The sin of apostasy

[Ron_Conte]

Apostasy occurs when a person who is a baptised, believing and practicing Catholic (or at least a Protestant Christian) subsequenlty decides to leave the Christian Faith altogether. Apostates reject the Christian Faith in its entirety, or at least rejects all its fundmental teachings.

Examples: (1) A Catholic stops going to Mass and Confession, stops praying, and stops believing in the teachings of Tradition, Scripture, Magisterium. Instead, he now believes whatever his own mind thinks is true and good, regardless of what the Christian Faith teaches. Such a person is an apostate.

(2) A Catholic leaves the Catholic Faith to become a believing and practicing Protestant Christian. Such a person is a heretic, but not an apostate, because he still retains something substantial from the Christian Faith.

(3) A Catholic continues to go to Mass and Confession, and continues to call himself Catholic, but he believes that Christ is merely human, and that the Church has no authority, and that Tradition and Scripture are not Divine Revelation. Such a person is an apostate, because he has in effect abandoned the entire Christian Faith, even though he still claims to be a Christian.

Canon 751: “Heresy is the obstinate denial or obstinate doubt after the reception of baptism of some truth which is to be believed by divine and Catholic faith; apostasy is the total repudiation of the Christian faith; schism is the refusal of submission to the Supreme Pontiff or of communion with the members of the Church subject to him.”

Canon 1364 §1: “an apostate from the faith, a heretic, or a schismatic incurs a latae sententiae excommunication.”

 

[NoWhereMan]

Apostasy occurs when a person who is a baptised, believing and practicing Catholic (or at least a Protestant Christian) subsequenlty decides to leave the Christian Faith altogether. Apostates reject the Christian Faith in its entirety, or at least rejects all its fundmental teachings.

Examples: (1) A Catholic stops going to Mass and Confession, stops praying, and stops believing in the teachings of Tradition, Scripture, Magisterium. Instead, he now believes whatever his own mind thinks is true and good, regardless of what the Christian Faith teaches. Such a person is an apostate.

(2) A Catholic leaves the Catholic Faith to become a believing and practicing Protestant Christian. Such a person is a heretic, but not an apostate, because he still retains something substantial from the Christian Faith.

(3) A Catholic continues to go to Mass and Confession, and continues to call himself Catholic, but he believes that Christ is merely human, and that the Church has no authority, and that Tradition and Scripture are not Divine Revelation. Such a person is an apostate, because he has in effect abandoned the entire Christian Faith, even though he still claims to be a Christian.

Canon 751: “Heresy is the obstinate denial or obstinate doubt after the reception of baptism of some truth which is to be believed by divine and Catholic faith; apostasy is the total repudiation of the Christian faith; schism is the refusal of submission to the Supreme Pontiff or of communion with the members of the Church subject to him.”

Canon 1364 §1: “an apostate from the faith, a heretic, or a schismatic incurs a latae sententiae excommunication.”

Well Ron, I think that a lot of us qualify for that Canon 1364. BTW, I think You are a great writer & teacher, equivalent to Scott Hahn, or better:thumbsup:

 

[Ron_Conte]

Heretics always retain something substantial of the true faith, and always reject something substantial of the true faith. But apostates reject the Faith entirely.

In my view, there are two types of apostasy, explicit and implicit. The explicit apostate leaves the Christian Faith entirely; he does not believe or practice any form of Christianity, not even Protestantism.

The implicit apostate is much more dangerous. He does not explicitly renounce the Christian Faith. He continues to present himself as a believer, and to practice much of the exterior aspects of the Faith. But he has abandoned or severely distorted so many fundamental teachings of Christianity, that there is truly nothing substantial left of the Faith that has not been rejected or severely corrupted.

Implicit apostates who teach and lead and have authority are very dangerous, since they are actively trying to lead people entirely away from the Christian Faith.