Apostasy
NET Glossary: to renounce or abandon a previously held religious faith
Apostasy [nave]
APOSTASYDescribed, Deut. 13:13; Heb. 3:12.
Caused by persecution, Matt. 24:9, 10; Luke 8:13; by worldliness, 2 Tim. 4:10.
Guilt and punishment of, Zeph. 1:4-6; Heb. 10:25-31, 39; 2 Pet. 2:17, 20-22.
Cautions against, Heb. 3:12; 2 Pet. 3:17.
Shall abound in the latter days, Matt. 24:12; 2 Thess. 2:3; 1 Tim. 4:1-3.
See: Antichrist.
Unclassified Scriptures Relating to
Deut. 32:15; 1 Chr. 28:9; Isa. 1:28; Isa. 65:11-16; Jer. 17:5, 6; Ezek. 3:20; Ezek. 18:24, 26; Ezek. 33:12, 13, 18; Matt. 13:20, 21 Mark 4:5-17; Luke 8:13. Matt. 24:10 v. 12.; Luke 11:24-26; John 15:6; Acts 7:39-43; 1 Cor. 9:27; 2 Thess. 2:3, 11, 12; 1 Tim. 4:1, 2; 2 Tim. 3:1-9; 2 Tim. 4:3, 4; Heb. 6:4-8; Heb. 10:26-29; 2 Pet. 2:1, 15, 17, 20-22; 2 Pet. 3:17; Jude 4-6 See: Backsliding; Reprobacy.
Instances of
Israelites, Ex. 32; Num. 14.
Saul, 1 Sam. 15:26-29; 18:12; 28:15, 18.
Amaziah, 2 Chr. 25:14, 27.
Disciples, John 6:66.
Judas, Matt. 26:14-16; 27:3-5; Mark 14:10, 11; Luke 22:3-6, 47, 48; Acts 1:16-18.
Hymenaeus and Alexander, 1 Tim. 1:19, 20.
Phygellus and Hermogenes, 2 Tim. 1:15.
See: Israel, Backsliding of.
APOSTASY; APOSTATE [isbe]
APOSTASY; APOSTATE - a-pos'-ta-si, a-pos'-tat (he apostasia, "a standing away from"): I.e. a falling away, a withdrawal, a defection. Not found in the English Versions of the Bible, but used twice in the New Testament, in the Greek original, to express abandonment of the faith. Paul was falsely accused of teaching the Jews apostasy from Moses (Acts 21:21); he predicted the great apostasy from Christianity, foretold by Jesus (Mt 24:10-12) which would precede "the day of the Lord" (2 Thess 2:2). Apostasy, not in name but in fact, meets scathing rebuke in the Epistle of Jude, e.g. the apostasy of angels (Jude 1:6). Foretold, with warnings, as sure to abound in the latter days (1 Tim 4:1-3; 2 Thess 2:3; 2 Pet 3:17). Causes of: persecution (Mt 24:9,10); false teachers (Mt 24:11); temptation (Lk 8:13); worldliness (2 Tim 4:4); defective knowledge of Christ (1 Jn 2:19); moral lapse (Heb 6:4-6); forsaking worship and spiritual living (Heb 10:25-31); unbelief (Heb 3:12). Biblical examples: Saul (1 Sam 15:11); Amaziah (2 Ch 25:14,27); many disciples (Jn 6:66); Hymeneus and Alexander (1 Tim 1:19,20); Demas (2 Tim 4:10). For further illustration see Dt 13:13; Zeph 1:4-6; Gal 5:4; 2 Pet 2:20,21."Forsaking Yahweh" was the characteristic and oft-recurring sin of the chosen people, especially in their contact with idolatrous nations. It constituted their supreme national peril. The tendency appeared in their earliest history, as abundantly seen in the warnings and prohibitions of the laws of Moses (Ex 20:3,4,23; Dt 6:14; 11:16). The fearful consequences of religious and moral apostasy appear in the curses pronounced against this sin, on Mount Ebal, by the representatives of six of the tribes of Israel, elected by Moses (Dt 27:13-26; 28:15-68). So wayward was the heart of Israel, even in the years immediately following the national emancipation, in the wilderness, that Joshua found it necessary to re-pledge the entire nation to a new fidelity to Yahweh and to their original covenant before they were permitted to enter the Promised Land (Josh 24:1-28). Infidelity to this covenant blighted the nation's prospects and growth during the time of the Judges (Jdg 2:11-15; 10:6,10,13; 1 Sam 12:10). It was the cause of prolific and ever-increasing evil, civic and moral, from Solomon's day to the Assyrian and Babylonian captivities. Many of the kings of the divided kingdom apostatized, leading the people, as in the case of Rehoboam, into the grossest forms of idolatry and immorality (1 Ki 14:22-24; 2 Ch 12:1). Conspicuous examples of such royal apostasy are Jeroboam (1 Ki 12:28-32); Ahab (1 Ki 16:30-33); Ahaziah (1 Ki 22:51-53); Jehoram (2 Ch 21:6,10,12-15); Ahaz (2 Ch 28:1-4); Manasseh (2 Ch 33:1-9); Amen (2 Ch 33:22). See IDOLATRY. Prophecy originated as a Divine and imperative protest against this historic tendency to defection from the religion of Yahweh.
In classical Greek, apostasy signified revolt from a military commander. In the roman catholic church it denotes abandonment of religious orders; renunciation of ecclesiastical authority; defection from the faith. The persecutions of the early Christian centuries forced many to deny Christian discipleship and to signify their apostasy by offering incense to a heathen deity or blaspheming the name of Christ. The emperor Julian, who probably never vitally embraced the Christian faith, is known in history as "the Apostate," having renounced Christianity for paganism soon after his accession to the throne.
An apostate's defection from the faith may be intellectual, as in the case of Ernst Haeckel, who, because of his materialistic philosophy, publicly and formally renounced Christianity and the church; or it may be moral and spiritual, as with Judas, who for filthy lucre's sake basely betrayed his Lord. See exhaustive articles on "Apostasy" in the Jewish Encyclopedia.
Dwight M. Pratt
Apostasy [baker]
[N] [J](Heb. mesubaa [h'bWv.m]; Gk. parapipto [parapivptw], aphistemi [ajfivsthmi], apostasia [ajpostasiva]). Defection from the faith, an act of unpardonable rebellion against God and his truth. The sin of apostasy results in the abandonment of Christian doctrine and conduct. With respect to the covenant relationship established through prior profession of faith (passive profession in the case of baptized infants), apostates place themselves under the curse and wrath of God as covenant breakers, having entered into a state of final and irrevocable condemnation. Those who apostatize are thus numbered among the reprobate. Since the resurrection of Christ, there is no distinction between blasphemy against Christ and blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (cf. Matt 12:31-32; Heb 6:4-6; 10:26-29; 1 John 5:16-17). G. C. Berkouwer comments: "We must underscore the deep seriousness of the biblical warning against apostasy ‘after enlightenment' and ‘after the knowledge of the truth.' This is the apostasy which reviles the Spirit of grace and despises the Son of God and crucifies the Man of Sorrows anew" (p. 343). Berkouwer is correct to refute the idea that this sin against the Holy Spirit is a mysterium iniquitatis ("a mystery of sin"), a sin difficult, if at all possible, to define precisely in the Bible.
Apostatizing from God's redemptive covenant is an act of unpardonable transgression and rebellion. All other sins are forgiven on true repentance and faith. Those who fall out of fellowship with the saints are restored to full communion through confession of sin and reaffirmation of faith in Jesus Christ. Excommunication, as a final step in the process of ecclesiastical discipline, is undertaken in the hope of restoring the wayward sinner who has fallen into grievous sin (1 Co 5:1-5).
Israel of old repeatedly broke covenant with God. By impugning the name and works of Yahweh, Israel despised her calling and proved to be a stubborn and disobedient nation. Pentateuchal law identifies covenantal faithlessness as apostasy (see, e.g., the curses of the covenant pronounced on Mount Ebal by the Israelites in Deut 27:9-26). With respect to temporal blessing in the land of promise, restoration of Israel to divine favor after covenant breaking was always a consequence of divine grace and mercy, not because of meritorious works on Israel's part.
In biblical prophecy apostasy is an eschatological sign of the impending day of the Lord, a precursor of the final day of judgment. Ancient Israel's experience of divine wrath and displeasure served as typological foreshadowings of that latter day. The increase in apostasy in these last days of the church's wilderness experience is associated with the appearance of the "man of lawlessness" (2 Th 2:1-3).
Mark W. Karlberg
See also Backsliding; Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit; Denial
Bibliography. G. C. Berkouwer, Sin; idem, The Return of Christ; A. A. Hoekema, The Bible and the Future; H. Ridderbos, Paul: An Outline of His Theology.
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[N] indicates this entry was also found in Nave's Topical Bible
[J] indicates this entry was also found in Jack Van Impe's Prophecy Dictionary
