Apostasy in Christianity - Views of The Early Church Fathers

Views of The Early Church Fathers

Paul Barnett says, "Believers in the era following that of the apostles probably suffered a greater intensity to turn aside from Christ than did their predecessors. They . . . were vulnerable to Jewish reprisals as well as action from the state. Details of the pressure applied to Christians to apostatize is given from both Christian and non-Christian sources . . . . It is understandable, therefore, that the postapostolic literature should contain many warnings not to apostatize." The following warnings not to apostatize come from the translation provided by Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson in the Ante-Nicene Fathers.

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