DESCRIPTION

In most cases defection, like conversion, involved a more or less deliberate crossing of boundaries even when the shift was gradual. In some instances the reaction may have been mild. But 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.Converts were viewed with pride, but they merely confirmed what a community took for granted-the superiority of their claims. Defectors were deeply disturbing, for they implicitly undercut everything that the community stood for. Indeed, we might almost surmise that defectors were more disturbing than converts were comforting. The very act of defection was bad enough, but when it involved attachment to a rival group, as in some cases it did, the blow was doubled-as when Jews became Christians or Dionysians, or Christians reverted to their Jewish or pagan past. 1 Plotting the Horizon 2 Jewish Apostates 3 Christian Apostates 4 Pagan Defectors 5 Conclusion