Is Heresy and Apostasy the Same Thing?
- Thread starter donlandy
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Last night I watched the movie "Silence" with my daughter, who lost interest in it right away due to its strong ecclesiastical flavor. The story concerned the sixteenth and seventeenth century Portuguese Jesuit efforts to carry the Christian message into Japan, while Japanese officials worked assiduously to stamp it out. One of the things the Japanese did was to threaten death to those who would not publicly denounce their faith. Those who did denounce their faith were called apostates. I say all that to convey that apostasy is a denunciation of faith after having been in possession of it. Plus, I enjoyed the movie, though it was a bit long (two hours and forty one minutes). 
I'll defer to a dictionary for a "standard" definition, but as I understand these two terms...
Heresy is adherence to a belief which is similar in some respects to a biblically-sound belief, but which differs in some key respect, placing it outside the realm of orthodoxy. Usually this word is reserved for beliefs which deny core doctrines of the faith. For example, Arianism denies the full divinity of Jesus Christ... and is considered a heresy by most Christians. The word is sometimes overused and applied to difference of belief within Christianity.
Apostasy is "falling away" from belief. One who accepted the teaching of Christianity, and began walking with the Church eventually rejects Christ for one reason or another and begins to teach against the faith. This is different from mere backsliding, in which a Christian steps away from active faith for a time and may return later (please, let's not argue OSAS here!). Modern examples of apostates are Bart Ehrman and Charles Templeton.
Wikipedia has decent articles on both issues.
Heresy is adherence to a belief which is similar in some respects to a biblically-sound belief, but which differs in some key respect, placing it outside the realm of orthodoxy. Usually this word is reserved for beliefs which deny core doctrines of the faith. For example, Arianism denies the full divinity of Jesus Christ... and is considered a heresy by most Christians. The word is sometimes overused and applied to difference of belief within Christianity.
Apostasy is "falling away" from belief. One who accepted the teaching of Christianity, and began walking with the Church eventually rejects Christ for one reason or another and begins to teach against the faith. This is different from mere backsliding, in which a Christian steps away from active faith for a time and may return later (please, let's not argue OSAS here!). Modern examples of apostates are Bart Ehrman and Charles Templeton.
Wikipedia has decent articles on both issues.
