The term apostasy comes from the Greek from Greek apostasis, which means “revolt.” Originally, this term was used to refer to those who revolted against or simply defected from a military commander; as such, the term has always carried with it a heavy mark of criticism.
Eventually, the concept of apostasy has come to be applied to any person who completely abandons their religious faith and either embraces a different religion or simply rejects religion entirely and become irreligious. No religions look kindly upon apostates, and some have recommended the death penalty for them. The term has also been applied more broadly to someone who defects from a political party; although this usage tends to be more metaphorical in character, it still retains a basic sense of betrayal and treason.
All usages of the word focus upon the idea of a person who abandons some belief or practice of a group which is considered so essential that it is vital to the well-being or even the very survival of the group. Thus, apostasy is not regarded as mere dissent or disagreement — rather, it is treated as a threat to the existence of the group, thus explaining its relatively harsh treatment.
One of the earliest examples of the concept of apostasy being used in a religious context comes from the Maccabean period of Judaism. During this time, Jews were being pressed politically by forces from neighboring Syria and culturally from the pervasive influence of Hellenism. Both threatened to eliminate Judaism as a political and/or cultural entity; as a consequence, Jews who defected were treated especially harshly because their actions, if repeated by very many, threatened to hasten the demise of the Jews as a people.
Early Christian literature adopted similar attitudes towards those who defected from the Christian community and the Christian faith. In its early years Christianity’s position in the Roman empire was very precarious and its survival was very much dependent upon the interdependence of Christians in the community of faith.
As a result, apostasy was not simply a renunciation of the faith which was central to Christian identity (unlike Judaism), but also a renunciation of the community itself. An apostate was not just a person who disagreed, but was instead a person who abandoned their brethren in their time of need.
Early on, apostasy was classified as a sin punished by perpetual penance and excommunication — in other words, something for which forgiveness by the religious community simply was not possible. Later, however, the churches adopted a more conciliatory attitude by accepting the possibility of readmittance to the community.
The situation for apostates worsened when Christianitiy became the official religion of Rome because they where then also deprived of all civil rights in addition to being excluded from the religious community. Rejoining the community was therefore made increasing difficult.
