'Only way/one way' to eternal salvation

[Alec George Lowly]

"So-and-So is greatly greatly troubled by the 'only way/one way' aspect of Christianity. Why should a devout Buddhist, for example, be any less saved," especially if said Buddhist had "never been graced with any personal experience of Christ ... I have a huge difficulty with the idea that one must 'accept Christ' to be 'saved.' I cannot believe that Our Lord would turn people away, despite a lifetime of non-Christian belief, if they have sincerely tried to live their lives as they see fit, and if they have hearts that are more loving than not."

How does one respond to this? I realize that the salvation model here is typical of evangelical Protestantism, thus an Orthodox corrective is in order, but then what? I would appreciate personal answers, of course, but I would appreciate even more recommendations to authoritative statements on this issue, whether conciliar, patristic, or contemporary, and where I can find them, either on this site or elsewhere online ...

[Paul Cowan]

Dear Alec,

This is very much a Protestant question and has been addressed before in the forum. Please use the search feature for helpful ideas. The Bible is pretty specific as are the church fathers on who is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Regardless of how devout they are to their particular belief system, Christ is the Door and no one reaches the Father except through Him.


Deuteronomy 30:19 I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live;

God does give us a choice. As adults, we must be active to searching for Him in Truth. God is a loving God. HE will judge those outside the Church. It is none of our business. My plate is full enough of my own sins to worry about than worrying about someone else.

So I would say in response, you could say," The Orthodox Church knows it is on the right path to salvation. As for other beliefs, well, we don't know them. God judges the heart of man, not man."

Paul

[Alec George Lowly]

Dear Alec,

This is very much a Protestant question and has been addressed before in the forum. Please use the search feature for helpful ideas. The Bible is pretty specific as are the church fathers on who is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Regardless of how devout they are to their particular belief system, Christ is the Door and no one reaches the Father except through Him.



God does give us a choice. As adults, we must be active to searching for Him in Truth. God is a loving God. HE will judge those outside the Church. It is none of our business. My plate is full enough of my own sins to worry about than worrying about someone else.

So I would say in response, you could say," The Orthodox Church knows it is on the right path to salvation. As for other beliefs, well, we don't know them. God judges the heart of man, not man."

Paul

Thank you, Paul, for your response. I did search the forum before creating this thread and was unable to find much of use. Perhaps my search was deficient. There has been much discussion here of "universal salvation" (apokastasis), but that's not the issue before me. Please forgive me, but what you're advising me to reply, if I understand you correctly, is "Christ is the Answer, make your choice ... what else is on your mind?" This does not address the question,
"I cannot believe that Our Lord would turn people away, despite a lifetime of non-Christian belief, if they have sincerely tried to live their lives as they see fit, and if they have hearts that are more loving than not,"nor does it afford much scope for pastoral outreach. Or so it seems to me.

[Daniel Rusu]

Humble I will try to answer you:

In mind and heart with the teachings of the Holy Mountain saints I will tell you that the Orthodox Church (the only Church of Christ) does not try to convert anybody to the Truth. I am fortunate to be born and raised in the Romanian Orthodox Church - and we have answers for all this questions.

One of them regarding the spiritual journey of a man between Orthodoxism and Buddha you'll find it at sfaturiortodoxe.com. What you will call a guru you'll find there under the name of parintele (Father) Paisie from The Holly Mountain Athos. There, this young man is enlighthed with a light in India. After that he finds the REAL LIGHT (zillions of times stronger) from the Parintele Paisie. And is possible to find a light from Guru-s. The only difference is that their light is a candle compared with the one from our Saints. And is easy to know why. The Guru-s are part of the Devil power (failed angels) -so,there is no way to comparee this one with the one from Iisus. There is no light without the name of Iisus associated. He is the only Lord and not Ramakrishna or whatever devil. Again there is a chance of salvation for you. speak with an Orthodox Priest and God bless you.

Thank you,
Humble daniel rusu

PS: I will try to find a translation for you.

[Owen Jones]

If a man is righteous and good, wouldn't it be because Christ is working in and through that person, regardless of his doctrine?

[Paul Cowan]

It is not up to me or anyone but God to judge another. The Jews also did not accept their Messiah. The Bible, if I recall, does not condemn them. Yet Christ is constantly talking about this perverse and stiff necked generation. That He came to heal the sick not the righteous. But who is righteous?

The old testament is a precursor for Christ. Abraham was before Moses yet he was Justified by God for his righteous life. Noah was also Justified before God and his family was saved. And only his family.


Please forgive me, but what you're advising me to reply, if I understand you correctly, is "Christ is the Answer, make your choice ... what else is on your mind?" This does not address the question,

Orthodoxy is Christ based. We believe what is in the Bible. (Not solo scriptura mind you, but with understanding of the whole picture.) Not much more was on my mind. Yes, Christ is the answer. Without Him, we cannot be saved. (future tense) The Church over the course of 2000 years or so understands the ins and outs of salvation. It is not personal it is communal.


I have a huge difficulty with the idea that one must 'accept Christ' to be 'saved.' I cannot believe that Our Lord would turn people away, despite a lifetime of non-Christian belief, if they have sincerely tried to live their lives as they see fit, and if they have hearts that are more loving than not."

Will others outside the Orthodox faith be saved? Who knows. God knows. Is it mean or unfair to say that a nonorthodox will not be saved. Perhaps as long as it is not in judgement of that person. But God many times says sheep on the right goats on the left. Some will and some will not be saved. He and only He decieds this.

The Church will say, she is the straightest path. She does not know of any other path. Do they exist? Perhaps. God knows. I have heard some say that at the day of judgement Jesus (The judge) will give those that have not had the opportunity to know Him to accept Him or not. Then judge them. No where in the Bible does it say this. Could it happen? Perhaps, God knows.

As I said before, God knows the heart of man. God will judge us. I am certain people outside the Orthodox faith will be in Heaven long before me. If I remember, the Bible talks about the saints judgeing the 12 tribes and God judgeing those outside the Church. Perhaps we in the 21st century are outside the church since we are not part of the original 12 tribes? (personal thougth aside)

God is a loving God, but He does have his standards. He invited everyone in to the wedding feast and then cast out the man who was not properly dressed. I pray I am dressed appropriately on that Day.

Paul

[Herman Blaydoe]

I cannot believe that Our Lord would turn people away, despite a lifetime of non-Christian belief, if they have sincerely tried to live their lives as they see fit, and if they have hearts that are more loving than not.

Which part of "no one comes to the Father except by Me" is causing you a problem? We can only comment or commit on what has been revealed; that Christ established the Church to lead all to salvation. What happens to those outside the Church is between them and God. The Church has what is needful for Salvation. What other religions have may not. To leave them in their ignorance and hope for the best seems to fall short. When the Holy Apostle Paul preached to the Greek pagans, he didn't say what they had was good enough, he told them where they fell short. We are called to be ready at all times to defend the hope that is in us, not to condemn others. If others do not see evidence that we have something they don't, they won't ask, and no amount of preaching, teaching, exhorting, encouraging, pleading, nagging, or condemning will make much difference. Seek Christ, live according to His commandments, love others, give charity, do not forsake the gathering of the brethren. How God deals with others is His business. If He wants us to know, He will tell us.

[Nina]

Abraham was before Moses yet he was Justified by God for his righteous life.
Paul

Dear Paul,

Here is the story (soooo moving!) when Abraham was called out of his original fatherland as it is told for us by Saint Kosmas Aetolos here (http://www.stmaryofegypt.org/kosmas/third.html):



The Example of Abraham AGAIN, IF YOUR PARENTS happen to deny Christ and they urge you, too, to deny him, then don't obey. You will have wages from God just as Abraham did when his father, Thara, the pagan, sent him to bring a sheep to be sacrificed to the idols. On the way, Abraham thought to himself: "Doesn't this world which remains new always have a master? So why should my father worship idols which are deaf and dumb and not worship the true God who created heaven, earth, etc?"

And immediately, he heard a voice from heaven: "Your thinking is good. Go to the promised land and remain there until I tell you what to do, for if you return to your father and tell him what you have been thinking, he will put you to death. So leave."


Thus Abraham left and God made him as rich as a king. And God blessed his seed and his descendants became as numerous as the stars in the sky. He also had three hundred and eighteen servants whom he treated as his brothers.

It is so interesting that God did not let Abraham to stay where his father was, although Abraham had the right thinking and established direct contact with God. Not only he was saved because he obeyed and he followed the path where God told him to go, but also the place for the righteous in hell, was called the "bosom of Abraham" and not of someone else.

Abraham not only had the right thinking, but also obeyed to God, up to the point that he left his own father and family, he was willing to sacrifice Isaac when he was asked by God and so on. It must have been so difficult for Abraham, and it is difficult for us today to obey to Church and God also. But the example of Abraham and many shows that this obedience is not impossible. They did it when there was so much spiritual drought and the souls of people had been scorched because they had distanced themselves from God and were worshiping stones and woods. Today we live in the era after the Incarnation and Resurrection of Christ; and we live in the era of instant worldwide communication therefore most of us have heard about Christ and what He did for us. Many choose (like yourself) to obey to God (to follow the path to His Church) and many do not for various reasons. I am not judging the latter, just stating that it is doable and easier today, because the example of Abraham tells us so.

[Nina]

"So-and-So is greatly greatly troubled by the 'only way/one way' aspect of Christianity. Why should a devout Buddhist, for example, be any less saved," especially if said Buddhist had "never been graced with any personal experience of Christ ... I have a huge difficulty with the idea that one must 'accept Christ' to be 'saved.' I cannot believe that Our Lord would turn people away, despite a lifetime of non-Christian belief, if they have sincerely tried to live their lives as they see fit, and if they have hearts that are more loving than not."

How does one respond to this? I realize that the salvation model here is typical of evangelical Protestantism, thus an Orthodox corrective is in order, but then what? I would appreciate personal answers, of course, but I would appreciate even more recommendations to authoritative statements on this issue, whether conciliar, patristic, or contemporary, and where I can find them, either on this site or elsewhere online ...

Dear Alec,

We have two stories we can think about. One is the story of the skull of the pagan priest, which conversed with Saint Macarios in the desert (from the Gerontikon) and the other is the vision from the Last Judgment that was revealed by God to Saint Nephon. God told to Saint Nephon to record this vision for the generations to read because this is how it will happen He said. So part of this vision is:


After them entered a large number of idolaters who did not know the law of Christ, but by nature observed it by obeying their conscience. Many glowed like the sun because of their purity and goodness, and the Lord gave them Paradise and radiant crowns braided with roses and lilies, However, they were blind since they were denied the Holy Baptism. They could not see the glory of God at all, because the Holy Baptism is the light and the eye of the soul. Thats why he who does not receive it, even if he does an infinite amount of good, he certainly inherits the bliss of paradise and experiences something of its fragrance and sweetness, but he sees nothing. p. 71 from Stories, Sermons, and Prayers of St. Nephon An Ascetic Bishop.
Underline is mine.

[Nicolaj]

Dear Brethren!

A man who lives totally unaware of Jesus Christ, while he didn't hear the Gospel, but he is a honest man, seeking to do good and trying to find eternal life, he will not find the heavens closed for him.
The man who rejects the Gospel, well Jesus pointed out clearly what will happen to him.

Christos voskrese! Nicolaj