The latest attack on Christians by Muslims is to claim that Christianity has apostasy laws as well.  The reason for this attack is that it is legalized within Islam that if someone ever leaves Islam, they are to be killed.

“Whoever changes his religion, kill him” (Bukhari 6922).

All four schools of Islamic jurisprudence support this practice.  The majority of Muslims are declared Muslim the moment of birth, and they are killed if they ever leave Islam.

Does the Bible say something different though?  Muslims are claiming that the same apostasy laws exist in the Bible.  Let’s look.

“If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you love, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, “Let us go and worship other gods” (gods that neither you nor your ancestors have known, gods of the peoples around you, whether near or far, from one end of the land to the other), do not yield to them or listen to them. Show them no pity. Do not spare them or shield them. You must certainly put them to death. Your hand must be the first in putting them to death, and then the hands of all the people.  Stone them to death, because they tried to turn you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. Then all Israel will hear and be afraid, and no one among you will do such an evil thing again” (Deut 13:6-11).

At first, devoid of context some may see this as no different than the Islamic texts.  But it is very different than Islam.

1) Israel was in Covenant with God and Idolatry was Forbidden

Israel, as a nation, had made a covenant with God.  They would serve him and him alone, and they would not run after and serve other gods.  They agreed.  But God gave them many warnings:

• If Israel follows other gods, serves and worships them, God’s anger will be kindled and He will destroy them quickly off the good land. (Deut 6:14–15)
• If Israel forgets the LORD and goes after other gods, Moses solemnly warns they will “surely perish.” (Deut 8:19–20)
• Going after other gods is listed as one of the conditions that will bring covenant curses upon Israel. (Deut 11:16–17) — specifically drought and loss of the land
• The entire blessings and curses section sets up idolatry as a trigger for national catastrophe. (Deut 28:14–68) — serving other gods leads to disease, defeat, exile, and terror
• “You shall have no other gods before me… for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me.” (Deut 5:7–9 // Exodus 20:3–5)
• The Book of the Covenant warns against making gods of silver or gold alongside God. (Exodus 20:23)
• Leviticus 26 lays out devastating consequences — plague, famine, sword, exile — for idolatry and breaking the covenant

This was unique to the nation of Israel under the Old Covenant.  There was an agreement with their God.  God had told them specifically if they went and served idols, he would destroy them.  It was not ambiguous.  It was clear.

2) The problem was idolatry and serving other gods.

It wasn’t just leaving the faith.  Look at how much this is emphasized in this chapter:

• A prophet or dreamer entices Israel to go after “other gods” (אֱלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים) — gods Israel has not known — and to serve them. (Deut 13:2)
• The LORD is testing whether Israel loves Him with all their heart; the implied contrast is the temptation to follow those other gods. (Deut 13:3)
• Israel is commanded not to listen to that prophet — reinforcing the prohibition against following other gods he named. (Deut 13:4)
• A close family member (brother, son, daughter, wife, or intimate friend) secretly entices the Israelite to go serve “other gods” — gods of the peoples around them, near or far. (Deut 13:6)
• Those other gods are described as ones “you have not known, neither you nor your fathers” — emphasizing their foreignness and illegitimacy. (Deut 13:7)
• Israel must not consent to, listen to, pity, spare, or conceal such a person who promotes those gods. (Deut 13:8)
• The enticer is to be stoned to death because he tried to draw Israel away from the LORD to serve other gods — the capital crime is explicitly named here. (Deut 13:10)
• Wicked men (sons of Belial) have led an entire city astray, saying “let us go and serve other gods whom you have not known.” (Deut 13:12–13)
• The city that has committed this idolatry is to be utterly destroyed (חֵרֶם, ḥerem) — the destruction itself is a judgment on the idolatry. (Deut 13:15)
• All the plunder of that city is to be burned as a whole offering to the LORD — nothing from an idolatrous city may be kept, signaling total contamination by idolatry. (Deut 13:16)

The situation that warranted that they be stoned is that they themselves were doing two things:  A) They were following idols which was strictly prohibited, and B) They were enticing other to do the same.

It wasn’t a small issue because what if someone did this, they were telling people to break the covenant they had made with God–a covenant that explicitly condemned.

It wasn’t just leaving the Jewish faith.  It was turning the hearts of the people against God and violating the covenant that had been made.

3) The issue was a particular sin against God — idolatry, not merely leaving the faith.  This isn’t apostasy, it’s sin.

Israel was in covenant with God, the covenant stipulated that they would not serve other gods, the person that was to be stoned is not someone just violating the covenant, but also enticing the rest of Israel to do so, inviting the judgment of God.

4) We are under the New Covenant

Nowhere in the New Testament do we see the stoning for idolatry.  We are under the new covenant.  We are not the nation of Israel in the political sense of the Old Testament.

Islam says the apostasy laws are the same as in Christian.  But look at how Jesus handled Peter.  Peter specifically and publicly denied Christ three times at his death.  This wasn’t a small denial.

Did Jesus declare that Peter was worthy of the death penalty because he apostasized three times publicly?  Not in the slightest.  Instead, Jesus worked to restore Peter. Not only did he restore him, he commission him to be his apostle, his message bearer, and his voice.

When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”

“Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”

Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”

The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.  Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.”  Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!” (John 21:15-19).

But doesn’t Islam do the same?  Welcome back the penitent?  What if they are followers of Jesus and turn away?  We have an example of this as well.

Jesus preached a hard message.  People were uncomfortable with it and didn’t understand.  Many, if not most of his disciples left him.

“From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him” (John 6:66).

What did Jesus do?  Did he command their slaughter?  Did he run after them?  Not at all.  They were truly free to leave if they chose to do so.  And they did.

Conclusion:

To say that the Bible has similar apostate laws as the Islamic text is entirely false.   There are multiple key differences.

Key Differences:

🟥 Islam: Apostasy (Leaving Islam) is the crime (even though most Muslims were declared Muslim at birth)

🟦 Deuteronomy 13:  The sin of idolatry is the crime as covenant-breaking idolatry and leading God’s covenant people to worship other gods was strictly forbidden in the covenant (Deut 13).

🟥 Islam: The rule applies to all people at all times

🟦 Deuteronomy 13: The Law applied to Israel who had made a covenant with God, part of which stipulated no idolatry. We are now under the New Covenant and this Law no longer applies.

🟥 Islam: Kills those who leave.

🟦 John 21; John 6: Jesus restores those who stumble, and those disciples who want to leave, he lets them.