practice. It is also possible that they were Gentiles, who had previously
formed an attachment to Judaism and were now wondering if they had left
too much behind when they allied themselves with the Christians. Whether
Jewish Christians or Gentile Judaizers, the defectors probably, but not cer-
tainly, headed back to the Jewish community.
If this reconstruction is correct, we may surmise that those who
defected from the Christian community did so because of both persecution
and an unsatisfied longing for aspects of the Judaism they had earlier left.
Whether they thought this involved abandonment of their Christian beliefs
is not clear, though the author of Hebrews is in no doubt that it did. A
similar situation may be implied by Revelation, which speaks of “those
who say they are Jews but are not” (2:9; cf. 3:9). These were more likely Jew-
ish Christians or Gentile Christian Judaizers than Jews (Wilson 1992,
613–14), and the reasons for their defection are the perception of a hostile
Roman state and a hankering for their former association with Judaism.
The Shepherd of Hermas twice mentions apostates and considers their
fate. They are the “apostates and traitors (apostatai kai prodotai) to the
church, who by their sins have blasphemed the Lord, and in addition were
ashamed of the Lord’s name, by which they were called” (Herm. Sim.8.6.4);
and “apostates and blasphemers (apostatai kai blasphêmoi) against the Lord
and betrayers (prodotai) of God’s servants” (Herm. Sim.9.19.1). They are pre-
sumably the same persons as those elsewhere who “fell away [apestêsanor
apôlesan] completely” (Herm. Sim.8.8.2,5). For such, there is no possibility
of repentance, unlike the “hypocrites and false teachers” or “teachers of
evil,” for whom repentance is possible.
Asked why this is so, considering the similarity of the two groups’
deeds, Hermas answers that the latter “have not blasphemed their Lord nor
become betrayers (prodotai) of God’s people” (Herm. Sim.8.6.5; 9.19.2–3; cf.
6.2.3). In addition, one individual, Maximus, is singled out as someone
who had denied his faith in the past and might do so again (Herm. Vis.
2.3.4). The charge of blasphemy reminds us of the sacrifice and curse
required of those denying Christian allegiance in Bithynia (cf. Herm. Sim.
9.21.3; Freudenberger 1969, 147).
The severe judgment passed in Hermas on apostates and betrayers
matches that of the author of Hebrews, and it may have something to do
with the fact that they had not only apostatized and blasphemed but had
also betrayed their fellow Christians. For while “betrayal” could mean sim-
ply that these people had abandoned the community, a mere synonym for
defection, it might more precisely mean that they had become informers
(Jeffers 1991, 129).
Rivalry and Defection 63