I’ve been called an apostate in my journey away from Christianity, which is probably more than appropriate. However, there’s more to being an apostate than meets the eye. Apostasy comes from Koine Greek and means “a defection or revolt.” I have both defected and revolted against Christianity to pursue the real gospel.
Christianity became dominant in the world when the Roman Empire sponsored it beginning in 325 AD. Rome represents all of Christianity, which includes all of its myriad of denominations, so I use Rome to refer to Christianity.
Rome prefers a false gospel of doing the works of legalism rather than realizing Jesus Christ’s true gospel of grace and peace. Why? The false gospel keeps people coming back to the church to ease the guilt of failing to do the works of legalism. Therefore, Rome made the false gospel the prevalent one til the present day. As an apostate, I’ve defected from Rome, as well as revolted against it.
A defection is “the desertion of one’s country or cause in favor of an opposing one.” A revolt is refusing “to acknowledge someone or something as having authority.” A revolution is “a dramatic and wide-reaching change in the way something works or is organized or in people’s ideas about it.” The false gospel is in opposition to the true gospel; it refuses to acknowledge the true gospel of grace and peace’s divine authority. The gospel revolution is “a dramatic and wide-reaching change in people’s ideas about the gospel from what the status quo tells them it is.”
A gospel revolution has been going on ever since Rome officially rejected the true gospel in 325 AD. Rome has consistently persecuted freethinkers in its midst, even to the point of death. Today, Rome doesn’t have the power of life and death over people like it once did, so people are now free to disregard it if they wish.
Nevertheless, Rome still tries to coax people into compliance through guilt and shame. However, People are free to know the true gospel that sets them free from the shame and guilt of religion. They’re free to live their lives on their terms, rather than on Rome’s terms. Yeah, being an apostate is good because it means freedom to choose. Heresy means, “Choice.” Ironic, isn’t it? And that’s no bull!