[apostasy] mortal or venial sin?

The question of becoming Muslim has been on my mind recently for personal reasons but there is the huge barrier of "apostasy" to overcome.

The Muslim idea is that Islam is the next step after Christianity and so to then revert, once there, is a backward step. They are true to their faith, the Muslims, so I have no problem with this view.

The more I read and learn about Islam, the more I realize the extremists are unjustified.

Just as the Crusades had about as much to do with Christianity as Beelzebub - what, they wore a big red cross, did they - so 911, Bali and Beslan also had about as much to do with the way the faith should be followed as Beelzebub.

Interesting article on Muslim apostasy:

Last week, British teacher Daud Hassan Ali, 64, was shot dead in Somalia. His widow, Margaret Ali, said her husband was targeted by Islamists who "believe it is ok to kill any man who was born into Islam and left the faith".

Those renouncing their faith for atheism or agnosticism are viewed in a similar way to those who adopt another faith.

A poll conducted by the Policy Exchange last year suggested that over a third of young British Muslims believe that the death penalty should apply for apostasy. Until recently, I would have shared that view, but since personally rejecting extremism myself, I've been re-examining the issues which I once regarded as conclusive.

I was staggered to learn that the Quran does not say anything about punishing apostates and that its proponents use two hadiths instead to support their view. Hadiths are the recorded traditions and sayings of the Prophet which, in addition to the Quran, provide an additional source of Islamic law.

The hadiths which relate to apostasy are linguistically ambiguous and open to interpretation. Distinguished scholars told me that the hadiths actually speak about a death penalty for treason, not apostasy. And even then, they stressed the punishment is discretionary.

Dr Hisham Hellyer is a Fellow of the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies at University of Oxford, and has researched classical Islamic law. He believes the death penalty punishment is no longer applicable and should be suspended under certain circumstances.

Usama Hassan, a Cambridge-educated scientist and an imam, goes further and says the classical scholars were wrong in how they interpreted the Quran. He is unequivocal in denouncing those who advocate the death penalty.

So what about the other way - the Christian who reverts once he's accepted the redeeming power of Jesus of Nazareth?

Here we get into the area of the Holy Spirit. The theory is that you become Christian the moment you do two things - believe in that redeeming power [which entails accepting the Trinity] and then live a life as close to that expressed in the Sermon on the Mount as well as you can.

That's basically it.

The Trinity is the Father, the Logos [or Word] and the Spirit - the latter the least understood of them all. Without getting bogged down in theology, this is the day-to-day "force" which enters you at the point of acceptance and then directs your conscience, provides protection and comfort and generally does cool things inside you.

So what happens if you go back on this force and do dirt on it?

Well, the Catholics [of which I am not one, as I don't accept the middle-man status of the priest between my Maker and me and don't elevate Mary to a status of worship*] probably put it the most clearly:

Q. What is the difference between a mortal sin and a venial sin?

A. For a sin to be mortal, three conditions must exist at the same time.

1. It must be of a grave matter;

2. It must be committed with full knowledge that it is a mortal sin;

3. It must be committed with full consent.

So, what is a "grave" matter? One of these is blasphemy against the spirit, a troubling passage in Christian scripture. Again the Catholics say of this:

"Whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin." There are no limits to the mercy of God, but anyone who deliberately refuses to accept his mercy by repenting, rejects the forgiveness of his sins and the salvation offered by the Holy Spirit. Such hardness of heart can lead to final impenitence and eternal loss." (C.C.C. # 1864)

So, in a nutshell, the whole point of this is to once accept the "grace of G-d" but then to deliberately reject it at a later time. Whether you could then turn around once again and accept it a second time I have absolutely no idea.

Also, what of the atheist?

Well, though he's not going to share in any "heaven" by virtue of his non-belief, he still has every chance of redemption until the point of death. And my reading of this theology would put the ordinary agnostic or atheist in one category but Richard Dawkins, who goes out of his way to prevent people finding the connection with their Maker, would be in the mortal sin category and heading for a warm reception once he karks it.

Saul is an interesting point of discussion on this. He was clearly out to destroy on the road to Damascus but then seemingly still managed to come back from that.

An apostate though is another matter.

He is one who has deliberately turned his back on the redemptive power and therefore the connection with his Maker, once he has actually experienced it. Once you've actually experienced this high, you'd know what I mean when I say to then turn your back on this would not endear you.

An analogy would be anyone who accepts you as his/her life partner but then "trades you in" for another. Bit difficult to forgive, that would be.

A more spurious analogy is that of the PC user with Windows XP who sees the light and converts to MacOSX, experiences the superior technology and sheer elegance of the Mac, then turns round and goes back to bl--dy Vista or some such.

What an apostate. :)

So where does becoming a Muslim fit into this? If Islam is truly an extension of Christianity, then there is no conflict. But if it is not so, then the apostate ex-Christian is in trouble.

And the ex-Muslim?

Well, as a Muslim is one who submits to the one G-d and as Christians accept the one G-d, is the Muslim-Christian apostate or not? What if his motivation was a genuine desire to get closer to his G-d?

I'm personally in no position to give you any answers on these matters, still being a student at the University of Life.

* The point above about Catholics elevating Mary to "worship" status. Of course Catholics say they don't do this - they simply "venerate" Mary and if this were so, then there is really little between Catholic and Protestant theologically, except on the middle-man status of the confessional.