The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (226 page)

Apophatic theology
.

Another name for ‘theology by way of negation’, according to which God is known by negating concepts that might be applied to him, stressing the inadequacy of human language and concepts to say anything of God. It is characteristic of mystical theology and Eastern
Orthodoxy
, and shows parallels with Indian
Advaita
Ved
nta: see e.g.
NETI, NETI
.

 
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Apostasy
,

(Gk., ‘stand away from’). The act or state of rejecting one religious faith for another. Apostasy has been regarded with horror by Jews, although a distinction was always made between apostates who converted for gain and the
anusim
or
Marranos
who were forced to convert and tried to maintain their Judaism secretly. According to the
halakhah
, an apostate remains a Jew: he can contract a valid Jewish marriage, and the child of an apostate mother is considered a Jew. However, as the law stands at present, an apostate Jew is not entitled to immigrate to
Israel
under the
law of Return
.
In Christianity, the debate mainly took the form of the ability of one elected to salvation to fall from
grace
(see e.g.
ARMINIUS
). In Islam, the issue is extremely prominent, involving the argument whether it requires the death penalty: see
MURTADD
.

 
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(Gk.,
apostolos
, ‘one sent out’).
1
An important early Christian title, used in two senses:

(i)  an authoritative missionary; and
(ii)  one of Jesus' chosen twelve disciples.

2
The name given to the
Epistle
in the
Orthodox
liturgy.
3
An official of the
Catholic
Apostolic Church.

 
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Apostle of the North
:

see
ADRIAN IV
.

 
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Apostles' Creed
.

A statement of faith used in W. Christian Churches.There is no basis to the tradition that it was composed by the
apostles
; rather, it evolved from the baptismal
creed
used at Rome in the 2nd cent. In the 20th cent. has been treated as a basis for
ecumenical
agreement.

 
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Apostles of the Southern Slavs
(Christian missionary brothers)
:

see
CYRIL
AND
METHODIUS
.

 
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