The punishment for apostasy in Christianity exists, but it has many aspects in its application.
Some of them apply it according to their whims, meaning that if someone differs from him in doctrine, he is accused of heresy, i.e. deviating from the religion even a little, and the ruling of apostasy is applied to him, either by burning or exterminating any group or otherwise.
This is what we will explain, God willing....
First: We will present the concept of apostasy ( relapse ) from the Christian side from the book ( Complete Your Salvation ) by Father Zakaria Botros.
The concept of apostasy Apostasy
is abandoning the Lord and returning to sin . This concept was explained by the Prophet Isaiah when he said, "They have forsaken the Lord, They have despised the Holy One of Israel, They are turned back" (Isaiah 4:1).
In order to understand the matter clearly, we must know that there are two types of apostasy:
1- Apostasy for a while.
2- And permanent apostasy.
(1) Temporary apostasy:
The believer in heart who has accepted the Lord in his life as a Savior, Redeemer, and King may be overcome by weakness and fall into sin and may apostatize . But this state does not last long, as the Spirit of the Lord quickly rebukes him, so he responds to this rebuke and repents and returns to his Father’s embrace again. To clarify this type of apostasy, we will talk about its essence and its end.
(A) Its essence: This type of apostasy is a state of falling resulting from the human weakness that accompanies the spiritual believer, as St. Augustine said:
[Baptism washes away all sins… but it does not remove the human weakness that the renewed person continues to resist in a good struggle, this weakness that we resist between falling and rising until death, will end with another renewal (at the second coming of the Lord).]
(N. & P. Fars 1st Sers vol. V P. 404.)
This type of apostasy is not the result of hardness of heart and stubbornness, nor of permissiveness and contempt , but rather it is the result of the human weakness that accompanies the spiritual believer.
(B) Its end: In this type of apostasy, the believer responds to the rebukes of the Holy Spirit, repents and confesses his sins, and therefore it often leads to return and repentance, not to destruction . It is an apostasy until a time that ends with the believer returning to himself, waking up after a period of heedlessness, rising and returning to his Father. The Holy Bible explains this in several places: -
+ The wise Solomon says, "The righteous falls seven times and rises again" (Proverbs 24:16).
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[A believer of this type, if he sins under certain circumstances, quickly returns to himself, even if he lives for a period enjoying a life of evil, for God, who knows everything, does not overlook him, but rather hastens to rescue him... For David the prophet, who committed the crimes of adultery and murder, because he did so under certain circumstances, and not as a result of practicing evil as something familiar and normal in his life, quickly rose and was cleansed of this sin.
(N. & P. Fars 1st Sers vol. x1 P. 466)
It is beautiful that John Chrysostom distinguishes between those who practice evil in their lives as something familiar and normal, and spiritual believers for whom sin has become something strange and hateful because their hearts have changed and have acquired the nature of Christ, which hates sin. If they fell into sin, it was the result of weakness followed by sorrow and conviction, then repentance and rising.
The scholar Origen gives a beautiful analogy for this situation, saying
:To illustrate the nature of downfall and regression, let us mention a suitable analogy for clarification : Suppose a person learns an art or science such as engineering or medicine until he masters it... Is it reasonable that if he sleeps he will wake up ignorant?! It is natural that if an engineer or doctor perseveres in studying his art and practicing it practically, he will retain his information, but if he neglects that, he will gradually lose it until a time comes when it is completely erased from his memory. However, it is possible to treat the matter at its beginning , as whoever regresses, surrendering to factors of laziness and negligence that seem simple at first, if he gets up and returns to himself quickly, and repairs the losses that are still recent at that time, he will escape the danger of regression . This is the case with those believers who have dedicated themselves to God.]
(Ante N. Fars vol. 1x P. 256)
How beautiful is what Saint Augustine also said in this regard:
[We are guilty of sins… Perhaps you will say: And you also, O bishops, are guilty of sins? I answer: Yes, we also. “For if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8).
We have been baptized, and yet we are debtors, not because baptism did not forgive anything, but because we do what needs forgiveness daily. Those who were baptized and immediately departed from this world came out without sin... But those who were baptized and remained in this life have impurities due to their physical weakness, which, although they do not cause the ship to sink (i.e., perish), yet they need a pump to drain them, lest they leak into it little by little until they sink.]
(Holy Love, Part 1, p. 325).
And the Lord Christ gave an illustrative example of the state of apostasy for a time, which is the parable of the prodigal son, who left his father's house and went to the country of swine and spent the time of his apostasy there, and finally came back to himself and returned again in sincere repentance to find his father waiting for him, longing to restore him to his former rank. (11:15-24).
This was about the first type of apostasy:
it is a temporary apostasy (Jeremiah 4:8)
and its end is not destruction (Psalm 24:37)
as it is followed by repentance and regret of the apostate (Psalm 51).
Let us then see the second type of apostasy, which is:
(2) Permanent apostasy:
This type of apostasy is referred to by the Lord in a sad question on the tongue of the prophet Jeremiah when he says, “Why has this people turned back with a permanent apostasy … they refuse to return… no one repents of their wickedness?” (Jeremiah 5:8,6).
To clarify this type of apostasy, we must also understand its essence and its end:
(a) Its essence: Permanent apostasy is a state of rejection and contempt of faith in Christ, and it is also contempt for the spirit of grace and a fall from it.
Paul the Apostle explains this when he says, “You have become void of Christ… you have fallen from grace.” (Galatians 4:5).
He also says, “How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by someone who has trampled underfoot the Son of God , and has counted the blood of the new covenant by which he was sanctified an unholy thing, and has despised the Spirit of grace?” (Hebrews 10:29).
And the apostle Jude says, “They turn the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ” (Jude 4).
That is why the apostle Paul warns us of the danger of these two situations. Concerning the first situation, which is the rejection of faith, he says,: "Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God." (Heb. 3:12).
And concerning the second case, which is falling from grace, he says: "Taking heed lest anyone fall short of the grace of God." (Heb. 12:15).
(B) Its End: The end of permanent apostasy is known, which is destruction .
The Apostle Paul made this very clear when he said about some apostates. "Many walk, of whom I have often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction ." (Phil. 3:18,19).
And the Apostle Peter says: "For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein and are overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than after they have known it, to turn away from the holy commandment delivered to them. Thus has happened to them what is in the true parable, 'A dog returns to his own vomit, and a sow after being washed returns to wallow in the mire'" (2 Peter 2:20-22).
Permanent regression to a life of impurity, contempt for the Son of God, and disdain for the Spirit of grace, if it is not followed by repentance or turning back, as the prophet Jeremiah says, "They refused to turn back... No one repents of his wickedness" (Jeremiah 8:5,6). It must be followed by eternal destruction (their end is destruction) (Phil. 3:19), because the Lord Christ said, "Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish " (Luke 13:3).
Now, after this clarification of the categories of believers and the types of apostasy, we can answer the essential question:
Can a believer apostatize and perish?
We say that there are two categories of apostate believers, but their end is not the same :
(1) Believers who may apostatize but repent :
They are those who apostatize for a time, and when they fall from weakness, they weep and repent. They are those who are like the good ground, the owners of renewed hearts and abundant fruits, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
(2) Believers who apostatize and perish :
They are those who believe for a time (Luke 8:15) and apostatize permanently (Jeremiah 8:5,6).
And when they despise Christ and fall from grace, they do not repent or return. They are like the stony ground full of thorns.
Causes of Apostasy:
We can now discuss the causes of the fall and apostasy of the believer so that we can avoid that. The most important of these causes are the following:
(1) The inner inclination to sin :
which is expressed by ( the old nature ). Or ( the old man ). Or ( the body of sin ) [Romans 6:6].
Although we put on the new man and took a new nature in the sacrament of baptism, the old man or the old nature is not completely erased, but remains hidden in the body. That is why our teacher Paul the Apostle said: "The flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh." (Galatians 5:17). The internal conflict exists between the body of sin and its desires and the new spirit that we have taken and its desires.
If the body of sin had been completely killed, there would have been no conflict, and the Apostle Paul would not have said, “I discipline my body and bring it into subjection” (1 Corinthians 9:27). Therefore, the first reason for apostasy is not subjecting the body of sin to the will of the Spirit. In other words, it is not subduing the self. And restricting it so that it no longer controls you and becomes the center of your thinking and life. Thus, the saying of the Apostle Paul applies to you: “For men will be lovers of themselves… proud, haughty… haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power” (2 Timothy 3:1-5) . David apostatized because he was inflamed with lust (2 Sam. 11:4). Samson apostatized because he gave in to his desires (Judges 16).
So beware, my brother, of enemy number (1), which is “your old nature,” lest it deceive you and devour you.
The other reason for apostasy is:
(2) The self:
The self appears in different ways, such as pride , love of praise, intolerance of blame and insult , selfishness , and self-pity … etc.
Job apostatized because of himself , because he was righteous in his own eyes. (Job 32:1).
And the angel of the church at Laodicea who in his pride considered himself rich. (Rev. 17:3).
(3) Lukewarm love:
Our relationship with God is built on the foundation of love, “God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God” (1 John 4:16).
And our love for God is built on His love for us, “We love Him because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). When you realize the greatness of what the Lord has done for you, and how He gave Himself on the cross to lift the penalty of your sin, and when you remember that when He found you weak before the forces of evil and the world of iniquity, “He strengthened you with power through His Spirit in the inner man” (Ephesians 3:16).
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This is why we find the Spirit rebuking the angel of the church at Ephesus for his apostasy, explaining the reason for this apostasy by saying, “You have left your first love; remember from where you fell, and repent” (Rev. 2:4,5).
The apostasy of Demas was only a result of the love of the world seeping into his heart, which stripped away the emotions of love directed toward God . That is why the Apostle Paul wrote, explaining that by saying: “Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world” (2 Timothy 4:10).
That is why the Lord Christ warned against the tyranny of any other love, lest it uproot the first personal love and be a cause of apostasy, as He said: “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me” (Matthew 10:37).
(4) Negligence:
Do you know, my brother, how the Prophet David fell into the sin of adultery with the wife of Uriah the Hittite? And what were the reasons that led him to that heinous sin? The reason, my brother, lies in negligence!!!
Listen to what the Bible says: “And it came to pass, at the expiration of the year, at the time when kings go out, that David sent Joab and his servants… But David tarried at Jerusalem… And it came to pass, that at evening time, David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king’s house: and from the roof he saw a woman bathing…” (2 Sam. 11:1,2).
Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation” (Mark 14:37,38).
Thus, when David was careless in prayer and watchfulness, he fell into temptation and fell into the sin of adultery …
Then another carelessness fell into the prophet David,When he got up from his bed, he did not stand up to pray, but rather he went so far as to neglect it and go out of his bedroom to walk on the roof of the king’s house. (2 Sam. 2:11) (
5) Underestimation:
I have spoken about neglecting your spiritual life as leading you to apostasy, and here I tell you that underestimating sin spoils your spiritual life and also returns you to a life of sin.
The reality is that after a person receives grace and walks with the Lord, he is wary of major sins, so he stays away from adultery, theft, bribery, and other similar major sins, but he underestimates some minor sins and does not realize that if they creep into his heart, their matter will grow and it will be difficult for him to get rid of them because they will have spoiled his life!
So why do you underestimate being easygoing in your conversations and being familiar with others? It is a little fox that will make you lose your peace! Why do you underestimate suspicious jokes and the style of playfulness in speech? It is a little fox that will kill your heart! Why do you underestimate criticizing others and questioning their biography? It is a little fox born of condemnation! Why do you underestimate deceptive and cunning answers? They are little foxes whose mother is lying! Why do you underestimate anger, nervousness and hurtful words? He is a little fox whose father is murder! Why do you underestimate evil looks and love of women's gatherings? They are little foxes born of adultery! Consider, my brother, how King Solomon descended to worship idols, abandoning the worship of the Lord.
The Bible explains that the main reason for this was Solomon's underestimation of little foxes, as the Bible says, "And King Solomon loved strange women... of the nations concerning whom the Lord had said to the children of Israel, 'You shall not go in to them,' and they will not come in to you, for they will turn your hearts after their gods... So Solomon clung to these in love... and his wives turned his heart away. And it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart away after other gods... So Solomon went after Ashtoreth the god of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. And Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord..." (1 Kings 11:1-6).
Did anyone think that Solomon, the prophet and king, whom the Lord had honored with building his temple and granted wisdom that no human before or after him had attained...
did anyone think that he would fall into the most heinous of sins, which is worshipping idols and doing evil in the eyes of the Lord ?!! Certainly no one thinks so. Nor did he himself expect it. But the little foxes had crept into his life and he had taken them lightly at first, so they led him to this abyss. He first took lightly the fox who loved strange women (1 Kings 11:1). Then this fox grew a little and allowed himself to break the Lord’s commandment that forbids marrying strange women, and he took some of them as wives for himself (1 Kings 11:2). Then this fox also grew and these women occupied the center of love in Solomon’s heart, “and his wives turned his heart away” (1 Kings 11:3). Then this fox grew and it was difficult for Solomon to expel him, as he was weak before his authority, so he fell into worshipping idols (1 Kings 11:4,5). Then the fox turned into a ferocious lion that attacked him, “So Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord” (1 Kings 11:6).
(6) Low self-esteem:
One of the reasons that leads to apostasy is a state called low self-esteem, which afflicts the believer after he falls into one of the sins that he had given up. He feels failure, disappointment, and loss of confidence in the possibility of continuing in a life of holiness. This may lead him to despair and apostasy to a life of evil and impurity .
Here is the Prophet David:He reveals this satanic trick by saying: “Many rise up against me; many say to my soul, ‘There is no salvation for him in his God.’ But you, O Lord, are my shield, my glory and the lifter up of my head” (Psalm 3:1-3).
So say to sin, my brother, in the language of trust in the love of the Lord and faith in His saving power: “Do not rejoice over me, O my enemy; when I fall, I will rise again” (Micah 7:8).
(7) Contentment and retirement:
Another reason for apostasy is contentment and retirement . When the children of Israel left the land of Egypt and were saved from the slavery and authority of Pharaoh, they walked in the wilderness and at Mount Horeb they saw the glory of the Lord and received the Ten Commandments… The people were content with these experiences and retired to the foot of this mountain and forgot the Promised Land. That is why the Lord warned them of the seriousness of this matter by saying: “You have sat on this mountain enough… Turn and take your journey… Go in and possess the land which the Lord swore to your fathers to give to them and to their descendants after them.” (Deut. 6:1-7).
So what we conclude from this is as follows:
The first reason for apostasy is the act of sin, meaning that whoever commits a sin is an apostate, as stated in the reasons for apostasy. The first reason for apostasy is sin.
The first reason for apostasy is sin. The first reason for apostasy is sin
. The second reason for apostasy is
the self. This reason includes:
1- Pride
2- Love of praise
3- Intolerance of blame
4- Insult
5- Selfishness
6- Self-pity.
Every believing Christian who commits such acts is considered an apostate.
Hallelujah, hallelujah. All Christians in the world are apostates...
The writer gives us examples of those who apostatized:
such as Job (Job 32:1).
And the angel of the Laodicean church because of his pride (Rev. 17:3).
This is the concept of apostasy in the Christian faith
and David (2 Sam. 11:1,2).
So whoever is lax in prayer has fallen into sin (apostasy).
Which Christian has not apostatized until this day?? Which Christian
has not committed adultery since the beginning of the world until this day?
If the lax in prayer and the adulterer have committed a sin against the infinite (apostasy),
then the life of all Christians in the world is apostasy, as we find the Christian apostatizing thousands of times in one day..!!
What is this religion that every action you do, intentionally or unintentionally, is an apostasy from the religion.
Does God wrong humanity with such a religion?
Is it to this extent that the Lord sends down a law that is difficult to implement in order to judge the world?
This brings us back to Adam’s sin, since Adam disobeyed the Lord, as stated in Genesis:
Adam’s sin
: “And the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die...
Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God really said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?’” And the woman said to the serpent, “You may freely eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, God has said, “You shall not eat of it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.”
And the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die; for God knows that in the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” And the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise. So she took of its fruit and ate, and gave some also to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked. Then they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. So the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. Then the LORD God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?”
And he said, I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, and I hid myself. And he said, Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat? And the man said, The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree,
and I ate. And the LORD God said to the woman, What is this that you have done? And the woman said, The serpent deceived me, and I ate. And
the LORD God said to the serpent, Because you have done this, cursed are you above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed: he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. And
to the woman he said, I will greatly multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children; and your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.
And to the man he said, Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, saying, You shall not eat of it. Cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field; in the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return…
And the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil; and now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever.” So the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. So he drove the man out, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed cherubim and a flaming sword turning every way to guard the way to the tree of life. (Genesis 2:15-3:24)
Because they fell into sin, if David apostatized, and Solomon apostatized, and Job apostatized,
and this is Adam, the father of all mankind, errors ( apostasy ) because he disobeyed the command of the Lord,
and as we mentioned before, the first reason for apostasy is falling into sin, and thus Adam is an apostate, and Jesus came to atone for the sin of an apostate,
and thus Adam is an apostate. And Jesus came to atone for the sin of an apostate ...
What is the sin of all humanity? Would the Lord accept to sacrifice his only son for an apostate?
...
A strange religion. Rabbi Fabius was right when he said (The Jewish religion is better than all religions because it does not contain secrets and all its teachings are reasonable, unlike the Christian religion, whose rules are based on madness ).
We see what Pope Shenouda says about ( sin )
in the book “Salvation in the Orthodox Concept” by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III.
He says:
Sin is disobedience to God, an infringement on His rights, and a lack of love for Him.
God is unlimited, so sin is unlimited because it is directed against the unlimited God.
No matter what a person does, his actions are limited, so sin is not forgiven except by an unlimited atonement..
And this sin is directed against God ( the unlimited )
because whoever commits adultery, this is a
sin directed against God, and
whoever kills, his sin is directed against God, and whoever steals, his sin is directed against God
, and all his sin is directed against God.
Major sins:
1 - Adultery
2 - Theft
3 - Bribery
4 - Your conversations and familiarity with others
5 - Suspicious jokes
6 - Joking in speech
7 - Criticizing others and gossiping about them
8 - Deceptive, cunning answers
9 - Lying
10 - Anger
11 - Nervousness
12 - Hurtful words
13 - Murder
14 - Evil looks
15 - Love Women’s Councils
16 - Adultery
This is the concept of apostasy in Christianity. Every Christian who falls into such matters is an apostate.
Now let us see how the apostate is disciplined. Are there controls? ..!!
From the same source, the book (Complete your salvation)
(1) The scandal
is what happened to the prophet David after he sinned in secret with Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite, so the Lord sent to him the prophet Nathan saying: “Behold, I will raise up evil against you from your own house, and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he will lie with your wives in the sight of this sun; for you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun.” (2 Samuel 12:11, 12).
(2) Illness :
The illness that God allows for the apostate believer is a means of discipline to put bits in his jaws to bring him back to the life of grace again.
This is what happened with the patient Job, to whom the Lord testified that he was: “a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and eschews evil.” (Job 1:8).
But this Job had a serious defect, or rather a factor in apostasy, which was (the self) or the feeling of his own righteousness. This is clear from his saying: “Oh that I were as in the former months …When my steps were washed with milk, And the rock poured out for me streams of oil… I went out to the gate in the village, And prepared my seat in the square. The young men saw me, and hid themselves; The old men rose up and stood still; The nobles held back their words, And laid their hands over their mouths… For the ear heard, and blessed me; And the eye saw, and testified about me. Because I delivered the poor who cried for help, The fatherless, and he had no helper. I clothed myself with righteousness, and it covered me; My justice was like a robe and a turban. I was eyes to the blind, And feet to the lame. I was a father to the poor, And I sought out a cause that I did not know… My honor was new to me… They listened to me, and waited patiently, And listened to my counsel… I sat at the head, And I dwelt like a king in an army.” (Job 29:1-25)
The Bible says in commenting on these words, “These three men (his friends) stopped answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes” (Job 32:1). For this reason, the Lord allowed Job to be sick in order to discipline him . One of Job’s friends explained this fact when he said to him, “He will also be disciplined with pain on his bed” (Job 33:19).
(3) Distress:
This is another means by which the Lord deals with apostates . This is evident from His dealings with the children of Israel, whom He brought up from the land of Egypt and brought to the land of Canaan. When they turned away from Him, He delivered them into the hands of their enemies to harass them until they returned to the Lord their God. The angel of the Lord appeared to them in Bochim and said, “I brought you up out of Egypt and have brought you into the land which I swore to your fathers. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you.’ But you shall not make a covenant with the inhabitants of this land. You shall tear down their altars. But you have not obeyed my voice. What have you done? Then I said, ‘I will not drive them out from before you, but they will be your vexations, and their gods will be a snare to you. ’ So they lifted up their voice and wept… there to the Lord.” (Judges 2:1-5)
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This is a wise divine policy, as the Lord remains with the Gentile nations so that they may be a rod of discipline for the children of Israel if they turn away.
.....
God’s dealings with the children of Israel : When they turned away from Him, He delivered them into the hands of their enemies, who would harass them until they turned from their error.
And so it is also with the believers, when they turn away, God delivers them into the hands of their enemies (the devils) to discipline and harass them.
These are the punishments and we will enter into the most violent types of punishments that history has not witnessed except in Christianity:
If anyone does not abide in me, he is thrown out like a branch and withers; they gather them and throw them into the fire and they are burned . John 15:6
We provide the Christian interpretation of this text so that Christians do not accuse us of interpreting their books according to our whims:
(Those who pretend for a while to have adhered to Christ by faith must one day turn away and are fit only for burning ) ( Benjamin Bencarton ). Will Durant
says in his book The Story of Civilization (Vol. 16, p. 90) that Jesus approved of this act! Barnes' interpretation though it may be applied to anyone who has made a profession of Christ, and denies the truths of the Gospel, neglects the ordinances of it. Let us explore the punishment of Jesus, the God of love, for apostates: First, we will define heresy ( apostasy ) according to Christian belief: What is the meaning of heresies and innovations:
The word heresy is a Greek word "hairesis" from the verb "haireomai-lἱٌفïىلé", meaning "to choose", and it was used to express the Hellenistic and Greek schools of thought. It was also used in the New Testament to mean "sect, doctrine, heresy" to express the Jewish groups such as "the sect (lekhé) of the Sadducees" (Acts 5:17) and "the sect (lekhé) of the Pharisees" (Acts 15:5; see Acts 26:5). The Jewish historian and priest Josephus, a contemporary of the disciples of Christ (35-100 AD), used it in this sense and description and applied it to the Jewish sects that were prevalent in his time, namely the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Athenians. It was also used by the Jews to describe the Christian community in its early days, which was viewed as a group outside Judaism and was therefore called “the way that is called a sect (Lakhéhi)” (Acts 24:14) and “a doctrine (Lakhvehù) that is opposed everywhere” (Acts 28:22), and St. Paul was described as “the leader of the sect (Lakhvehù) of the Nazarenes” (Acts 24:5).
In the early church, it was used in the sense of “heresy (heresies)” (Galatians 5:20), to describe groups that deviated from the apostolic tradition and the teachings of the church, “the faith once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3), and who were described as “heretics” (1 Corinthians 11:19), and about whom St. Peter says that they are false teachers, “who bring in damnable heresies (heresies) and, denying the Lord who bought them, bring upon themselves swift destruction” (2 Peter 2:1).
After that, the term heretics became popular to describe the people of heresies and heresies that deviated from Christianity and developed their own way of thinking. St. Irenaeus used this expression frequently about the owners of heresies and heresies who deviated from the Christian teaching once handed down by the Lord Jesus Christ himself to the apostles and their successors in an apostolic lineage that was known to all. These heretics claimed for themselves secret books that they attributed to the apostles and claimed that Christ gave them to each one of them, to whom they attributed gospels, visions, or acts, secretly!!! He responded to them in his book Against Heresies (Contra Haereses - Against Heresies). The scholar Tertullian (155-220 AD) says, "Because they are heretics, they cannot be true Christians, because they obtained what they followed not from Christ but by their own choice, and from this pursuit they brought upon themselves and accepted the name of heretics. Thus, because they are not Christians, they did not obtain any right in the Christian holy books? It is fair to say to them, "Who are you? Where and when did you come from? And since you are not from us, what do you do with what is ours? Indeed, by what right, O Marcion, do you cut my wood?" Who allowed you, Valentinus, to divert the course of my spring?
Every sect accuses the other of ( heresy = apostasy ).
Sometimes we find the Orthodox declaring the Protestants and Catholics infidels, and sometimes we find the Catholics declaring the Orthodox and Protestants infidels.
The closest example is Anba Bishoy in:
The Orthodox Youth Confirmation of Doctrine Conference, which was held at the Monastery of Anba Abraam in Fayoum.
By excommunicating those who are not Orthodox, Catholics and Protestants, he claimed that they will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven. He did not stop at excommunicating Catholics and Protestants, but his excommunication reached the point of excommunicating the dead, including Father Matta El-Meskeen , who was not shown mercy by the Orthodox Church while he was alive, and Anba Bishoy did not show mercy to him while he was in the hands of God.
From this standpoint, each sect applies the punishment of apostasy to those who differ from it in belief or abandon their sect to join another sect.
So, after this, do Christians tell us that there is no punishment for apostasy in their book?
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Secondly, heresy = falling into sin = apostasy ..!!!
And we find in the dictionary of the Holy Book a punishment for these apostates, whether (heretics or apostate cities or those who worship other than Jesus the God of love or those who differ from the doctrine of the other or otherwise).
I will put the points briefly so as not to prolong it:
1 - Retribution
The Mosaic retribution had two principles:
(1) Prevention from the consequences of sins .
(2) Establishing justice by punishing the guilty according to their actions. The second principle was more important than the first. Retribution was divided into two types: “Retribution by death and what is less than death.”
(1) Retribution by death, which is of two types:
a) Stoning, in which all the people participated (Exodus 17:4; Joshua 7:25; Luke 20:6; Acts 14:5).
b) Hanging (Num. 25:4), which was carried out after the murder for the purpose of public shaming (2 Sam. 4:12). The one who was hung in this way was considered cursed by God (Deut. 21:23; Gal. 3:13).
(c) Burning and branding : It is likely that the word burning in some places refers to simply branding the forehead, a sign of shame. However, when the severity of the punishment was desired, the guilty person was burned to death. Tamar was threatened with death by burning (Lev. 21:9).
d) Shooting with an arrow or spear or killing with a sword : These tools of war were used in cases of sedition and the people’s deviation from the worship and obedience of God. Anyone who stormed the mountain on the day the law was revealed was shot with an arrow, whether a human or an animal (Heb 12:20; Ex 19:13).
e) Drowning : This method was mentioned in the Gospel (Matthew 18:6; Mark 9:42). This custom was not originally among the Jews.
(f) Sawing and tearing with threshing machines : The Apostle to the Hebrews mentions the killing of some martyrs by sawing (Heb 11:37). Amos (Amos 1:3) mentions killing by trampling with iron threshing machines.
g) Throwing from a high place (Luke 4:29). This punishment is not found in the law, but it was used in the Old Testament for enemies. Amezah killed ten thousand Edomites in this way (2 Chronicles 25:12)
2 - (H) Crucifixion : (
2) Retribution less than killing : It was based on the principle of retribution in kind (Exodus 21:23-25; Leviticus 24:18-22; Deuteronomy 19:19 and 21).
For more information: The Bible Dictionary under the explanation of the word retribution
http://st-takla.org/Full-Free-Coptic...F/KAF_084.html
I wonder if the punishment of apostates was applied in reality? :
1 - 55- From the reformers: 1) John Wycliffe (1328-1384)
I will put something brief about the reason for his killing
John Wycliffe's opinions:
1 - The Pope attacked violently and directly when he said: The Church is not centered in the Pope and the Cardinals but in the company of the faithful where Christ is present and its head. The Pope has no more power to bind and loose than any priest, and when it comes to the matter of faith that he does not love anyone, he follows the Pope or even one of the saints except when these are redeemed by Christ "because after that the matter came to him, the Pope described the number
of Christ's efforts and assignment in reform as well:
Wycliffe organized a team of "poor priests" who traveled preaching in the countryside, within the reach of the Waldensians, wearing the simplest clothes, walking barefoot, and their number increased after his death, and they became very influential, enabling them to present a bill in Parliament in which they denounced and condemned the vices of the Church, but by the year 1401 the opposition grew so strong that they passed a law condemning the Waldensians as heretics, so if individuals were arrested, they had to be burned, and a large number of them died in this way, and yet the movement continued for many years.
For more :
http://st-takla.org/Coptic-History/C...n-Weeklef.html
2 - 56- Among the reformers: 2) John Huss (1372-1415)
Because of the biography behind John Wycliffe's views that condemned the university and the papacy, John Huss was seen as part of the revolution that had begun. Which threatened the life of the church itself, they said "that he represents a kind of anarchism, which is the principle that called for the rejection of the papacy, and for the bishops to be trampled under the shoes, and for the monasticism to be overthrown and for the political and social revolution to be provoked." Perhaps Huss himself did not realize it at first, but he was seen as a very dangerous person who deserved the harshest measures, and in 1414 a conference was called in Constance and a papal decision was issued to excommunicate and imprison him. The council also condemned Wycliffe and ordered that his body, which had been buried a long time ago, be burned.
However, he was later condemned as a heretic and burned at the stake on July 6, 1415.
3 - 58 - Savonarola
dreamed of reforming the papacy. He was happy to expose Pope Alexander, expose his faults, and call on the Christian kings to hold a general conference to discuss the issue, but the power of the world shocked him and crushed him, so Pope Alexander excommunicated him and helped his enemies, so they arrested him, tortured him, humiliated him, burned his books and writings, then hung him by his feet in the Grand Square in Florence and burned his body with fire.
4 - The famous philosopher Hypatia
In the early fourth century, the philosopher Sopater was executed at the request of the church.
In 415, the body of the famous philosopher Hypatia was torn to pieces hysterically inside a church in Alexandria using glass shards by a Christian gang headed by a Christian priest named Peter.
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The Church dealt with Christians of different beliefs and accused them of heresy ( apostasy ) because of
their difference in their doctrine, so they were considered apostates and heretics.
In the year 385, the early Christians executed the Spaniard Priscillianus and six of his followers by beheading them after accusing them of heresy in Trier, Germany.
6- The Manichaean heresy: A secret Christian religious group used birth control methods, which was considered contrary to the Catholic faith. Therefore,They were exterminated in massive campaigns throughout the Roman Empire between 372 and 444, and the number of victims was several thousand .
7 - Albigensians (the first crusade aimed at slaughtering Christians):
The Albigensians or Cathars considered themselves true Christians, but they did not accept the rule of the Catholics and the taxes they imposed and their prohibition of birth control. The campaign of violence against them began in July 1209 under the leadership of Pope Innocent III (who is considered the greatest war criminal, genocide and mass murderer until the rise of Nazism). He destroyed the city of Beziers in France and its inhabitants and slaughtered all its inhabitants. The number of victims ranged from 20 to 70 thousand (including Catholics who refused to hand over those accused of heresy from neighbors and friends). Then thousands followed them in Carcassonne and other cities. After 20 years of war, all the Cathars were exterminated (equivalent to half the population of Orleans in southern France). After the war ended in 1229, an inquisition was established to search for and eliminate the Cathars who had fled or who had remained alive. The last of them was burned at the stake in 1324. The total number of victims was estimated at one million Cathars alone.
8- John Huss , who opposed the infallibility of the Pope and indulgences, was burned at the stake in 1415.
9- Professor Hubmayer
Professor Hubmayer was burned at the stake in 1538 in Vienna.
10- Dominican monk Giordano Bruno was imprisoned for seven years and then burned at the stake for heresy in Rome.
11 - William Tindal was hanged and burned alive according to the decree of burning heretics because he translated and printed the Bible ..
* A Brief History of the Church by Andrew Miller p. 609
12 - Urban Grandet
On August 18, 1634, the court issued its ruling stating that it had been proven to the court that Urban Grandet was practicing magic and cooperating with the devil to corrupt the nuns in the city of Loudoun. It ordered that Grandet, after being forced to confess his sins and ask for forgiveness, be tied to a stake on a pyre erected in the public square of Loudoun so that his body would be burned alive and his magical tendencies and the book he had written against the celibacy of the priests would be burned with him and his ashes would be scattered in the wind.
13 - The Albionists and the War Against Them
After the burning of Peter de Broglie and the capture of Henry de Lausanne, their followers, starting from the middle of the twelfth century, became known as the Albins, after a city in La Chaudac called (Albi) located 41 miles south of Toulouse.
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In the year 1139 the Second Lateran Council ruled that they were heretics, as did the Third Lateran Council in 1179 and some other regional councils. Up to this time, the Church, in its resistance to these heresies, was content to send a preacher to present to the people the teachings of the Church.But Pope Innocent III wanted to resort to force to resist these groups, so he sent a delegate at the head of an armed force and authorized him to eliminate this movement by all means. The Pope's messengers followed this group in the most hideous way! But an invisible hand reached out to the Pope's delegate and killed him, so the campaign stopped for a while.
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The war against the Albinos:
The clergy's war against them was characterized by extreme violence and unparalleled brutality. So how could the Pope, the loving representative of Christ, order this? To the point that the rest of the people fled to the mountains and to neighboring countries without aid or provisions, and the warriors behind them were looting and plundering. When the Albin strongholds fell into their hands, they did not spare women, children, or the elderly, but rather burned, killed, and tortured them. They destroyed cities and burned houses. Unfortunately, all of this was in the name of religion !!!
In southern Italy, a movement similar to the Alpine movement was founded by a priest from Lombardy named Arnold, who became convinced that priests should return to the lifestyle that prevailed in the early church, not only in terms of behavior but also in terms of their attitude towards property. He applied these teachings to himself, so he wore the garb of a monk and lived as an ascetic, owning nothing of the worldly possessions. His teachings found an echo in the souls of the people, and their discontent with what the Catholic clergy had reached intensified, which led Pope Innocent II to take a stand against him. In 1139, the Second Lateran Council issued a decision against Arnold, who fled from Italy to France and from there to the Alps, where he found groups of Albinos and became one of their leaders.
Bernard, the Abbot of Clairvaux, wrote to the Pope asking him to guarantee Arnold's safety and to be content with burning his books. After that, Arnold remained in Switzerland for five years and then returned to Rome. There, the feelings of the people were aroused, who disbelieved the Pope and the Emperor, and what had been the conflicts between them, except that the Pope and the Emperor were against the people and suppressed his movements with violence!!
Arnold was handed over to the civil authorities and was executed by hanging in Rome. After his execution, they burned his body, and the people of Rome considered him a martyr and a saint.
Strike, let your eyes not spare nor show mercy. The old man and the young man, the virgin and the child and the women, kill to death, and do not approach anyone on whom the mark is. And they began with the sanctuary, and they began with the old men who were in front of the house.
And we take some of the testimony of the Church Fathers:
1- Saint Hermas said:
[ He who does evil before knowing the Lord will receive severe punishment , but he who knows the Lord must not do evil but good. If he does evil instead of righteousness, will not his evil be greater than that of he who did not know God? Therefore, he who does evil without knowing the Lord will receive the sentence of death, but those who knew the Lord and saw His great works and continued in a life of evil will receive double punishment and perish forever] (Luke 12:47,48).
(Ante. N. Fars Vol. 11 P. 50.)
2- W. Jones: W. Jones.
Jones asks: " Is apostasy possible? " Then he answers the question saying [We cannot do anything in light of the teaching of the Bible and the nature of man, except to say that it is very possible]
and he provided evidence for that by saying:
A - What the Apostle Paul wrote in (Hebrews 4:6-8) about the fall of those who were once enlightened and tasted the heavenly gift and became partakers of the Holy Spirit... is not a
meaningless assumption, as it is not reasonable that the Holy Spirit would inspire the writer of the books to mention such a fearful fall if its occurrence was impossible.
B - The many warnings of the Holy Bible directed to Christians against apostasy testify to the possibility of its occurrence. What is mentioned in the Epistle to the Hebrews (Hebrews 4:6-8) is one of the longest and strongest warnings and admonitions of the danger of apostasy from Christ.
C - The structure of our nature also shows the possibility of apostasy . We have the freedom of will to serve God faithfully or to reject Him foolishly.
3- Matthew Henry: M. Henry
Paul shows (in his letter to the Hebrews 4:6,5) how some people may go too deep in religion and yet they apostatize and perish forever. The penalty for apostasy is eternal fire that is never quenched. This is the sad end to which apostasy leads . Therefore Christians must grow in grace and by grace lest instead of moving forward they fall backward and reach that dreadful and sad end.
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Jonathan Edwards:
John H. Gerstner has carefully researched Jonathan Edwards's missionary message and extracted from it his principles and views on salvific subjects. Here is some of what I wrote about him regarding apostasy . He says: [Jonathan Edwards mentioned six types of apostasy in one sermon (Ps. 78:57).
The first type: The most dangerous type of apostasy is committing the unforgivable sin. He provided evidence for this with what is written in (Hebrews 6) (Mark 3:28). Gerstner quoted the following phrase from the words of Jonathan Edwards: " Apostasy in its fullness is the unforgivable sin. And every apostasy is an approach to it."
The second type: Some apostatize from religion and become atheists and infidels who do not believe in the existence of God, or they become worldly.
The third type: Others fall into heresies and false teachings , although they do not separate themselves from the Church.
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St. Mark, Bishop of Ephesus (+ 1444) when he said, "Heresy is a deviation from the right faith, even if only a little."
The Catholic Church waged this “Holy War of Religion” against the Protestants from 1562 to 1629 AD, in which eleven wars were famous, and in which 40% of the peoples of Central Europe were wiped out, that is, ten million , according to Voltaire’s census.
The will of Saint Louis 1214-1270 AD: “ When the common man hears that the Christian law has been discredited, he should not defend that law except with his sword, which must be used to stab the infidel in the gut with a clear stab.”
This is just a small part of the history of Christianity in applying the punishment for apostasy under any name
(heresy or Sorcery or changing beliefs...etc.) because all of these actions are a sin against God (the unlimited)
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Why do they not use with those who oppose them in religion from other sects or against those who embrace another religion:
Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who despitefully use you and persecute you
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Everyone who opposes the doctrine of the sect that has influence or power at that time, they accuse him of heresy, and this accusation carries within it ( magic and sorcery, and the owner of destructive ideas ( i.e. science ), and the one who refuses to pay taxes , etc.)
Is not the one who does such works, magic, sorcery, and blasphemy against Jesus, worse than the work of the devil? So why don't they apply the words of the Gospel??
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Blessed are the meek because they will inherit the earth
"The meek are those with broad and simple hearts that endure the offenses of others, and do not resist evil with evil. They are those who, with confidence in their Christ, meet those who oppose them with a gentle smile. The offenses of others do not confuse them and they lose their peace, not out of weakness, for the strong Christ was meek." Interpretation of Father Antius Fikry
"Do not resist evil, but if someone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also
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"Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. "
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. "Let him turn away from evil and do good, let him seek peace and strive after it." This reminds me of the election slogans used in the propaganda campaigns of every candidate who presents lies and after the elections are over, they find no place for them. This is Christianity wrapped in lies, deceit and trickery. .... And after this, the ignorant come to us and object to the ruling of apostasy in Islam, as if they found what they were looking for and condemned the Muslims for it. But there is no consolation for the ignorant. What do we take from those who follow such a saying: “Proverbs 3:5 And lean not on your own understanding ”?? As for those enemies of mine who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slaughter them in front of me. These are the teachings of the God of love, Jesus, and they applied them to the letter.
So the punishment for apostasy exists in Christianity, but the difference is in how this punishment is applied from one religion to another.
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