May one renounce his faith if threatened with death?

[Rup]

If you were threatened with death (any example) and in order to save your life you had to denounce Christ as Lord, would you be considered in apostasy? I had this debate in bible study class and I said no. My reasoning is that God would understand the situation and his mercy is so great that he forgives those in that predicament. After all you were forced to say it . It wasn’t of your own free will. Also Christ forgave Peter who denied him three times under a less stressful situation than an immediate sentence of death.

 

[Fr.Vincent_Serpa]

Hi,

To lie is to loose integrity and the trust of others. It is to deny the truth of who one is. What we say is who we are. According to your train of thought, there was never a reason for any Christians to ever be martyred. But to deny the Lord to save one’s hide is a mortal sin and the worst possible thing one can do. God only forgives those who repent and intend to never do such a thing again. It was only after Peter repented that He was forgiven. Besides, he eventually did give his life for the Lord.

Sacrifice is the measure of love. We know how much we love others by how willing we are to put ourselves out for them. Our Lord said that you can have no greater love than to lay down your life for another.

The young high school girl in Colorado who was asked at gunpoint if she believed in God could have saved herself by saying no. But she said yes and became a martyr. What does it profit one to gain the whole world and suffer the loss of one’s soul?

Fr. Vincent Serpa, O.P.