can a cleric keep old domain powers if he changes his faith?

[Neowulf]

partying with a guy who's character is a cleric. backstory is that he used to worship an evil deity, but left that faith & got a divine absolution or whatever it's called

the thing he did had this as it's description


Upon completing the quest, the cleric receives the benefit of an atonement spell from a cleric of the new deity. The character then becomes a cleric of the new deity and is inducted into the clergy during an appropriate ceremony of the DM’s choosing. After selecting two of the new deity’s domains in lieu of his old ones, the character has all the powers and abilities of his previous cleric level, plus the granted powers of his new domains.

and he argues that the "the character has all the powers & abilities of his previous cleric level" means he gets his old domains' granted powers when combined with "plus the granted powers of his new domains"
I argued that dropping his old domains lost him the domain powers & the "powers & abilities of his previous cleric level" stands for all his spells & class abilities because the domain powers were granted by the domain (or deity) that gave it to him

who would have the right call in this situation?

[Saintheart]

"Powers and abilities of his old cleric level" is what he gets. You don't get the domain powers of a specific god when you have cleric levels, you are granted access to two domains of a god that you choose. And the old domains, per the text, are substituted for the new ones. That's what in lieu of means.

Now if he really wanted to be clever and just slightly cheesy, he would've said that he retains all his rebuke undead uses since that's an ability arguably conferred by cleric levels rather than a god specifically: turn or rebuke undead rests on whether your deity's alignment is good, neutral, or evil, and from memory a neutral cleric has to pick either rebuke or turn and is thereafter stuck with it. That is, he could arguably retain all his rebuke undead uses for a cleric of his level and then gain on top of that an additional set of turn undead uses for a cleric of his level. Nice for powering DMM or devotional feats.

[DarkSoul]

In this instance, having a domain power is completely dependent on having access to that domain. If you lose access to the domain you lose access to the power.

[Beckett]

If I recall correctly, Clerics lost all spells, Domain Features, (except those granting proficiency), and Turn/Rebuke Undead abilities until they where accepted by their new faith. Essentially they kept HP, BaB, Saves, Skills, Feats, and Proficiencies, but nothing else.

Once they did get a new Patron deity, (often requiring them to do something without their powers as proof of loyalty), they recieved all the powers of an apprpriate level Cleric of the new faith. If the new faith had a Domain of the old fsith, the Cleric was required to pick that Domain. Otherwise they chose new ones that they qualify for.
Between Turning/Cure or Rebuking/Inflict options, they do not get a choice. If they are Good or Evil, they automatically get the one that is appropriate, unless their deity forces one. After that, they are required to do what they already had. So if a previously Good Cleric became Evil, they automatically Rebuke. If they turned Neutral, they automatically Turn, unless their deity makes them Rebuke, (such as Wee Jas, I believe). St. Cuthbert was similar, making all of his Clerics Turn.

In the case of the War Domain, you keep your original Proficiency, but do not get a new one after the change. In the case of the Trickery Domain, or others that offered Class Skills like Anima, you keep the original Ranks, but they are no longer Class Skills after you fall from the original faith.

[Florian]

who would have the right call in this situation?

An ex-Cleric loses everything granted by the former deity, including domains, granted domain powers/feats and so on. Re-read the text carefully, because this is what the "in lieu"-part is all about.

[Beckett]

I believe the FAQ and then the Rules Encyclopedia stated a llittle differently than the generic answer.