Question: “If the Orthodox faith is the only true
faith, can Christians of other confessions be saved? May a person who has led a
righteous life on earth be saved, while not being a Christian?”
Answer: “For He said to Moses, I will have mercy on
whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have
compassion. So then it is not of him that wills, nor of him that struggles, but
of God who shows mercy” (Rom. 9:15–16). In the Orthodox Church we have the most
direct and complete path of salvation indicated to us, and we are given the
means by which a person may be purified and have a direct promise of salvation.
In this sense St. Cyprian of Carthage says, “Outside the Church there is no
salvation.” The Apostle Peter writes exclusively to Christians saying:
“According as His divine power He has given unto us all things that pertain
unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that has called us to
glory and virtue. Whereby are given unto us exceedingly great and precious
promises: that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature, having
escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Pet. 1:3).
And what should one say of those outside the Church,
who do not belong to Her? Another apostle provides us with an idea: “For what
have I to do with judging them that are without? You judge them that are
within? But them that are without, God judges” (1 Cor. 5:12–13), having “mercy
on whom He will have mercy” (Rom 9:18). The question, “Can the non-Orthodox,
i.e. those who do not belong to Orthodoxy — the One, Holy, Catholic, and
Apostolic Church — be saved?” has become particularly painful and acute in our
days. In attempting to answer this question, it is necessary, first of all, to
recall that in His Gospel the Lord Jesus Christ Himself mentions but one state
of the human soul that unfailingly leads to perdition — i.e. blasphemy against
the Holy Spirit (Matt. 12:1–32). The Holy Spirit is, above all, the Spirit of
Truth, as the Savior loved to refer to Him. Accordingly, blasphemy against the
Holy Spirit is blasphemy against the Truth, conscious and persistent opposition
to it. The same text makes it clear that even blasphemy against the Son of Man
— i.e. the Lord Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God Himself, may be
forgiven, as it may be uttered in error or in ignorance, and subsequently may
be covered by conversion and repentance. (An example of such a converted and
repentant blasphemer is the Apostle Paul. See Acts 26:11 and 1 Tim. 1:13.) If,
however, a man opposes the Truth which he clearly apprehends by his reason and
conscience, he becomes blind and commits spiritual suicide, for he thereby
likens himself to the devil, who believes in God and dreads Him, yet hates,
blasphemes, and opposes Him.
Thus, man's refusal to accept the Divine Truth and his
opposition to it makes him a son of condemnation. Accordingly, in sending His
disciples to preach, the Lord told them: “He that believes and is baptized
shall be saved, but he that believes not shall be condemned” (Mk. 16:16), for
the latter heard the Lord's Truth and was called upon to accept it, yet
refused, thereby inheriting the condemnation of those who “believed not the
truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness” (2 Thess. 2:12).
The Holy Orthodox Church is the repository of the
divinely revealed Truth in all its fullness and fidelity to apostolic
Tradition. Hence, he who leaves the Church, who intentionally and consciously
falls away from it, joins the ranks of its opponents and becomes a renegade as
regards apostolic Tradition. The Church dreadfully anathematized such
renegades, in accordance with the words of the Savior Himself (Matt. 18:17) and
of the Apostle Paul (Gal. 1:8–9), threatening them with eternal condemnation
and calling them to return to the Orthodox fold.
It is self-evident, however, that sincere Christians
who are Roman Catholics, or Lutherans, or members of other non-Orthodox
confessions, cannot be termed renegades or heretics—i.e. those who knowingly
pervert the truth. The Greek word for “heresy” is derived from the word for
“choice” and inherently implies conscious, willful rejection or opposition to
the Divine Truth manifest in the Orthodox Church. They have been born and
raised and are living according to the creed which they have inherited, just as
do the majority of you who are Orthodox. In their lives there has not been a
moment of personal and conscious renunciation of Orthodoxy. The Lord, “who
desires all men to be saved” (1 Tim. 2:4) and “who enlightens every man born
into the world” (Jn. 1.43), undoubtedly is leading them also towards salvation
in His own way.
An inquirer once asked St. Theophan the Recluse if the
non- Orthodox would be saved. The blessed one replied, “You ask, will the
non-Orthodox be saved? Why do you worry about them? They have a Savior who
desires the salvation of every human being. He will take care of them. You and
I should not be burdened with such a concern. Study yourself and your own
sins.”
By Metropolitan Philaret (+1985)
Other Quotes To Ponder:
St. Theophan the Recluse: "Why do you worry about
them? They have a Savior, Who desires the salvation of every human being. He
will take care of them. You and I should not be burdened with such a concern.
Study yourself and your sins.... I will tell you one thing, however: should
you, being Orthodox, and possessing the Truth in its fullness, betray Orthodoxy
and enter a different faith, you will lose your soul forever."
Elder Nektary of Optina: One of Elder Nektary's
spiritual children then inquired: "But what about the millions of Chinese,
Indians, Turks and other non-Christians?" The elder replied:
"God desires not only that the nations be saved,
but each individual soul. A simpl...e Indian, believing in his own way in the
Creator and fulfilling His will as best he can, will be saved; but he who,
knowing about Christianity, follows the Indian mystical path, will not."
[Ivan Kontzevitch, Elder Nektary of Optina, p. 181].
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