Apostasy

[Xeno.of.athens]

What do you think ought to be the attitude of Christians towards apostates?

What passages from the new testament do you depend upon for your view.

 

[Maria Billingsley]

What do you think ought to be the attitude of Christians towards apostates?

What passages from the new testament do you depend upon for your view.

Someone who becomes an anti- Christ? Continue in love and prayer.
Blessings

 

[Adventist Dissident]

What do you think ought to be the attitude of Christians towards apostates?

What passages from the new testament do you depend upon for your view.

interesting question from a Catholic.

Since the Catholic church has a track record of killing people who disagree, then will forgive me if this question Scares me a little.

 

[fhansen]

interesting question from a Catholic.

Since the Catholic church has a track record of killing people who disagree, then will forgive me if this question Scares me a little.

Yes, you should be quite concerned as I'm sure plenty of SDAs have been killed by Catholics, and vice versa if we were to go by the somewhat distant history at this point where Protestants also killed Catholics and others who disagreed with them.

 

[Adventist Dissident]

Yes, you should be quite concerned as I'm sure plenty of SDAs have been killed by Catholics, and vice versa if we were to go by the somewhat distant history at this point where Protestants also killed Catholics and others who disagreed with them.

the point is that Apostasy is relative to the power structure of the person prior belief system.

 

[RileyG]

interesting question from a Catholic.

Since the Catholic church has a track record of killing people who disagree, then will forgive me if this question Scares me a little.

The Protestants also have a track record of killing millions who disagree.

 

[RileyG]

What do you think ought to be the attitude of Christians towards apostates?

What passages from the new testament do you depend upon for your view.

Pray they come to repentance before it's too late.

 

[WolfGate]

Could you define what you mean by “apostate” (because unfortunately in these tribal times too many people have used that word where it does not apply).

 

[RileyG]

Could you define what you mean by “apostate” (because unfortunately in these tribal times too many people have used that word where it does not apply).

Falling away from the faith and no longer identifying as being a Christian.

 

[WolfGate]

Falling away from the faith and no longer identifying as being a Christian.

Thank you. I think the church should treat them as we do other non-believers. Pray and love them as Christ would with the hope they will return. Try to keep or rebuild relationships. I am not for cutting off all communication or giving up on them, though obviously sacraments and some parts of church life may not be open to them.

 

[RileyG]

Thank you. I think the church should treat them as we do other non-believers. Pray and love them as Christ would with the hope they will return. Try to keep or rebuild relationships. I am not for cutting off all communication or giving up on them, though obviously sacraments and some parts of church life may not be open to them.

i agree

 

[Xeno.of.athens]

interesting question from a Catholic.

Since the Catholic church has a track record of killing people who disagree, then will forgive me if this question Scares me a little.

Seventh Day Adventism has a reputation for caricatures of Catholicism in their literature.

 

[RileyG]

Seventh Day Adventism has a reputation for caricatures of Catholicism in their literature.

This is true. they see us as the harlot from Revelation 17...not trying to get things heated

 

[Xeno.of.athens]

Yes, you should be quite concerned as I'm sure plenty of SDAs have been killed by Catholics, and vice versa if we were to go by the somewhat distant history at this point where Protestants also killed Catholics and others who disagreed with them.

SDA church is from the 1860s, not long ago really.

 

[Xeno.of.athens]

Could you define what you mean by “apostate” (because unfortunately in these tribal times too many people have used that word where it does not apply).

I hoped that those replying might define the term as they use it.

 

[Xeno.of.athens]

Falling away from the faith and no longer identifying as being a Christian.

Could one be apostate by becoming, say, one of Jehovah's witnesses?

 

[fhansen]

SDA church is from the 1860s, not long ago really.

It's an offspring of the Reformation and the doctrines that were invented there, with their own particular differences of beliefs. I was being sarcastic in that I don't believe that there were any mutual killings between SDAs and Catholics, and so no real basis for such fear.

 

[fhansen]

the point is that Apostasy is relative to the power structure of the person prior belief system.

That's true enough-and yet I doubt that any believer would then maintain that there's nothing- no church or correct body of beliefs-to apostate from.

 

[fhansen]

I hoped that those replying might define the term as they use it.

We could go by the creeds to define the faith, and yet they don't necessarily cover, or explain, all basics. And some will still object and maintain that a portion of early believers must have diverged away from the true faith when, for example, Arianism was rejected at Nicaea. At some point we must believe what the Church, in the east and west, has historically held to be essential basic truths. As far as I'm concerned, apostasy was evident in the rejection of Church authority by many some 500 years ago, and the formation of doctrines such as Sola Fide where the understanding of justification became distorted and confused.

Having said that, as individuals we must do the best we can with what we know, and God is pleased by faith in Him in general, and will judge each of us by the heart at the end of the day. As individuals I'd hazard to say that none of us have perfect theologies, or prefect understanding anyway; there'll be surprises in heaven I'm sure.

 

[Xeno.of.athens]

doctrines such as Sola Fide

Agreed, the Five Solas contain some errors that go to the heart of Christian faith and could be considered a preparation for apostasy but the dictionary definition of apostasy is

Definition of apostasy
1: an act of refusing to continue to follow, obey, or recognize a religious faith​

abandoning the Catholic Christian faith to take up some other religious system can, strictly speaking, be called apostasy.