Question: When Church Fathers such as Cyprian of Carthage make
such bold statements as, "He cannot have God for his Father, who has not
the Church for his mother," does that mean that all non-Orthodox people
are going to hell? What is the Orthodox perspective on the condition of
Christians and non-Christians outside of the Holy Orthodox Church?
Answer by
Fr. Bill Olnhausen: Orthodox
theologian Georges Florovsky was even bolder when he wrote, "Outside the
Church there is no salvation, because salvation is the Church." Let's
define terms. "Salvation" (soteria in Greek) means spiritual
wholeness, health. Salvation is not an instant experience, nor is it a reward
for getting a passing grade in holiness, nor is it the result of God's
arbitrarily waiving heaven's entrance requirements.
Salvation is the successful completion of a long
process of spiritual growth, until finally we become "perfect, just as
[our] Father in heaven is perfect" (Matthew 5:48). Salvation consists of
becoming holy. In order to be saved, we must cooperate with God's saving
process. This requires a correct understanding of God, a right relationship
with God-"true doctrine" and "true worship."
The Church is essential to salvation for many reasons:
1) We cannot save ourselves. God alone can save us.
The only way to perfection and eternal life is through union with the eternal
and all-perfect God who is life, and who pours His saving power into us. God is
salvation.
2) Jesus Christ is God Incarnate, through whom we are
united with God. "No one comes to the Father except through Me" (John
14:6). "Without Me you can do nothing" (John 15:5). Jesus Christ is
salvation.
3) The Church is the Body of Christ, an essential part
of Christ's Incarnation, through which we are united with Christ. We are saved
in the midst of a community. Salvation is not individual, but corporate. The
Church is where Christ our God saves us. Therefore, the Church is salvation and
salvation is found in the Church.
4) Orthodox believe that by His grace God has revealed
and preserved "true doctrine" and "true worship" in the
Holy Orthodox Church. The Orthodox Church is the true Church.
Does this mean that all now outside the Church will go
to hell? No. Bishop Kallistos Ware suggests that "While there is no
division between a `visible' and an 'invisible' Church yet there may be members
of the Church who are not visibly such, but whose membership is known to God
alone. If anyone is saved, he must in some sense be a member of the Church; in
what sense we cannot always say" (The Orthodox Church, p. 248, 1993
edition). Christ our God may be working in others in ways unknown to us and
even to them, to bring them to salvation. And in due time, perhaps not till
after death, they may recognize God and accept Christ and be united to His Body
the Church-so that they can be saved.
This is in accord with the teaching of Christ. In the
parable of the sheep and the goats (Matthew 25), notice that it is the
"nations" (v. 32), the nonbelievers, who are being judged (this is
obvious, because they are surprised to learn that Christ dwells in the needy),
and some of them are welcomed into the "kingdom prepared for [them] from
the foundation of the world" (v. 34).
Regarding God's mysterious work outside the Orthodox
Church, we have nothing to say. We make no judgments about what God is doing
there, or about what happens to the souls of those who are not Orthodox or not
Christian on earth. It is all we can do to try to "work out [our] own
salvation with fear and trembling" (Philippians 2:12).
Source: https://www.beliefnet.com/faiths/christianity/orthodox/2005/03/do-all-non-orthodox-people-go-to-hell.aspx
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