Recantation is a public denial of a previously publishing opinion or belief. The word is derived from the Latin re cantare ("sing again"). It is related to repentance and revocation.
Philosophy
In classical Roman poetry, after deliberately describing something extravagantly or Hyperbole for memorable effect, recantation was used to briefly redefine the material subject fairly and honestly.
Religion
- Heresy (wrong choice) which means questioning or insubordination dogmatic established beliefs
- Blasphemy (evil-speaking) which is the act of insulting or showing contempt for a religious deity.
- Apostasy which implies either revolt against or renunciation or abandonment of a prescribed religious duty, especially loyalty sedition and defection
In Protestantism, recantation may be requested by or ordered from an ecclesiastical authority such as a synod or ecumenical council. In the Roman Catholic Church, the Inquisition, Holy Office, or even on rare occasion the contemporary Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith required an act of renunciation to enforce an orthodoxy.
In a secular state, if ordered to recant by religious authority, one who refused to recant may be anathematized or excommunicated or subject to social exclusion. In a theocracy, an order to recant may include threats of physical punishment such as prison or corporal punishment which may include death or lethal cruelty such as the burning at the stake suffered by Joan of Arc.
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