism
Notes[edit]
1.Jump up ^ The Shorter OED (1970 reprint) page 78
2.Jump up ^ "Christopher Hitchens - Book Excerpt". Archived from the original on 2009-09-15.
3.Jump up ^ Flint, Robert (1894). Anti-Theistic Theories: Being the Baird Lecture for 1877 (5 ed.). London: William Blackwood and Sons.
4.Jump up ^ Flint, p. 1
5.Jump up ^ Flint, p. 23
6.Jump up ^ Flint, p. 444–445
7.Jump up ^ New, Christopher (June 1993). "Antitheism – A Reflection". Ratio 6 (1): 36–43. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9329.1993.tb00051.x.. See also: Daniels, Charles B. (1997). "God, demon, good, evil", The Journal of Value Inquiry, Vol. 31 (2), June, pp.177–181.
8.Jump up ^ Murphree, Wallace A. (1997). "Natural Theology: theism or antitheism", Sophia, Vol.36 (1), March, pp.75–83
9.Jump up ^ "antitheism". Online Etymology Dictionary.
References[edit]
Barker, Dan Evangelistic Atheism: Leading Believers Astray in Freethought Today, 1993 at the Wayback Machine (archived November 26, 2005)
Browne, Janet, The Power of Place, Volume 2 of the Biography of Charles Darwin.(Alfred Knopf, 2002)
Hitchens, Christopher (2001). Letters to a Young Contrarian (ISBN 0-465-03032-7). New York: Basic Books.
Maritain, Jacques (1953). The Range of Reason. London: Geoffrey Bles. Electronic Text Note: Chapter 8, The Meaning of Contemporary Atheism (p. 103–117, Electronic Text) is reprinted from Review of Politics, Vol. 11 (3) July 1949, p. 267–280 Electronic Text. A version also appears The Listener, Vol. 43 No.1102, 9 March 1950. pp. 427–429,432.
Segal, David, Atheist Evangelist, article in the Washington Post Thursday, October 26, 2006; Page C01
Witham, Larry, By Design (Encounter Books, 2003)
Wolff, Gary, in The New Atheism, The Church of the Non-Believers reprinted in Wired Magazine, November 2006
Wright, N. T., The Last Word (HarperSanFrancisco, 2005)


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Antitheism

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"αθεοι" (atheoi), Greek for "those without god", as it appears in the Epistle to the Ephesians on the third-century papyrus known as "Papyrus 46"

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See also: Antireligion and Religious discrimination
Antitheism (sometimes anti-theism) is active opposition to theism. The term has had a range of applications; in secular contexts, it typically refers to direct opposition to organized religion or to the belief in any deity, while in a theistic context, it sometimes refers to opposition to a specific god or gods.


Contents  [hide]
1 Opposition to theism
2 Opposition to the idea of God
3 Other uses
4 Etymology
5 See also
6 Notes
7 References

Opposition to theism[edit]
The Oxford English Dictionary defines antitheist as "One opposed to belief in the existence of a god". The earliest citation given for this meaning dates from 1833.[1] An antitheist may oppose belief in the existence of any god or gods, and not merely one in particular.
Antitheism has been adopted as a label by those who regard theism as dangerous or destructive. Christopher Hitchens offers an example of this approach in Letters to a Young Contrarian (2001), in which he writes: "I'm not even an atheist so much as I am an antitheist; I not only maintain that all religions are versions of the same untruth, but I hold that the influence of churches, and the effect of religious belief, is positively harmful."[2]
Opposition to the idea of God[edit]
The Chambers Dictionary defines antitheism in three different ways: "doctrine antagonistic to theism; 'denial' of the existence of a God; opposition to God." To be clear, "opposition to God" is not in most meanings a statement that an anti-theist believes in a deity but opposes the being in the manner of maltheism, but for various reasons the position that it would be bad/immoral for such a being to exist. All three match Hitchens' usage, not only a generally anti-religious belief and disbelief in a deity, but also opposition to a god's existence. The second is synonymous with strong atheism. The third and first, on the other hand, need not be atheistic at all.
Earlier definitions of antitheism include that of the French Catholic philosopher Jacques Maritain (1953), for whom it is "an active struggle against everything that reminds us of God" (p. 104), and that of Robert Flint (1877), Professor of Divinity at the University of Edinburgh. Flint's Baird Lecture for 1877 was entitled Anti-Theistic Theories.[3] He used it as a very general umbrella term for all opposition to his own form of theism, which he defined as the "belief that the heavens and the earth and all that they contain owe their existence and continuance to the wisdom and will of a supreme, self-existent, omnipotent, omniscient, righteous, and benevolent Being, who is distinct from, and independent of, what He has created."[4] He wrote:

In dealing with theories which have nothing in common except that they are antagonistic to theism, it is necessary to have a general term to designate them. Anti-theism appears to be the appropriate word. It is, of course, much more comprehensive in meaning than the term atheism. It applies to all systems which are opposed to theism. It includes, therefore, atheism... But short of atheism there are anti-theistic theories. Polytheism is not atheism, for it does not deny that there is a Deity; but it is anti-theistic, since it denies that there is only one. Pantheism is not atheism, for it admits that there is a God; but it is anti-theism, for it denies that God is a being distinct from creation and possessed of such attributes as wisdom, and holiness, and love. Every theory which refuses to ascribe to God an attribute which is essential to a worthy conception of His character is anti-theistic. Only those theories which refuse to acknowledge that there is evidence even for the existence of a God are atheistic.[5]
However, Flint also acknowledges that antitheism is typically understood differently from how he defines it. In particular, he notes that it has been used as a subdivision of atheism, descriptive of the view that theism has been disproven, rather than as the more general term that Flint prefers. He rejects non-theistic as an alternative, "not merely because of its hybrid origin and character, but also because it is far too comprehensive. Theories of physical and mental science are non-theistic, even when in no degree, directly or indirectly, antagonistic to theism."[6]
Opposition to God is frequently referred to as dystheism (which means "belief in a deity that is not benevolent") or misotheism (strictly speaking, this means "hatred of God"). Examples of belief systems founded on the principle of opposition to God include some forms of Atheistic or Theistic Satanism, and maltheism.
Other uses[edit]
See also: Misotheism § Terminology
Another use of the term antitheism was coined by Christopher New in a thought experiment published in 1993. In his article, he imagines what arguments for the existence of an evil God would look like: "Antitheists, like theists, would have believed in an omnipotent, omniscient, eternal creator; but whereas theists in fact believe that the supreme being is also perfectly good, antitheists would have believed that he was perfectly evil."[7] New's usage has reappeared in the work of Wallace A. Murphree.[8]
Etymology[edit]
The word "antitheism" (or the hyphenated "anti-theism") has been recorded in English since 1788.[9] The etymological roots of the word are the Greek anti and theos.
See also[edit]

Portal icon Atheism portal
Anti-clericalism
Antireligion
Atheism
Criticism of atheism
Criticism of religion
Evil God Challenge
Humanism
Misotheism
New atheism
Nontheistic religions
Post-theism
Religious intolerance
State atheism
Notes[edit]
1.Jump up ^ The Shorter OED (1970 reprint) page 78
2.Jump up ^ "Christopher Hitchens - Book Excerpt". Archived from the original on 2009-09-15.
3.Jump up ^ Flint, Robert (1894). Anti-Theistic Theories: Being the Baird Lecture for 1877 (5 ed.). London: William Blackwood and Sons.
4.Jump up ^ Flint, p. 1
5.Jump up ^ Flint, p. 23
6.Jump up ^ Flint, p. 444–445
7.Jump up ^ New, Christopher (June 1993). "Antitheism – A Reflection". Ratio 6 (1): 36–43. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9329.1993.tb00051.x.. See also: Daniels, Charles B. (1997). "God, demon, good, evil", The Journal of Value Inquiry, Vol. 31 (2), June, pp.177–181.
8.Jump up ^ Murphree, Wallace A. (1997). "Natural Theology: theism or antitheism", Sophia, Vol.36 (1), March, pp.75–83
9.Jump up ^ "antitheism". Online Etymology Dictionary.
References[edit]
Barker, Dan Evangelistic Atheism: Leading Believers Astray in Freethought Today, 1993 at the Wayback Machine (archived November 26, 2005)
Browne, Janet, The Power of Place, Volume 2 of the Biography of Charles Darwin.(Alfred Knopf, 2002)
Hitchens, Christopher (2001). Letters to a Young Contrarian (ISBN 0-465-03032-7). New York: Basic Books.
Maritain, Jacques (1953). The Range of Reason. London: Geoffrey Bles. Electronic Text Note: Chapter 8, The Meaning of Contemporary Atheism (p. 103–117, Electronic Text) is reprinted from Review of Politics, Vol. 11 (3) July 1949, p. 267–280 Electronic Text. A version also appears The Listener, Vol. 43 No.1102, 9 March 1950. pp. 427–429,432.
Segal, David, Atheist Evangelist, article in the Washington Post Thursday, October 26, 2006; Page C01
Witham, Larry, By Design (Encounter Books, 2003)
Wolff, Gary, in The New Atheism, The Church of the Non-Believers reprinted in Wired Magazine, November 2006
Wright, N. T., The Last Word (HarperSanFrancisco, 2005)


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State atheism

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State atheism is a popular term used for a government that is either antireligious, antitheistic or promotes atheism. In contrast, a secular state purports to be officially neutral in matters of religion, supporting neither religion nor irreligion. State atheism may refer to a government's anti-clericalism, which opposes religious institutional power and influence in all aspects of public and political life, including the involvement of religion in the everyday life of the citizen.
State promotion of atheism as a public norm first came to prominence in Revolutionary France (1789-1799).[1] Revolutionary Mexico followed similar policies from 1917, as did Marxist–Leninist states. The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (1917–1991) and the Soviet Union (1922–1991) had a long history of state atheism, whereby those seeking social success generally had to profess atheism and to stay away from houses of worship; this trend became especially militant during the middle Stalinist era from 1929 to 1939. The Soviet Union attempted to suppress public religious expression over wide areas of its influence, including places such as central Asia.


Contents  [hide]
1 Human rights
2 French Revolution
3 Revolutionary Mexico
4 Communist states 4.1 Albania
4.2 China
4.3 Cuba
4.4 Soviet Union
4.5 North Korea
5 See also
6 Notes
7 References

Human rights[edit]
Main article: History of human rights
Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is designed to protect the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion. In 1993, the UN's human rights committee declared that article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights "protects theistic, non-theistic and atheistic beliefs, as well as the right not to profess any religion or belief."[2] The committee further stated that "the freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief necessarily entails the freedom to choose a religion or belief, including the right to replace one's current religion or belief with another or to adopt atheistic views." Signatories to the convention are barred from "the use of threat of physical force or penal sanctions to compel believers or non-believers" to recant their beliefs or convert. Despite this, minority religions still are still persecuted in many parts of the world.[3][4]
French Revolution[edit]
During the French Revolution, a campaign of dechristianization happened which included removal and destruction of religious objects from places of worship and the transformation of churches into "Temples of the Goddess of Reason", culminating in a celebration of Reason in Notre Dame Cathedral.[5][6][7]
Unlike later establishments of anti-theism by communist regimes, the French Revolutionary experiment was short (7 months), incomplete and inconsistent.[8][better source needed] Although brief, the French experiment was particularly notable for the influence upon atheists Ludwig Feuerbach, Sigmund Freud and Karl Marx.[9] Using the ideas of Feuerbach, Marx and Freud, communist regimes later treated religious believers as subversives or abnormal, sometimes relegating them to psychiatric hospitals and reeducation.[9][dubious – discuss]
Revolutionary Mexico[edit]
See also: Plutarco Elías Calles, Calles Law and Cristero War
Articles 3, 5, 24, 27, and 130 of the Mexican Constitution of 1917 as originally enacted were anticlerical and enormously restricted religious freedoms.[10] At first the anticlerical provisions were only sporadically enforced, but when President Plutarco Elías Calles took office, he enforced the provisions strictly.[10] Calles’ Mexico has been characterized as an atheist state[11] and his program as being one to eradicate religion in Mexico.[12]
All religions had their properties expropriated, and these became part of government wealth. There was a forced expulsion of foreign clergy and the seizure of Church properties.[13] Article 27 prohibited any future acquisition of such property by the churches, and prohibited religious corporations and ministers from establishing or directing primary schools.[13] This second prohibition was sometimes interpreted to mean that the Church could not give religious instruction to children within the churches on Sundays, seen as destroying the ability of Catholics to be educated in their own religion.[14]
The Constitution of 1917 also closed and forbade the existence of monastic orders (article 5), forbade any religious activity outside of church buildings (now owned by the government), and mandated that such religious activity would be overseen by the government (article 24).[13]
On June 14, 1926, President Calles enacted anticlerical legislation known formally as The Law Reforming the Penal Code and unofficially as the Calles Law.[15] His anti-Catholic actions included outlawing religious orders, depriving the Church of property rights and depriving the clergy of civil liberties, including their right to a trial by jury (in cases involving anti-clerical laws) and the right to vote.[15][16] Catholic antipathy towards Calles was enhanced because of his vocal atheism.[17] He was also a Freemason.[18] Regarding this period, recent President Vicente Fox stated, "After 1917, Mexico was led by anti-Catholic Freemasons who tried to evoke the anticlerical spirit of popular indigenous President Benito Juárez of the 1880s. But the military dictators of the 1920s were a more savage lot than Juarez." [19]



 Cristeros hanged in Jalisco.
Due to the strict enforcement of anti-clerical laws, people in strongly Catholic areas, especially the states of Jalisco, Zacatecas, Guanajuato, Colima and Michoacán, began to oppose him, and this opposition led to the Cristero War from 1926 to 1929, which was characterized by brutal atrocities on both sides. Some Cristeros applied terrorist tactics, while the Mexican government persecuted the clergy, killing suspected Cristeros and supporters and often retaliating against innocent individuals.[20] On May 28, 1926, Calles was awarded a medal of merit from the head of Mexico's Scottish rite of Freemasonry for his actions against the Catholics.[21]
A truce was negotiated with the assistance of U.S. Ambassador Dwight Whitney Morrow.[22] Calles, however, did not abide by the terms of the truce – in violation of its terms, he had approximately 500 Cristero leaders and 5,000 other Cristeros shot, frequently in their homes in front of their spouses and children.[22] Particularly offensive to Catholics after the supposed truce was Calles' insistence on a complete state monopoly on education, suppressing all Catholic education and introducing "socialist" education in its place: "We must enter and take possession of the mind of childhood, the mind of youth.".[23] The persecution continued as Calles maintained control under his Maximato and did not relent until 1940, when President Manuel Ávila Camacho, a believing Catholic, took office.[23] This attempt to indoctrinate the youth in atheism was begun in 1934 by amending Article 3 to the Mexican Constitution to eradicate religion by mandating "socialist education", which "in addition to removing all religious doctrine" would "combat fanaticism and prejudices", "build[ing] in the youth a rational and exact concept of the universe and of social life".[10] In 1946 this "socialist education" was removed from the constitution and the document returned to the less egregious generalized secular education. The effects of the war on the Church were profound. Between 1926 and 1934 at least 40 priests were killed.[23] Where there were 4,500 priests operating within the country before the rebellion, in 1934 there were only 334 priests licensed by the government to serve fifteen million people, the rest having been eliminated by emigration, expulsion, and assassination.[23][24] By 1935, 17 states had no priest at all.[25]
Communist states[edit]
Main article: Marxism and religion

Question book-new.svg
 This section relies largely or entirely upon a single source. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please help improve this article by introducing citations to additional sources. (May 2015)
A communist state, in popular usage, is a state with a form of government characterized by single-party rule or dominant-party rule of a communist party and a professed allegiance to a Leninist or Marxist–Leninist communist ideology as the guiding principle of the state. The founder and primary theorist of Marxism, the nineteenth-century German sociologist Karl Marx, had an ambivalent attitude to religion, viewing it primarily as "the opium of the people" that had been used by the ruling classes to give the working classes false hope for millennia, whilst at the same time recognizing it as a form of protest by the working classes against their poor economic conditions.[26] In the Marxist–Leninist interpretation of Marxist theory, developed primarily by Russian revolutionary Vladimir Lenin, religion is seen as negative to human development, and communist states that follow a Marxist–Leninist variant are atheistic and explicitly antireligious.[27] Lenin states:
“ Religion is the opiate of the people: this saying of Marx is the cornerstone of the entire ideology of Marxism about religion. All modern religions and churches, all and of every kind of religious organizations are always considered by Marxism as the organs of bourgeois reaction, used for the protection of the exploitation and the stupefaction of the working class.[27] ”
Although Marx and Lenin were both atheists,[citation needed] several religious communist groups exist, including Christian communists.
Albania[edit]
Main article: Religion in Albania § Communist Albania
State atheism in Albania was taken to an extreme during the totalitarian regime installed after World War II, when religions, identified as imports foreign to Albanian culture, were banned altogether.[28] The Agrarian Reform Law of August 1945 nationalized most property of religious institutions, including the estates of mosques, monasteries, orders, and dioceses. Many clergy and believers were tried and some were executed. All foreign Roman Catholic priests, monks, and nuns were expelled in 1946.[29]
Religious communities or branches that had their headquarters outside the country, such as the Jesuit and Franciscan orders, were henceforth ordered to terminate their activities in Albania. Religious institutions were forbidden to have anything to do with the education of the young, because that had been made the exclusive province of the state. All religious communities were prohibited from owning real estate and from operating philanthropic and welfare institutions and hospitals. Although there were tactical variations in Enver Hoxha's approach to each of the major denominations, his overarching objective was the eventual destruction of all organized religion in Albania. Between 1945 and 1953, the number of priests was reduced drastically and the number of Roman Catholic churches was decreased from 253 to 100, and all Catholics were stigmatized as fascists.[29]
The campaign against religion peaked in the 1960s. Beginning in 1967 the Albanian authorities began a campaign to eliminate religious life in Albania. Despite complaints, even by APL members, all churches, mosques, monasteries, and other religious institutions were either closed down or converted into warehouses, gymnasiums, or workshops by the end of 1967.[30] By May 1967, religious institutions had been forced to relinquish all 2,169 churches, mosques, cloisters, and shrines in Albania, many of which were converted into cultural centers for young people. As the literary monthly Nendori reported the event, the youth had thus "created the first atheist nation in the world."[29]
Clerics were publicly vilified and humiliated, their vestments taken and desecrated. More than 200 clerics of various faiths were imprisoned, others were forced to seek work in either industry or agriculture, and some were executed or starved to death. The cloister of the Franciscan order in Shkodër was set on fire, which resulted in the death of four elderly monks.[29]
Article 37 of the Albanian Constitution of 1976 stipulated, "The state recognizes no religion, and supports atheistic propaganda in order to implant a scientific materialistic world outlook in people.",[31] and the penal code of 1977 imposed prison sentences of three to ten years for "religious propaganda and the production, distribution, or storage of religious literature."[citation needed] A new decree that in effect targeted Albanians with Muslim and Christian names, stipulating that citizens whose names did not conform to "the political, ideological, or moral standards of the state" were to change them.[citation needed] It was also decreed that towns and villages with religious names must be renamed.[citation needed] Hoxha's brutal antireligious campaign succeeded in eradicating formal worship, but some Albanians continued to practice their faith clandestinely, risking severe punishment.[citation needed] Individuals caught with Bibles, Qurans, icons, or other religious objects faced long prison sentences. Religious weddings were prohibited.[citation needed]
Parents were afraid to pass on their faith, for fear that their children would tell others. Officials tried to entrap practicing Christians and Muslims during religious fasts, such as Lent and Ramadan, by distributing dairy products and other forbidden foods in school and at work, and then publicly denouncing those who refused the food. Those clergy who conducted secret services were incarcerated.[29] Catholic priest Shtjefen Kurti had been executed for secretly baptizing a child in Shkodër in 1972.[32]
The article was interpreted by Danes as violating The United Nations Charter (chapter 9, article 55) which declares that religious freedom is an inalienable human right. The first time that the question came before the United Nations' Commission on Human Rights at Geneva was as late as 7 March 1983. A delegation from Denmark got its protest over Albania's violation of religious liberty placed on the agenda of the thirty-ninth meeting of the commission, item 25, reading, "Implementation of the Declaration on the Elimination of all Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination based on Religion or Belief.", and on 20 July 1984 a member of the Danish Parliament inserted an article into one of Denmark's major newspapers protesting the violation of religious freedom in Albania.
These massive attempts by communists to create an atheist nation, devastated both Islam and Orthodox Christianity and they suffered irreparable loss, while on the other hand Roman Catholicism rebounded and regained its previous share of the population at 10%.[33] Despite all of this, a majority of Albania's population is still affiliated with some form of religion. According to the 2011 census, 58.79% of Albanians adhere to Islam, making it the largest religion in the country. The majority of Albanian Muslims are secular Sunni with a significant Bektashi Shia minority. Christianity is practiced by 16.99% of the population, making it the 2nd largest religion in the country. The remaining population is either irreligious or belongs to other religious groups.[34] Before World War II, there was given a distribution of 70% Muslims, 20% Eastern Orthodox, and 10% Roman Catholics.[35] Today, Gallup Global Reports 2010 shows that religion plays a role in the lives of only 39% of Albanians, and ranks Albania the thirteenth least religious country in the world.[36]
China[edit]
See also: Religion in China, Irreligion in China and Freedom of religion in China


























Circle frame.svg

Religion in China overall based on different surveys[37][38][39][40]
  Folk religions and Taoism (30%)
  Buddhism (18%)
  Christianity (4%)
  Ethnic minorities indigenous religions (including Vajrayana and Theravada) (4%)
  Islam (2%)
  Agnostic or atheist (42%)
Traditionally, a large segment of the Chinese population occasionally resorted to Buddhist temples and Buddhism has had a significant role in the everyday life of ordinary people.[41] After the 1949 Chinese Revolution, China began a period of rule by the Communist Party of China.[42][43] For much of its early history, that government maintained under Marxist thought that religion would ultimately disappear, and characterized it as emblematic of feudalism and foreign colonialism.
During the Cultural Revolution, student vigilantes known as Red Guards converted religious buildings for secular use or destroyed them. This attitude, however, relaxed considerably in the late 1970s, with the reform and opening up period. The 1978 Constitution of the People's Republic of China guaranteed freedom of religion with a number of restrictions. Since then, there has been a massive program to rebuild Buddhist and Taoist temples that were destroyed in the Cultural Revolution.
The Communist Party has said that religious belief and membership are incompatible.[44] However, the state is not allowed to force ordinary citizens to become atheists.[45] China's five officially sanctioned religious organizations are the Buddhist Association of China, Chinese Taoist Association, Islamic Association of China, Three-Self Patriotic Movement and Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association. These groups are afforded a degree protection, but are subject to restrictions and controls under the State Administration for Religious Affairs. Unregistered religious groups face varying degrees of harassment.[46] The constitution permits what is called "normal religious activities," so long as they do not involve the use of religion to "engage in activities that disrupt social order, impair the health of citizens or interfere with the educational system of the state. Religious organizations and religious affairs are not subject to any foreign dominance.”[45]
Article 36 of the Constitution of the People's Republic of China of 1982 specifies that:

Citizens of the People's Republic of China enjoy freedom of religious belief. No state organ, public organization or individual may compel citizens to believe in, or not to believe in, any religion; nor may they discriminate against citizens who believe in, or do not believe in, any religion. The state protects normal religious activities. No one may make use of religion to engage in activities that disrupt public order, impair the health of citizens or interfere with the educational system of the state. Religious bodies and religious affairs are not subject to any foreign domination.[47]
Most people report no organized religious affiliation; however, people with a belief in folk traditions and spiritual beliefs, such as ancestor veneration and feng shui, along with informal ties to local temples and unofficial house churches number in the hundreds of millions. The United States Department of State, in its annual report on International Religious Freedom,[48] provides statistics about organized religions. In 2007 it reported the following (citing the Government's 1997 report on Religious Freedom and 2005 White Paper on religion):[49]
Buddhists 8%.
Taoists, unknown as a percentage partly because it is fused along with Confucianism and Buddhism.
Muslims, 1%, with more than 20,000 Imams. Other estimates state at least 1%.
Christians, Protestants at least 3%. Catholics, about 1.5%.
Statistics relating to Buddhism and religious Taoism are to some degree incomparable with statistics for Islam and Christianity. This is due to the traditional Chinese belief system which blends Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, so that a person who follows a traditional belief system would not necessarily identify him- or herself as exclusively Buddhist or Taoist, despite attending Buddhist or Taoist places of worship. According to Peter Ng, Professor of the Department of Religion at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, as of 2002, 95% of Chinese were religious in some way if religion is considered to include traditional folk practices such as burning incense for gods or ancestors at life-cycle or seasonal festivals, fortune telling and related customary practices.[50][51]
Cuba[edit]
See also: Religion in Cuba
In August 1960, several bishops signed a joint pastoral letter condemning communism and declaring it incompatible with Catholicism, and calling on Catholics to reject it.[52] Castro gave a four hour speech the next day, condemning priests who serve "great wealth" and using fears of Falangist influence to attack Spanish born priests, declaring "There is no doubt that Franco has a sizeable group of fascist priests in Cuba."
Originally more tolerant of religion, Cuba began arresting many believers and shutting down religious schools after the Bay of Pigs invasion, its prisons since the 1960s being filled with clergy.[53] In 1961 The Cuban government confiscated Catholic schools, including the Jesuit school Fidel Castro had attended. In 1965 it exiled two hundred priests.[54]
The Communist Party of Cuba defines one of its aims as "the gradual overcoming of religious beliefs by materialistic scientific propaganda and the cultural advancement of the workers."[45] From 1976 to 1992, the Constitution of Cuba contained a clause stating that the "socialist state...bases its activity on, and educates the people in, the scientific materialist concept of the universe". Starting in 1992, the Communist Party of Cuba has allowed religious believers to join.[45] Since the fall of the Soviet Union, Cuba has amended its statutes to declare itself a secular state.
Soviet Union[edit]
Main article: Religion in the Soviet Union



 USSR. 1922 issue of the Bezbozhnik (The Godless) magazine. By 1934, 28% of Eastern Orthodox churches, 42% of Muslim mosques and 52% of Jewish synagogues were shut down in the USSR.[55]
State atheism in the Soviet Union (gosateizm) attempted to stop the spread of religious beliefs as well as remove "prerevolutionary remnants".[56] Although all religions were persecuted,[57] the regime's efforts to eradicate religion, however, varied over the years with respect to particular religions, and were affected by higher state interests. Official policies and practices not only varied with time, but also in their application from one nationality and one religion to another. Nationality and religion were always closely linked, and the attitude toward religion varied from a total ban on some religions to official support of others.
From the late 1920s to the late 1930s, such organizations as the League of the Militant Godless ridiculed all religions and harassed believers.[citation needed] Anti-religious and atheistic propaganda was implemented into every portion of soviet life: in schools, communist organizations such as the Young Pioneer Organization, and the media. Though Lenin originally introduced the Gregorian calendar to the Soviets, subsequent efforts to reorganise the week to improve worker productivity saw the introduction of the Soviet calendar, which had the side-effect that a "holiday will seldom fall on Sunday".[58]
Within about a year of the revolution, the state expropriated all church property, including the churches themselves, and in the period from 1922 to 1926, 28 Russian Orthodox bishops and more than 1,200 priests were killed (a much greater number was subjected to persecution).[57] Most seminaries were closed, and publication of religious writing was banned.[57] The Russian Orthodox Church, which had 54,000 parishes before World War I, was reduced to 500 by 1940.[57] A meeting of the Antireligious Commission of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) that occurred on 23 May 1929 estimated the portion of believers in the USSR at 80 percent, though this percentage may be understated to prove the successfulness of the struggle with religion.[59]
Despite the Soviet Union's attempts to eliminate religion,[60][61][62] other former USSR and anti-religious nations, such as Armenia,[63] Kazakhstan,[64] Uzbekistan,[65] Turkmenistan,[66] Kyrgyzstan,[67] Tajikistan,[68] Belarus,[69][70] Moldova,[71] Albania,[72] and Georgia[73] have high religious populations.[74] Author Niels Christian Nielsen has written that the post-Soviet population in areas which were formerly predominantly Orthodox are now "nearly illiterate regarding religion", almost completely lacking the intellectual or philosophical aspects of their faith and having almost no knowledge of other faiths.[75] Nonetheless, their knowledge of their faith and the faith of others notwithstanding, many post-Soviet populations have a large presence of religious followers.
Today in the Russian Federation, approximately 100 million citizens consider themselves Russian Orthodox Christians, amounting to 70% of population, although the Church claims a membership of 80 million.[76][77][78] According to the CIA Factbook, however, only 17% to 22% of the population is now Christian.[79] According to a poll by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center, 63% of respondents considered themselves Russian Orthodox, 6% of respondents considered themselves Muslim and less than 1% considered themselves either Buddhist, Catholic, Protestant or Jewish. Another 12% said they believe in God, but did not practice any religion, and 16% said they are non-believers.[80] In Ukraine, 96.1% of the Ukrainian population is Christian.[81] In Lithuania, the only Catholic country which was once a Soviet republic,[82] a 2005 report stated that 79% of Lithuanians belonged to the Roman Catholic Church.[83]
North Korea[edit]
Main article: Religion in North Korea
Although the North Korean constitution states that freedom of religion is permitted,[84] free religious activities no longer exist in North Korea, as the government sponsors religious groups only to create an illusion of religious freedom.[85][86][87] After 1,500 churches were destroyed during the rule of Kim Il Sung from 1948 to 1994, three churches were built in Pyongyang to deflect human rights criticism.[85]
The North Korean government promotes the cult of personality of Kim Jong-il and Kim Il-sung, described as a political religion, as well as the Juche ideology, based on Korean ultranationalism, which calls on people to "avoid spiritual deference to outside influences", which was interpreted as including religion originating outside of Korea.[45][88]
Cardinal Nicolas Cheong Jin-suk has said that, "There's no knowledge of priests surviving persecution that came in the late forties, when 166 priests and religious were killed or kidnapped," which includes the Roman Catholic bishop of Pyongyang, Francis Hong Yong-ho.[89] On November 2013, the repression against religious people led to the public execution of 80 people, some of them for possessing Bibles.[90][91]
See also[edit]
Antireligion
Civil religion
Communism and religion
Reign of Terror
Religion in China
Religion in the Soviet Union
Religious persecution
Religion in Russia
Society of the Godless
Staatssekretär für Kirchenfragen
War in the Vendée
Notes[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Latreille, A. FRENCH REVOLUTION, New Catholic Encyclopedia v. 5, pp. 972–973 (Second Ed. 2002 Thompson/Gale) ISBN 0-7876-4004-2.
2.Jump up ^ "CCPR General Comment 22: 30/07/93 on ICCPR Article 18". Minorityrights.org.
3.Jump up ^ International Federation for Human Rights (1 August 2003). "Discrimination against religious minorities in Iran" (PDF). fdih.org. Retrieved 3 March 2009.
4.Jump up ^ Davis, Derek H. "The Evolution of Religious Liberty as a Universal Human Right" (PDF). Retrieved 3 March 2009.
5.Jump up ^ Latreille, A. FRENCH REVOLUTION, New Catholic Encyclopedia v. 5, pp. 972–973 (Second Ed. 2002 Thompson/Gale) ISBN 0-7876-4004-2
6.Jump up ^ Spielvogel (2005):549.
7.Jump up ^ Tallet (1991):1
8.Jump up ^ McGrath (2006):45.
9.^ Jump up to: a b McGrath (2006):46.
10.^ Jump up to: a b c Soberanes Fernandez, Jose Luis, Mexico and the 1981 United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief, pp. 437-438 nn. 7-8, BYU Law Review, June 2002
11.Jump up ^ Haas, Ernst B., Nationalism, Liberalism, and Progress: The dismal fate of new nations, Cornell Univ. Press 2000
12.Jump up ^ Cronon, E. David "American Catholics and Mexican Anticlericalism, 1933-1936," ,pp. 205-208, Mississippi Valley Historical Review, XLV, Sept. 1948
13.^ Jump up to: a b c http://www.ilstu.edu/class/hist263/docs/1917const.html
14.Jump up ^ "THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE MARTIN-DEL-CAMPOs Part II". myheritage.es.
15.^ Jump up to: a b Joes, Anthony James Resisting Rebellion: The History And Politics of Counterinsurgency p. 70, (2006 University Press of Kentucky) ISBN 0-8131-9170-X
16.Jump up ^ Tuck, Jim THE CRISTERO REBELLION – PART 1 Mexico Connect 1996
17.Jump up ^ David A. Shirk (2005). Mexico's New Politics. Lynne Rienner Publishers. ISBN 1-58826-270-7.
18.Jump up ^ Denslow, William R. 10,000 Famous Freemasons p. 171 (2004 Kessinger Publishing)ISBN 1-4179-7578-4
19.Jump up ^ Fox, Vicente and Rob Allyn Revolution of Hope p. 17, Viking, 2007
20.Jump up ^ Calles, Plutarco Elías The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001–05 Columbia University Press.
21.Jump up ^ The Cristeros: 20th century Mexico's Catholic uprising, from The Angelus, January 2002 , Volume XXV, Number 1 by Olivier LELIBRE, The Angelus
22.^ Jump up to: a b Van Hove, Brian Blood Drenched Altars 1996 EWTN
23.^ Jump up to: a b c d Van Hove, Brian Blood-Drenched Altars Faith & Reason 1994
24.Jump up ^ Scheina, Robert L. Latin America's Wars: The Age of the Caudillo, 1791–1899 p. 33 (2003 Brassey's) ISBN 1-57488-452-2
25.Jump up ^ Ruiz, Ramón Eduardo Triumphs and Tragedy: A History of the Mexican People p.393 (1993 W. W. Norton & Company) ISBN 0-393-31066-3
26.Jump up ^ Raines, John. 2002. "Introduction". Marx on Religion (Marx, Karl). Philadelphia: Temple University Press. Page 05-06.
27.^ Jump up to: a b Lenin, V. I. "About the attitude of the working party toward the religion.". Collected works, v. 17, p.41. Retrieved 2006-09-09.
28.Jump up ^ Representations of Place: Albania, Derek R. Hall, The Geographical Journal, Vol. 165, No. 2, The Changing Meaning of Place in Post-Socialist Eastern Europe: Commodification, Perception and Environment (Jul., 1999), pp. 161–172, Blackwell Publishing on behalf of The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers)
29.^ Jump up to: a b c d e Albania - Hoxha's Antireligious Campaign
30.Jump up ^ Albania - The Cultural and Ideological Revolution
31.Jump up ^ C. Education, Science, Culture, The Albanian Constitution of 1976.
32.Jump up ^ Sinishta, G., 1976. The Fulfilled Promise: A Documentary Account of Religious Persecution in Albania. Albanian Catholic Information Center, Santa Clara.
33.Jump up ^ http://www.islamicpluralism.org/2000/communism-and-religion-in-albania-the-longest
34.Jump up ^ http://www.instat.gov.al/media/177358/njoftim_per_media_-_fjala_e_drejtorit_te_instat_ines_nurja_per_rezultatet_finale_te_census_2011.pdf
35.Jump up ^ "The World Factbook: Albania". Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
36.Jump up ^ "Gallup Global Reports". Gallup.com. Retrieved 2013-03-25.
37.Jump up ^ Yu Tao, University of Oxford. A Solo, a Duet, or an Ensemble? Analysing the Recent Development of Religious Communities in Contemporary Rural China. ECRAN - Europe-China Research and Advice Network. University of Nottingham. p. 12. Retrieved 25-09-2012.
38.Jump up ^ "Buddhism in China. By staff reporter ZHANG XUEYING". Chinatoday.com.cn. Retrieved 2011-10-17.
39.Jump up ^ ANALYSIS 1 May 2008 (2008-05-01). "Religion in China on the Eve of the 2008 Beijing Olympics". Pew Forum. Retrieved 2011-10-17.
40.Jump up ^ "Prof: Christians remain a small minority in China today". Purdue.edu. 2010-07-26. Retrieved 2011-10-17.
41.Jump up ^ The Practice of Chinese Buddhism, 1900–1950 – Page 393
42.Jump up ^ Xie, Zhibin, Religious diversity and public religion in China, p.145, Ashgate Publishing 2006
43.Jump up ^ Tyler, Christian Wild West China, p. 259, Rutgers Univ. Press 2004
44.Jump up ^ "No Religion for Chinese Communist Party Cadres". Deccan Herald. December 2011.
45.^ Jump up to: a b c d e Temperman, Jeroen (May 30, 2010). State-Religion Relationship and Human Rights Law: Towards a Right to Religiously Neutral Governance. Brill. pp. 141–145.
46.Jump up ^ "White Paper—Freedom of Religious Belief in China". Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the United States of America. October 1997. Retrieved 2007-09-05.
47.Jump up ^ English translation of the Constitution of the People's Republic of China of 1982 (page visited on 20 February 2015).
48.Jump up ^ "Annual Report to Congress on International Religious Freedom". U.S.Department of State. Retrieved 2007-10-02.
49.Jump up ^ "International Religious Freedom Report 2007 — China (includes Tibet, Hong Kong, and Macau)". U.S.Department of State. 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-02.
50.Jump up ^ Madsen, Richard. "Chapter 10. Chinese Christianity: Indigenization and conflict". In Elizabeth J. Perry, Mark Selden. Chinese society: change, conflict and resistance. Routledge. p. 239. ISBN 978-0-415-56073-3.
51.Jump up ^ Peter Tze Ming Ng, “Religious Situations in China Today: Secularization Theory Revisited” Paper presented at the Association for the Sociology of Religion Meetings, Chicago, August 14–16, 2002.
52.Jump up ^ Jay Mallin (1 January 1994). Covering Castro: Rise and Decline of Cuba's Communist Dictator. Transaction Publishers. ISBN 978-1-4128-2053-0.
53.Jump up ^ Hertzke (2006):43
54.Jump up ^ William F. Buckley Jr., Cuba libre?, November 21, 2005, National review.
55.Jump up ^ Religions attacked in the USSR at the Wayback Machine (archived October 23, 2007) (Beyond the Pale)
56.Jump up ^ Protest for Religious Rights in the USSR: Characteristics and Consequences, David Kowalewski, Russian Review, Vol. 39, No. 4 (Oct., 1980), pp. 426–441, Blackwell Publishing on behalf of The Editors and Board of Trustees of the Russian Review
57.^ Jump up to: a b c d Country Studies: Russia-The Russian Orthodox Church U.S. Library of Congress, Accessed Apr. 3, 2008
58.Jump up ^ "Staggerers Unstaggered". Time magazine. December 7, 1931. Retrieved 2007-10-02.
59.Jump up ^ Marjorie Mandelstam Balzer (2009). Religion and Politics in Russia: A Reader. M.E. Sharpe. pp. 6–7. ISBN 978-0-7656-2415-4.
60.Jump up ^ http://www.jstor.org/pss/128810
61.Jump up ^ Sabrina Petra Ramet, Ed., Religious Policy in the Soviet Union. Cambridge University Press (1993). P 4
62.Jump up ^ John Anderson, Religion, State and Politics in the Soviet Union and Successor States, Cambridge University Press, 1994, pp 3
63.Jump up ^ "The Armenian Apostolic Church (World Council of Churches)".
64.Jump up ^ International Religious Freedom Report 2009 – Kazakhstan U.S. Department of State. 2009-10-26. Retrieved on 2009-11-05.
65.Jump up ^ "Uzbekistan". State.gov. 2009-10-16. Retrieved 2010-05-02.
66.Jump up ^ CIA - The World Factbook
67.Jump up ^ "Kyrgyzstan". State.gov. Retrieved 2010-04-17.
68.Jump up ^ "Background Note: Tajikistan". State.gov. Retrieved 2009-10-02.
69.Jump up ^ NationMaster - Belarusian Religion statistics
70.Jump up ^ CIA - The World Factbook
71.Jump up ^ NationMaster - Moldovan Religion statistics
72.Jump up ^ CIA World Factbvook : Albania, reporting Muslim 70%, Albanian Orthodox 20%, Roman Catholic 10%, but noting, "percentages are estimates; there are no available current statistics on religious affiliation; all mosques and churches were closed in 1967 and religious observances prohibited; in November 1990, Albania began allowing private religious practice"
73.Jump up ^ NationMaster - Georgian Religion statistics
74.Jump up ^ Miller, Tracy, ed. (October 2009). "Mapping the Global Muslim Population: A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World’s Muslim Population" (PDF). Pew Research Center. Retrieved 8 October 2009.[dead link]
75.Jump up ^ Nielsen, Niels Christian, Jr., Christianity After Communism, p. 77-78, Westview Press 1998
76.Jump up ^ Page, Jeremy (2005-08-05). "The rise of Russian Muslims worries Orthodox Church". The Times (London). Retrieved 2010-05-24.
77.Jump up ^ Russia
78.Jump up ^ "Russia". Retrieved 2008-04-08.
79.Jump up ^ Cole, Ethan Gorbachev Dispels 'Closet Christian' Rumors; Says He is Atheist Christian Post Reporter, Mar. 24, 2008
80.Jump up ^ Опубликована подробная сравнительная статистика религиозности в России и Польше (in Russian). religare.ru. 6 June 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-27.
81.Jump up ^ NationMaster - Ukrainian Religion statistics
82.Jump up ^ Olsen, Brad (2007). Sacred Places Europe: 108 Destinations. CCC Publishing. p. 148. ISBN 978-1-888729-12-2.
83.Jump up ^ Department of Statistics to the Government of the Republic of Lithuania. "Population by Religious Confession, census". Archived from the original on 2006-10-01.. Updated in 2005.
84.Jump up ^ DPRK's Socialist Constitution (Full Text)
85.^ Jump up to: a b "Countries of Particular Concern: Democratic People's Republic of Korea". United States Commission on International Religious Freedom.
86.Jump up ^ Essential Background: Overview of human rights issues in Human Rights in North Korea (DPRK: The Democratic People's Republic of Korea) (Human Rights Watch, 8-7-2004)
87.Jump up ^ CIA - The World Factbook
88.Jump up ^ http://www.uscirf.gov/sites/default/files/Thank%20You%20Father%20Kim%20Il%20Sung%20-%20Nov2005.pdf
89.Jump up ^ 30Giorni | Korea, for a reconciliation between North and South (Interview with Cardinal Nicholas Cheong Jinsuk by Gianni Cardinale)
90.Jump up ^ Fox News, November 11, 2013. "North Korea publicly executes 80, some for videos or Bibles, report says"
91.Jump up ^ http://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/article/article.aspx?aid=2980240&cloc=joongangdaily%7Chome%7Cnewslist1 Public executions seen in 7 North Korea cities, Korea JoongAng Daily
References[edit]
Julian Baggini. Atheism: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press; 2003. ISBN 978-0-19-280424-2.
Davies, Norman. 1996. Europe: a history. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Elsie, Robert. 2000. A Dictionary of Albanian Religion, Mythology, and Folk Culture. C. Hurst & Co. ISBN 978-1-85065-570-1.
Elsie, Robert. 2001. A Dictionary of Albanian Religion, Mythology, and Folk Culture. New York: NYU Press. ISBN 0-8147-2214-8.
Fremont-Barnes, Gregory. 2007. Encyclopedia of the Age of Political Revolutions and New Ideologies, 1760–1815. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-313-33445-0.
Gach, Gary. 2002. The complete idiot's guide to understanding Buddhism. Alpha Books. ISBN 978-0-02-864170-6.
Greeley, Andrew M. 2003. Religion in Europe at the end of the second millennium: a sociological profile. New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction Publishers.
Jacques, Edwin E. 1995. The Albanians: an ethnic history from prehistoric times to the present. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-89950-932-7.
Marx, Karl. February, 1844. A Contribution to the Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right. Deutsch-Französische Jahrbücher.
Jonassohn, Kurt and Karin Solveig Bjeornson. 1998. Genocide and Gross Human Rights Violations. Transaction Publishers. ISBN 0-7658-0417-4.
McCann, David R. 1997. Korea briefing: toward reunification, Volume 4 of Korea briefing, Asia Society Briefings Series, Asia Society Country Briefing, Briefings of the Asia Society. M.E. Sharpe. ISBN 978-1-56324-885-6
McGrath, Alister E. 2006. The Twilight of Atheism, Random House.
Miner, Steven Merritt. 2003. Stalin's holy war religion, nationalism, and alliance politics, 1941–1945. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.
Pospielovsky, Dimitry. 1935. The Orthodox Church in the History of Russia Published 1998. St Vladimir's Seminary Press, 413 pages, ISBN 0-88141-179-5.
Spielvogel, Jackson. 2005. Western Civilization: Combined Volume. Thomson Wadsworth.
Tallet, Frank. 1991. Religion, Society and Politics in France Since 1789. Continuum International Publishing
Wolak, Arthur J. 2004. Forced out: the fate of Polish Jewry in Communist Poland. Tucson, Ariz: Fenestra Books.





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State atheism

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State atheism is a popular term used for a government that is either antireligious, antitheistic or promotes atheism. In contrast, a secular state purports to be officially neutral in matters of religion, supporting neither religion nor irreligion. State atheism may refer to a government's anti-clericalism, which opposes religious institutional power and influence in all aspects of public and political life, including the involvement of religion in the everyday life of the citizen.
State promotion of atheism as a public norm first came to prominence in Revolutionary France (1789-1799).[1] Revolutionary Mexico followed similar policies from 1917, as did Marxist–Leninist states. The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (1917–1991) and the Soviet Union (1922–1991) had a long history of state atheism, whereby those seeking social success generally had to profess atheism and to stay away from houses of worship; this trend became especially militant during the middle Stalinist era from 1929 to 1939. The Soviet Union attempted to suppress public religious expression over wide areas of its influence, including places such as central Asia.


Contents  [hide]
1 Human rights
2 French Revolution
3 Revolutionary Mexico
4 Communist states 4.1 Albania
4.2 China
4.3 Cuba
4.4 Soviet Union
4.5 North Korea
5 See also
6 Notes
7 References

Human rights[edit]
Main article: History of human rights
Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is designed to protect the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion. In 1993, the UN's human rights committee declared that article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights "protects theistic, non-theistic and atheistic beliefs, as well as the right not to profess any religion or belief."[2] The committee further stated that "the freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief necessarily entails the freedom to choose a religion or belief, including the right to replace one's current religion or belief with another or to adopt atheistic views." Signatories to the convention are barred from "the use of threat of physical force or penal sanctions to compel believers or non-believers" to recant their beliefs or convert. Despite this, minority religions still are still persecuted in many parts of the world.[3][4]
French Revolution[edit]
During the French Revolution, a campaign of dechristianization happened which included removal and destruction of religious objects from places of worship and the transformation of churches into "Temples of the Goddess of Reason", culminating in a celebration of Reason in Notre Dame Cathedral.[5][6][7]
Unlike later establishments of anti-theism by communist regimes, the French Revolutionary experiment was short (7 months), incomplete and inconsistent.[8][better source needed] Although brief, the French experiment was particularly notable for the influence upon atheists Ludwig Feuerbach, Sigmund Freud and Karl Marx.[9] Using the ideas of Feuerbach, Marx and Freud, communist regimes later treated religious believers as subversives or abnormal, sometimes relegating them to psychiatric hospitals and reeducation.[9][dubious – discuss]
Revolutionary Mexico[edit]
See also: Plutarco Elías Calles, Calles Law and Cristero War
Articles 3, 5, 24, 27, and 130 of the Mexican Constitution of 1917 as originally enacted were anticlerical and enormously restricted religious freedoms.[10] At first the anticlerical provisions were only sporadically enforced, but when President Plutarco Elías Calles took office, he enforced the provisions strictly.[10] Calles’ Mexico has been characterized as an atheist state[11] and his program as being one to eradicate religion in Mexico.[12]
All religions had their properties expropriated, and these became part of government wealth. There was a forced expulsion of foreign clergy and the seizure of Church properties.[13] Article 27 prohibited any future acquisition of such property by the churches, and prohibited religious corporations and ministers from establishing or directing primary schools.[13] This second prohibition was sometimes interpreted to mean that the Church could not give religious instruction to children within the churches on Sundays, seen as destroying the ability of Catholics to be educated in their own religion.[14]
The Constitution of 1917 also closed and forbade the existence of monastic orders (article 5), forbade any religious activity outside of church buildings (now owned by the government), and mandated that such religious activity would be overseen by the government (article 24).[13]
On June 14, 1926, President Calles enacted anticlerical legislation known formally as The Law Reforming the Penal Code and unofficially as the Calles Law.[15] His anti-Catholic actions included outlawing religious orders, depriving the Church of property rights and depriving the clergy of civil liberties, including their right to a trial by jury (in cases involving anti-clerical laws) and the right to vote.[15][16] Catholic antipathy towards Calles was enhanced because of his vocal atheism.[17] He was also a Freemason.[18] Regarding this period, recent President Vicente Fox stated, "After 1917, Mexico was led by anti-Catholic Freemasons who tried to evoke the anticlerical spirit of popular indigenous President Benito Juárez of the 1880s. But the military dictators of the 1920s were a more savage lot than Juarez." [19]



 Cristeros hanged in Jalisco.
Due to the strict enforcement of anti-clerical laws, people in strongly Catholic areas, especially the states of Jalisco, Zacatecas, Guanajuato, Colima and Michoacán, began to oppose him, and this opposition led to the Cristero War from 1926 to 1929, which was characterized by brutal atrocities on both sides. Some Cristeros applied terrorist tactics, while the Mexican government persecuted the clergy, killing suspected Cristeros and supporters and often retaliating against innocent individuals.[20] On May 28, 1926, Calles was awarded a medal of merit from the head of Mexico's Scottish rite of Freemasonry for his actions against the Catholics.[21]
A truce was negotiated with the assistance of U.S. Ambassador Dwight Whitney Morrow.[22] Calles, however, did not abide by the terms of the truce – in violation of its terms, he had approximately 500 Cristero leaders and 5,000 other Cristeros shot, frequently in their homes in front of their spouses and children.[22] Particularly offensive to Catholics after the supposed truce was Calles' insistence on a complete state monopoly on education, suppressing all Catholic education and introducing "socialist" education in its place: "We must enter and take possession of the mind of childhood, the mind of youth.".[23] The persecution continued as Calles maintained control under his Maximato and did not relent until 1940, when President Manuel Ávila Camacho, a believing Catholic, took office.[23] This attempt to indoctrinate the youth in atheism was begun in 1934 by amending Article 3 to the Mexican Constitution to eradicate religion by mandating "socialist education", which "in addition to removing all religious doctrine" would "combat fanaticism and prejudices", "build[ing] in the youth a rational and exact concept of the universe and of social life".[10] In 1946 this "socialist education" was removed from the constitution and the document returned to the less egregious generalized secular education. The effects of the war on the Church were profound. Between 1926 and 1934 at least 40 priests were killed.[23] Where there were 4,500 priests operating within the country before the rebellion, in 1934 there were only 334 priests licensed by the government to serve fifteen million people, the rest having been eliminated by emigration, expulsion, and assassination.[23][24] By 1935, 17 states had no priest at all.[25]
Communist states[edit]
Main article: Marxism and religion

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A communist state, in popular usage, is a state with a form of government characterized by single-party rule or dominant-party rule of a communist party and a professed allegiance to a Leninist or Marxist–Leninist communist ideology as the guiding principle of the state. The founder and primary theorist of Marxism, the nineteenth-century German sociologist Karl Marx, had an ambivalent attitude to religion, viewing it primarily as "the opium of the people" that had been used by the ruling classes to give the working classes false hope for millennia, whilst at the same time recognizing it as a form of protest by the working classes against their poor economic conditions.[26] In the Marxist–Leninist interpretation of Marxist theory, developed primarily by Russian revolutionary Vladimir Lenin, religion is seen as negative to human development, and communist states that follow a Marxist–Leninist variant are atheistic and explicitly antireligious.[27] Lenin states:
“ Religion is the opiate of the people: this saying of Marx is the cornerstone of the entire ideology of Marxism about religion. All modern religions and churches, all and of every kind of religious organizations are always considered by Marxism as the organs of bourgeois reaction, used for the protection of the exploitation and the stupefaction of the working class.[27] ”
Although Marx and Lenin were both atheists,[citation needed] several religious communist groups exist, including Christian communists.
Albania[edit]
Main article: Religion in Albania § Communist Albania
State atheism in Albania was taken to an extreme during the totalitarian regime installed after World War II, when religions, identified as imports foreign to Albanian culture, were banned altogether.[28] The Agrarian Reform Law of August 1945 nationalized most property of religious institutions, including the estates of mosques, monasteries, orders, and dioceses. Many clergy and believers were tried and some were executed. All foreign Roman Catholic priests, monks, and nuns were expelled in 1946.[29]
Religious communities or branches that had their headquarters outside the country, such as the Jesuit and Franciscan orders, were henceforth ordered to terminate their activities in Albania. Religious institutions were forbidden to have anything to do with the education of the young, because that had been made the exclusive province of the state. All religious communities were prohibited from owning real estate and from operating philanthropic and welfare institutions and hospitals. Although there were tactical variations in Enver Hoxha's approach to each of the major denominations, his overarching objective was the eventual destruction of all organized religion in Albania. Between 1945 and 1953, the number of priests was reduced drastically and the number of Roman Catholic churches was decreased from 253 to 100, and all Catholics were stigmatized as fascists.[29]
The campaign against religion peaked in the 1960s. Beginning in 1967 the Albanian authorities began a campaign to eliminate religious life in Albania. Despite complaints, even by APL members, all churches, mosques, monasteries, and other religious institutions were either closed down or converted into warehouses, gymnasiums, or workshops by the end of 1967.[30] By May 1967, religious institutions had been forced to relinquish all 2,169 churches, mosques, cloisters, and shrines in Albania, many of which were converted into cultural centers for young people. As the literary monthly Nendori reported the event, the youth had thus "created the first atheist nation in the world."[29]
Clerics were publicly vilified and humiliated, their vestments taken and desecrated. More than 200 clerics of various faiths were imprisoned, others were forced to seek work in either industry or agriculture, and some were executed or starved to death. The cloister of the Franciscan order in Shkodër was set on fire, which resulted in the death of four elderly monks.[29]
Article 37 of the Albanian Constitution of 1976 stipulated, "The state recognizes no religion, and supports atheistic propaganda in order to implant a scientific materialistic world outlook in people.",[31] and the penal code of 1977 imposed prison sentences of three to ten years for "religious propaganda and the production, distribution, or storage of religious literature."[citation needed] A new decree that in effect targeted Albanians with Muslim and Christian names, stipulating that citizens whose names did not conform to "the political, ideological, or moral standards of the state" were to change them.[citation needed] It was also decreed that towns and villages with religious names must be renamed.[citation needed] Hoxha's brutal antireligious campaign succeeded in eradicating formal worship, but some Albanians continued to practice their faith clandestinely, risking severe punishment.[citation needed] Individuals caught with Bibles, Qurans, icons, or other religious objects faced long prison sentences. Religious weddings were prohibited.[citation needed]
Parents were afraid to pass on their faith, for fear that their children would tell others. Officials tried to entrap practicing Christians and Muslims during religious fasts, such as Lent and Ramadan, by distributing dairy products and other forbidden foods in school and at work, and then publicly denouncing those who refused the food. Those clergy who conducted secret services were incarcerated.[29] Catholic priest Shtjefen Kurti had been executed for secretly baptizing a child in Shkodër in 1972.[32]
The article was interpreted by Danes as violating The United Nations Charter (chapter 9, article 55) which declares that religious freedom is an inalienable human right. The first time that the question came before the United Nations' Commission on Human Rights at Geneva was as late as 7 March 1983. A delegation from Denmark got its protest over Albania's violation of religious liberty placed on the agenda of the thirty-ninth meeting of the commission, item 25, reading, "Implementation of the Declaration on the Elimination of all Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination based on Religion or Belief.", and on 20 July 1984 a member of the Danish Parliament inserted an article into one of Denmark's major newspapers protesting the violation of religious freedom in Albania.
These massive attempts by communists to create an atheist nation, devastated both Islam and Orthodox Christianity and they suffered irreparable loss, while on the other hand Roman Catholicism rebounded and regained its previous share of the population at 10%.[33] Despite all of this, a majority of Albania's population is still affiliated with some form of religion. According to the 2011 census, 58.79% of Albanians adhere to Islam, making it the largest religion in the country. The majority of Albanian Muslims are secular Sunni with a significant Bektashi Shia minority. Christianity is practiced by 16.99% of the population, making it the 2nd largest religion in the country. The remaining population is either irreligious or belongs to other religious groups.[34] Before World War II, there was given a distribution of 70% Muslims, 20% Eastern Orthodox, and 10% Roman Catholics.[35] Today, Gallup Global Reports 2010 shows that religion plays a role in the lives of only 39% of Albanians, and ranks Albania the thirteenth least religious country in the world.[36]
China[edit]
See also: Religion in China, Irreligion in China and Freedom of religion in China


























Circle frame.svg

Religion in China overall based on different surveys[37][38][39][40]
  Folk religions and Taoism (30%)
  Buddhism (18%)
  Christianity (4%)
  Ethnic minorities indigenous religions (including Vajrayana and Theravada) (4%)
  Islam (2%)
  Agnostic or atheist (42%)
Traditionally, a large segment of the Chinese population occasionally resorted to Buddhist temples and Buddhism has had a significant role in the everyday life of ordinary people.[41] After the 1949 Chinese Revolution, China began a period of rule by the Communist Party of China.[42][43] For much of its early history, that government maintained under Marxist thought that religion would ultimately disappear, and characterized it as emblematic of feudalism and foreign colonialism.
During the Cultural Revolution, student vigilantes known as Red Guards converted religious buildings for secular use or destroyed them. This attitude, however, relaxed considerably in the late 1970s, with the reform and opening up period. The 1978 Constitution of the People's Republic of China guaranteed freedom of religion with a number of restrictions. Since then, there has been a massive program to rebuild Buddhist and Taoist temples that were destroyed in the Cultural Revolution.
The Communist Party has said that religious belief and membership are incompatible.[44] However, the state is not allowed to force ordinary citizens to become atheists.[45] China's five officially sanctioned religious organizations are the Buddhist Association of China, Chinese Taoist Association, Islamic Association of China, Three-Self Patriotic Movement and Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association. These groups are afforded a degree protection, but are subject to restrictions and controls under the State Administration for Religious Affairs. Unregistered religious groups face varying degrees of harassment.[46] The constitution permits what is called "normal religious activities," so long as they do not involve the use of religion to "engage in activities that disrupt social order, impair the health of citizens or interfere with the educational system of the state. Religious organizations and religious affairs are not subject to any foreign dominance.”[45]
Article 36 of the Constitution of the People's Republic of China of 1982 specifies that:

Citizens of the People's Republic of China enjoy freedom of religious belief. No state organ, public organization or individual may compel citizens to believe in, or not to believe in, any religion; nor may they discriminate against citizens who believe in, or do not believe in, any religion. The state protects normal religious activities. No one may make use of religion to engage in activities that disrupt public order, impair the health of citizens or interfere with the educational system of the state. Religious bodies and religious affairs are not subject to any foreign domination.[47]
Most people report no organized religious affiliation; however, people with a belief in folk traditions and spiritual beliefs, such as ancestor veneration and feng shui, along with informal ties to local temples and unofficial house churches number in the hundreds of millions. The United States Department of State, in its annual report on International Religious Freedom,[48] provides statistics about organized religions. In 2007 it reported the following (citing the Government's 1997 report on Religious Freedom and 2005 White Paper on religion):[49]
Buddhists 8%.
Taoists, unknown as a percentage partly because it is fused along with Confucianism and Buddhism.
Muslims, 1%, with more than 20,000 Imams. Other estimates state at least 1%.
Christians, Protestants at least 3%. Catholics, about 1.5%.
Statistics relating to Buddhism and religious Taoism are to some degree incomparable with statistics for Islam and Christianity. This is due to the traditional Chinese belief system which blends Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, so that a person who follows a traditional belief system would not necessarily identify him- or herself as exclusively Buddhist or Taoist, despite attending Buddhist or Taoist places of worship. According to Peter Ng, Professor of the Department of Religion at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, as of 2002, 95% of Chinese were religious in some way if religion is considered to include traditional folk practices such as burning incense for gods or ancestors at life-cycle or seasonal festivals, fortune telling and related customary practices.[50][51]
Cuba[edit]
See also: Religion in Cuba
In August 1960, several bishops signed a joint pastoral letter condemning communism and declaring it incompatible with Catholicism, and calling on Catholics to reject it.[52] Castro gave a four hour speech the next day, condemning priests who serve "great wealth" and using fears of Falangist influence to attack Spanish born priests, declaring "There is no doubt that Franco has a sizeable group of fascist priests in Cuba."
Originally more tolerant of religion, Cuba began arresting many believers and shutting down religious schools after the Bay of Pigs invasion, its prisons since the 1960s being filled with clergy.[53] In 1961 The Cuban government confiscated Catholic schools, including the Jesuit school Fidel Castro had attended. In 1965 it exiled two hundred priests.[54]
The Communist Party of Cuba defines one of its aims as "the gradual overcoming of religious beliefs by materialistic scientific propaganda and the cultural advancement of the workers."[45] From 1976 to 1992, the Constitution of Cuba contained a clause stating that the "socialist state...bases its activity on, and educates the people in, the scientific materialist concept of the universe". Starting in 1992, the Communist Party of Cuba has allowed religious believers to join.[45] Since the fall of the Soviet Union, Cuba has amended its statutes to declare itself a secular state.
Soviet Union[edit]
Main article: Religion in the Soviet Union



 USSR. 1922 issue of the Bezbozhnik (The Godless) magazine. By 1934, 28% of Eastern Orthodox churches, 42% of Muslim mosques and 52% of Jewish synagogues were shut down in the USSR.[55]
State atheism in the Soviet Union (gosateizm) attempted to stop the spread of religious beliefs as well as remove "prerevolutionary remnants".[56] Although all religions were persecuted,[57] the regime's efforts to eradicate religion, however, varied over the years with respect to particular religions, and were affected by higher state interests. Official policies and practices not only varied with time, but also in their application from one nationality and one religion to another. Nationality and religion were always closely linked, and the attitude toward religion varied from a total ban on some religions to official support of others.
From the late 1920s to the late 1930s, such organizations as the League of the Militant Godless ridiculed all religions and harassed believers.[citation needed] Anti-religious and atheistic propaganda was implemented into every portion of soviet life: in schools, communist organizations such as the Young Pioneer Organization, and the media. Though Lenin originally introduced the Gregorian calendar to the Soviets, subsequent efforts to reorganise the week to improve worker productivity saw the introduction of the Soviet calendar, which had the side-effect that a "holiday will seldom fall on Sunday".[58]
Within about a year of the revolution, the state expropriated all church property, including the churches themselves, and in the period from 1922 to 1926, 28 Russian Orthodox bishops and more than 1,200 priests were killed (a much greater number was subjected to persecution).[57] Most seminaries were closed, and publication of religious writing was banned.[57] The Russian Orthodox Church, which had 54,000 parishes before World War I, was reduced to 500 by 1940.[57] A meeting of the Antireligious Commission of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) that occurred on 23 May 1929 estimated the portion of believers in the USSR at 80 percent, though this percentage may be understated to prove the successfulness of the struggle with religion.[59]
Despite the Soviet Union's attempts to eliminate religion,[60][61][62] other former USSR and anti-religious nations, such as Armenia,[63] Kazakhstan,[64] Uzbekistan,[65] Turkmenistan,[66] Kyrgyzstan,[67] Tajikistan,[68] Belarus,[69][70] Moldova,[71] Albania,[72] and Georgia[73] have high religious populations.[74] Author Niels Christian Nielsen has written that the post-Soviet population in areas which were formerly predominantly Orthodox are now "nearly illiterate regarding religion", almost completely lacking the intellectual or philosophical aspects of their faith and having almost no knowledge of other faiths.[75] Nonetheless, their knowledge of their faith and the faith of others notwithstanding, many post-Soviet populations have a large presence of religious followers.
Today in the Russian Federation, approximately 100 million citizens consider themselves Russian Orthodox Christians, amounting to 70% of population, although the Church claims a membership of 80 million.[76][77][78] According to the CIA Factbook, however, only 17% to 22% of the population is now Christian.[79] According to a poll by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center, 63% of respondents considered themselves Russian Orthodox, 6% of respondents considered themselves Muslim and less than 1% considered themselves either Buddhist, Catholic, Protestant or Jewish. Another 12% said they believe in God, but did not practice any religion, and 16% said they are non-believers.[80] In Ukraine, 96.1% of the Ukrainian population is Christian.[81] In Lithuania, the only Catholic country which was once a Soviet republic,[82] a 2005 report stated that 79% of Lithuanians belonged to the Roman Catholic Church.[83]
North Korea[edit]
Main article: Religion in North Korea
Although the North Korean constitution states that freedom of religion is permitted,[84] free religious activities no longer exist in North Korea, as the government sponsors religious groups only to create an illusion of religious freedom.[85][86][87] After 1,500 churches were destroyed during the rule of Kim Il Sung from 1948 to 1994, three churches were built in Pyongyang to deflect human rights criticism.[85]
The North Korean government promotes the cult of personality of Kim Jong-il and Kim Il-sung, described as a political religion, as well as the Juche ideology, based on Korean ultranationalism, which calls on people to "avoid spiritual deference to outside influences", which was interpreted as including religion originating outside of Korea.[45][88]
Cardinal Nicolas Cheong Jin-suk has said that, "There's no knowledge of priests surviving persecution that came in the late forties, when 166 priests and religious were killed or kidnapped," which includes the Roman Catholic bishop of Pyongyang, Francis Hong Yong-ho.[89] On November 2013, the repression against religious people led to the public execution of 80 people, some of them for possessing Bibles.[90][91]
See also[edit]
Antireligion
Civil religion
Communism and religion
Reign of Terror
Religion in China
Religion in the Soviet Union
Religious persecution
Religion in Russia
Society of the Godless
Staatssekretär für Kirchenfragen
War in the Vendée
Notes[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Latreille, A. FRENCH REVOLUTION, New Catholic Encyclopedia v. 5, pp. 972–973 (Second Ed. 2002 Thompson/Gale) ISBN 0-7876-4004-2.
2.Jump up ^ "CCPR General Comment 22: 30/07/93 on ICCPR Article 18". Minorityrights.org.
3.Jump up ^ International Federation for Human Rights (1 August 2003). "Discrimination against religious minorities in Iran" (PDF). fdih.org. Retrieved 3 March 2009.
4.Jump up ^ Davis, Derek H. "The Evolution of Religious Liberty as a Universal Human Right" (PDF). Retrieved 3 March 2009.
5.Jump up ^ Latreille, A. FRENCH REVOLUTION, New Catholic Encyclopedia v. 5, pp. 972–973 (Second Ed. 2002 Thompson/Gale) ISBN 0-7876-4004-2
6.Jump up ^ Spielvogel (2005):549.
7.Jump up ^ Tallet (1991):1
8.Jump up ^ McGrath (2006):45.
9.^ Jump up to: a b McGrath (2006):46.
10.^ Jump up to: a b c Soberanes Fernandez, Jose Luis, Mexico and the 1981 United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief, pp. 437-438 nn. 7-8, BYU Law Review, June 2002
11.Jump up ^ Haas, Ernst B., Nationalism, Liberalism, and Progress: The dismal fate of new nations, Cornell Univ. Press 2000
12.Jump up ^ Cronon, E. David "American Catholics and Mexican Anticlericalism, 1933-1936," ,pp. 205-208, Mississippi Valley Historical Review, XLV, Sept. 1948
13.^ Jump up to: a b c http://www.ilstu.edu/class/hist263/docs/1917const.html
14.Jump up ^ "THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE MARTIN-DEL-CAMPOs Part II". myheritage.es.
15.^ Jump up to: a b Joes, Anthony James Resisting Rebellion: The History And Politics of Counterinsurgency p. 70, (2006 University Press of Kentucky) ISBN 0-8131-9170-X
16.Jump up ^ Tuck, Jim THE CRISTERO REBELLION – PART 1 Mexico Connect 1996
17.Jump up ^ David A. Shirk (2005). Mexico's New Politics. Lynne Rienner Publishers. ISBN 1-58826-270-7.
18.Jump up ^ Denslow, William R. 10,000 Famous Freemasons p. 171 (2004 Kessinger Publishing)ISBN 1-4179-7578-4
19.Jump up ^ Fox, Vicente and Rob Allyn Revolution of Hope p. 17, Viking, 2007
20.Jump up ^ Calles, Plutarco Elías The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001–05 Columbia University Press.
21.Jump up ^ The Cristeros: 20th century Mexico's Catholic uprising, from The Angelus, January 2002 , Volume XXV, Number 1 by Olivier LELIBRE, The Angelus
22.^ Jump up to: a b Van Hove, Brian Blood Drenched Altars 1996 EWTN
23.^ Jump up to: a b c d Van Hove, Brian Blood-Drenched Altars Faith & Reason 1994
24.Jump up ^ Scheina, Robert L. Latin America's Wars: The Age of the Caudillo, 1791–1899 p. 33 (2003 Brassey's) ISBN 1-57488-452-2
25.Jump up ^ Ruiz, Ramón Eduardo Triumphs and Tragedy: A History of the Mexican People p.393 (1993 W. W. Norton & Company) ISBN 0-393-31066-3
26.Jump up ^ Raines, John. 2002. "Introduction". Marx on Religion (Marx, Karl). Philadelphia: Temple University Press. Page 05-06.
27.^ Jump up to: a b Lenin, V. I. "About the attitude of the working party toward the religion.". Collected works, v. 17, p.41. Retrieved 2006-09-09.
28.Jump up ^ Representations of Place: Albania, Derek R. Hall, The Geographical Journal, Vol. 165, No. 2, The Changing Meaning of Place in Post-Socialist Eastern Europe: Commodification, Perception and Environment (Jul., 1999), pp. 161–172, Blackwell Publishing on behalf of The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers)
29.^ Jump up to: a b c d e Albania - Hoxha's Antireligious Campaign
30.Jump up ^ Albania - The Cultural and Ideological Revolution
31.Jump up ^ C. Education, Science, Culture, The Albanian Constitution of 1976.
32.Jump up ^ Sinishta, G., 1976. The Fulfilled Promise: A Documentary Account of Religious Persecution in Albania. Albanian Catholic Information Center, Santa Clara.
33.Jump up ^ http://www.islamicpluralism.org/2000/communism-and-religion-in-albania-the-longest
34.Jump up ^ http://www.instat.gov.al/media/177358/njoftim_per_media_-_fjala_e_drejtorit_te_instat_ines_nurja_per_rezultatet_finale_te_census_2011.pdf
35.Jump up ^ "The World Factbook: Albania". Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
36.Jump up ^ "Gallup Global Reports". Gallup.com. Retrieved 2013-03-25.
37.Jump up ^ Yu Tao, University of Oxford. A Solo, a Duet, or an Ensemble? Analysing the Recent Development of Religious Communities in Contemporary Rural China. ECRAN - Europe-China Research and Advice Network. University of Nottingham. p. 12. Retrieved 25-09-2012.
38.Jump up ^ "Buddhism in China. By staff reporter ZHANG XUEYING". Chinatoday.com.cn. Retrieved 2011-10-17.
39.Jump up ^ ANALYSIS 1 May 2008 (2008-05-01). "Religion in China on the Eve of the 2008 Beijing Olympics". Pew Forum. Retrieved 2011-10-17.
40.Jump up ^ "Prof: Christians remain a small minority in China today". Purdue.edu. 2010-07-26. Retrieved 2011-10-17.
41.Jump up ^ The Practice of Chinese Buddhism, 1900–1950 – Page 393
42.Jump up ^ Xie, Zhibin, Religious diversity and public religion in China, p.145, Ashgate Publishing 2006
43.Jump up ^ Tyler, Christian Wild West China, p. 259, Rutgers Univ. Press 2004
44.Jump up ^ "No Religion for Chinese Communist Party Cadres". Deccan Herald. December 2011.
45.^ Jump up to: a b c d e Temperman, Jeroen (May 30, 2010). State-Religion Relationship and Human Rights Law: Towards a Right to Religiously Neutral Governance. Brill. pp. 141–145.
46.Jump up ^ "White Paper—Freedom of Religious Belief in China". Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the United States of America. October 1997. Retrieved 2007-09-05.
47.Jump up ^ English translation of the Constitution of the People's Republic of China of 1982 (page visited on 20 February 2015).
48.Jump up ^ "Annual Report to Congress on International Religious Freedom". U.S.Department of State. Retrieved 2007-10-02.
49.Jump up ^ "International Religious Freedom Report 2007 — China (includes Tibet, Hong Kong, and Macau)". U.S.Department of State. 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-02.
50.Jump up ^ Madsen, Richard. "Chapter 10. Chinese Christianity: Indigenization and conflict". In Elizabeth J. Perry, Mark Selden. Chinese society: change, conflict and resistance. Routledge. p. 239. ISBN 978-0-415-56073-3.
51.Jump up ^ Peter Tze Ming Ng, “Religious Situations in China Today: Secularization Theory Revisited” Paper presented at the Association for the Sociology of Religion Meetings, Chicago, August 14–16, 2002.
52.Jump up ^ Jay Mallin (1 January 1994). Covering Castro: Rise and Decline of Cuba's Communist Dictator. Transaction Publishers. ISBN 978-1-4128-2053-0.
53.Jump up ^ Hertzke (2006):43
54.Jump up ^ William F. Buckley Jr., Cuba libre?, November 21, 2005, National review.
55.Jump up ^ Religions attacked in the USSR at the Wayback Machine (archived October 23, 2007) (Beyond the Pale)
56.Jump up ^ Protest for Religious Rights in the USSR: Characteristics and Consequences, David Kowalewski, Russian Review, Vol. 39, No. 4 (Oct., 1980), pp. 426–441, Blackwell Publishing on behalf of The Editors and Board of Trustees of the Russian Review
57.^ Jump up to: a b c d Country Studies: Russia-The Russian Orthodox Church U.S. Library of Congress, Accessed Apr. 3, 2008
58.Jump up ^ "Staggerers Unstaggered". Time magazine. December 7, 1931. Retrieved 2007-10-02.
59.Jump up ^ Marjorie Mandelstam Balzer (2009). Religion and Politics in Russia: A Reader. M.E. Sharpe. pp. 6–7. ISBN 978-0-7656-2415-4.
60.Jump up ^ http://www.jstor.org/pss/128810
61.Jump up ^ Sabrina Petra Ramet, Ed., Religious Policy in the Soviet Union. Cambridge University Press (1993). P 4
62.Jump up ^ John Anderson, Religion, State and Politics in the Soviet Union and Successor States, Cambridge University Press, 1994, pp 3
63.Jump up ^ "The Armenian Apostolic Church (World Council of Churches)".
64.Jump up ^ International Religious Freedom Report 2009 – Kazakhstan U.S. Department of State. 2009-10-26. Retrieved on 2009-11-05.
65.Jump up ^ "Uzbekistan". State.gov. 2009-10-16. Retrieved 2010-05-02.
66.Jump up ^ CIA - The World Factbook
67.Jump up ^ "Kyrgyzstan". State.gov. Retrieved 2010-04-17.
68.Jump up ^ "Background Note: Tajikistan". State.gov. Retrieved 2009-10-02.
69.Jump up ^ NationMaster - Belarusian Religion statistics
70.Jump up ^ CIA - The World Factbook
71.Jump up ^ NationMaster - Moldovan Religion statistics
72.Jump up ^ CIA World Factbvook : Albania, reporting Muslim 70%, Albanian Orthodox 20%, Roman Catholic 10%, but noting, "percentages are estimates; there are no available current statistics on religious affiliation; all mosques and churches were closed in 1967 and religious observances prohibited; in November 1990, Albania began allowing private religious practice"
73.Jump up ^ NationMaster - Georgian Religion statistics
74.Jump up ^ Miller, Tracy, ed. (October 2009). "Mapping the Global Muslim Population: A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World’s Muslim Population" (PDF). Pew Research Center. Retrieved 8 October 2009.[dead link]
75.Jump up ^ Nielsen, Niels Christian, Jr., Christianity After Communism, p. 77-78, Westview Press 1998
76.Jump up ^ Page, Jeremy (2005-08-05). "The rise of Russian Muslims worries Orthodox Church". The Times (London). Retrieved 2010-05-24.
77.Jump up ^ Russia
78.Jump up ^ "Russia". Retrieved 2008-04-08.
79.Jump up ^ Cole, Ethan Gorbachev Dispels 'Closet Christian' Rumors; Says He is Atheist Christian Post Reporter, Mar. 24, 2008
80.Jump up ^ Опубликована подробная сравнительная статистика религиозности в России и Польше (in Russian). religare.ru. 6 June 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-27.
81.Jump up ^ NationMaster - Ukrainian Religion statistics
82.Jump up ^ Olsen, Brad (2007). Sacred Places Europe: 108 Destinations. CCC Publishing. p. 148. ISBN 978-1-888729-12-2.
83.Jump up ^ Department of Statistics to the Government of the Republic of Lithuania. "Population by Religious Confession, census". Archived from the original on 2006-10-01.. Updated in 2005.
84.Jump up ^ DPRK's Socialist Constitution (Full Text)
85.^ Jump up to: a b "Countries of Particular Concern: Democratic People's Republic of Korea". United States Commission on International Religious Freedom.
86.Jump up ^ Essential Background: Overview of human rights issues in Human Rights in North Korea (DPRK: The Democratic People's Republic of Korea) (Human Rights Watch, 8-7-2004)
87.Jump up ^ CIA - The World Factbook
88.Jump up ^ http://www.uscirf.gov/sites/default/files/Thank%20You%20Father%20Kim%20Il%20Sung%20-%20Nov2005.pdf
89.Jump up ^ 30Giorni | Korea, for a reconciliation between North and South (Interview with Cardinal Nicholas Cheong Jinsuk by Gianni Cardinale)
90.Jump up ^ Fox News, November 11, 2013. "North Korea publicly executes 80, some for videos or Bibles, report says"
91.Jump up ^ http://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/article/article.aspx?aid=2980240&cloc=joongangdaily%7Chome%7Cnewslist1 Public executions seen in 7 North Korea cities, Korea JoongAng Daily
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Fremont-Barnes, Gregory. 2007. Encyclopedia of the Age of Political Revolutions and New Ideologies, 1760–1815. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-313-33445-0.
Gach, Gary. 2002. The complete idiot's guide to understanding Buddhism. Alpha Books. ISBN 978-0-02-864170-6.
Greeley, Andrew M. 2003. Religion in Europe at the end of the second millennium: a sociological profile. New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction Publishers.
Jacques, Edwin E. 1995. The Albanians: an ethnic history from prehistoric times to the present. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-89950-932-7.
Marx, Karl. February, 1844. A Contribution to the Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right. Deutsch-Französische Jahrbücher.
Jonassohn, Kurt and Karin Solveig Bjeornson. 1998. Genocide and Gross Human Rights Violations. Transaction Publishers. ISBN 0-7658-0417-4.
McCann, David R. 1997. Korea briefing: toward reunification, Volume 4 of Korea briefing, Asia Society Briefings Series, Asia Society Country Briefing, Briefings of the Asia Society. M.E. Sharpe. ISBN 978-1-56324-885-6
McGrath, Alister E. 2006. The Twilight of Atheism, Random House.
Miner, Steven Merritt. 2003. Stalin's holy war religion, nationalism, and alliance politics, 1941–1945. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.
Pospielovsky, Dimitry. 1935. The Orthodox Church in the History of Russia Published 1998. St Vladimir's Seminary Press, 413 pages, ISBN 0-88141-179-5.
Spielvogel, Jackson. 2005. Western Civilization: Combined Volume. Thomson Wadsworth.
Tallet, Frank. 1991. Religion, Society and Politics in France Since 1789. Continuum International Publishing
Wolak, Arthur J. 2004. Forced out: the fate of Polish Jewry in Communist Poland. Tucson, Ariz: Fenestra Books.





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Theocracy

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For other uses, see Theocracy (disambiguation).



Cæsar Augustus as Jove incarnate. The Roman Empire was, before Constantine, a quasi-theocracy. Opinion in both late antiquity and later history, however, regards negatively Emperors, such as Caligula and Domitian, who assumed that dignity in life.[citation needed] By contrast, each Pharaoh of Egypt, as Horus incarnate, son of Amun-Ra, Osiris in death, etc. (as in other cultures) was held to be a living god.
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Theocracy is a form of government in which clergy have sovereignty over a territory and official policy is either governed by officials regarded as divinely guided, or is pursuant to the doctrine of a particular religion or religious group.[1][2][3]


Contents  [hide]
1 Synopsis
2 Etymology
3 Current theocracies 3.1 Christian theocracies 3.1.1 Holy See (Vatican City)
3.2 Islamic states or Islamic theocracies 3.2.1 Iran
3.2.2 Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
3.3 Central Tibetan Administration 3.3.1 Change to Sikyong
3.4 States with official state religion
4 Historic states with theocratic aspects 4.1 Buddhism
4.2 China
4.3 Islam
4.4 Montenegro
4.5 United States (Deseret)
4.6 Western Antiquity
4.7 Zoroastrianism
5 Fictional theocracies 5.1 Literature
5.2 Television/Anime
5.3 Games
6 See also
7 References
8 Further reading
9 External links

Synopsis[edit]
A theocracy is a form in which the deity is considered immediate authority. The word comes from the Greek words θεός (Theos), "God", and κρατία (kratia), "power, strength", and means "rule of God." In some religions, the king was regarded as the son of god. When religions with a "holy book," it is used as a direct message from God. Today, there is also a form of government called it, where clerics have the power. From the perspective of the theocratic government, "God himself is recognized as the head" of the state,[4] hence the term theocracy, from the Koine Greek θεοκρατία "rule of God", a term used by Josephus for the kingdoms of Israel and Judah.[5]
Taken literally or strictly, theocracy means rule by God or gods and refers primarily to an internal "rule of the heart", especially in its biblical application. The common, generic use of the term, as defined above in terms of rule by a church or analogous religious leadership, would be more accurately described as an ecclesiocracy.[6]
In a pure theocracy, the civil leader is believed to have a personal connection with the civilization's religion or belief. For example, Moses led the Israelites, and Muhammad ruled the early Muslims. Law proclaimed by the ruler is also considered a divine revelation, and hence the law of God. An ecclesiocracy, on the other hand, is a situation where the religious leaders assume a leading role in the state, but do not claim that they are instruments of divine revelation. For example, the prince-bishops of the European Middle Ages, where the bishop was also the temporal ruler. Such a state may use the administrative hierarchy of the religion for its own administration, or it may have two 'arms' — administrators and clergy — but with the state administrative hierarchy subordinate to the religious hierarchy. The papacy in the Papal States occupied a middle ground between theocracy and ecclesiocracy, since the pope did not claim he was a prophet who received revelation from God and translated it into civil law.
Religiously endorsed monarchies fall between these two poles, according to the relative strengths of the religious and political organs.
Theocracy is distinguished from other, secular forms of government that have a state religion, or are influenced by theological or moral concepts, and monarchies held "By the Grace of God". In the most common usage of the term, some civil rulers are leaders of the dominant religion (e.g., the Byzantine emperor as patron and defender of the official Church); the government proclaims it rules on behalf of God or a higher power, as specified by the local religion, and divine approval of government institutions and laws. These characteristics apply also to a caesaropapist regime. The Byzantine Empire however was not theocratic since the patriarch answered to the emperor, not vice versa; similarly in Tudor England the crown forced the church to break away from Rome so the royal (and, especially later, parliamentary) power could assume full control of the now Anglican hierarchy and confiscate most church property and income.
Secular governments can also co-exist with a state religion or delegate some aspects of civil law to religious communities. For example, in Israel marriage is governed by officially recognized religious bodies who each provide marriage services for their respected adherents, yet no form of civil marriage (free of religion, for atheists, for example) exists nor marriage by non-recognized minority religions. India similarly delegates control of marriage and some other civil matters to the religious communities, in large part as a way of accommodating its Muslim minority.[citation needed]
Etymology[edit]
The word theocracy originates from the Greek θεοκρατία meaning "the rule of God". This in turn derives from θεός (theos), meaning "god", and κρατέω (krateo), meaning "to rule." Thus the meaning of the word in Greek was "rule by god(s)" or human incarnation(s) of god(s).
The term was initially coined by Flavius Josephus in the first century A.D. to describe the characteristic government of the Jews. Josephus argued that while mankind had developed many forms of rule, most could be subsumed under the following three types: monarchy, oligarchy, and democracy. The government of the Jews, however, was unique. Josephus offered the term "theocracy" to describe this polity, ordained by Moses, in which God is sovereign and his word is law.[7]
Josephus' definition was widely accepted until the Enlightenment era, when the term started to collect more universalistic[clarification needed] and negative connotations, especially in Hegel's hands. The first recorded English use was in 1622, with the meaning "sacerdotal government under divine inspiration" (as in Biblical Israel before the rise of kings); the meaning "priestly or religious body wielding political and civil power" is recorded from 1825.
Current theocracies[edit]
Christian theocracies[edit]
Holy See (Vatican City)[edit]
Main article: Politics of Vatican City
Following the Capture of Rome on 20 September 1870, the Papal States including Rome with the Vatican were annexed by the Kingdom of Italy. In 1929, with the Lateran Treaty signed with the Italian Government, the new state of Vatican City (population 842) - with no connection with the former Papal States [8]- was formally created and recognized as an independent state.[9] The head of state of the Vatican is the pope, elected by the College of Cardinals, an assembly of Senatorial-princes of the Church, who are usually clerics, appointed as Ordinaries, but in the past have also included men who were not bishops nor clerics.[9] A pope is elected for life, and either dies or may resign.
Voting is limited to cardinals under 80 years of age.[9] A Secretary for Relations with States, directly responsible for international relations, is appointed by the pope. The Vatican legal system is rooted in canon law but ultimately is decided by the pope; the Bishop of Rome as the Supreme Pontiff, "has the fullness of legislative, executive and judicial powers."[10] Although the laws of Vatican City come from the secular laws of Italy, under article 3 of the Law of the Sources of the Law, provision is made for the supplementary application of the “laws promulgated by the Kingdom of Italy.”[11] The government of the Vatican can also be considered an ecclesiocracy (ruled by the Church).
Islamic states or Islamic theocracies[edit]
Main articles: Islamic state and Sharia
An Islamic state is a state that has adopted Islam, specifically Sharia, as its foundations for political institutions, or laws, exclusively, and has implemented the Islamic ruling system khilafah (Arabic: خلافة), and is therefore a theocracy. Although there is much debate as to which states or groups operate strictly according to Islamic Law, Sharia is the official basis for state laws in the following countries: Afghanistan, Iran, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. In Nigeria, the constitution provides that states may elect to use Shari'a laws and courts, though non-Muslims are not required in any state to submit to Shari'a jurisdiction and adherence varies by state.[12]
Saudi Arabia maintains religious courts for all aspects of law and has religious police to maintain social compliance.
Pakistan has Islam as its only official religion and its Federal Shariat Court has the duty of striking down any law not complying with the Sharia code of Islamic law; however, ruling falls upon legal scholars who, while required to be Muslim, are not religious clerics.
Iran[edit]
The Islamic Republic of Iran has been described as a "theocratic republic" (by the US Central Intelligence Agency),[13] and its constitution a "hybrid" of "theocratic and democratic elements" by Francis Fukuyama.[14] Like other Islamic states, it maintains religious laws and has religious courts to interpret all aspects of law. According to Iran's constitution, "all civil, penal financial, economic, administrative, cultural, military, political, and other laws and regulations must be based on Islamic criteria."[15]
In addition, Iran has a religious ruler and many religious officials in powerful government posts. The head of state, or "Supreme Leader", is a faqih[16] (scholar of Islamic law), and possesses more power than Iran's president. The Leader appoints the heads of many powerful posts: the commanders of the armed forces, the director of the national radio and television network, the heads of the powerful major religious foundations, the chief judge, the chief prosecutor, special tribunals, and members of national security councils dealing with defence and foreign affairs. He also co-appoints the 12 jurists of the Guardian Council.[17]
The Leader is elected by the Assembly of Experts[13][18] which is made up of mujtahids,[19] who are Islamic scholars competent in interpreting Sharia.
Another body, the Council of Guardians, has the power to veto bills from majlis (parliament), approve or disapprove candidates who wish to run for high office (president, majlis, the Assembly of Experts). The council supervises elections, and can greenlight or ban investigations into the election process.[13] Six of the Guardians (half the council) are faqih empowered to approve or veto all bills from the majlis (parliament) according to whether the faqih believe them to be in accordance with Islamic law and customs (Sharia). The other six members are lawyers appointed by the head of the judiciary (who is also a cleric and also appointed by the Leader).[20]
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant[edit]
Some publishers have described the group founded by Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, as theocratic.[21]
Central Tibetan Administration[edit]
The Central Tibetan Administration, colloquially known as the Tibetan government in exile, is a Tibetan exile organisation with a state-like internal structure. According to its charter, the position of head of state of the Central Tibetan Administration belongs ex officio to the current Dalai Lama, a religious hierarch. In this respect, it continues the traditions of the former government of Tibet, which was ruled by the Dalai Lamas and their ministers, with a specific role reserved for a class of monk officials.
On March 14, 2011, at the 14th Dalai Lama's suggestion, the parliament of the Central Tibetan Administration began considering a proposal to remove the Dalai Lama's role as head of state in favor of an elected leader.
The first directly elected Kalön Tripa was Samdhong Rinpoche, who was elected August 20, 2001.[22]
Before 2011, the Kalön Tripa position was subordinate to the 14th Dalai Lama[23] who presided over the government in exile from its founding.[24] In August of that year, Lobsang Sangay polled 55 per cent votes out of 49,189, defeating his nearest rival Tethong Tenzin Namgyal by 8,646 votes,[citation needed] becoming the second popularly-elected Kalon Tripa. The Dalai Lama announced that his political authority would be transferred to Sangay.[25]
Change to Sikyong[edit]
On September 20, 2012, the 15th Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile unanimously voted to change the title of Kalön Tripa to Sikyong in Article 19 of the Charter of the Tibetans in exile and relevant articles.[26] The Dalai Lama had previously referred to the Kalon Tripa as Sikyong, and this usage was cited as the primary justification for the name change. According to Tibetan Review, "Sikyong" translates to "political leader", as distinct from "spiritual leader".[27] Foreign affairs Kalon Dicki Chhoyang stated that the term "Sikyong" has had a precedent dating back to the 7th Dalai Lama, and that the name change "ensures historical continuity and legitimacy of the traditional leadership from the fifth Dalai Lama".[28] The online Dharma Dictionary translates sikyong (srid skyong) as "secular ruler; regime, regent."[29] The title sikyong had previously been used by regents who ruled Tibet during the Dalai Lama's minority.
States with official state religion[edit]
Main article: State religion
Having a state religion is not sufficient to be a theocracy in the narrow sense. Many countries have a state religion without the government directly deriving its powers from a divine authority or a religious authority directly exercising governmental powers. Since the narrow sense has few instances in the modern world, the more common usage is the wider sense of an enforced state religion.
Historic states with theocratic aspects[edit]
See also: Imperial cult
Buddhism[edit]
Unified religious rule in Tibet began in 1642, when the Fifth Dalai Lama allied with the military power of the Mongol Gushri Khan to consolidate the political power and center control around his office as head of the Gelug school.[30] This form of government is known as the dual system of government. Prior to 1642, particular monasteries and monks had held considerable power throughout Tibet, but had not achieved anything approaching complete control, though power continued to be held in a diffuse, feudal system after the ascension of the Fifth Dalai Lama. Power in Tibet was held by a number of traditional elites, including members of the nobility, the heads of the major Buddhist sects (including their various tulkus), and various large and influential monastic communities.[31]
Political power was sometimes used by monastic leaders to suppress rival religious schools through the confiscation of property and direct violence.[30][32] Social mobility was somewhat possible through the attainment of a monastic education, or recognition as a reincarnated teacher, but such institutions were dominated by the traditional elites and governed by political intrigue.[31] Non-Buddhists in Tibet were members of an outcast underclass.[31]
The Bogd Khaanate period of Mongolia (1911-1919) is also cited as a former Buddhist theocracy.
China[edit]
Further information: Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors and Chinese emperor
Similar to the Roman Emperor, the Chinese sovereign was historically held to be the Son of Heaven however from the first historical Emperor on, this was largely ceremonial and tradition quickly established it as a posthumous dignity. like the Roman institution. The situation before Qin Shi Huang Di is less clear.
The Shang dynasty essentially functioned as a theocracy, declaring the ruling family the sons of heaven and calling the chief sky god Shangdi after a word for their deceased ancestors.[33] After their overthrow by the Zhou, the royal clan of Shang were not eliminated but instead moved to a ceremonial capital where they were charged to continue the performance of their rituals.
The titles combined by Shi Huangdi to form his new title of emperor were originally applied to god-like beings who ordered the heavens and earth and to culture heroes credited with the invention of agriculture, clothing, music, astrology, &c. Even after the fall of Qin, an emperor's words were considered sacred edicts (聖旨) and his written proclamations "directives from above" (上諭).
As a result, some Sinologists translate the title huangdi (usually rendered "emperor") as thearch. The term properly refers to the head of a thearchy (a kingdom of gods), but the more accurate "theocrat" carries associations of a strong priesthood that would be generally inaccurate in describing imperial China. Others reserve the use of "thearch" to describe the legendary figures of Chinese prehistory while continuing to use "emperor" to describe historical rulers.[33]
In the Byzantine Empire (324-1453 AD) the Emperor was the head of civil society. He also exercised authority over the ecclesiastical authorities, or patriarchates. The emperor was considered to be God's omnipotent representative on earth and he ruled as an absolute autocrat.[34]
Geneva under John Calvin's influence and the Massachusetts Bay Colony of the "Puritans" had many characteristics of Protestant theocracies.
The short reign (1494–1498) of Girolamo Savonarola, a Dominican priest, over the city of Florence had features of a theocracy. During his rule, "un-Christian" books, statues, poetry, and other items were burned (in the Bonfire of the Vanities), sodomy was made a capital offense, and other Christian practices became law.
Although having a lay ruler (the King of Jerusalem) the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem (1099-1299) is considered to have some theocratic influences.
Also the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell as Lord Protector is also considered to have a considerable amount of theocratic influence.
In 1578, following the death of all other male members of the House of Aviz, the Cardinal-Infante dom Henrique, became the Cardinal-King Henry I of Portugal. For the first time, the leadership of the local Church and of the kingdom's government was joined in the same person. He died in 1580 separating again these two leaderships.
The Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace in 1860s Qing China was a heterodox Christian theocracy led by a person who said that he was the younger brother of Jesus Christ, Hong Xiuquan. This theocratic state fought one of the most destructive wars in history, the Taiping Rebellion, against the Qing Dynasty for fifteen years before being crushed following the fall of the rebel capital Nanjing.
Islam[edit]
Main article: Caliphate
The Sunni branch of Islam stipulates that, as a head of state, a Caliph should be elected by Muslims or their representatives. Followers of Shia Islam, however, believe a Caliph should be an Imam chosen by God from the Ahl al-Bayt (the "Family of the House", Muhammad's direct descendants).
Montenegro[edit]
Prince-Bishopric of Montenegro offers a singular example of monarchs willingly turning their power to ecclesiastic authority (Serbian Orthodox), as the last of the House of Crnojević (styled Grand Voivode, not sovereign princes) did, in order to preserve national unity before the Ottoman onslaught as a separate millet under an autochthonous ethnarch. When Montenegro re-established secular dynastic succession by the proclamation of princedom in 1851, it did so in favor of the last Prince-bishop, who changed his style from Vladika i upravitelj Crne Gore i Brde "Vladika (Bishop) and Ruler of Montenegro and Brda" to Po Bozjoj milosti knjaz i gospodar Crne Gore i Brde "By the grace of God Prince and Sovereign of Montenegro and Brda", thus rendering his de facto dynasty (the Petrović-Njegoš family since 1696) a hereditary one.
United States (Deseret)[edit]
Main article: State of Deseret
See also: Theodemocracy
Another ecclesiocracy was the administration of the short-lived State of Deseret,[35] an independent entity briefly organized in the Western United States by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Its original borders stretched from western Colorado to the southern California coast. When the Mormons arrived in the valley of the Great Salt Lake in 1847, the Great Basin was still a part of Mexico and had no secular government. As a result, Brigham Young administered the region both spiritually and temporally through the highly organized and centralized Melchizedek Priesthood. This original organization was based upon a concept called theodemocracy, a governmental system combining Biblical theocracy with mid-19th-century American political ideals, including heavy reliance upon the U.S. Constitution.
The treaty of Guadalupe Hildalgo resulted in the Mexican Cession by which Deseret was incorporated into the United States. In 1849, the Saints organized a secular government in Utah, although many ecclesiastical leaders maintained their positions of secular power. The Mormons also petitioned Congress to have Deseret admitted into the Union as a state. However, under the Compromise of 1850, Utah Territory was created and Brigham Young was appointed governor. In this situation, Young still stood as head of the LDS Church as well as Utah's secular government.
After the abortive Utah War of 1857–1858, the replacement of Young by an outside Federal Territorial Governor, the eventual resolution of controversies regarding plural marriage, and accession by Utah to statehood, the apparent temporal aspects of LDS theodemocracy receded markedly. However, — like many Christians, Jews, and Muslims — Latter-day Saints regard some form of theocracy with God as the head (king) of a chiliastic world government to be the true political ideal.[citation needed] But, until the Second Coming of Christ, the Mormons teach in their 12th Article of Faith: submission to the powers that be. But true to their beliefs in individual liberty and moral accountability, they exhibit a strong preference for democratic-republican, representative government as embodied in the Constitution of the United States.
Western Antiquity[edit]
Further information: Imperial cult, State church of the Roman Empire and Israelites
The imperial cults in Ancient Egypt and the Roman Empire, as well as numerous other monarchies, deified the ruling monarch. The state religion was often dedicated to the worship of the ruler as a deity, or the incarnation thereof.
Early Israel was ruled by Judges before instituting a monarchy. The Judges were believed to be representatives of YHVH Yahweh (in Latin, Jehovah).
In ancient and medieval Christianity, Caesaropapism is the doctrine where a head of state is at the same time the head of the church.
Zoroastrianism[edit]
During the Achaemenid Empire, Zoroastrianism was the state religion and included formalized worship. The Persian kings were known to be pious Zoroastrians and also ruled with a Zoroastrian form of law called asha. However, Cyrus the Great, who founded the empire, avoided imposing the Zoroastrian faith on the inhabitants of conquered territory. Cyrus's kindness towards Jews has been cited as sparking Zoroastrian influence on Judaism.
Under the Seleucids, Zoroastrianism became autonomous. During the Sassanid period, the Zoroastrian calendar was reformed, image-use was banned, Fire Temples were increasingly built and intolerance towards other faiths prevailed.[36]
Fictional theocracies[edit]
Depictions of a fictional society dominated by a theocracy recur in science fiction, speculative fiction and fantasy. Such depictions are mostly dystopian, and in some cases humorous or satirical; positively presented theocracies are very much the exception.
Some fictional Theocracies are based on a future or alternate history development of actual religions, in others the religions depicted are wholly fictional.
The following table is sorted by time of publication (for series, time of earliest publication).
Literature[edit]

Title
Author
Publication date
Notes

Lost Horizon James Hilton 1937 Shangri La is a positive theocracy. 
If This Goes On—/Revolt in 2100 Robert Heinlein 1940, revised and expanded 1953  
Gather, Darkness Fritz Leiber 1943  
The Lovers Philip Jose Farmer 1952 novella, expanded to full length 1961, revised 1977 [2] 
A Woman a Day (also "Moth and Rust" and "The Day of Timestop") Philip Jose Farmer 1953 novella, expanded to full length 1960. Same universe as "The Lovers" 
Messiah Gore Vidal 1954 ISBN 0-14-118039-0 
The Long Tomorrow Leigh Brackett 1955  
The Chrysalids John Wyndham 1955  
The John Grimes novels A. Bertram Chandler 1950's and 1960's Include a rare positively depicted theocracy. On the world Tharn, the progressive priesthood of a religion resembling Buddhism actively promotes science and technology and confronts a cabal of reactionary robber barons. 
The Ballad of Beta-2 Samuel R. Delany 1965 A fanatic and oppressive theocracy growing up on generation ships engaged on a long interstellar voyage, causing the failure of their mission.([3]) 
Dune series Frank Herbert Started 1965, still continuing past Herbert's death  
Lord of Light Roger Zelazny 1967  
Small Gods Terry Pratchett 1992  
The Last Starship from Earth John Boyd 1968  
The Goblin Tower L. Sprague de Camp 1968 Episode set in the theocratic city-state of Tarxia 
The Stork Factor Zach Hughes 1975  
Run, Come See Jerusalem! Richard C. Meredith 1976 An Alternate United States defeats a Nazi Germany which came much closer to world domination than in our history, but in the aftermath falls under the power of a ruthless home-grown "Prophet". 
The Handmaid's Tale Margaret Atwood 1985 Set in a Christian dictatorship called "Republic of Gilead" in the post-apocalyptic ruins of the United States. 
Noninterference Harry Turtledove 1987 An illegal interference by Earth agents with a humanoid alien race inadvertently turns a local woman into an immortal, and she eventually becomes the revered Goddess of a planet-wide religion - but all is well, since she is a highly benevolent and good hearted person who makes only a positive use of her complete religious and secular power.[4] 
The Shield of Time Poul Anderson 1990 Alternate 20th Century Europe under total control of the Catholic Church, with all dissent immediately crushed by the Inquisition. 
Velgarth novels Mercedes Lackey 1994-2011 (so far) The land of Karse in ruled by a priesthood - in 's - in earlier appearances it is corrupt and oppressive, but later it is reformed and much improved by Solaris, the first woman to gain the combined religious and secular power in Karse. 
His Dark Materials Philip Pullman 1995-2000 A trilogy of fantasy novels, largely set in a world ruled by a theocracy known as the Magisterium. 
Candle/The Sky So Big and Black John Barnes 2000, 2003 The universal power over Humanity of the Artificial Intelligence known as One True can be loosely classed as a Theocracy. New York: Tor. ISBN 0-8125-8968-8/ISBN 0-7653-4222-7. 
The Peshawar Lancers S. M. Stirling 2002 The post-apocalyptic Russian Empire dominated by the Satanic, cannibalistic priests of Chernobog; Theocratic city-states in California. 
Emberverse series S. M. Stirling 2004-2014 (so far) The Church Universal and Triumphant, a highly malevolent force in the post-apocalyptic situation. 
The Accidental Time Machine Joe Haldeman 2007 Jesus Christ appears in the Oval Office and tells the President that the Second Coming is here - or so the President tells the nation that night. Some Americans doubt that it is really Jesus at the President's side. Jesus tells the President that heretics should be nuked. New York: Tor. ISBN 0-7653-4222-7 
Voyagers VI - The Return Ben Bova 2009 [5] 

Television/Anime[edit]

Title
Produced by
Date
Notes

Lexx Salter Street Films/Channel 5 (UK) 2000 The Light Universe is ruled by The Divine Order, including the collective consciousness of the current living His Divine Shadow and his Divine Predecessors 
Avatar the Last Airbender/Legend of Korra Nickelodeon 2005-2008, 2012-2014 Air Nomads, one of the four nations, has a Unitary Theocratic Senate from which came then-avatar and main Protagonist Aang born. In Sequel the Protagonist's first son Tenzin is now only first leader as 'Air Nation' and now under as Unitary Theocracy. 
Simoun Studio Deen/Comic Yuri Hime 2006 Follows the clergy, military, and government of a neither dystopian nor wholly positive Theocracy. 

Games[edit]

Title
Developed by
Date
Notes

Warhammer 40,000 Games Workshop 1987 The Imperium of Man, administered by the High Lords of Terra in the God-Emperor's name. 
Halo series Bungie 2001-2010 The alien alliance known as "the Covenant". 
Age of Mythology Ensemble Studios 2002 Atlantis is said to be governed by a Theocrat. The politics are not explored, however, and it is not stated how the Theocrat kept himself in power when the gods abandoned the civilization in the expansion pack's campaign. 
EVE Online CCP Games 2003 The Amarr Empire 
Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones Nintendo 2004 Pontifex Mansel leads the Theocracy of Rausten. 
Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance Nintendo 2005 Begnion is a theocracy worshipping the goddess Ashera. It is ruled by Apostle Sanaki. 
Sims Medieval Electronic Arts 2011 Yacothia, a Theocratic city-state, is the holy city/birthplace of Jacobanism, as it's the birthplace of prophet Jacob and the home of the Proxy, run by a High Priest or Priestess. Its military consists of a famous order of Jacoban paladins known as Jacob's Sword. 
Bioshock Infinite Irrational Games 2013 In the floating city of Columbia, Zachary Hale Comstock leads a single-party theocratic dictatorship based on the Founding Fathers of the United States and Himself under title as "Prophet of Columbia" and later Her "Daughter" Elizabeth as "Lamb of Columbia". 

See also[edit]
Christian: Christian Reconstructionism
Divine Right of Kings
Dominionism
National Catholicism
Temporal power (papal)
Theonomy
Islamic: Iranian Revolution
Islamic banking
Islamic republic
Islamic state
Islamism
Political aspects of Islam
Religious police
Qutbism
Taliban
Wahhabi
Other: Khalistan
Shinto (Japan)
State religion
Fictional: Religion in science fiction

References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ "Theocracy; Dictionary – Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary". Merriam-webster.com. 2007-04-25. Retrieved 2009-08-10.
2.Jump up ^ "Theocracy - The rule of law is derived from religious doctrine and its decrees are absolute. This type of government is evidenced by a strict Islamic state (a rule of law under the religious code of the Islamic religion)."
3.Jump up ^ "theocracy - Rule by religion. A government that is based on theistic beliefs. Iran is a theocracy. As well was ancient India, in some forms of Hinduism."
4.Jump up ^ Catholic Encyclopedia "A form of civil government in which God himself is recognized as the head."
5.Jump up ^ English form the 17th century (OED). The Greek term is explicitly coined by Josephus and isn't attested elsewhere in Ancient Greek; Josephus marks it as a nonce coinage by calling it a "strained expression". W. Whiston tr. Josephus, Against Apion ii. §17 (1814) IV. 340: "He [Moses] ordained our government to be what, by a strained expression, may be termed a Theocracy", translating ὡς δ'ἄν τίς εἴποι, βιασάμενος τὸν λόγον, θεοκρατίαν
6.Jump up ^ Stephen Palmquist, Biblical Theocracy: A vision of the biblical foundations for a Christian political philosophy (Hong Kong: Philopsychy Press, 1993), introduced these more precise uses of the terms in arguing that theocracy (in this pure sense) is the only political system defended in the Bible. While Palmquist defends theocracy in this pure form as a viable (though "non-political") political system, he warns that what normally goes by this name is actually ecclesiocracy, the most dangerous of all political systems.
7.Jump up ^ Flavius Josephus, Against Apion, Book II, Chapter 17
8.Jump up ^ Vitalone, Alessia (2007). "Il Pontefice sovrano dello Stato della Città del Vaticano". Diritto e religioni (Luigi Pellegrini Editore) II (1): 313. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
9.^ Jump up to: a b c "CIA World Factbook – Holy See". Cia.gov. Retrieved 2009-08-10.
10.Jump up ^ Fundamental Law of Vatican City State, Art. 1 §1
11.Jump up ^ http://www.nyulawglobal.org/globalex/vatican.htm
12.Jump up ^ "International Religious Freedom Report 2006: Nigeria". Bureau of Democracy, Human rights and Labor. Retrieved 28 August 2012.
13.^ Jump up to: a b c "CIA World Factbook – Iran". Cia.gov. Retrieved 2009-08-10.
14.Jump up ^ While articles One and Two vest sovereignty in God, article six "mandates popular elections for the presidency and the Majlis, or parliament." source: JULY 27, 2009, Iran, Islam and the Rule of Law. FRANCIS FUKUYAMA
15.Jump up ^ "ICL - Iran - Constitution". International Constitutional Law (ICL). 24 October 1979. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
16.Jump up ^ article 109 of the constitution states the among the "essential qualifications and conditions for the Leader" are "scholarship, as required for performing the functions of mufti in different fields of fiqh" Chapter 8 - The Leader or Leadership Council Constitution of Iran
17.Jump up ^ "Who's in Charge?" by Ervand Abrahamian London Review of Books, 6 November 2008
18.Jump up ^ Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Articles 107-112.
19.Jump up ^ "Understanding Iran's Assembly of Experts" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-07-28.
20.Jump up ^ Constitution of Iran, Article 157: In order to fulfill the responsibilities of the judiciary power in all the matters concerning judiciary, administrative and executive areas, the Leader shall appoint a just Mujtahid well versed in judiciary affairs and possessing prudence, and administrative abilities
21.Jump up ^ The ISIS Crisis: What You Really Need to Know, Mark . Tobey - 2015 ch. 6 r. 13
22.Jump up ^ Donovan Roebert, Samdhong Rinpoche: Uncompromising Truth for a Compromised World (World Wisdom, 2006) ISBN 978-1-933316-20-8 (On August 20, 2001, Venerable Professor Samdhong Rinpoche was elected Kalon Tripa (Prime Minister) of the Tibetan Government in Exile, receiving 84.5% of the popular exile vote.)
23.Jump up ^ The Charter of Tibetans in-Exile, Article 20 of the Constitution of Tibet, retrieved 2010-03-19.
24.Jump up ^ The Charter of Tibetans in-Exile, Articles 19, 30, & 31 of the Constitution of Tibet, retrieved 2010-03-19.
25.Jump up ^ Dean Nelson Lobsang Sangay: profile, The Telegraph, 08 Aug 2011
26.Jump up ^ Tibetan Parliament changes 'Kalon Tripa' to 'Sikyong'
27.Jump up ^ "Kalon Tripa to be now referred to as Sikyong". Tibetan Review. 2012-09-22. Retrieved 2012-12-11.
28.Jump up ^ "International Support Groups Meet in Dharamsala to Deal with Critical Situation In Tibet". Central Tibetan Administration. 2012-11-16.
29.Jump up ^ [1]
30.^ Jump up to: a b Davidson, Ronald M. (2004). "Tibet". In Buswell, Jr., Robert E. Macmillan Encyclopedia of Buddhism. USA: Macmillan Reference USA. pp. 851–859. ISBN 0-02-865910-4.
31.^ Jump up to: a b c Lopez, Donald S. (1998). Prisoners of Shangri-La: Tibetan Buddhism and the West. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. p. 9. ISBN 0-226-49311-3.
32.Jump up ^ "Friendly Feudalism – The Tibet Myth". Michaelparenti.org. Retrieved 2009-08-10.[dead link]
33.^ Jump up to: a b Nadeau, Randall L. The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Chinese Religions, pp. 54 ff. John Wiley & Sons (Chichester), 2012. Accessed 22 December 2013.
34.Jump up ^ The Byzantine Theocracy: Steven Runciman
35.Jump up ^ Deseret utah.gov
36.Jump up ^ Zoroastrianism under Persian rule retrieved 5 January 2012
Further reading[edit]
Ankerl, Guy (2000). Global communication without universal civilization. INU societal research, vol. 1: Coexisting contemporary civilizations: Arabo-Muslim, Bharati, Chinese, and Western. Geneva: INU Press. ISBN 2-88155-004-5.
Hirschl, Ran. Constitutional Theocracy. Harvard University Press, 2010. ISBN 0-674-04819-9, 978-0-674-04819-5.
External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has quotations related to: Theocracy
 Look up theocracy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Biblical Theocracy, etext of a book by Stephen Palmquist (Philopsychy Press, 1993).
Caliphate: The Future of Islamic Theocracy
Dominionism, sacralism and theocracy - Rachel Tabachnik, Dr. John MacArthur, Dr. Martin Erdmann, Rudolf Ebertshäuser, Sarah Leslie, Discernment Ministries Inc. u.v.m, Eds (English + German)
Dr. Martin Erdmann journalist and theologian. Book: Building the Kingdom of God on Earth (English)
Dr. Martin Erdmann journalist and theologian. Book: Der Griff zur Macht - Dominionismus der evangelikale Weg zu globalem Einfluss (German)
EtymologyOnLine
First Things, August/September 2006, p. 23-30 – Theocracy, Theocracy, Theocracy
Freedom of Religion in Israel
Is Judaism a Theocracy? chabad.org


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Theocracy

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For other uses, see Theocracy (disambiguation).



Cæsar Augustus as Jove incarnate. The Roman Empire was, before Constantine, a quasi-theocracy. Opinion in both late antiquity and later history, however, regards negatively Emperors, such as Caligula and Domitian, who assumed that dignity in life.[citation needed] By contrast, each Pharaoh of Egypt, as Horus incarnate, son of Amun-Ra, Osiris in death, etc. (as in other cultures) was held to be a living god.
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Theocracy is a form of government in which clergy have sovereignty over a territory and official policy is either governed by officials regarded as divinely guided, or is pursuant to the doctrine of a particular religion or religious group.[1][2][3]


Contents  [hide]
1 Synopsis
2 Etymology
3 Current theocracies 3.1 Christian theocracies 3.1.1 Holy See (Vatican City)
3.2 Islamic states or Islamic theocracies 3.2.1 Iran
3.2.2 Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
3.3 Central Tibetan Administration 3.3.1 Change to Sikyong
3.4 States with official state religion
4 Historic states with theocratic aspects 4.1 Buddhism
4.2 China
4.3 Islam
4.4 Montenegro
4.5 United States (Deseret)
4.6 Western Antiquity
4.7 Zoroastrianism
5 Fictional theocracies 5.1 Literature
5.2 Television/Anime
5.3 Games
6 See also
7 References
8 Further reading
9 External links

Synopsis[edit]
A theocracy is a form in which the deity is considered immediate authority. The word comes from the Greek words θεός (Theos), "God", and κρατία (kratia), "power, strength", and means "rule of God." In some religions, the king was regarded as the son of god. When religions with a "holy book," it is used as a direct message from God. Today, there is also a form of government called it, where clerics have the power. From the perspective of the theocratic government, "God himself is recognized as the head" of the state,[4] hence the term theocracy, from the Koine Greek θεοκρατία "rule of God", a term used by Josephus for the kingdoms of Israel and Judah.[5]
Taken literally or strictly, theocracy means rule by God or gods and refers primarily to an internal "rule of the heart", especially in its biblical application. The common, generic use of the term, as defined above in terms of rule by a church or analogous religious leadership, would be more accurately described as an ecclesiocracy.[6]
In a pure theocracy, the civil leader is believed to have a personal connection with the civilization's religion or belief. For example, Moses led the Israelites, and Muhammad ruled the early Muslims. Law proclaimed by the ruler is also considered a divine revelation, and hence the law of God. An ecclesiocracy, on the other hand, is a situation where the religious leaders assume a leading role in the state, but do not claim that they are instruments of divine revelation. For example, the prince-bishops of the European Middle Ages, where the bishop was also the temporal ruler. Such a state may use the administrative hierarchy of the religion for its own administration, or it may have two 'arms' — administrators and clergy — but with the state administrative hierarchy subordinate to the religious hierarchy. The papacy in the Papal States occupied a middle ground between theocracy and ecclesiocracy, since the pope did not claim he was a prophet who received revelation from God and translated it into civil law.
Religiously endorsed monarchies fall between these two poles, according to the relative strengths of the religious and political organs.
Theocracy is distinguished from other, secular forms of government that have a state religion, or are influenced by theological or moral concepts, and monarchies held "By the Grace of God". In the most common usage of the term, some civil rulers are leaders of the dominant religion (e.g., the Byzantine emperor as patron and defender of the official Church); the government proclaims it rules on behalf of God or a higher power, as specified by the local religion, and divine approval of government institutions and laws. These characteristics apply also to a caesaropapist regime. The Byzantine Empire however was not theocratic since the patriarch answered to the emperor, not vice versa; similarly in Tudor England the crown forced the church to break away from Rome so the royal (and, especially later, parliamentary) power could assume full control of the now Anglican hierarchy and confiscate most church property and income.
Secular governments can also co-exist with a state religion or delegate some aspects of civil law to religious communities. For example, in Israel marriage is governed by officially recognized religious bodies who each provide marriage services for their respected adherents, yet no form of civil marriage (free of religion, for atheists, for example) exists nor marriage by non-recognized minority religions. India similarly delegates control of marriage and some other civil matters to the religious communities, in large part as a way of accommodating its Muslim minority.[citation needed]
Etymology[edit]
The word theocracy originates from the Greek θεοκρατία meaning "the rule of God". This in turn derives from θεός (theos), meaning "god", and κρατέω (krateo), meaning "to rule." Thus the meaning of the word in Greek was "rule by god(s)" or human incarnation(s) of god(s).
The term was initially coined by Flavius Josephus in the first century A.D. to describe the characteristic government of the Jews. Josephus argued that while mankind had developed many forms of rule, most could be subsumed under the following three types: monarchy, oligarchy, and democracy. The government of the Jews, however, was unique. Josephus offered the term "theocracy" to describe this polity, ordained by Moses, in which God is sovereign and his word is law.[7]
Josephus' definition was widely accepted until the Enlightenment era, when the term started to collect more universalistic[clarification needed] and negative connotations, especially in Hegel's hands. The first recorded English use was in 1622, with the meaning "sacerdotal government under divine inspiration" (as in Biblical Israel before the rise of kings); the meaning "priestly or religious body wielding political and civil power" is recorded from 1825.
Current theocracies[edit]
Christian theocracies[edit]
Holy See (Vatican City)[edit]
Main article: Politics of Vatican City
Following the Capture of Rome on 20 September 1870, the Papal States including Rome with the Vatican were annexed by the Kingdom of Italy. In 1929, with the Lateran Treaty signed with the Italian Government, the new state of Vatican City (population 842) - with no connection with the former Papal States [8]- was formally created and recognized as an independent state.[9] The head of state of the Vatican is the pope, elected by the College of Cardinals, an assembly of Senatorial-princes of the Church, who are usually clerics, appointed as Ordinaries, but in the past have also included men who were not bishops nor clerics.[9] A pope is elected for life, and either dies or may resign.
Voting is limited to cardinals under 80 years of age.[9] A Secretary for Relations with States, directly responsible for international relations, is appointed by the pope. The Vatican legal system is rooted in canon law but ultimately is decided by the pope; the Bishop of Rome as the Supreme Pontiff, "has the fullness of legislative, executive and judicial powers."[10] Although the laws of Vatican City come from the secular laws of Italy, under article 3 of the Law of the Sources of the Law, provision is made for the supplementary application of the “laws promulgated by the Kingdom of Italy.”[11] The government of the Vatican can also be considered an ecclesiocracy (ruled by the Church).
Islamic states or Islamic theocracies[edit]
Main articles: Islamic state and Sharia
An Islamic state is a state that has adopted Islam, specifically Sharia, as its foundations for political institutions, or laws, exclusively, and has implemented the Islamic ruling system khilafah (Arabic: خلافة), and is therefore a theocracy. Although there is much debate as to which states or groups operate strictly according to Islamic Law, Sharia is the official basis for state laws in the following countries: Afghanistan, Iran, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. In Nigeria, the constitution provides that states may elect to use Shari'a laws and courts, though non-Muslims are not required in any state to submit to Shari'a jurisdiction and adherence varies by state.[12]
Saudi Arabia maintains religious courts for all aspects of law and has religious police to maintain social compliance.
Pakistan has Islam as its only official religion and its Federal Shariat Court has the duty of striking down any law not complying with the Sharia code of Islamic law; however, ruling falls upon legal scholars who, while required to be Muslim, are not religious clerics.
Iran[edit]
The Islamic Republic of Iran has been described as a "theocratic republic" (by the US Central Intelligence Agency),[13] and its constitution a "hybrid" of "theocratic and democratic elements" by Francis Fukuyama.[14] Like other Islamic states, it maintains religious laws and has religious courts to interpret all aspects of law. According to Iran's constitution, "all civil, penal financial, economic, administrative, cultural, military, political, and other laws and regulations must be based on Islamic criteria."[15]
In addition, Iran has a religious ruler and many religious officials in powerful government posts. The head of state, or "Supreme Leader", is a faqih[16] (scholar of Islamic law), and possesses more power than Iran's president. The Leader appoints the heads of many powerful posts: the commanders of the armed forces, the director of the national radio and television network, the heads of the powerful major religious foundations, the chief judge, the chief prosecutor, special tribunals, and members of national security councils dealing with defence and foreign affairs. He also co-appoints the 12 jurists of the Guardian Council.[17]
The Leader is elected by the Assembly of Experts[13][18] which is made up of mujtahids,[19] who are Islamic scholars competent in interpreting Sharia.
Another body, the Council of Guardians, has the power to veto bills from majlis (parliament), approve or disapprove candidates who wish to run for high office (president, majlis, the Assembly of Experts). The council supervises elections, and can greenlight or ban investigations into the election process.[13] Six of the Guardians (half the council) are faqih empowered to approve or veto all bills from the majlis (parliament) according to whether the faqih believe them to be in accordance with Islamic law and customs (Sharia). The other six members are lawyers appointed by the head of the judiciary (who is also a cleric and also appointed by the Leader).[20]
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant[edit]
Some publishers have described the group founded by Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, as theocratic.[21]
Central Tibetan Administration[edit]
The Central Tibetan Administration, colloquially known as the Tibetan government in exile, is a Tibetan exile organisation with a state-like internal structure. According to its charter, the position of head of state of the Central Tibetan Administration belongs ex officio to the current Dalai Lama, a religious hierarch. In this respect, it continues the traditions of the former government of Tibet, which was ruled by the Dalai Lamas and their ministers, with a specific role reserved for a class of monk officials.
On March 14, 2011, at the 14th Dalai Lama's suggestion, the parliament of the Central Tibetan Administration began considering a proposal to remove the Dalai Lama's role as head of state in favor of an elected leader.
The first directly elected Kalön Tripa was Samdhong Rinpoche, who was elected August 20, 2001.[22]
Before 2011, the Kalön Tripa position was subordinate to the 14th Dalai Lama[23] who presided over the government in exile from its founding.[24] In August of that year, Lobsang Sangay polled 55 per cent votes out of 49,189, defeating his nearest rival Tethong Tenzin Namgyal by 8,646 votes,[citation needed] becoming the second popularly-elected Kalon Tripa. The Dalai Lama announced that his political authority would be transferred to Sangay.[25]
Change to Sikyong[edit]
On September 20, 2012, the 15th Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile unanimously voted to change the title of Kalön Tripa to Sikyong in Article 19 of the Charter of the Tibetans in exile and relevant articles.[26] The Dalai Lama had previously referred to the Kalon Tripa as Sikyong, and this usage was cited as the primary justification for the name change. According to Tibetan Review, "Sikyong" translates to "political leader", as distinct from "spiritual leader".[27] Foreign affairs Kalon Dicki Chhoyang stated that the term "Sikyong" has had a precedent dating back to the 7th Dalai Lama, and that the name change "ensures historical continuity and legitimacy of the traditional leadership from the fifth Dalai Lama".[28] The online Dharma Dictionary translates sikyong (srid skyong) as "secular ruler; regime, regent."[29] The title sikyong had previously been used by regents who ruled Tibet during the Dalai Lama's minority.
States with official state religion[edit]
Main article: State religion
Having a state religion is not sufficient to be a theocracy in the narrow sense. Many countries have a state religion without the government directly deriving its powers from a divine authority or a religious authority directly exercising governmental powers. Since the narrow sense has few instances in the modern world, the more common usage is the wider sense of an enforced state religion.
Historic states with theocratic aspects[edit]
See also: Imperial cult
Buddhism[edit]
Unified religious rule in Tibet began in 1642, when the Fifth Dalai Lama allied with the military power of the Mongol Gushri Khan to consolidate the political power and center control around his office as head of the Gelug school.[30] This form of government is known as the dual system of government. Prior to 1642, particular monasteries and monks had held considerable power throughout Tibet, but had not achieved anything approaching complete control, though power continued to be held in a diffuse, feudal system after the ascension of the Fifth Dalai Lama. Power in Tibet was held by a number of traditional elites, including members of the nobility, the heads of the major Buddhist sects (including their various tulkus), and various large and influential monastic communities.[31]
Political power was sometimes used by monastic leaders to suppress rival religious schools through the confiscation of property and direct violence.[30][32] Social mobility was somewhat possible through the attainment of a monastic education, or recognition as a reincarnated teacher, but such institutions were dominated by the traditional elites and governed by political intrigue.[31] Non-Buddhists in Tibet were members of an outcast underclass.[31]
The Bogd Khaanate period of Mongolia (1911-1919) is also cited as a former Buddhist theocracy.
China[edit]
Further information: Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors and Chinese emperor
Similar to the Roman Emperor, the Chinese sovereign was historically held to be the Son of Heaven however from the first historical Emperor on, this was largely ceremonial and tradition quickly established it as a posthumous dignity. like the Roman institution. The situation before Qin Shi Huang Di is less clear.
The Shang dynasty essentially functioned as a theocracy, declaring the ruling family the sons of heaven and calling the chief sky god Shangdi after a word for their deceased ancestors.[33] After their overthrow by the Zhou, the royal clan of Shang were not eliminated but instead moved to a ceremonial capital where they were charged to continue the performance of their rituals.
The titles combined by Shi Huangdi to form his new title of emperor were originally applied to god-like beings who ordered the heavens and earth and to culture heroes credited with the invention of agriculture, clothing, music, astrology, &c. Even after the fall of Qin, an emperor's words were considered sacred edicts (聖旨) and his written proclamations "directives from above" (上諭).
As a result, some Sinologists translate the title huangdi (usually rendered "emperor") as thearch. The term properly refers to the head of a thearchy (a kingdom of gods), but the more accurate "theocrat" carries associations of a strong priesthood that would be generally inaccurate in describing imperial China. Others reserve the use of "thearch" to describe the legendary figures of Chinese prehistory while continuing to use "emperor" to describe historical rulers.[33]
In the Byzantine Empire (324-1453 AD) the Emperor was the head of civil society. He also exercised authority over the ecclesiastical authorities, or patriarchates. The emperor was considered to be God's omnipotent representative on earth and he ruled as an absolute autocrat.[34]
Geneva under John Calvin's influence and the Massachusetts Bay Colony of the "Puritans" had many characteristics of Protestant theocracies.
The short reign (1494–1498) of Girolamo Savonarola, a Dominican priest, over the city of Florence had features of a theocracy. During his rule, "un-Christian" books, statues, poetry, and other items were burned (in the Bonfire of the Vanities), sodomy was made a capital offense, and other Christian practices became law.
Although having a lay ruler (the King of Jerusalem) the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem (1099-1299) is considered to have some theocratic influences.
Also the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell as Lord Protector is also considered to have a considerable amount of theocratic influence.
In 1578, following the death of all other male members of the House of Aviz, the Cardinal-Infante dom Henrique, became the Cardinal-King Henry I of Portugal. For the first time, the leadership of the local Church and of the kingdom's government was joined in the same person. He died in 1580 separating again these two leaderships.
The Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace in 1860s Qing China was a heterodox Christian theocracy led by a person who said that he was the younger brother of Jesus Christ, Hong Xiuquan. This theocratic state fought one of the most destructive wars in history, the Taiping Rebellion, against the Qing Dynasty for fifteen years before being crushed following the fall of the rebel capital Nanjing.
Islam[edit]
Main article: Caliphate
The Sunni branch of Islam stipulates that, as a head of state, a Caliph should be elected by Muslims or their representatives. Followers of Shia Islam, however, believe a Caliph should be an Imam chosen by God from the Ahl al-Bayt (the "Family of the House", Muhammad's direct descendants).
Montenegro[edit]
Prince-Bishopric of Montenegro offers a singular example of monarchs willingly turning their power to ecclesiastic authority (Serbian Orthodox), as the last of the House of Crnojević (styled Grand Voivode, not sovereign princes) did, in order to preserve national unity before the Ottoman onslaught as a separate millet under an autochthonous ethnarch. When Montenegro re-established secular dynastic succession by the proclamation of princedom in 1851, it did so in favor of the last Prince-bishop, who changed his style from Vladika i upravitelj Crne Gore i Brde "Vladika (Bishop) and Ruler of Montenegro and Brda" to Po Bozjoj milosti knjaz i gospodar Crne Gore i Brde "By the grace of God Prince and Sovereign of Montenegro and Brda", thus rendering his de facto dynasty (the Petrović-Njegoš family since 1696) a hereditary one.
United States (Deseret)[edit]
Main article: State of Deseret
See also: Theodemocracy
Another ecclesiocracy was the administration of the short-lived State of Deseret,[35] an independent entity briefly organized in the Western United States by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Its original borders stretched from western Colorado to the southern California coast. When the Mormons arrived in the valley of the Great Salt Lake in 1847, the Great Basin was still a part of Mexico and had no secular government. As a result, Brigham Young administered the region both spiritually and temporally through the highly organized and centralized Melchizedek Priesthood. This original organization was based upon a concept called theodemocracy, a governmental system combining Biblical theocracy with mid-19th-century American political ideals, including heavy reliance upon the U.S. Constitution.
The treaty of Guadalupe Hildalgo resulted in the Mexican Cession by which Deseret was incorporated into the United States. In 1849, the Saints organized a secular government in Utah, although many ecclesiastical leaders maintained their positions of secular power. The Mormons also petitioned Congress to have Deseret admitted into the Union as a state. However, under the Compromise of 1850, Utah Territory was created and Brigham Young was appointed governor. In this situation, Young still stood as head of the LDS Church as well as Utah's secular government.
After the abortive Utah War of 1857–1858, the replacement of Young by an outside Federal Territorial Governor, the eventual resolution of controversies regarding plural marriage, and accession by Utah to statehood, the apparent temporal aspects of LDS theodemocracy receded markedly. However, — like many Christians, Jews, and Muslims — Latter-day Saints regard some form of theocracy with God as the head (king) of a chiliastic world government to be the true political ideal.[citation needed] But, until the Second Coming of Christ, the Mormons teach in their 12th Article of Faith: submission to the powers that be. But true to their beliefs in individual liberty and moral accountability, they exhibit a strong preference for democratic-republican, representative government as embodied in the Constitution of the United States.
Western Antiquity[edit]
Further information: Imperial cult, State church of the Roman Empire and Israelites
The imperial cults in Ancient Egypt and the Roman Empire, as well as numerous other monarchies, deified the ruling monarch. The state religion was often dedicated to the worship of the ruler as a deity, or the incarnation thereof.
Early Israel was ruled by Judges before instituting a monarchy. The Judges were believed to be representatives of YHVH Yahweh (in Latin, Jehovah).
In ancient and medieval Christianity, Caesaropapism is the doctrine where a head of state is at the same time the head of the church.
Zoroastrianism[edit]
During the Achaemenid Empire, Zoroastrianism was the state religion and included formalized worship. The Persian kings were known to be pious Zoroastrians and also ruled with a Zoroastrian form of law called asha. However, Cyrus the Great, who founded the empire, avoided imposing the Zoroastrian faith on the inhabitants of conquered territory. Cyrus's kindness towards Jews has been cited as sparking Zoroastrian influence on Judaism.
Under the Seleucids, Zoroastrianism became autonomous. During the Sassanid period, the Zoroastrian calendar was reformed, image-use was banned, Fire Temples were increasingly built and intolerance towards other faiths prevailed.[36]
Fictional theocracies[edit]
Depictions of a fictional society dominated by a theocracy recur in science fiction, speculative fiction and fantasy. Such depictions are mostly dystopian, and in some cases humorous or satirical; positively presented theocracies are very much the exception.
Some fictional Theocracies are based on a future or alternate history development of actual religions, in others the religions depicted are wholly fictional.
The following table is sorted by time of publication (for series, time of earliest publication).
Literature[edit]

Title
Author
Publication date
Notes

Lost Horizon James Hilton 1937 Shangri La is a positive theocracy. 
If This Goes On—/Revolt in 2100 Robert Heinlein 1940, revised and expanded 1953  
Gather, Darkness Fritz Leiber 1943  
The Lovers Philip Jose Farmer 1952 novella, expanded to full length 1961, revised 1977 [2] 
A Woman a Day (also "Moth and Rust" and "The Day of Timestop") Philip Jose Farmer 1953 novella, expanded to full length 1960. Same universe as "The Lovers" 
Messiah Gore Vidal 1954 ISBN 0-14-118039-0 
The Long Tomorrow Leigh Brackett 1955  
The Chrysalids John Wyndham 1955  
The John Grimes novels A. Bertram Chandler 1950's and 1960's Include a rare positively depicted theocracy. On the world Tharn, the progressive priesthood of a religion resembling Buddhism actively promotes science and technology and confronts a cabal of reactionary robber barons. 
The Ballad of Beta-2 Samuel R. Delany 1965 A fanatic and oppressive theocracy growing up on generation ships engaged on a long interstellar voyage, causing the failure of their mission.([3]) 
Dune series Frank Herbert Started 1965, still continuing past Herbert's death  
Lord of Light Roger Zelazny 1967  
Small Gods Terry Pratchett 1992  
The Last Starship from Earth John Boyd 1968  
The Goblin Tower L. Sprague de Camp 1968 Episode set in the theocratic city-state of Tarxia 
The Stork Factor Zach Hughes 1975  
Run, Come See Jerusalem! Richard C. Meredith 1976 An Alternate United States defeats a Nazi Germany which came much closer to world domination than in our history, but in the aftermath falls under the power of a ruthless home-grown "Prophet". 
The Handmaid's Tale Margaret Atwood 1985 Set in a Christian dictatorship called "Republic of Gilead" in the post-apocalyptic ruins of the United States. 
Noninterference Harry Turtledove 1987 An illegal interference by Earth agents with a humanoid alien race inadvertently turns a local woman into an immortal, and she eventually becomes the revered Goddess of a planet-wide religion - but all is well, since she is a highly benevolent and good hearted person who makes only a positive use of her complete religious and secular power.[4] 
The Shield of Time Poul Anderson 1990 Alternate 20th Century Europe under total control of the Catholic Church, with all dissent immediately crushed by the Inquisition. 
Velgarth novels Mercedes Lackey 1994-2011 (so far) The land of Karse in ruled by a priesthood - in 's - in earlier appearances it is corrupt and oppressive, but later it is reformed and much improved by Solaris, the first woman to gain the combined religious and secular power in Karse. 
His Dark Materials Philip Pullman 1995-2000 A trilogy of fantasy novels, largely set in a world ruled by a theocracy known as the Magisterium. 
Candle/The Sky So Big and Black John Barnes 2000, 2003 The universal power over Humanity of the Artificial Intelligence known as One True can be loosely classed as a Theocracy. New York: Tor. ISBN 0-8125-8968-8/ISBN 0-7653-4222-7. 
The Peshawar Lancers S. M. Stirling 2002 The post-apocalyptic Russian Empire dominated by the Satanic, cannibalistic priests of Chernobog; Theocratic city-states in California. 
Emberverse series S. M. Stirling 2004-2014 (so far) The Church Universal and Triumphant, a highly malevolent force in the post-apocalyptic situation. 
The Accidental Time Machine Joe Haldeman 2007 Jesus Christ appears in the Oval Office and tells the President that the Second Coming is here - or so the President tells the nation that night. Some Americans doubt that it is really Jesus at the President's side. Jesus tells the President that heretics should be nuked. New York: Tor. ISBN 0-7653-4222-7 
Voyagers VI - The Return Ben Bova 2009 [5] 

Television/Anime[edit]

Title
Produced by
Date
Notes

Lexx Salter Street Films/Channel 5 (UK) 2000 The Light Universe is ruled by The Divine Order, including the collective consciousness of the current living His Divine Shadow and his Divine Predecessors 
Avatar the Last Airbender/Legend of Korra Nickelodeon 2005-2008, 2012-2014 Air Nomads, one of the four nations, has a Unitary Theocratic Senate from which came then-avatar and main Protagonist Aang born. In Sequel the Protagonist's first son Tenzin is now only first leader as 'Air Nation' and now under as Unitary Theocracy. 
Simoun Studio Deen/Comic Yuri Hime 2006 Follows the clergy, military, and government of a neither dystopian nor wholly positive Theocracy. 

Games[edit]

Title
Developed by
Date
Notes

Warhammer 40,000 Games Workshop 1987 The Imperium of Man, administered by the High Lords of Terra in the God-Emperor's name. 
Halo series Bungie 2001-2010 The alien alliance known as "the Covenant". 
Age of Mythology Ensemble Studios 2002 Atlantis is said to be governed by a Theocrat. The politics are not explored, however, and it is not stated how the Theocrat kept himself in power when the gods abandoned the civilization in the expansion pack's campaign. 
EVE Online CCP Games 2003 The Amarr Empire 
Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones Nintendo 2004 Pontifex Mansel leads the Theocracy of Rausten. 
Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance Nintendo 2005 Begnion is a theocracy worshipping the goddess Ashera. It is ruled by Apostle Sanaki. 
Sims Medieval Electronic Arts 2011 Yacothia, a Theocratic city-state, is the holy city/birthplace of Jacobanism, as it's the birthplace of prophet Jacob and the home of the Proxy, run by a High Priest or Priestess. Its military consists of a famous order of Jacoban paladins known as Jacob's Sword. 
Bioshock Infinite Irrational Games 2013 In the floating city of Columbia, Zachary Hale Comstock leads a single-party theocratic dictatorship based on the Founding Fathers of the United States and Himself under title as "Prophet of Columbia" and later Her "Daughter" Elizabeth as "Lamb of Columbia". 

See also[edit]
Christian: Christian Reconstructionism
Divine Right of Kings
Dominionism
National Catholicism
Temporal power (papal)
Theonomy
Islamic: Iranian Revolution
Islamic banking
Islamic republic
Islamic state
Islamism
Political aspects of Islam
Religious police
Qutbism
Taliban
Wahhabi
Other: Khalistan
Shinto (Japan)
State religion
Fictional: Religion in science fiction

References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ "Theocracy; Dictionary – Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary". Merriam-webster.com. 2007-04-25. Retrieved 2009-08-10.
2.Jump up ^ "Theocracy - The rule of law is derived from religious doctrine and its decrees are absolute. This type of government is evidenced by a strict Islamic state (a rule of law under the religious code of the Islamic religion)."
3.Jump up ^ "theocracy - Rule by religion. A government that is based on theistic beliefs. Iran is a theocracy. As well was ancient India, in some forms of Hinduism."
4.Jump up ^ Catholic Encyclopedia "A form of civil government in which God himself is recognized as the head."
5.Jump up ^ English form the 17th century (OED). The Greek term is explicitly coined by Josephus and isn't attested elsewhere in Ancient Greek; Josephus marks it as a nonce coinage by calling it a "strained expression". W. Whiston tr. Josephus, Against Apion ii. §17 (1814) IV. 340: "He [Moses] ordained our government to be what, by a strained expression, may be termed a Theocracy", translating ὡς δ'ἄν τίς εἴποι, βιασάμενος τὸν λόγον, θεοκρατίαν
6.Jump up ^ Stephen Palmquist, Biblical Theocracy: A vision of the biblical foundations for a Christian political philosophy (Hong Kong: Philopsychy Press, 1993), introduced these more precise uses of the terms in arguing that theocracy (in this pure sense) is the only political system defended in the Bible. While Palmquist defends theocracy in this pure form as a viable (though "non-political") political system, he warns that what normally goes by this name is actually ecclesiocracy, the most dangerous of all political systems.
7.Jump up ^ Flavius Josephus, Against Apion, Book II, Chapter 17
8.Jump up ^ Vitalone, Alessia (2007). "Il Pontefice sovrano dello Stato della Città del Vaticano". Diritto e religioni (Luigi Pellegrini Editore) II (1): 313. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
9.^ Jump up to: a b c "CIA World Factbook – Holy See". Cia.gov. Retrieved 2009-08-10.
10.Jump up ^ Fundamental Law of Vatican City State, Art. 1 §1
11.Jump up ^ http://www.nyulawglobal.org/globalex/vatican.htm
12.Jump up ^ "International Religious Freedom Report 2006: Nigeria". Bureau of Democracy, Human rights and Labor. Retrieved 28 August 2012.
13.^ Jump up to: a b c "CIA World Factbook – Iran". Cia.gov. Retrieved 2009-08-10.
14.Jump up ^ While articles One and Two vest sovereignty in God, article six "mandates popular elections for the presidency and the Majlis, or parliament." source: JULY 27, 2009, Iran, Islam and the Rule of Law. FRANCIS FUKUYAMA
15.Jump up ^ "ICL - Iran - Constitution". International Constitutional Law (ICL). 24 October 1979. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
16.Jump up ^ article 109 of the constitution states the among the "essential qualifications and conditions for the Leader" are "scholarship, as required for performing the functions of mufti in different fields of fiqh" Chapter 8 - The Leader or Leadership Council Constitution of Iran
17.Jump up ^ "Who's in Charge?" by Ervand Abrahamian London Review of Books, 6 November 2008
18.Jump up ^ Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Articles 107-112.
19.Jump up ^ "Understanding Iran's Assembly of Experts" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-07-28.
20.Jump up ^ Constitution of Iran, Article 157: In order to fulfill the responsibilities of the judiciary power in all the matters concerning judiciary, administrative and executive areas, the Leader shall appoint a just Mujtahid well versed in judiciary affairs and possessing prudence, and administrative abilities
21.Jump up ^ The ISIS Crisis: What You Really Need to Know, Mark . Tobey - 2015 ch. 6 r. 13
22.Jump up ^ Donovan Roebert, Samdhong Rinpoche: Uncompromising Truth for a Compromised World (World Wisdom, 2006) ISBN 978-1-933316-20-8 (On August 20, 2001, Venerable Professor Samdhong Rinpoche was elected Kalon Tripa (Prime Minister) of the Tibetan Government in Exile, receiving 84.5% of the popular exile vote.)
23.Jump up ^ The Charter of Tibetans in-Exile, Article 20 of the Constitution of Tibet, retrieved 2010-03-19.
24.Jump up ^ The Charter of Tibetans in-Exile, Articles 19, 30, & 31 of the Constitution of Tibet, retrieved 2010-03-19.
25.Jump up ^ Dean Nelson Lobsang Sangay: profile, The Telegraph, 08 Aug 2011
26.Jump up ^ Tibetan Parliament changes 'Kalon Tripa' to 'Sikyong'
27.Jump up ^ "Kalon Tripa to be now referred to as Sikyong". Tibetan Review. 2012-09-22. Retrieved 2012-12-11.
28.Jump up ^ "International Support Groups Meet in Dharamsala to Deal with Critical Situation In Tibet". Central Tibetan Administration. 2012-11-16.
29.Jump up ^ [1]
30.^ Jump up to: a b Davidson, Ronald M. (2004). "Tibet". In Buswell, Jr., Robert E. Macmillan Encyclopedia of Buddhism. USA: Macmillan Reference USA. pp. 851–859. ISBN 0-02-865910-4.
31.^ Jump up to: a b c Lopez, Donald S. (1998). Prisoners of Shangri-La: Tibetan Buddhism and the West. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. p. 9. ISBN 0-226-49311-3.
32.Jump up ^ "Friendly Feudalism – The Tibet Myth". Michaelparenti.org. Retrieved 2009-08-10.[dead link]
33.^ Jump up to: a b Nadeau, Randall L. The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Chinese Religions, pp. 54 ff. John Wiley & Sons (Chichester), 2012. Accessed 22 December 2013.
34.Jump up ^ The Byzantine Theocracy: Steven Runciman
35.Jump up ^ Deseret utah.gov
36.Jump up ^ Zoroastrianism under Persian rule retrieved 5 January 2012
Further reading[edit]
Ankerl, Guy (2000). Global communication without universal civilization. INU societal research, vol. 1: Coexisting contemporary civilizations: Arabo-Muslim, Bharati, Chinese, and Western. Geneva: INU Press. ISBN 2-88155-004-5.
Hirschl, Ran. Constitutional Theocracy. Harvard University Press, 2010. ISBN 0-674-04819-9, 978-0-674-04819-5.
External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has quotations related to: Theocracy
 Look up theocracy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Biblical Theocracy, etext of a book by Stephen Palmquist (Philopsychy Press, 1993).
Caliphate: The Future of Islamic Theocracy
Dominionism, sacralism and theocracy - Rachel Tabachnik, Dr. John MacArthur, Dr. Martin Erdmann, Rudolf Ebertshäuser, Sarah Leslie, Discernment Ministries Inc. u.v.m, Eds (English + German)
Dr. Martin Erdmann journalist and theologian. Book: Building the Kingdom of God on Earth (English)
Dr. Martin Erdmann journalist and theologian. Book: Der Griff zur Macht - Dominionismus der evangelikale Weg zu globalem Einfluss (German)
EtymologyOnLine
First Things, August/September 2006, p. 23-30 – Theocracy, Theocracy, Theocracy
Freedom of Religion in Israel
Is Judaism a Theocracy? chabad.org


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TheocracyWatch

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  (Redirected from Theocracy Watch)
Jump to: navigation, search

TheocracyWatch is a project run by the Center for Religion, Ethics and Social Policy (CRESP), located at Cornell University. It was founded by Joan Bokaer, an environmental activist because, she says, "After the 2000 election she realized that few people understood that the religious right had taken working control of the Republican Party..."[1]
TheocracyWatch's major area of interest is what it considers to be the influence of dominionism in the U.S. government.[2] TheocracyWatch has a "mission to spread the word about the complete restructuring of our government. We want to get the word out to as many people as possible because the agenda of the Christian right is to replace the Constitution with biblical law," said Kathleen Damiani, president of TheocracyWatch.[3]
TheocracyWatch's method for gauging the influence of dominionism is by studying the voting patterns of members of Congress. Legislators whose voting pattern matches such organizations as Christian Coalition, Family Research Council, Eagle Forum, and the Heritage Foundation are said to "illustrate the strength of dominionists in Congress" even though none of these groups identifies themselves with the dominionist movement and two of them are specifically secular.[4]
TheocracyWatch makes free videos available to the general public to distribute through Public Access television stations.
The Center for Religion, Ethics and Social Policy is an independent not-for-profit agency and an affiliate of Cornell University with administrative offices in Cornell's Anabel Taylor Hall. TheocracyWatch is one of sixteen projects sponsored by CRESP.[5]
See also[edit]
Theocracy
Right Wing Watch
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ TheocracyWatch Speaker's Bureau
2.Jump up ^ TheocracyWatch.pdf at Delaware Valley Americans United for Separation of Church and State
3.Jump up ^ The Cornell Daily Sun "Joan Bokaer discusses the Religious Right" by Diana Lo
4.Jump up ^ The Rise of the Religious Right in the Republican Party
5.Jump up ^ CRESP - Theocracy Watch
External links[edit]
Official Site of TheocracyWatch
  


Categories: Dominion Theology
Separation of church and state in the United States


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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TheocracyWatch















TheocracyWatch

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  (Redirected from Theocracy Watch)
Jump to: navigation, search

TheocracyWatch is a project run by the Center for Religion, Ethics and Social Policy (CRESP), located at Cornell University. It was founded by Joan Bokaer, an environmental activist because, she says, "After the 2000 election she realized that few people understood that the religious right had taken working control of the Republican Party..."[1]
TheocracyWatch's major area of interest is what it considers to be the influence of dominionism in the U.S. government.[2] TheocracyWatch has a "mission to spread the word about the complete restructuring of our government. We want to get the word out to as many people as possible because the agenda of the Christian right is to replace the Constitution with biblical law," said Kathleen Damiani, president of TheocracyWatch.[3]
TheocracyWatch's method for gauging the influence of dominionism is by studying the voting patterns of members of Congress. Legislators whose voting pattern matches such organizations as Christian Coalition, Family Research Council, Eagle Forum, and the Heritage Foundation are said to "illustrate the strength of dominionists in Congress" even though none of these groups identifies themselves with the dominionist movement and two of them are specifically secular.[4]
TheocracyWatch makes free videos available to the general public to distribute through Public Access television stations.
The Center for Religion, Ethics and Social Policy is an independent not-for-profit agency and an affiliate of Cornell University with administrative offices in Cornell's Anabel Taylor Hall. TheocracyWatch is one of sixteen projects sponsored by CRESP.[5]
See also[edit]
Theocracy
Right Wing Watch
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ TheocracyWatch Speaker's Bureau
2.Jump up ^ TheocracyWatch.pdf at Delaware Valley Americans United for Separation of Church and State
3.Jump up ^ The Cornell Daily Sun "Joan Bokaer discusses the Religious Right" by Diana Lo
4.Jump up ^ The Rise of the Religious Right in the Republican Party
5.Jump up ^ CRESP - Theocracy Watch
External links[edit]
Official Site of TheocracyWatch
  


Categories: Dominion Theology
Separation of church and state in the United States


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People for the American Way

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  (Redirected from Right Wing Watch)
Jump to: navigation, search

People For the American Way
People For the American Way logo 2007.png
Founded
1981
Founder
Norman Lear
Type
Advocacy group
Focus
Progressive advocacy
Location
Washington D.C.


Area served
 United States
Method
Media attention, direct-appeal campaigns

Key people
 Norman Lear
Affiliations
People for the American Way Foundation
Website
www.pfaw.org
People For the American Way (PFAW) is a progressive advocacy group in the United States.[1] Organized as a 501(c)(4) non-profit organization, PFAW was founded in 1981 by television producer Norman Lear.[2] Lear founded the organization in order to challenge the agenda of the Moral Majority, a prominent American political organization associated with the Christian right.


Contents  [hide]
1 History
2 Activities
3 Leadership
4 Funding
5 References
6 External links

History[edit]
PFAW was founded by television producer Norman Lear in 1981 in opposition to the agenda of the Moral Majority.[3][4] Co-founders included Democratic Congresswoman Barbara Jordan and Time Inc. chairman and CEO Andrew Heiskell.[5] PFAW began as a project of the Tides Foundation, a donor-advised fund that directs money to politically liberal causes.[6]
The former presidents of PFAW include Tony Podesta[7] and Ralph Neas.[8]
Soon after its founding, People For the American Way launched an affiliated 501(c)(3) organization, People for the American Way Foundation, for the purpose of conducting more extensive educational and research activities for left-wing causes.[9] Later, the People For the American Way Voter Alliance was launched as a political action committee.
Activities[edit]
PFAW monitors what it characterizes as "right-wing" activities. Toward this end, the organization sponsors a website called Right Wing Watch. Right Wing Watch showcases video footage of various conservative pundits and social commentators.[10] In 2014, Jason and David Benham lost the opportunity to host their own HGTV television show after Right Wing Watch labeled the brothers as "anti-gay, anti-choice extremists." In response, David Benham said: "We love all people. I love homosexuals. I love Islam, Muslims, and my brother and I would never discriminate. Never have we -- never would we." The slated show, "Flip It Forward," would have shown the brothers helping families purchase homes they otherwise could not afford.[11][12]
PFAW has been active in battles over judicial nominations, opposing U.S. Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork and supporting the appointment of Sonia Sotomayor.[2]
PFAW is active in federal elections, donating $339,874 to oppose Republican candidates in the 2014 election cycle.[13]
Leadership[edit]
Michael Keegan is the organization's president. Members of the group's board of directors include John Hall Buchanan, Jr., Alec Baldwin, Seth MacFarlane, Mary Frances Berry, Julian Bond, Bertis Downs IV, James Hormel, Dolores Huerta, Jane Lynch, Josh Sapan, Dennis Van Roekel, Howie Klein and Reg Weaver.[14]
Funding[edit]
Major donors to PFW include George Soros' Open Society Institute, the Miriam G. and Ira D. Wallach Foundation, the Bauman Foundation, and the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund.[5]
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Encyclopedia of Educational Reform and Dissent, Thomas C. Hunt & James C. Carper & Thomas J. Lasley II & C. Daniel Raisch.(link) 2010, Sage Publications. ISBN 9781412956642
2.^ Jump up to: a b Day, Patrick Kevin (October 7, 2011). "Norman Lear Celebrates 30 Years of People For the American Way". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
3.Jump up ^ Reeves, Richard (May 13, 2009). "What is the American Way of Life?". Real Clear Politics. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
4.Jump up ^ Djupe, Paul; Olson, Laura (2014). Encyclopedia of American Religion and Politics. Infobase Publishing. p. 287. ISBN 9781438130200.
5.^ Jump up to: a b Evans, Will (September 30, 2008). "McCain, GOP Senators Challenged On Pay Equity For Women". NPR. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
6.Jump up ^ "History". Tides. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
7.Jump up ^ Miles, Sara. "Do YOU Know Tony Podesta?". Wired. Retrieved 6 May 2015.
8.Jump up ^ "People for the American Way President Ralph Neas Discusses Opposition to Ashcroft for Attorney General". CNN. January 16, 2001. Retrieved 6 May 2015.
9.Jump up ^ Glanz, James (March 11, 2000). "Survey Finds Support Is Strong For Teaching 2 Origin Theories". The New York Times.
10.Jump up ^ Gryboski, Michael (November 21, 2013). "'Right Wing Watch' YouTube Account Again Suspended Due to Fmr. Navy Chaplain's Complaint". Christian Post. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
11.Jump up ^ Pappas, Alex (May 12, 2014). "Meet The Liberal Network That Orchestrated The Hit On The Benham Brothers". Daily Caller. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
12.Jump up ^ Respers France, Lisa (May 19, 2014). "Benham brothers lose HGTV show after 'anti-gay' remarks". CNN. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
13.Jump up ^ "People For The American Way". OpenSecrets.org. Center for Responsive Politics. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
14.Jump up ^ "Board of Directors". People For The American Way. Retrieved 6 May 2015.
External links[edit]
Official website
Discover The Networks - People For The American Way
  


Categories: 501(c)(4) nonprofit organizations
Church–state separation advocacy organizations
Civil liberties advocacy groups in the United States
Government watchdog groups in the United States
Immigration political advocacy groups in the United States
LGBT political advocacy groups in the United States
Legal advocacy organizations in the United States
Non-profit organizations based in Washington, D.C.
Organizations established in 1981
People For the American Way
Political advocacy groups in the United States
Progressivism in the United States
Separation of church and state in the United States




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People for the American Way

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  (Redirected from Right Wing Watch)
Jump to: navigation, search

People For the American Way
People For the American Way logo 2007.png
Founded
1981
Founder
Norman Lear
Type
Advocacy group
Focus
Progressive advocacy
Location
Washington D.C.


Area served
 United States
Method
Media attention, direct-appeal campaigns

Key people
 Norman Lear
Affiliations
People for the American Way Foundation
Website
www.pfaw.org
People For the American Way (PFAW) is a progressive advocacy group in the United States.[1] Organized as a 501(c)(4) non-profit organization, PFAW was founded in 1981 by television producer Norman Lear.[2] Lear founded the organization in order to challenge the agenda of the Moral Majority, a prominent American political organization associated with the Christian right.


Contents  [hide]
1 History
2 Activities
3 Leadership
4 Funding
5 References
6 External links

History[edit]
PFAW was founded by television producer Norman Lear in 1981 in opposition to the agenda of the Moral Majority.[3][4] Co-founders included Democratic Congresswoman Barbara Jordan and Time Inc. chairman and CEO Andrew Heiskell.[5] PFAW began as a project of the Tides Foundation, a donor-advised fund that directs money to politically liberal causes.[6]
The former presidents of PFAW include Tony Podesta[7] and Ralph Neas.[8]
Soon after its founding, People For the American Way launched an affiliated 501(c)(3) organization, People for the American Way Foundation, for the purpose of conducting more extensive educational and research activities for left-wing causes.[9] Later, the People For the American Way Voter Alliance was launched as a political action committee.
Activities[edit]
PFAW monitors what it characterizes as "right-wing" activities. Toward this end, the organization sponsors a website called Right Wing Watch. Right Wing Watch showcases video footage of various conservative pundits and social commentators.[10] In 2014, Jason and David Benham lost the opportunity to host their own HGTV television show after Right Wing Watch labeled the brothers as "anti-gay, anti-choice extremists." In response, David Benham said: "We love all people. I love homosexuals. I love Islam, Muslims, and my brother and I would never discriminate. Never have we -- never would we." The slated show, "Flip It Forward," would have shown the brothers helping families purchase homes they otherwise could not afford.[11][12]
PFAW has been active in battles over judicial nominations, opposing U.S. Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork and supporting the appointment of Sonia Sotomayor.[2]
PFAW is active in federal elections, donating $339,874 to oppose Republican candidates in the 2014 election cycle.[13]
Leadership[edit]
Michael Keegan is the organization's president. Members of the group's board of directors include John Hall Buchanan, Jr., Alec Baldwin, Seth MacFarlane, Mary Frances Berry, Julian Bond, Bertis Downs IV, James Hormel, Dolores Huerta, Jane Lynch, Josh Sapan, Dennis Van Roekel, Howie Klein and Reg Weaver.[14]
Funding[edit]
Major donors to PFW include George Soros' Open Society Institute, the Miriam G. and Ira D. Wallach Foundation, the Bauman Foundation, and the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund.[5]
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Encyclopedia of Educational Reform and Dissent, Thomas C. Hunt & James C. Carper & Thomas J. Lasley II & C. Daniel Raisch.(link) 2010, Sage Publications. ISBN 9781412956642
2.^ Jump up to: a b Day, Patrick Kevin (October 7, 2011). "Norman Lear Celebrates 30 Years of People For the American Way". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
3.Jump up ^ Reeves, Richard (May 13, 2009). "What is the American Way of Life?". Real Clear Politics. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
4.Jump up ^ Djupe, Paul; Olson, Laura (2014). Encyclopedia of American Religion and Politics. Infobase Publishing. p. 287. ISBN 9781438130200.
5.^ Jump up to: a b Evans, Will (September 30, 2008). "McCain, GOP Senators Challenged On Pay Equity For Women". NPR. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
6.Jump up ^ "History". Tides. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
7.Jump up ^ Miles, Sara. "Do YOU Know Tony Podesta?". Wired. Retrieved 6 May 2015.
8.Jump up ^ "People for the American Way President Ralph Neas Discusses Opposition to Ashcroft for Attorney General". CNN. January 16, 2001. Retrieved 6 May 2015.
9.Jump up ^ Glanz, James (March 11, 2000). "Survey Finds Support Is Strong For Teaching 2 Origin Theories". The New York Times.
10.Jump up ^ Gryboski, Michael (November 21, 2013). "'Right Wing Watch' YouTube Account Again Suspended Due to Fmr. Navy Chaplain's Complaint". Christian Post. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
11.Jump up ^ Pappas, Alex (May 12, 2014). "Meet The Liberal Network That Orchestrated The Hit On The Benham Brothers". Daily Caller. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
12.Jump up ^ Respers France, Lisa (May 19, 2014). "Benham brothers lose HGTV show after 'anti-gay' remarks". CNN. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
13.Jump up ^ "People For The American Way". OpenSecrets.org. Center for Responsive Politics. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
14.Jump up ^ "Board of Directors". People For The American Way. Retrieved 6 May 2015.
External links[edit]
Official website
Discover The Networks - People For The American Way
  


Categories: 501(c)(4) nonprofit organizations
Church–state separation advocacy organizations
Civil liberties advocacy groups in the United States
Government watchdog groups in the United States
Immigration political advocacy groups in the United States
LGBT political advocacy groups in the United States
Legal advocacy organizations in the United States
Non-profit organizations based in Washington, D.C.
Organizations established in 1981
People For the American Way
Political advocacy groups in the United States
Progressivism in the United States
Separation of church and state in the United States




Navigation menu



Create account
Log in



Article

Talk









Read

Edit

View history

















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Contact page

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What links here
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Upload file
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Page information
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Cite this page

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Download as PDF
Printable version

Languages
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Edit links
This page was last modified on 15 June 2015, at 22:21.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
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Fundamentalism

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  (Redirected from Religious fundamentalism)
Jump to: navigation, search

For other uses, see Fundamentalism (disambiguation).
Fundamentalism has been defined by George Marsden as the demand for a strict adherence to certain theological doctrines, in reaction against Modernist theology.[1] The term was originally coined by its supporters to describe what they claimed were five specific classic theological beliefs of Christianity, and that developed into a Christian fundamentalist movement within the Protestant community of the United States in the early part of the 20th century.[2]
The term usually has a religious connotation indicating unwavering attachment to a set of irreducible beliefs,[3] but fundamentalism has come to be applied to a broad tendency among certain groups, mainly, although not exclusively, in religion. This tendency is most often characterized by a markedly strict literalism as applied to certain specific scriptures, dogmas, or ideologies, and a strong sense of the importance of maintaining ingroup and outgroup distinctions,[4][5][6][7] leading to an emphasis on purity and the desire to return to a previous ideal from which it is believed that members have begun to stray. Rejection of diversity of opinion as applied to these established "fundamentals" and their accepted interpretation within the group is often the result of this tendency.[8]
Fundamentalism is sometimes used as a pejorative term, particularly when combined with other epithets (as in the phrase "right-wing fundamentalists").[9][10]


Contents  [hide]
1 Christian
2 Jewish
3 Islamic
4 Hindu
5 Buddhist
6 Non-religious 6.1 Atheist
7 Criticism
8 Controversy
9 See also
10 Citations and footnotes
11 References
12 External links

Christian[edit]
Main article: Christian fundamentalism
See also: Evangelicalism
Fundamentalism as a movement arose in the United States, starting among conservative Presbyterian theologians at Princeton Theological Seminary in the late 19th century. It soon spread to conservatives among the Baptists and other denominations around 1910 to 1920. The movement's purpose was to reaffirm key theological tenets and defend them against the challenges of liberal theology and higher criticism.[11]
The term "fundamentalism" has its roots in the Niagara Bible Conference (1878–1897), which defined those tenets it considered fundamental to Christian belief. The term was popularized by the The Fundamentals, a collection of twelve books on five subjects published in 1910 and funded by the brothers Milton and Lyman Stewart. This series of essays came to be representative of the "Fundamentalist-Modernist Controversy", which appeared late in the 19th century within some Protestant denominations in the United States, and continued in earnest through the 1920s. The first formulation of American fundamentalist beliefs can be traced to the Niagara Bible Conference and, in 1910, to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, which distilled these into what became known as the "five fundamentals":[12]
Biblical inspiration and the inerrancy of scripture as a result of this
Virgin birth of Jesus
Belief that Christ's death was the atonement for sin
Bodily resurrection of Jesus
Historical reality of the miracles of Jesus
By the late 1910s, theological conservatives rallying around the Five Fundamentals came to be known as "fundamentalists". They reject the existence of commonalities with theologically related religious traditions, such as the grouping of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism into one Abrahamic family of religions.[5] In contrast, Evangelical groups, while they typically agree on the theology "fundamentals" as expressed in The Fundamentals, often are willing to participate in events with religious groups who do not hold to the essential doctrines.[13]
Jewish[edit]
Main article: Jewish fundamentalism
The term Jewish fundamentalism has been used to characterize militant religious Zionism, and both Ashkenazi and Sephardic versions of Haredi Judaism.[14]
Ian S Lustik has characterized Jewish fundamentalism as "an ultranationalist, eschatologically based, irredentist ideology", and Gush Emunim as the "dynamism that underlay the shift toward fundamentalism"[15]
Islamic[edit]
Main article: Islamic fundamentalism
The Shia and Sunni religious conflicts since the 7th century created an opening for radical ideologues, such as Ali Shariati (1933–77), to merge social revolution with Islamic fundamentalism, as exemplified by the Iranian Revolution in 1979.[16] Islamic fundamentalism has appeared in many countries;[17] the Wahhabi version is promoted worldwide and financed by Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Pakistan.[18][19]
The Iran hostage crisis of 1979–80 marked a major turning point in the use of the term "fundamentalism". The media, in an attempt to explain the ideology of Ayatollah Khomeini and the Iranian Revolution to a Western audience described it as a "fundamentalist version of Islam" by way of analogy to the Christian fundamentalist movement in the U.S. Thus was born the term "Islamic fundamentalist", which would come to be one of the most common usages of the term in the following years.[20]
Hindu[edit]
See also: Hindutva, Ayodhya dispute and Gujarat_Riots
Scholars identify several politically active Hindu movements (including the RSS, BJP and VHP) as part of the "Hindu fundamentalist family."[21]
A recent[when?] phenomenon in India has been the rise of Hindu fundamentalism, which has led to political mobilization against Muslims.[21][22][23]
Buddhist[edit]
See also: Buddhism and violence
In the most recent[when?] instances, Buddhist fundamentalism has also targeted other religious and ethnic groups, such as that in Burma. As a Buddhist dominated nation, Burma has seen recent tensions between Muslim minorities and the Buddhist majority, especially during the 2013 Burma anti-Muslim riots, alleged[by whom?] to have been instigated by hardliner groups such as the 969 Movement.[24]
There are historic and contemporary examples of Buddhist fundamentalism in each of the three main branches of Buddhism: Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana. In Japan, a prominent example has been the practice of shakubuku among some members of the Nichiren sect—a method of proselytizing involving strident condemnation other sects as deficient or evil. Similarly, some members of the New Kadampa Tradition of Tibetan Buddhism and the Western Shugden Society have appropriated the controversial and fiercely sectarian[clarification needed] protector deity Dorje Shugden as a symbol of maintaining the purity of the Gelugpa sect from contamination by teachings from other sects, condemning the Dalai Lama's eclectic approach (see Dorje Shugden controversy).[25]
Non-religious[edit]
"Fundamentalist" has been used pejoratively to refer to philosophies perceived as literal-minded or carrying a pretense of being the sole source of objective truth, regardless of whether it is usually called a religion. For instance, the Archbishop of Wales has criticized "atheistic fundamentalism" broadly[26][27][28] and said "Any kind of fundamentalism, be it Biblical, atheistic or Islamic, is dangerous".[29] He also said, "the new fundamentalism of our age ... leads to the language of expulsion and exclusivity, of extremism and polarisation, and the claim that, because God is on our side, he is not on yours."[30]
In The New Inquisition, Robert Anton Wilson lampoons the members of skeptical organizations such as the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal as fundamentalist materialists, alleging that they dogmatically dismiss any evidence that conflicts with materialism as hallucination or fraud.[31]
In France, the imposition of restrictions on the wearing of headscarves in state-run schools has been labeled "secular fundamentalism".[32][33] In the United States, private or cultural intolerance of women wearing the hijab (Islamic headcovering) and political activism by Muslims also has been labeled "secular fundamentalism" by some Muslims in the U.S.[34]
The term "fundamentalism" is sometimes applied to signify a counter-cultural fidelity to a principle or set of principles, as in the pejorative term "market fundamentalism", used to imply exaggerated religious-like faith in the ability of unfettered laissez-faire or free market economic views or policies to solve economic and social problems. According to economist John Quiggin, the standard features of "economic fundamentalist rhetoric" are "dogmatic" assertions and the claim that anyone who holds contrary views is not a real economist. Retired professor in religious studies Roderick Hindery lists positive qualities attributed to political, economic, or other forms of cultural fundamentalism, including "vitality, enthusiasm, willingness to back up words with actions, and the avoidance of facile compromise," as well as negative aspects, such as psychological attitudes[which?], occasionally elitist and pessimistic perspectives, and, in some cases, literalism.[35]
Atheist[edit]
See also: Criticism of atheism
In December 2007, the Archbishop of Wales Barry Morgan criticized what he referred to as "atheistic fundamentalism", claiming that it advocated that religion has no substance and "that faith has no value and is superstitious nonsense."[27][28] He claimed it led to situations such as councils calling Christmas "Winterval", schools refusing to put on nativity plays and crosses removed from chapels. Others have countered that some of these attacks on Christmas are urban myths, not all schools do nativity plays because they choose to perform other traditional plays like A Christmas Carol or the The Snow Queen and, because of rising tensions between various religions, opening up public spaces to alternate displays than the Nativity scene is an attempt to keep government religion neutral.[36]
Criticism[edit]


 This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2008)
Many criticisms of fundamentalist positions have been offered. One of the most common is that some claims made by a fundamentalist group cannot be proven, and are irrational, demonstrably false, or contrary to scientific evidence. Some[which?] of these criticisms were famously asserted by Clarence Darrow in the Scopes Monkey Trial.
Sociologist of religion Tex Sample asserts that it is a mistake to refer to a Muslim, Jewish, or Christian fundamentalist. Rather, a fundamentalist's fundamentalism is their primary concern, over and above other denominational or faith considerations.[37]
A criticism by Elliot N. Dorff:

In order to carry out the fundamentalist program in practice, one would need a perfect understanding of the ancient language of the original text, if indeed the true text can be discerned from among variants. Furthermore, human beings are the ones who transmit this understanding between generations. Even if one wanted to follow the literal word of God, the need for people first to understand that word necessitates human interpretation. Through that process human fallibility is inextricably mixed into the very meaning of the divine word. As a result, it is impossible to follow the indisputable word of God; one can only achieve a human understanding of God's will.[38]
Howard Thurman was interviewed in the late 1970s for a BBC feature on religion. He told the interviewer:

I say that creeds, dogmas, and theologies are inventions of the mind. It is the nature of the mind to make sense out of experience, to reduce the conglomerates of experience to units of comprehension which we call principles, or ideologies, or concepts. Religious experience is dynamic, fluid, effervescent, yeasty. But the mind can't handle these so it has to imprison religious experience in some way, get it bottled up. Then, when the experience quiets down, the mind draws a bead on it and extracts concepts, notions, dogmas, so that religious experience can make sense to the mind. Meanwhile religious experience goes on experiencing, so that by the time I get my dogma stated so that I can think about it, the religious experience becomes an object of thought.[39]
Albert Camus opposed both Nazi fascism and Stalinist communism, leading to a split with Jean-Paul Sartre. In the Myth of Sisyphus he developed the concept of philosophical suicide, which he defined as any ideological system or belief that claims to bridge what he saw as a conflict between man's yearning for absolute unity and the inherent irrational nature of the universe.[citation needed]
Influential criticisms of fundamentalism include James Barr's books on Christian fundamentalism and Bassam Tibi's analysis of Islamic fundamentalism.
Political usage of the term "fundamentalism" has also been criticized. "Fundamentalism" has been used by political groups to attack their opponents, using the term flexibly depending on their political interests. According to Judith Nagata, a professor of Asia Research Institute in the National University of Singapore, "The Afghan mujahiddin, locked in combat with the Soviet enemy in the 1980s, could be praised as "freedom fighters" by their American backers at the time, while the present Taliban, viewed, among other things, as protectors of American enemy Osama bin Laden, are unequivocally 'fundamentalist'.[40]
A study at the University of Edinburgh found that of its six measured dimensions of religiousity, "lower intelligence is most associated with higher levels of fundamentalism."[41]
Controversy[edit]



[hide]This section has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page.




This section does not cite any references or sources.  (November 2014)


This section may be confusing or unclear to readers. (November 2014)




This section needs additional citations for verification.  (January 2009)


The Associated Press' AP Stylebook recommends that the term fundamentalist not be used for any group that does not apply the term to itself. Many scholars have adopted a similar position.[42] Other scholars, however, use the term in the broader descriptive sense to refer to various groups in various religious traditions including those groups that would object to being classified as fundamentalists, such as in The Fundamentalism Project.[43]
Christian fundamentalists, who generally consider the term to be pejorative when used to refer to themselves, often object to the placement of themselves and Islamist groups into a single category since they believe that the fundamentals of Christianity are different from the fundamentals of Islam. They feel that characteristics based on the new definition are wrongly projected back onto Christian fundamentalists by their critics.
Many Muslims[who?] object to the use of the term when referring to Islamist groups, and oppose being placed in the same category as Christian fundamentalists, whom they see as theologically incomplete. Unlike Christian fundamentalist groups, Islamist groups do not use the term fundamentalist to refer to themselves. Shia groups which are often considered fundamentalist in the West are generally not described that way in the Islamic world.
See also[edit]

Portal icon conservatism portal
Traditionalist Catholic
Fundie
Historical-grammatical method
Ideology
Importance of religion by country
Independent Fundamental Baptist
Integrism
Indoctrination
Islamism
Jack Chick
Jesus Camp (documentary)
Pentecostalism
Sectarianism
Seventh-day Adventism
Fundamentalism (sculpture)
Sola scriptura
Citations and footnotes[edit]
1.Jump up ^ George M. Marsden, Fundamentalism and American Culture, (1980) pp 4-5 Over 1400 scholarly books have cited Marsden's work, according to Google Scholar.
2.Jump up ^ Buescher, John. "A History of Fundamentalism", Teachinghistory.org. Retrieved August 15, 2011.
3.Jump up ^ Nagata, Judith (Jun 2001). "Beyond Theology: Toward an Anthropology of "Fundamentalism"". American Anthropologist 103 (2).
4.Jump up ^ Altemeyer, B., & Hunsberger, B. (1992). Authoritarianism, religious fundamentalism, quest, and prejudice. International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 2(2), 113-133. doi: 10.1207/s15327582ijpr0202_5
5.^ Jump up to: a b Kunst, J., Thomsen, L., Sam, D. (2014). Late Abrahamic reunion? Religious fundamentalism negatively predicts dual Abrahamic group categorization among Muslims and Christians. European Journal of Social Psychology, https://www.academia.edu/6436421/Late_Abrahamic_reunion_Religious_fundamentalism_negatively_predicts_dual_Abrahamic_group_categorization_among_Muslims_and_Christians
6.Jump up ^ Kunst, J. R., & Thomsen, L. (2014). Prodigal sons: Dual Abrahamic categorization mediates the detrimental effects of religious fundamentalism on Christian-Muslim relations. The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion. doi: 10.1080/10508619.2014.93796 https://www.academia.edu/7455300/Prodigal_sons_Dual_Abrahamic_categorization_mediates_the_detrimental_effects_of_religious_fundamentalism_on_Christian-Muslim_relations
7.Jump up ^ Hunsberger, B. (1995). Religion and prejudice: The role of religious fundamentalism, quest, and right-wing authoritarianism. Journal of Social Issues, 51(2), 113-129. doi: 10.1111/j.1540-4560.1995.tb01326.x
8.Jump up ^ https://www.ntpu.edu.tw/social/upload/P_1020081127150648.pdf
9.Jump up ^ Harris, Harriet (2008). Fundamentalism and Evangelicals. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-953253-2. OCLC 182663241.
10.Jump up ^ Boer, Roland (2005). "Fundamentalism" (PDF). In Tony Bennett, Lawrence Grossberg, Meaghan Morris and Raymonnd Williams. New keywords: a revised vocabulary of culture and society. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishing. pp. 134–137. ISBN 0-631-22568-4. OCLC 230674627 57357498. Retrieved July 27, 2008.
11.Jump up ^ Mark A. Noll, A History of Christianity in the United States and Canada (1992) pp 376-86
12.Jump up ^ George M. Marsden, "Fundamentalism and American Culture", (1980) p. 117
13.Jump up ^ Carpenter, Revive us Again (1997) p 200
14.Jump up ^ Encyclopædia Britannica: Jewish fundamentalism in Israel
15.Jump up ^ Ian S. Lustik. "Israel's Dangerous Fundamentalists". pp. 118–139. ISSN 0015-7228. Archived from the original on 2009-10-25. Retrieved November 4, 2013. "Foreign Policy Number 68 Fall 1987"
16.Jump up ^ William E. Griffith, "The Revival of Islamic Fundamentalism: The Case of Iran", International Security, June 1979, Vol. 4 Issue 1, pp 132-138 in JSTOR
17.Jump up ^ Lawrence Davidson, Islamic Fundamentalism (Greenwood, 2003)
18.Jump up ^ Natana DeLong-Bas, Wahhabi Islam: From Revival and Reform to Global Jihad (Oxford University Press, 2008)
19.Jump up ^ Lindijer, Koert (24 August 2013). "How Islam from the north spreads once more into the Sahel". The Africanists. Retrieved 24 November 2014. "Hundreds of years later, Islam again comes to the Sahel, this time with an unstoppable mission mentality and the way paved by money from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Pakistan. Foreigners, and also Malians who received scholarships to study in Saudi Arabia, introduce this strict form of Islam, and condemn the sufi’s [sic]."[verification needed]
20.Jump up ^ "Google News Search: Chart shows spikes in '79 (Iran hostage crisis), after 9/11 and in '92 and '93 (Algerian elections, PLO).". Retrieved December 9, 2008.[original research?]
21.^ Jump up to: a b Brekke (1991). Fundamentalism: Prophecy and Protest in an Age of Globalization. Cambridge University Press. p. 127.
22.Jump up ^ Ajay K. Mehra (2013). Emerging Trends in Indian Politics: The Fifteenth General Election. Routledge. p. 1.
23.Jump up ^ James Peoples; Garrick Bailey (2008). Cengage Advantage Books: Humanity: An Introduction to Cultural Anthropology. Cengage Learning. p. 371.
24.Jump up ^ KYAW ZWA MOE (March 30, 2013). "Root Out the Source of Meikhtila Unrest". Retrieved November 4, 2013.
25.Jump up ^ http://info-buddhism.com/new_kadampa_tradition.html
26.Jump up ^ Alister McGrath and Joanna Collicutt McGrath, The Dawkins Delusion? Atheist Fundamentalism and the Denial of the Divine, Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK), February 15, 2007, ISBN 978-0-281-05927-0
27.^ Jump up to: a b Yr Eglwys yng Nghymru | The Church in Wales
28.^ Jump up to: a b "'Atheistic fundamentalism' fears". BBC News. December 22, 2007. Retrieved May 3, 2010.
29.Jump up ^ "Archbishop of Wales fears the rise of "Atheistic Fundamentalism"". Archived from the original on 2007-12-27. Retrieved November 4, 2013.
30.Jump up ^ "Atheistic fundamentalism" fears". BBC News. 22 December 2007. Retrieved November 4, 2013.
31.Jump up ^ Pope Robert Anton Wilson, The New Inquisition: Irrational Rationalism and the Citadel of Science. 1986. 240 pages. ISBN 1-56184-002-5
32.Jump up ^ "Secular fundamentalism", International Herald Tribune, December 19, 2003
33.Jump up ^ "Headscarf ban sparks new protests," BBC News, January 17, 2004
34.Jump up ^ Ayesha Ahmad, "Muslim Activists Reject Secular Fundamentalism", originally published at IslamOnline, April 22, 1999. See also Minaret of Freedom 5th Annual Dinner, Edited Transcript, Minaret of Freedom Institute website.
35.Jump up ^ Hindery, Roderick (2008). "Comparative Ethics, Ideologies, and Critical Thought"
36.Jump up ^ Toynbee, Polly (December 21, 2007). "Sorry to disappoint, but it's nonsense to suggest we want to ban Christmas". The Guardian (London). Retrieved May 3, 2010.
37.Jump up ^ Tex Sample. Public Lecture, Faith and Reason Conference, San Antonio, TX. 2006.
38.Jump up ^ Dorff, Elliot N. and Rosett, Arthur, A Living Tree; The Roots and Growth of Jewish Law, SUNY Press, 1988.
39.Jump up ^ "An Interview With Howard Thurman and Ronald Eyre", Theology Today, Volume 38, Issue 2 (July 1981).
40.Jump up ^ Nagata, Judith. 2001. Toward an Anthropology of "Fundamentalism." Toronto: Blackwell Publishing, p.9.
41.Jump up ^ Gary J. Lewis, Stuart J. Ritchie, Timothy C. Bates (2011-09-03). "The relationship between intelligence and multiple domains of religious belief: Evidence from a large adult US sample" (PDF).
42.Jump up ^ "Can anyone define 'fundamentalist'?", Terry Mattingly, Ventura County Star, May 12, 2011. Retrieved August 6, 2011.
43.Jump up ^ See, for example, Marty, M. and Appleby, R.S. eds. (1993). Fundamentalisms and the State: Remaking Polities, Economies, and Militance. John H. Garvey, Timur Kuran, and David C. Rapoport, associate editors, Vol 3, The Fundamentalism Project. University of Chicago Press.
References[edit]
Appleby, R. Scott, Gabriel Abraham Almond, and Emmanuel Sivan (2003). Strong Religion. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-01497-5
Armstrong, Karen (2001). The Battle for God: A History of Fundamentalism. New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN 0-345-39169-1
Brasher, Brenda E. (2001). The Encyclopedia of Fundamentalism. New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-92244-5
Caplan, Lionel. (1987). "Studies in Religious Fundamentalism". London: The MacMillan Press Ltd.
Dorff, Elliot N. and Rosett, Arthur, A Living Tree; The Roots and Growth of Jewish Law, SUNY Press, 1988.
Keating, Karl (1988). Catholicism and Fundamentalism. San Francisco: Ignatius. ISBN 0-89870-177-5
Gorenberg, Gershom. (2000). The End of Days: Fundamentalism and the Struggle for the Temple Mount. New York: The Free Press.
Hindery, Roderick. 2001. Indoctrination and Self-deception or Free and Critical Thought? Mellen Press: aspects of fundamentalism, pp. 69–74.
Lawrence, Bruce B. Defenders of God: The Fundamentalist Revolt against the Modern Age. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1989.
Marsden; George M. (1980). Fundamentalism and American Culture: The Shaping of Twentieth Century Evangelicalism, 1870-1925 Oxford University Press.
Marty, Martin E. and R. Scott Appleby (eds.). The Fundamentalism Project. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. (1991). Volume 1: Fundamentalisms Observed. ISBN 0-226-50878-1
(1993). Volume 2: Fundamentalisms and Society. ISBN 0-226-50880-3
(1993). Volume 3: Fundamentalisms and the State. ISBN 0-226-50883-8
(1994). Volume 4: Accounting for Fundamentalisms. ISBN 0-226-50885-4
(1995). Volume 5: Fundamentalisms Comprehended. ISBN 0-226-50887-0
Noll, Mark A. A History of Christianity in the United States and Canada. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1992.
Ruthven, Malise (2005). "Fundamentalism: The Search for Meaning". Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-280606-8
Torrey, R.A. (ed.). (1909). The Fundamentals. Los Angeles: The Bible Institute of Los Angeles (B.I.O.L.A. now Biola University). ISBN 0-8010-1264-3
"Religious movements: fundamentalist." In Goldstein, Norm (Ed.) (2003). The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law 2003 (38th ed.), p. 218. New York: The Associated Press. ISBN 0-917360-22-2.

External links[edit]
 Look up fundamentalism in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
The Sword of the Lord: The Roots of Fundamentalism in an American Family, book by Andrew Himes
Can Anyone Define Fundamentalist? Article by Terry Mattingly via Scripps Howard News Service
Fundamentalism on In Our Time at the BBC. (listen now)
Richard Dawkins' The God Delusion and Atheist Fundamentalism by Simon Watson, published in Anthropoetics XV,2 Spring 2010
Shared Insights: Women's Rights Activists Define Religious Fundamentalisms
The Appeal-and Peril-of Fundamentalism by Dr. Bert B. Beach
The Fundamentals not complete at 2011-07-26.
The Fundamentals: A Testimony to the Truth Online version of "The Fundamentals", not complete at 2011-07-26.
Thoughts on "Religious Fundamentalism" Identity
International Coalition Against Political Islam
Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA)
No to Political Islam
Psychological Issues of Former Members of Restrictive Religious Groups by Jim Moyers
Q & A on Islamic Fundamentalism
www.blessedquietness.com a conservative Christian website, maintained by Steve van Natten
Women Against Fundamentalism (UK)
The Rise of Religious Violence
Yahya Abdul Rahman's Take On Fundamentalists And Fundamentalism
Roots of Fundamentalism Traced to 16th Century Bible Translations, Harvard University, November 7, 2007.
The Fundamentalist Distortion of the Islamic Message by Syed Manzar Abbas Saidi, published in Athena Intelligence Journal
Fundamentalism linked to intimate partner violence
Evangelicalism – Fundamentalism; What Is The Difference?
Admiel Kosman, Between Orthodox Judaism and nihilism: Reflections on the recently published writings of the late Rabbi Shimon Gershon Rosenberg, Haaretz, Aug.17, 2012.
See also: List of new religious movements


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Fundamentalism

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For other uses, see Fundamentalism (disambiguation).
Fundamentalism has been defined by George Marsden as the demand for a strict adherence to certain theological doctrines, in reaction against Modernist theology.[1] The term was originally coined by its supporters to describe what they claimed were five specific classic theological beliefs of Christianity, and that developed into a Christian fundamentalist movement within the Protestant community of the United States in the early part of the 20th century.[2]
The term usually has a religious connotation indicating unwavering attachment to a set of irreducible beliefs,[3] but fundamentalism has come to be applied to a broad tendency among certain groups, mainly, although not exclusively, in religion. This tendency is most often characterized by a markedly strict literalism as applied to certain specific scriptures, dogmas, or ideologies, and a strong sense of the importance of maintaining ingroup and outgroup distinctions,[4][5][6][7] leading to an emphasis on purity and the desire to return to a previous ideal from which it is believed that members have begun to stray. Rejection of diversity of opinion as applied to these established "fundamentals" and their accepted interpretation within the group is often the result of this tendency.[8]
Fundamentalism is sometimes used as a pejorative term, particularly when combined with other epithets (as in the phrase "right-wing fundamentalists").[9][10]


Contents  [hide]
1 Christian
2 Jewish
3 Islamic
4 Hindu
5 Buddhist
6 Non-religious 6.1 Atheist
7 Criticism
8 Controversy
9 See also
10 Citations and footnotes
11 References
12 External links

Christian[edit]
Main article: Christian fundamentalism
See also: Evangelicalism
Fundamentalism as a movement arose in the United States, starting among conservative Presbyterian theologians at Princeton Theological Seminary in the late 19th century. It soon spread to conservatives among the Baptists and other denominations around 1910 to 1920. The movement's purpose was to reaffirm key theological tenets and defend them against the challenges of liberal theology and higher criticism.[11]
The term "fundamentalism" has its roots in the Niagara Bible Conference (1878–1897), which defined those tenets it considered fundamental to Christian belief. The term was popularized by the The Fundamentals, a collection of twelve books on five subjects published in 1910 and funded by the brothers Milton and Lyman Stewart. This series of essays came to be representative of the "Fundamentalist-Modernist Controversy", which appeared late in the 19th century within some Protestant denominations in the United States, and continued in earnest through the 1920s. The first formulation of American fundamentalist beliefs can be traced to the Niagara Bible Conference and, in 1910, to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, which distilled these into what became known as the "five fundamentals":[12]
Biblical inspiration and the inerrancy of scripture as a result of this
Virgin birth of Jesus
Belief that Christ's death was the atonement for sin
Bodily resurrection of Jesus
Historical reality of the miracles of Jesus
By the late 1910s, theological conservatives rallying around the Five Fundamentals came to be known as "fundamentalists". They reject the existence of commonalities with theologically related religious traditions, such as the grouping of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism into one Abrahamic family of religions.[5] In contrast, Evangelical groups, while they typically agree on the theology "fundamentals" as expressed in The Fundamentals, often are willing to participate in events with religious groups who do not hold to the essential doctrines.[13]
Jewish[edit]
Main article: Jewish fundamentalism
The term Jewish fundamentalism has been used to characterize militant religious Zionism, and both Ashkenazi and Sephardic versions of Haredi Judaism.[14]
Ian S Lustik has characterized Jewish fundamentalism as "an ultranationalist, eschatologically based, irredentist ideology", and Gush Emunim as the "dynamism that underlay the shift toward fundamentalism"[15]
Islamic[edit]
Main article: Islamic fundamentalism
The Shia and Sunni religious conflicts since the 7th century created an opening for radical ideologues, such as Ali Shariati (1933–77), to merge social revolution with Islamic fundamentalism, as exemplified by the Iranian Revolution in 1979.[16] Islamic fundamentalism has appeared in many countries;[17] the Wahhabi version is promoted worldwide and financed by Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Pakistan.[18][19]
The Iran hostage crisis of 1979–80 marked a major turning point in the use of the term "fundamentalism". The media, in an attempt to explain the ideology of Ayatollah Khomeini and the Iranian Revolution to a Western audience described it as a "fundamentalist version of Islam" by way of analogy to the Christian fundamentalist movement in the U.S. Thus was born the term "Islamic fundamentalist", which would come to be one of the most common usages of the term in the following years.[20]
Hindu[edit]
See also: Hindutva, Ayodhya dispute and Gujarat_Riots
Scholars identify several politically active Hindu movements (including the RSS, BJP and VHP) as part of the "Hindu fundamentalist family."[21]
A recent[when?] phenomenon in India has been the rise of Hindu fundamentalism, which has led to political mobilization against Muslims.[21][22][23]
Buddhist[edit]
See also: Buddhism and violence
In the most recent[when?] instances, Buddhist fundamentalism has also targeted other religious and ethnic groups, such as that in Burma. As a Buddhist dominated nation, Burma has seen recent tensions between Muslim minorities and the Buddhist majority, especially during the 2013 Burma anti-Muslim riots, alleged[by whom?] to have been instigated by hardliner groups such as the 969 Movement.[24]
There are historic and contemporary examples of Buddhist fundamentalism in each of the three main branches of Buddhism: Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana. In Japan, a prominent example has been the practice of shakubuku among some members of the Nichiren sect—a method of proselytizing involving strident condemnation other sects as deficient or evil. Similarly, some members of the New Kadampa Tradition of Tibetan Buddhism and the Western Shugden Society have appropriated the controversial and fiercely sectarian[clarification needed] protector deity Dorje Shugden as a symbol of maintaining the purity of the Gelugpa sect from contamination by teachings from other sects, condemning the Dalai Lama's eclectic approach (see Dorje Shugden controversy).[25]
Non-religious[edit]
"Fundamentalist" has been used pejoratively to refer to philosophies perceived as literal-minded or carrying a pretense of being the sole source of objective truth, regardless of whether it is usually called a religion. For instance, the Archbishop of Wales has criticized "atheistic fundamentalism" broadly[26][27][28] and said "Any kind of fundamentalism, be it Biblical, atheistic or Islamic, is dangerous".[29] He also said, "the new fundamentalism of our age ... leads to the language of expulsion and exclusivity, of extremism and polarisation, and the claim that, because God is on our side, he is not on yours."[30]
In The New Inquisition, Robert Anton Wilson lampoons the members of skeptical organizations such as the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal as fundamentalist materialists, alleging that they dogmatically dismiss any evidence that conflicts with materialism as hallucination or fraud.[31]
In France, the imposition of restrictions on the wearing of headscarves in state-run schools has been labeled "secular fundamentalism".[32][33] In the United States, private or cultural intolerance of women wearing the hijab (Islamic headcovering) and political activism by Muslims also has been labeled "secular fundamentalism" by some Muslims in the U.S.[34]
The term "fundamentalism" is sometimes applied to signify a counter-cultural fidelity to a principle or set of principles, as in the pejorative term "market fundamentalism", used to imply exaggerated religious-like faith in the ability of unfettered laissez-faire or free market economic views or policies to solve economic and social problems. According to economist John Quiggin, the standard features of "economic fundamentalist rhetoric" are "dogmatic" assertions and the claim that anyone who holds contrary views is not a real economist. Retired professor in religious studies Roderick Hindery lists positive qualities attributed to political, economic, or other forms of cultural fundamentalism, including "vitality, enthusiasm, willingness to back up words with actions, and the avoidance of facile compromise," as well as negative aspects, such as psychological attitudes[which?], occasionally elitist and pessimistic perspectives, and, in some cases, literalism.[35]
Atheist[edit]
See also: Criticism of atheism
In December 2007, the Archbishop of Wales Barry Morgan criticized what he referred to as "atheistic fundamentalism", claiming that it advocated that religion has no substance and "that faith has no value and is superstitious nonsense."[27][28] He claimed it led to situations such as councils calling Christmas "Winterval", schools refusing to put on nativity plays and crosses removed from chapels. Others have countered that some of these attacks on Christmas are urban myths, not all schools do nativity plays because they choose to perform other traditional plays like A Christmas Carol or the The Snow Queen and, because of rising tensions between various religions, opening up public spaces to alternate displays than the Nativity scene is an attempt to keep government religion neutral.[36]
Criticism[edit]


 This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2008)
Many criticisms of fundamentalist positions have been offered. One of the most common is that some claims made by a fundamentalist group cannot be proven, and are irrational, demonstrably false, or contrary to scientific evidence. Some[which?] of these criticisms were famously asserted by Clarence Darrow in the Scopes Monkey Trial.
Sociologist of religion Tex Sample asserts that it is a mistake to refer to a Muslim, Jewish, or Christian fundamentalist. Rather, a fundamentalist's fundamentalism is their primary concern, over and above other denominational or faith considerations.[37]
A criticism by Elliot N. Dorff:

In order to carry out the fundamentalist program in practice, one would need a perfect understanding of the ancient language of the original text, if indeed the true text can be discerned from among variants. Furthermore, human beings are the ones who transmit this understanding between generations. Even if one wanted to follow the literal word of God, the need for people first to understand that word necessitates human interpretation. Through that process human fallibility is inextricably mixed into the very meaning of the divine word. As a result, it is impossible to follow the indisputable word of God; one can only achieve a human understanding of God's will.[38]
Howard Thurman was interviewed in the late 1970s for a BBC feature on religion. He told the interviewer:

I say that creeds, dogmas, and theologies are inventions of the mind. It is the nature of the mind to make sense out of experience, to reduce the conglomerates of experience to units of comprehension which we call principles, or ideologies, or concepts. Religious experience is dynamic, fluid, effervescent, yeasty. But the mind can't handle these so it has to imprison religious experience in some way, get it bottled up. Then, when the experience quiets down, the mind draws a bead on it and extracts concepts, notions, dogmas, so that religious experience can make sense to the mind. Meanwhile religious experience goes on experiencing, so that by the time I get my dogma stated so that I can think about it, the religious experience becomes an object of thought.[39]
Albert Camus opposed both Nazi fascism and Stalinist communism, leading to a split with Jean-Paul Sartre. In the Myth of Sisyphus he developed the concept of philosophical suicide, which he defined as any ideological system or belief that claims to bridge what he saw as a conflict between man's yearning for absolute unity and the inherent irrational nature of the universe.[citation needed]
Influential criticisms of fundamentalism include James Barr's books on Christian fundamentalism and Bassam Tibi's analysis of Islamic fundamentalism.
Political usage of the term "fundamentalism" has also been criticized. "Fundamentalism" has been used by political groups to attack their opponents, using the term flexibly depending on their political interests. According to Judith Nagata, a professor of Asia Research Institute in the National University of Singapore, "The Afghan mujahiddin, locked in combat with the Soviet enemy in the 1980s, could be praised as "freedom fighters" by their American backers at the time, while the present Taliban, viewed, among other things, as protectors of American enemy Osama bin Laden, are unequivocally 'fundamentalist'.[40]
A study at the University of Edinburgh found that of its six measured dimensions of religiousity, "lower intelligence is most associated with higher levels of fundamentalism."[41]
Controversy[edit]



[hide]This section has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page.




This section does not cite any references or sources.  (November 2014)


This section may be confusing or unclear to readers. (November 2014)




This section needs additional citations for verification.  (January 2009)


The Associated Press' AP Stylebook recommends that the term fundamentalist not be used for any group that does not apply the term to itself. Many scholars have adopted a similar position.[42] Other scholars, however, use the term in the broader descriptive sense to refer to various groups in various religious traditions including those groups that would object to being classified as fundamentalists, such as in The Fundamentalism Project.[43]
Christian fundamentalists, who generally consider the term to be pejorative when used to refer to themselves, often object to the placement of themselves and Islamist groups into a single category since they believe that the fundamentals of Christianity are different from the fundamentals of Islam. They feel that characteristics based on the new definition are wrongly projected back onto Christian fundamentalists by their critics.
Many Muslims[who?] object to the use of the term when referring to Islamist groups, and oppose being placed in the same category as Christian fundamentalists, whom they see as theologically incomplete. Unlike Christian fundamentalist groups, Islamist groups do not use the term fundamentalist to refer to themselves. Shia groups which are often considered fundamentalist in the West are generally not described that way in the Islamic world.
See also[edit]

Portal icon conservatism portal
Traditionalist Catholic
Fundie
Historical-grammatical method
Ideology
Importance of religion by country
Independent Fundamental Baptist
Integrism
Indoctrination
Islamism
Jack Chick
Jesus Camp (documentary)
Pentecostalism
Sectarianism
Seventh-day Adventism
Fundamentalism (sculpture)
Sola scriptura
Citations and footnotes[edit]
1.Jump up ^ George M. Marsden, Fundamentalism and American Culture, (1980) pp 4-5 Over 1400 scholarly books have cited Marsden's work, according to Google Scholar.
2.Jump up ^ Buescher, John. "A History of Fundamentalism", Teachinghistory.org. Retrieved August 15, 2011.
3.Jump up ^ Nagata, Judith (Jun 2001). "Beyond Theology: Toward an Anthropology of "Fundamentalism"". American Anthropologist 103 (2).
4.Jump up ^ Altemeyer, B., & Hunsberger, B. (1992). Authoritarianism, religious fundamentalism, quest, and prejudice. International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 2(2), 113-133. doi: 10.1207/s15327582ijpr0202_5
5.^ Jump up to: a b Kunst, J., Thomsen, L., Sam, D. (2014). Late Abrahamic reunion? Religious fundamentalism negatively predicts dual Abrahamic group categorization among Muslims and Christians. European Journal of Social Psychology, https://www.academia.edu/6436421/Late_Abrahamic_reunion_Religious_fundamentalism_negatively_predicts_dual_Abrahamic_group_categorization_among_Muslims_and_Christians
6.Jump up ^ Kunst, J. R., & Thomsen, L. (2014). Prodigal sons: Dual Abrahamic categorization mediates the detrimental effects of religious fundamentalism on Christian-Muslim relations. The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion. doi: 10.1080/10508619.2014.93796 https://www.academia.edu/7455300/Prodigal_sons_Dual_Abrahamic_categorization_mediates_the_detrimental_effects_of_religious_fundamentalism_on_Christian-Muslim_relations
7.Jump up ^ Hunsberger, B. (1995). Religion and prejudice: The role of religious fundamentalism, quest, and right-wing authoritarianism. Journal of Social Issues, 51(2), 113-129. doi: 10.1111/j.1540-4560.1995.tb01326.x
8.Jump up ^ https://www.ntpu.edu.tw/social/upload/P_1020081127150648.pdf
9.Jump up ^ Harris, Harriet (2008). Fundamentalism and Evangelicals. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-953253-2. OCLC 182663241.
10.Jump up ^ Boer, Roland (2005). "Fundamentalism" (PDF). In Tony Bennett, Lawrence Grossberg, Meaghan Morris and Raymonnd Williams. New keywords: a revised vocabulary of culture and society. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishing. pp. 134–137. ISBN 0-631-22568-4. OCLC 230674627 57357498. Retrieved July 27, 2008.
11.Jump up ^ Mark A. Noll, A History of Christianity in the United States and Canada (1992) pp 376-86
12.Jump up ^ George M. Marsden, "Fundamentalism and American Culture", (1980) p. 117
13.Jump up ^ Carpenter, Revive us Again (1997) p 200
14.Jump up ^ Encyclopædia Britannica: Jewish fundamentalism in Israel
15.Jump up ^ Ian S. Lustik. "Israel's Dangerous Fundamentalists". pp. 118–139. ISSN 0015-7228. Archived from the original on 2009-10-25. Retrieved November 4, 2013. "Foreign Policy Number 68 Fall 1987"
16.Jump up ^ William E. Griffith, "The Revival of Islamic Fundamentalism: The Case of Iran", International Security, June 1979, Vol. 4 Issue 1, pp 132-138 in JSTOR
17.Jump up ^ Lawrence Davidson, Islamic Fundamentalism (Greenwood, 2003)
18.Jump up ^ Natana DeLong-Bas, Wahhabi Islam: From Revival and Reform to Global Jihad (Oxford University Press, 2008)
19.Jump up ^ Lindijer, Koert (24 August 2013). "How Islam from the north spreads once more into the Sahel". The Africanists. Retrieved 24 November 2014. "Hundreds of years later, Islam again comes to the Sahel, this time with an unstoppable mission mentality and the way paved by money from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Pakistan. Foreigners, and also Malians who received scholarships to study in Saudi Arabia, introduce this strict form of Islam, and condemn the sufi’s [sic]."[verification needed]
20.Jump up ^ "Google News Search: Chart shows spikes in '79 (Iran hostage crisis), after 9/11 and in '92 and '93 (Algerian elections, PLO).". Retrieved December 9, 2008.[original research?]
21.^ Jump up to: a b Brekke (1991). Fundamentalism: Prophecy and Protest in an Age of Globalization. Cambridge University Press. p. 127.
22.Jump up ^ Ajay K. Mehra (2013). Emerging Trends in Indian Politics: The Fifteenth General Election. Routledge. p. 1.
23.Jump up ^ James Peoples; Garrick Bailey (2008). Cengage Advantage Books: Humanity: An Introduction to Cultural Anthropology. Cengage Learning. p. 371.
24.Jump up ^ KYAW ZWA MOE (March 30, 2013). "Root Out the Source of Meikhtila Unrest". Retrieved November 4, 2013.
25.Jump up ^ http://info-buddhism.com/new_kadampa_tradition.html
26.Jump up ^ Alister McGrath and Joanna Collicutt McGrath, The Dawkins Delusion? Atheist Fundamentalism and the Denial of the Divine, Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK), February 15, 2007, ISBN 978-0-281-05927-0
27.^ Jump up to: a b Yr Eglwys yng Nghymru | The Church in Wales
28.^ Jump up to: a b "'Atheistic fundamentalism' fears". BBC News. December 22, 2007. Retrieved May 3, 2010.
29.Jump up ^ "Archbishop of Wales fears the rise of "Atheistic Fundamentalism"". Archived from the original on 2007-12-27. Retrieved November 4, 2013.
30.Jump up ^ "Atheistic fundamentalism" fears". BBC News. 22 December 2007. Retrieved November 4, 2013.
31.Jump up ^ Pope Robert Anton Wilson, The New Inquisition: Irrational Rationalism and the Citadel of Science. 1986. 240 pages. ISBN 1-56184-002-5
32.Jump up ^ "Secular fundamentalism", International Herald Tribune, December 19, 2003
33.Jump up ^ "Headscarf ban sparks new protests," BBC News, January 17, 2004
34.Jump up ^ Ayesha Ahmad, "Muslim Activists Reject Secular Fundamentalism", originally published at IslamOnline, April 22, 1999. See also Minaret of Freedom 5th Annual Dinner, Edited Transcript, Minaret of Freedom Institute website.
35.Jump up ^ Hindery, Roderick (2008). "Comparative Ethics, Ideologies, and Critical Thought"
36.Jump up ^ Toynbee, Polly (December 21, 2007). "Sorry to disappoint, but it's nonsense to suggest we want to ban Christmas". The Guardian (London). Retrieved May 3, 2010.
37.Jump up ^ Tex Sample. Public Lecture, Faith and Reason Conference, San Antonio, TX. 2006.
38.Jump up ^ Dorff, Elliot N. and Rosett, Arthur, A Living Tree; The Roots and Growth of Jewish Law, SUNY Press, 1988.
39.Jump up ^ "An Interview With Howard Thurman and Ronald Eyre", Theology Today, Volume 38, Issue 2 (July 1981).
40.Jump up ^ Nagata, Judith. 2001. Toward an Anthropology of "Fundamentalism." Toronto: Blackwell Publishing, p.9.
41.Jump up ^ Gary J. Lewis, Stuart J. Ritchie, Timothy C. Bates (2011-09-03). "The relationship between intelligence and multiple domains of religious belief: Evidence from a large adult US sample" (PDF).
42.Jump up ^ "Can anyone define 'fundamentalist'?", Terry Mattingly, Ventura County Star, May 12, 2011. Retrieved August 6, 2011.
43.Jump up ^ See, for example, Marty, M. and Appleby, R.S. eds. (1993). Fundamentalisms and the State: Remaking Polities, Economies, and Militance. John H. Garvey, Timur Kuran, and David C. Rapoport, associate editors, Vol 3, The Fundamentalism Project. University of Chicago Press.
References[edit]
Appleby, R. Scott, Gabriel Abraham Almond, and Emmanuel Sivan (2003). Strong Religion. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-01497-5
Armstrong, Karen (2001). The Battle for God: A History of Fundamentalism. New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN 0-345-39169-1
Brasher, Brenda E. (2001). The Encyclopedia of Fundamentalism. New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-92244-5
Caplan, Lionel. (1987). "Studies in Religious Fundamentalism". London: The MacMillan Press Ltd.
Dorff, Elliot N. and Rosett, Arthur, A Living Tree; The Roots and Growth of Jewish Law, SUNY Press, 1988.
Keating, Karl (1988). Catholicism and Fundamentalism. San Francisco: Ignatius. ISBN 0-89870-177-5
Gorenberg, Gershom. (2000). The End of Days: Fundamentalism and the Struggle for the Temple Mount. New York: The Free Press.
Hindery, Roderick. 2001. Indoctrination and Self-deception or Free and Critical Thought? Mellen Press: aspects of fundamentalism, pp. 69–74.
Lawrence, Bruce B. Defenders of God: The Fundamentalist Revolt against the Modern Age. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1989.
Marsden; George M. (1980). Fundamentalism and American Culture: The Shaping of Twentieth Century Evangelicalism, 1870-1925 Oxford University Press.
Marty, Martin E. and R. Scott Appleby (eds.). The Fundamentalism Project. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. (1991). Volume 1: Fundamentalisms Observed. ISBN 0-226-50878-1
(1993). Volume 2: Fundamentalisms and Society. ISBN 0-226-50880-3
(1993). Volume 3: Fundamentalisms and the State. ISBN 0-226-50883-8
(1994). Volume 4: Accounting for Fundamentalisms. ISBN 0-226-50885-4
(1995). Volume 5: Fundamentalisms Comprehended. ISBN 0-226-50887-0
Noll, Mark A. A History of Christianity in the United States and Canada. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1992.
Ruthven, Malise (2005). "Fundamentalism: The Search for Meaning". Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-280606-8
Torrey, R.A. (ed.). (1909). The Fundamentals. Los Angeles: The Bible Institute of Los Angeles (B.I.O.L.A. now Biola University). ISBN 0-8010-1264-3
"Religious movements: fundamentalist." In Goldstein, Norm (Ed.) (2003). The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law 2003 (38th ed.), p. 218. New York: The Associated Press. ISBN 0-917360-22-2.

External links[edit]
 Look up fundamentalism in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
The Sword of the Lord: The Roots of Fundamentalism in an American Family, book by Andrew Himes
Can Anyone Define Fundamentalist? Article by Terry Mattingly via Scripps Howard News Service
Fundamentalism on In Our Time at the BBC. (listen now)
Richard Dawkins' The God Delusion and Atheist Fundamentalism by Simon Watson, published in Anthropoetics XV,2 Spring 2010
Shared Insights: Women's Rights Activists Define Religious Fundamentalisms
The Appeal-and Peril-of Fundamentalism by Dr. Bert B. Beach
The Fundamentals not complete at 2011-07-26.
The Fundamentals: A Testimony to the Truth Online version of "The Fundamentals", not complete at 2011-07-26.
Thoughts on "Religious Fundamentalism" Identity
International Coalition Against Political Islam
Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA)
No to Political Islam
Psychological Issues of Former Members of Restrictive Religious Groups by Jim Moyers
Q & A on Islamic Fundamentalism
www.blessedquietness.com a conservative Christian website, maintained by Steve van Natten
Women Against Fundamentalism (UK)
The Rise of Religious Violence
Yahya Abdul Rahman's Take On Fundamentalists And Fundamentalism
Roots of Fundamentalism Traced to 16th Century Bible Translations, Harvard University, November 7, 2007.
The Fundamentalist Distortion of the Islamic Message by Syed Manzar Abbas Saidi, published in Athena Intelligence Journal
Fundamentalism linked to intimate partner violence
Evangelicalism – Fundamentalism; What Is The Difference?
Admiel Kosman, Between Orthodox Judaism and nihilism: Reflections on the recently published writings of the late Rabbi Shimon Gershon Rosenberg, Haaretz, Aug.17, 2012.
See also: List of new religious movements


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Liberal religion

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search



 This article contains too many or too-lengthy quotations for an encyclopedic entry. Please help improve the article by editing it to take facts from excessively quoted material and rewrite them as sourced original prose. Consider transferring direct quotations to Wikiquote. (November 2014)


 It has been suggested that this article be split into articles titled Unitarian Universalism and religious liberalism, accessible from a disambiguation page. (November 2014)
Liberal religion is a religious tradition which embraces the theological progress of a congregation rather than a single creed, authority, or writing. Because it may draw resources from many traditions, it cannot normally be characterized as Christian, Jewish, or any particular religious faith.
Theologian James Luther Adams defined the "five smooth stones of liberal theology[disambiguation needed]" as:
1.Revelation and truth are not closed, but constantly revealed.
2.All relations between persons ought ideally to rest on mutual, free consent and not coercion.
3.Affirmation of the moral obligation to direct one's effort toward the establishment of a just and loving community.
4.Denial of the immaculate conception of virtue and affirmation of the necessity of social incarnation. Good must be consciously given form and power within history.
5.The resources (divine and human) that are available for achievement of meaningful change justify an attitude of ultimate (but not necessarily immediate) optimism. There is hope in the ultimate abundance of the Universe.[1]
Unitarian Universalist minister Kimi Riegel defines the religious liberal as such:

"To be a liberal according to my favorite scripture, Merriam-Webster, is be open minded, is to be free from the constraints of dogmatism and authority, is to be generous and to believe in the basic goodness of humankind. Religion is defined as that which binds us back or reconnects us to that which is ultimately important. Thus religious liberals are those that are connected, through generosity and openness, to the most important aspects of life. And therein lies the challenge. If we are open minded and not bound by authority, who or what decides those matters of ultimate importance?"[2]


Contents  [hide]
1 Liberal religion in Unitarian Universalism 1.1 Seven Principles and Purposes
2 See also
3 References

Liberal religion in Unitarian Universalism[edit]
Seven Principles and Purposes[edit]
Deliberately without an official creed or dogma (per the principle of freedom of thought), Unitarian Universalists instead typically agree with the principles and purposes suggested by the Unitarian Universalist Association. As with most actions in Unitarian Universalism, these were created in committee, and affirmed democratically by a vote of member congregations, proportional to their membership, taken at an annual General Assembly (a meeting of delegates from member congregations). Adopted in 1960, the full Principles and Purposes are as follows:

"We, the member congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Association, covenant to affirm and promote
The inherent worth and dignity of every person;
Justice, equity and compassion in human relations;
Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;
A free and responsible search for truth and meaning;
The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large;
The goal of world community with peace, liberty and justice for all;
Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part."
—The Principles of the Unitarian Universalist Association[3]

Unitarian Universalists place emphasis on spiritual growth and development. Unitarian Universalism is a creedless religion. The Unitarian Universalist Association affirms seven principles:[4] The official statement of Unitarian Universalist principles describes the "sources" upon which current practice is based:[4]
Direct experience of that transcending mystery and wonder, affirmed in all cultures, which moves us to a renewal of the spirit and an openness to the forces which create and uphold life;
Words and deeds of prophetic women and men which challenge us to confront powers and structures of evil with justice, compassion, and the transforming power of love;
Wisdom from the world's religions which inspires us in our ethical and spiritual life;
Jewish and Christian teachings which call us to respond to God's love by loving our neighbors as ourselves;
Humanist teachings which counsel us to heed the guidance of reason and the results of science, and warn us against idolatries of the mind and spirit.
Spiritual teachings of earth-centered traditions which celebrate the sacred circle of life and instruct us to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature.
See also[edit]

Portal icon Religion portal
Emerging church
Ethical Culture
Liberal Christianity
Liberal movements within Islam
Liberation theology
Modernism (Roman Catholicism)
Progressive Judaism
Progressive Christianity
Religious liberalism
Religious naturalism
Religious Society of Friends
Sea of Faith
Secular theology
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ What is Liberal Religion and Why Should I Care?: A Sermon by Rev. Patrick Price
2.Jump up ^ "What is Liberal Religion?". Northwest Unitarian Universalist Church. Retrieved 2007-02-24.
3.Jump up ^ "The Principles of the Unitarian Universalist Association". Unitarian Universalist Association. Retrieved 2007-02-24.
4.^ Jump up to: a b Principles. UUA (2010-09-09). Retrieved on 2010-09-29.


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Liberal religion

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search



 This article contains too many or too-lengthy quotations for an encyclopedic entry. Please help improve the article by editing it to take facts from excessively quoted material and rewrite them as sourced original prose. Consider transferring direct quotations to Wikiquote. (November 2014)


 It has been suggested that this article be split into articles titled Unitarian Universalism and religious liberalism, accessible from a disambiguation page. (November 2014)
Liberal religion is a religious tradition which embraces the theological progress of a congregation rather than a single creed, authority, or writing. Because it may draw resources from many traditions, it cannot normally be characterized as Christian, Jewish, or any particular religious faith.
Theologian James Luther Adams defined the "five smooth stones of liberal theology[disambiguation needed]" as:
1.Revelation and truth are not closed, but constantly revealed.
2.All relations between persons ought ideally to rest on mutual, free consent and not coercion.
3.Affirmation of the moral obligation to direct one's effort toward the establishment of a just and loving community.
4.Denial of the immaculate conception of virtue and affirmation of the necessity of social incarnation. Good must be consciously given form and power within history.
5.The resources (divine and human) that are available for achievement of meaningful change justify an attitude of ultimate (but not necessarily immediate) optimism. There is hope in the ultimate abundance of the Universe.[1]
Unitarian Universalist minister Kimi Riegel defines the religious liberal as such:

"To be a liberal according to my favorite scripture, Merriam-Webster, is be open minded, is to be free from the constraints of dogmatism and authority, is to be generous and to believe in the basic goodness of humankind. Religion is defined as that which binds us back or reconnects us to that which is ultimately important. Thus religious liberals are those that are connected, through generosity and openness, to the most important aspects of life. And therein lies the challenge. If we are open minded and not bound by authority, who or what decides those matters of ultimate importance?"[2]


Contents  [hide]
1 Liberal religion in Unitarian Universalism 1.1 Seven Principles and Purposes
2 See also
3 References

Liberal religion in Unitarian Universalism[edit]
Seven Principles and Purposes[edit]
Deliberately without an official creed or dogma (per the principle of freedom of thought), Unitarian Universalists instead typically agree with the principles and purposes suggested by the Unitarian Universalist Association. As with most actions in Unitarian Universalism, these were created in committee, and affirmed democratically by a vote of member congregations, proportional to their membership, taken at an annual General Assembly (a meeting of delegates from member congregations). Adopted in 1960, the full Principles and Purposes are as follows:

"We, the member congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Association, covenant to affirm and promote
The inherent worth and dignity of every person;
Justice, equity and compassion in human relations;
Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;
A free and responsible search for truth and meaning;
The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large;
The goal of world community with peace, liberty and justice for all;
Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part."
—The Principles of the Unitarian Universalist Association[3]

Unitarian Universalists place emphasis on spiritual growth and development. Unitarian Universalism is a creedless religion. The Unitarian Universalist Association affirms seven principles:[4] The official statement of Unitarian Universalist principles describes the "sources" upon which current practice is based:[4]
Direct experience of that transcending mystery and wonder, affirmed in all cultures, which moves us to a renewal of the spirit and an openness to the forces which create and uphold life;
Words and deeds of prophetic women and men which challenge us to confront powers and structures of evil with justice, compassion, and the transforming power of love;
Wisdom from the world's religions which inspires us in our ethical and spiritual life;
Jewish and Christian teachings which call us to respond to God's love by loving our neighbors as ourselves;
Humanist teachings which counsel us to heed the guidance of reason and the results of science, and warn us against idolatries of the mind and spirit.
Spiritual teachings of earth-centered traditions which celebrate the sacred circle of life and instruct us to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature.
See also[edit]

Portal icon Religion portal
Emerging church
Ethical Culture
Liberal Christianity
Liberal movements within Islam
Liberation theology
Modernism (Roman Catholicism)
Progressive Judaism
Progressive Christianity
Religious liberalism
Religious naturalism
Religious Society of Friends
Sea of Faith
Secular theology
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ What is Liberal Religion and Why Should I Care?: A Sermon by Rev. Patrick Price
2.Jump up ^ "What is Liberal Religion?". Northwest Unitarian Universalist Church. Retrieved 2007-02-24.
3.Jump up ^ "The Principles of the Unitarian Universalist Association". Unitarian Universalist Association. Retrieved 2007-02-24.
4.^ Jump up to: a b Principles. UUA (2010-09-09). Retrieved on 2010-09-29.


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Irreligion

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

"Irreligious" redirects here. For the album by Moonspell, see Irreligious (album).
Not to be confused with secularity.
Part of a series on
Irreligion
"αθεοι" (atheoi), Greek for "those without god", as it appears in the Epistle to the Ephesians on the third-century papyrus known as "Papyrus 46"

Irreligion[show]












Atheism[show]






























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Irreligion by country

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Irreligion (adjective form: non-religious or irreligious) is the absence of religion, an indifference towards religion, a rejection of religion, or hostility towards religion.[1] When characterized as the rejection of religious belief, it includes explicit atheism, religious dissidence, and secular humanism. When characterized as hostility towards religion, it includes anticlericalism, antireligion, and antitheism.
When characterized as indifference to religion, it includes apatheism. When characterized as the absence of religious belief, it may also include deism, implicit atheism, spiritual but not religious, agnosticism, pandeism, ignosticism, nontheism, pantheism, panentheism, religious skepticism, and freethought. Irreligion may include forms of theism, depending on the religious context it is defined against. In 18th-century Europe, the epitome of irreligion was deism.[2]
A 2012 survey found that 36% of the world population is not religious and that between 2005 and 2012 world religiosity decreased by 9 percentage points.[3] Being nonreligious is not necessarily equivalent to being an atheist or agnostic. A Pew Research Center global report in 2012 noted that many of the nonreligious actually have some religious beliefs. According to the study, "belief in God or a higher power is shared by 7% of Chinese unaffiliated adults, 30% of French unaffiliated adults and 68% of unaffiliated U.S. adults."[4] The majority of the nonreligious (76%) are concentrated in Asia and the Pacific, while only a small portion comes from Europe (12%) or North America (5%).[4]


Contents  [hide]
1 Human rights
2 Demographics
3 See also
4 References
5 Further reading

Human rights[edit]
In 1993, the UN's human rights committee declared that article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights "protects theistic, non-theistic and atheistic beliefs, as well as the right not to profess any religion or belief."[5] The committee further stated that "the freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief necessarily entails the freedom to choose a religion or belief, including the right to replace one's current religion or belief with another or to adopt atheistic views." Signatories to the convention are barred from "the use of threat of physical force or penal sanctions to compel believers or non-believers" to recant their beliefs or convert. Despite this, minority religions still are still persecuted in many parts of the world.[6][7]
Most Western democracies protect the freedom of religion, and it is largely implied in respective legal systems that those who do not believe or observe any religion are allowed freedom of thought.
A noted exception to ambiguity, explicitly allowing non-religion, is Article 36 of the Constitution of the People's Republic of China (as authored in 1982), which states that "No state organ, public organization or individual may compel citizens to believe in, or not to believe in, any religion; nor may they discriminate against citizens who believe in, or do not believe in, any religion."[8] Article 46 of China’s 1978 Constitution was even more explicit, stating that "Citizens enjoy freedom to believe in religion and freedom not to believe in religion and to propagate atheism."[9]
Demographics[edit]
Main article: Irreligion by country
Although 10 countries listed below have non-religious majorities, it does not mean that majority of the populations of these countries don′t belong to any religious group. For example, 67.5% of the Swedish population belongs to Lutheran Christian Church,[10] while 58.7% of Albanians declare themselves as Muslims.[citation needed] Also, though Scandinavian countries have among the highest measures of nonreligiosity and even atheism in Europe, 47% of atheists who live in those countries are still members of the national churches.[11]
A Pew 2015 global projection study for religion and nonreligion, projects that between 2010 and 2050, there will some initial increases of the unaffiliated followed by a decline by 2050 due to lower global fertility rates among this demographic. [12] Sociologist Phil Zuckerman's global studies on atheism have indicated that global atheism may be in decline due to irreligious countries having the lowest birth rates in the world and religious countries having higher birth rates in general.[13]




 Gallup Religiosity Index 2009 (light color indicates religious, dark nonreligious)[14]
The tables below order the percentage of a country's population that are nonreligious from highest to lowest.




Country
Percentage of population
 that is non-religious
Date and source
 Czech Republic 67.8 2011[15]
 Sweden 46–85 (average of 65.5) [16]
 Vietnam 46.1–81 (average of 63.55) [16][17]
 Denmark 43–80 (average of 61.5) [16]
 Netherlands 51.3–61 (average of 56.1) [16][18]
 Albania 52 [19][20][21]
 United Kingdom 39–65 (average of 52)
 2011[22]
 Japan 84% [16]
 Azerbaijan 51 [23]
 China 8–93 (average of 50.5) [16][17][24]
 Estonia 49 [16]
 France 43–54 (average of 48.5) [16]
 Russia 48.1 [17]
 Belarus 47.8 [17]
 South Korea 46.5 [17][25]
 Finland 28–60 (average of 44) [16]
 Hungary 42.6 [17]
 Ukraine 42.4 [17]
 Iceland 42 2012[26]
 New Zealand 41.9
(89.9% census response rate) [27]
 Latvia 40.6 [17]
 Belgium 35.4 [17]
 Germany 34.6 [28]
 Chile 33.8 [17]
 United States 33 [29]
 Ecuador 30.0 [30]
 Luxembourg 29.9 [17]
 Slovenia 29.9 [17]
 Uruguay 29.4 [17]
 Venezuela 27.0 [17]
 Canada 23.9 2011[31]
 Spain 23.3 [32]
 Slovakia 23.1 [17]


Country
Percentage of population
 that is non-religious (2006)
Date and source
 Australia 22.3 [33]
  Switzerland 21.4 2012[34]
 Mexico 20.5 [17]
 Lithuania 19.4 [17]
 Italy 17.8 [17]
 Argentina 16.0 [35]
 South Africa 15.1 [36]
 Croatia 13.2 [17]
 Austria 12.2 [17]
 Portugal 11.4 [17]
 Puerto Rico 11.1 [17]
 Bulgaria 11.1 [17]
 Philippines 10.9 [17]
 Brazil 8.0 [37]
 Ireland 7.0 [38]
 India 6.6 [17]
 Serbia 5.8 [17]
 Peru 4.7 [17]
 Poland 4.6 [17]
 Greece 4.0 [17]
 Turkey 2.5 [17]
 Romania 2.4 [17]
 Tanzania 1.7 [17]
 Malta 1.3 [17]
 Iran 1.1 [17]
 Uganda 1.1 [17]
 Nigeria 0.7 [17]
 Thailand 0.27 [39]
 Bangladesh 0.1 [17]

See also[edit]
Humanism
Importance of religion by country
Irreligion by country
Nontheistic religions
Pantheism
Post-theism
Skepticism
Spiritual but not religious
Transtheistic
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ "Irreligion as presented in 26 reference works".
"Definition including hostility and indifference", Compact Oxford Dictionary
"Definition including lack and indifference", Collins Dictionary
"Irreligion", Encyclopedia of Religion and Society, retrieved 2012-02-18 Includes rejection.
Colin Campbell, "Irreligion", Encyclopedia of Religion and Society, retrieved 2012-02-18
2.Jump up ^ Campbell, Colin. 1971. Towards a Sociology of Irreligion. London:McMillan p. 31.
3.Jump up ^ "Global Index of Religiosity and Atheism" (PDF). WIN-Gallup International. 27 July 2012. Retrieved 2012-08-24.
4.^ Jump up to: a b "The Global Religious Landscape - Religiously Unaffiliated". Pew Research Center. December 18, 2012.
5.Jump up ^ "CCPR General Comment 22: 30/07/93 on ICCPR Article 18". Minorityrights.org.
6.Jump up ^ International Federation for Human Rights (1 August 2003). "Discrimination against religious minorities in Iran" (PDF). fdih.org. Retrieved 3 March 2009.
7.Jump up ^ Davis, Derek H. "The Evolution of Religious Liberty as a Universal Human Right" (PDF). Retrieved 3 March 2009.
8.Jump up ^ [1]
9.Jump up ^ People's Republic of China 1978 Constitution (PDF). 1978. p. 41. Retrieved 2014-02-02.
10.Jump up ^ "Kyrkan i siffror, Swedish Lutheran Christian Church in numbers".
11.Jump up ^ Zuckerman, Phil, ed. (2010). "Ch. 9 Atheism And Secularity: The Scandinavian Paradox". Atheism and Secularity Vol.2. Praeger. ISBN 0313351813.
12.Jump up ^ "The Future of World Religions: Population Growth Projections, 2010-2050". Pew Research Center. April 5, 2012.
13.Jump up ^ Zuckerman, Phil (2007). Martin, Michael, ed. The Cambridge Companion to Atheism. Cambridge Univ. Press. p. 59. ISBN 0521603676.
14.Jump up ^ The Religiosity Index is a measure of the importance of religion for respondents and their self-reported attendance of religious services. For religions in which attendance at services is limited, care must be used in interpreting the data. (Gallup WorldView)[dead link]
15.Jump up ^ "Population by religious belief and by municipality size groups" (PDF). Czech Statistical Office. Retrieved 23 April 2012.
16.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i Zuckerman, Phil. "Atheism: Contemporary Rates and Patterns", from the Cambridge Companion to Atheism, edited by Michael Martin, University of Cambridge Press, 2007
17.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak Dentsu Communication Institute Inc., Research Centre for Japan (2006)(Japanese)
18.Jump up ^ Knippenberg, Hans "The Changing Religious Landscape of Europe" edited by Knippenberg published by Het Spinhuis, Amsterdam 2005 ISBN 90-5589-248-3, page 92
19.Jump up ^ "Albania". State.gov. 2006-09-15. Retrieved 2011-02-04. US Department of State - International religious freedom report 2006
20.Jump up ^ L'Albanie en 2005
21.Jump up ^ "Adherents.com". Adherents.com. Retrieved 2011-02-04. Some publications
22.Jump up ^ UK National Statistics Bureau (2011 census)
23.Jump up ^ "Global Index Of Religion and Atheism" (PDF). Redcresearch.ie. Retrieved 2011-11-01. Publications are taken from Gallup
24.Jump up ^ "Adherents.com". Adherents.com. Retrieved 2011-02-04. Some publications
25.Jump up ^ According to figures compiled by the South Korean National Statistical Office. "인구,가구/시도별 종교인구/시도별 종교인구 (2005년 인구총조사)". NSO online KOSIS database. Retrieved August 23, 2006.
26.Jump up ^ http://redcresearch.ie/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/RED-C-press-release-Religion-and-Atheism-25-7-12.pdf
27.Jump up ^ http://www.stats.govt.nz/Census/2013-census/data-tables/total-by-topic.aspx
28.Jump up ^ "fowid - Forschungsgruppe Weltanschauungen in Deutschland: Home". Fowid.de. Retrieved 2011-09-12. German Worldview Research Group (2010)
29.Jump up ^ Cary Funk, Greg Smith. "Nones" on the Rise: One-in-Five Adults Have No Religious Affiliation" (PDF). Pew Research Center. p. 43. "Nearly one-in-five say they are spiritual but not religious (18%), and about one-in-six say they are neither religious nor spiritual (15%)."
30.Jump up ^ [2]
31.Jump up ^ "96F0030XIE2001015 - Religions in Canada". 2.statcan.ca. Retrieved 2013-05-08. Canada 2011 census
32.Jump up ^ [3] Socialogical Research Centre, January 2012
33.Jump up ^ "Census shows result of mining boom, with increased cost of housing and higher wages", PIA AKERMAN, The Australian, 21 June 2012.
34.Jump up ^ "Ständige Wohnbevölkerung ab 15 Jahren nach Religions- / Konfessionszugehörigkeit, 2012" (XLS). http://www.bfs.admin.ch (Statistics) (in German, French, and or Italian). Neuchâtel: Swiss Federal Statistical Office. 2012. Retrieved 2014-04-05.
35.Jump up ^ "Table Of Statistics On Religion In The Americas". Prolades.com. April 2001. Retrieved 2011-02-04. Gallup-Argentina survey
36.Jump up ^ [4][dead link] Güney Afrika 2001 census
37.Jump up ^ "Census 2010; Sistema IBGE de Recuperação Automática SIDRA". Retrieved 2013-06-29.
38.Jump up ^ "This is Ireland. Highlights from Census 2011, Part 1" (PDF). March 2012. Retrieved 2013-06-29. "Secular Sunday #14 – Census Special". April 2012.
39.Jump up ^ ประชากรจำแนกตามศาสนา หมวดอายุ เพศ และเขตการปกครอง (in Thai). สำมะโนประชากรและเคหะ พ.ศ. 2543 (2000 census), National Statistical Office of Thailand. Retrieved 2013-10-26.
Further reading[edit]
 Wikimedia Commons has media related to Irreligion.
John Allen Paulos (9 June 2009). Irreligion: A Mathematician Explains Why the Arguments for God Just Don't Add Up. Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-8090-5918-8.
Richard Henry Popkin; Arie Johan Vanderjagt (1993). Scepticism and irreligion in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-09596-0.
Eric Wright (November 2010). Irreligion: Thought, Rationale, History. BiblioBazaar. ISBN 978-1-171-06863-1.


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Irreligion

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"Irreligious" redirects here. For the album by Moonspell, see Irreligious (album).
Not to be confused with secularity.
Part of a series on
Irreligion
"αθεοι" (atheoi), Greek for "those without god", as it appears in the Epistle to the Ephesians on the third-century papyrus known as "Papyrus 46"

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Irreligion by country

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Irreligion (adjective form: non-religious or irreligious) is the absence of religion, an indifference towards religion, a rejection of religion, or hostility towards religion.[1] When characterized as the rejection of religious belief, it includes explicit atheism, religious dissidence, and secular humanism. When characterized as hostility towards religion, it includes anticlericalism, antireligion, and antitheism.
When characterized as indifference to religion, it includes apatheism. When characterized as the absence of religious belief, it may also include deism, implicit atheism, spiritual but not religious, agnosticism, pandeism, ignosticism, nontheism, pantheism, panentheism, religious skepticism, and freethought. Irreligion may include forms of theism, depending on the religious context it is defined against. In 18th-century Europe, the epitome of irreligion was deism.[2]
A 2012 survey found that 36% of the world population is not religious and that between 2005 and 2012 world religiosity decreased by 9 percentage points.[3] Being nonreligious is not necessarily equivalent to being an atheist or agnostic. A Pew Research Center global report in 2012 noted that many of the nonreligious actually have some religious beliefs. According to the study, "belief in God or a higher power is shared by 7% of Chinese unaffiliated adults, 30% of French unaffiliated adults and 68% of unaffiliated U.S. adults."[4] The majority of the nonreligious (76%) are concentrated in Asia and the Pacific, while only a small portion comes from Europe (12%) or North America (5%).[4]


Contents  [hide]
1 Human rights
2 Demographics
3 See also
4 References
5 Further reading

Human rights[edit]
In 1993, the UN's human rights committee declared that article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights "protects theistic, non-theistic and atheistic beliefs, as well as the right not to profess any religion or belief."[5] The committee further stated that "the freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief necessarily entails the freedom to choose a religion or belief, including the right to replace one's current religion or belief with another or to adopt atheistic views." Signatories to the convention are barred from "the use of threat of physical force or penal sanctions to compel believers or non-believers" to recant their beliefs or convert. Despite this, minority religions still are still persecuted in many parts of the world.[6][7]
Most Western democracies protect the freedom of religion, and it is largely implied in respective legal systems that those who do not believe or observe any religion are allowed freedom of thought.
A noted exception to ambiguity, explicitly allowing non-religion, is Article 36 of the Constitution of the People's Republic of China (as authored in 1982), which states that "No state organ, public organization or individual may compel citizens to believe in, or not to believe in, any religion; nor may they discriminate against citizens who believe in, or do not believe in, any religion."[8] Article 46 of China’s 1978 Constitution was even more explicit, stating that "Citizens enjoy freedom to believe in religion and freedom not to believe in religion and to propagate atheism."[9]
Demographics[edit]
Main article: Irreligion by country
Although 10 countries listed below have non-religious majorities, it does not mean that majority of the populations of these countries don′t belong to any religious group. For example, 67.5% of the Swedish population belongs to Lutheran Christian Church,[10] while 58.7% of Albanians declare themselves as Muslims.[citation needed] Also, though Scandinavian countries have among the highest measures of nonreligiosity and even atheism in Europe, 47% of atheists who live in those countries are still members of the national churches.[11]
A Pew 2015 global projection study for religion and nonreligion, projects that between 2010 and 2050, there will some initial increases of the unaffiliated followed by a decline by 2050 due to lower global fertility rates among this demographic. [12] Sociologist Phil Zuckerman's global studies on atheism have indicated that global atheism may be in decline due to irreligious countries having the lowest birth rates in the world and religious countries having higher birth rates in general.[13]




 Gallup Religiosity Index 2009 (light color indicates religious, dark nonreligious)[14]
The tables below order the percentage of a country's population that are nonreligious from highest to lowest.




Country
Percentage of population
 that is non-religious
Date and source
 Czech Republic 67.8 2011[15]
 Sweden 46–85 (average of 65.5) [16]
 Vietnam 46.1–81 (average of 63.55) [16][17]
 Denmark 43–80 (average of 61.5) [16]
 Netherlands 51.3–61 (average of 56.1) [16][18]
 Albania 52 [19][20][21]
 United Kingdom 39–65 (average of 52)
 2011[22]
 Japan 84% [16]
 Azerbaijan 51 [23]
 China 8–93 (average of 50.5) [16][17][24]
 Estonia 49 [16]
 France 43–54 (average of 48.5) [16]
 Russia 48.1 [17]
 Belarus 47.8 [17]
 South Korea 46.5 [17][25]
 Finland 28–60 (average of 44) [16]
 Hungary 42.6 [17]
 Ukraine 42.4 [17]
 Iceland 42 2012[26]
 New Zealand 41.9
(89.9% census response rate) [27]
 Latvia 40.6 [17]
 Belgium 35.4 [17]
 Germany 34.6 [28]
 Chile 33.8 [17]
 United States 33 [29]
 Ecuador 30.0 [30]
 Luxembourg 29.9 [17]
 Slovenia 29.9 [17]
 Uruguay 29.4 [17]
 Venezuela 27.0 [17]
 Canada 23.9 2011[31]
 Spain 23.3 [32]
 Slovakia 23.1 [17]


Country
Percentage of population
 that is non-religious (2006)
Date and source
 Australia 22.3 [33]
  Switzerland 21.4 2012[34]
 Mexico 20.5 [17]
 Lithuania 19.4 [17]
 Italy 17.8 [17]
 Argentina 16.0 [35]
 South Africa 15.1 [36]
 Croatia 13.2 [17]
 Austria 12.2 [17]
 Portugal 11.4 [17]
 Puerto Rico 11.1 [17]
 Bulgaria 11.1 [17]
 Philippines 10.9 [17]
 Brazil 8.0 [37]
 Ireland 7.0 [38]
 India 6.6 [17]
 Serbia 5.8 [17]
 Peru 4.7 [17]
 Poland 4.6 [17]
 Greece 4.0 [17]
 Turkey 2.5 [17]
 Romania 2.4 [17]
 Tanzania 1.7 [17]
 Malta 1.3 [17]
 Iran 1.1 [17]
 Uganda 1.1 [17]
 Nigeria 0.7 [17]
 Thailand 0.27 [39]
 Bangladesh 0.1 [17]

See also[edit]
Humanism
Importance of religion by country
Irreligion by country
Nontheistic religions
Pantheism
Post-theism
Skepticism
Spiritual but not religious
Transtheistic
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ "Irreligion as presented in 26 reference works".
"Definition including hostility and indifference", Compact Oxford Dictionary
"Definition including lack and indifference", Collins Dictionary
"Irreligion", Encyclopedia of Religion and Society, retrieved 2012-02-18 Includes rejection.
Colin Campbell, "Irreligion", Encyclopedia of Religion and Society, retrieved 2012-02-18
2.Jump up ^ Campbell, Colin. 1971. Towards a Sociology of Irreligion. London:McMillan p. 31.
3.Jump up ^ "Global Index of Religiosity and Atheism" (PDF). WIN-Gallup International. 27 July 2012. Retrieved 2012-08-24.
4.^ Jump up to: a b "The Global Religious Landscape - Religiously Unaffiliated". Pew Research Center. December 18, 2012.
5.Jump up ^ "CCPR General Comment 22: 30/07/93 on ICCPR Article 18". Minorityrights.org.
6.Jump up ^ International Federation for Human Rights (1 August 2003). "Discrimination against religious minorities in Iran" (PDF). fdih.org. Retrieved 3 March 2009.
7.Jump up ^ Davis, Derek H. "The Evolution of Religious Liberty as a Universal Human Right" (PDF). Retrieved 3 March 2009.
8.Jump up ^ [1]
9.Jump up ^ People's Republic of China 1978 Constitution (PDF). 1978. p. 41. Retrieved 2014-02-02.
10.Jump up ^ "Kyrkan i siffror, Swedish Lutheran Christian Church in numbers".
11.Jump up ^ Zuckerman, Phil, ed. (2010). "Ch. 9 Atheism And Secularity: The Scandinavian Paradox". Atheism and Secularity Vol.2. Praeger. ISBN 0313351813.
12.Jump up ^ "The Future of World Religions: Population Growth Projections, 2010-2050". Pew Research Center. April 5, 2012.
13.Jump up ^ Zuckerman, Phil (2007). Martin, Michael, ed. The Cambridge Companion to Atheism. Cambridge Univ. Press. p. 59. ISBN 0521603676.
14.Jump up ^ The Religiosity Index is a measure of the importance of religion for respondents and their self-reported attendance of religious services. For religions in which attendance at services is limited, care must be used in interpreting the data. (Gallup WorldView)[dead link]
15.Jump up ^ "Population by religious belief and by municipality size groups" (PDF). Czech Statistical Office. Retrieved 23 April 2012.
16.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i Zuckerman, Phil. "Atheism: Contemporary Rates and Patterns", from the Cambridge Companion to Atheism, edited by Michael Martin, University of Cambridge Press, 2007
17.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak Dentsu Communication Institute Inc., Research Centre for Japan (2006)(Japanese)
18.Jump up ^ Knippenberg, Hans "The Changing Religious Landscape of Europe" edited by Knippenberg published by Het Spinhuis, Amsterdam 2005 ISBN 90-5589-248-3, page 92
19.Jump up ^ "Albania". State.gov. 2006-09-15. Retrieved 2011-02-04. US Department of State - International religious freedom report 2006
20.Jump up ^ L'Albanie en 2005
21.Jump up ^ "Adherents.com". Adherents.com. Retrieved 2011-02-04. Some publications
22.Jump up ^ UK National Statistics Bureau (2011 census)
23.Jump up ^ "Global Index Of Religion and Atheism" (PDF). Redcresearch.ie. Retrieved 2011-11-01. Publications are taken from Gallup
24.Jump up ^ "Adherents.com". Adherents.com. Retrieved 2011-02-04. Some publications
25.Jump up ^ According to figures compiled by the South Korean National Statistical Office. "인구,가구/시도별 종교인구/시도별 종교인구 (2005년 인구총조사)". NSO online KOSIS database. Retrieved August 23, 2006.
26.Jump up ^ http://redcresearch.ie/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/RED-C-press-release-Religion-and-Atheism-25-7-12.pdf
27.Jump up ^ http://www.stats.govt.nz/Census/2013-census/data-tables/total-by-topic.aspx
28.Jump up ^ "fowid - Forschungsgruppe Weltanschauungen in Deutschland: Home". Fowid.de. Retrieved 2011-09-12. German Worldview Research Group (2010)
29.Jump up ^ Cary Funk, Greg Smith. "Nones" on the Rise: One-in-Five Adults Have No Religious Affiliation" (PDF). Pew Research Center. p. 43. "Nearly one-in-five say they are spiritual but not religious (18%), and about one-in-six say they are neither religious nor spiritual (15%)."
30.Jump up ^ [2]
31.Jump up ^ "96F0030XIE2001015 - Religions in Canada". 2.statcan.ca. Retrieved 2013-05-08. Canada 2011 census
32.Jump up ^ [3] Socialogical Research Centre, January 2012
33.Jump up ^ "Census shows result of mining boom, with increased cost of housing and higher wages", PIA AKERMAN, The Australian, 21 June 2012.
34.Jump up ^ "Ständige Wohnbevölkerung ab 15 Jahren nach Religions- / Konfessionszugehörigkeit, 2012" (XLS). http://www.bfs.admin.ch (Statistics) (in German, French, and or Italian). Neuchâtel: Swiss Federal Statistical Office. 2012. Retrieved 2014-04-05.
35.Jump up ^ "Table Of Statistics On Religion In The Americas". Prolades.com. April 2001. Retrieved 2011-02-04. Gallup-Argentina survey
36.Jump up ^ [4][dead link] Güney Afrika 2001 census
37.Jump up ^ "Census 2010; Sistema IBGE de Recuperação Automática SIDRA". Retrieved 2013-06-29.
38.Jump up ^ "This is Ireland. Highlights from Census 2011, Part 1" (PDF). March 2012. Retrieved 2013-06-29. "Secular Sunday #14 – Census Special". April 2012.
39.Jump up ^ ประชากรจำแนกตามศาสนา หมวดอายุ เพศ และเขตการปกครอง (in Thai). สำมะโนประชากรและเคหะ พ.ศ. 2543 (2000 census), National Statistical Office of Thailand. Retrieved 2013-10-26.
Further reading[edit]
 Wikimedia Commons has media related to Irreligion.
John Allen Paulos (9 June 2009). Irreligion: A Mathematician Explains Why the Arguments for God Just Don't Add Up. Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-8090-5918-8.
Richard Henry Popkin; Arie Johan Vanderjagt (1993). Scepticism and irreligion in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-09596-0.
Eric Wright (November 2010). Irreligion: Thought, Rationale, History. BiblioBazaar. ISBN 978-1-171-06863-1.


[show]
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Irreligion


















































































































[show]
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Religion























































































































































































































































































































































































































































































P religion world.svgReligion portal
 Socrates.pngPhilosophy portal
 Atheism template.svgAtheism portal
 

  


Categories: Irreligion














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This page was last modified on 2 June 2015, at 19:28.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
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Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Mobile view
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Powered by MediaWiki
    
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irreligion