A3 Refereed book chapter or chapter in a compilation book

Leaving Christianity




AuthorsMantsinen Teemu T., Tervo-Niemelä Kati

EditorsDaniel Enstedt, Göran Larsson, Teemu T. Mantsinen

Publication year2019

Book title Handbook of Leaving Religion

ISBN978-90-04-33092-4

eISBN978-90-04-33147-1

ISSN1874-6691


Abstract

This chapter will examine the history and theological debates of leaving Christianity and Christian faith. Throughout the history of Christianity, debates on who is a Christian, heretic, and an apostate have shaped the identity of Christians, and the power of Churches and rulers. After the Reformation and the Enlightenment, the ideas of secularism and liberalism, combined with recent developments of individualism (and) linked with various events, such as ethical debates on sexuality and gender, have resulted in a decline in Christianity in Western World. However, Churches and theologians disagree on whether to consider a leaver to be an apostate irrevocably, or should salvation persevere.



Last updated on 2024-26-11 at 19:43