October 14, 2004

MINNEAPOLIS - Movement from one community to another can create strife, pain, and social dislocation. Stephen Wilson explores apostates and defectors in antiquity in Leaving the Fold, recently released by Fortress Press.

In this astute analysis, Wilson examines the ancient sources for clues to how leaving a religious group happened, what motivated defectors, and the different ways Jews, Christians, and pagans interpreted the event. As Wilson explains, ''by and large defection was a rancorous business and provoked extreme reactions, understandably so in the case of those who became traitors or who turned violently on their former community. But even the less dramatic instances were deeply troubling.''

"With his customary clarity and incisiveness, Wilson has sketched the terrain of a topic rarely discussed by scholars of early Christianity and Judaism. Drawing on a wide range of materials, from ancient inscriptions to modern sociological theory, Wilson shows that apostasy and defection were more prevalent, and more complex, phenomena than most ancient and modern sources have acknowledged. This is essential reading for anyone interested in the ins and outs of religious life in antiquity." -Adele Reinhartz, Dean, Graduate Studies and Research and Professor, Dept of Religion and Culture Wilfrid Laurier University Waterloo, Ontario Canada.

Stephen G. Wilson is Professor of Religion and Director of the College of Humanities at Carleton University (Ottawa, Ontario). He is the author of Luke and the Pastoral Epistles (1979), Luke and the Law (1983), and Related Strangers (Fortress Press, 1995).

To order Leaving the Fold please call Fortress Press at 1-800-328-4648 or visit the web site at http://www.fortresspress.com/.

Fortress Press