All,
I have been edified and blessed to read the posts on this forum. Thank you Ioannis for posting the question and beginning the thread. Also thank you all who have posted your thoughts in love. I have learned something from you and read many of my own thoughts in your responses. Your words, however are more eloquent then mine might have been.
Somsoc, I loved your retelling of the Orthodox answer to \"can those outside Orthodoxy be saved?\" - \"I don\'t know, can they?\" seems like a response that fits with many of the complicated controversies we are faced with today.
I shifted into Orthodoxy at Pascha 2004. Before that, I was a fervent Protestant starving for connection and true communion with Christ our Saviour. I was even, at one point, one of the protestant missionaries OrthodoxRose mentions who went to Russia to \"save the poor unchurched people\" (at the time I truly believed that is what we were being called to do - may God forgive me!) I am so thankful to say humbly, that I was in fact one who found salvation through my experience in that mystical land.
Having shared this, I can also add with deep conviction that my own experiences as a Protestant for over 30 years were Providential and that God\'s ways, though ineffable, are also perfect. Ioannis, your path to Orthodoxy is a blessing so I encourage you not to question it too deeply. Also, I am sad to read of the errors some have made in speaking with you about these matters. I agree with all who say we (they) should not judge. We are all fallen and striving to get back to perfect communion with the Lord. Who among us has not been tempted in our pride to lay claims to knoweldge of the ineffable ways of God? We all, even your dear priest, are flawed and need great mercy.
One of the greatest comforts and beauties of our Mother, the Church is that we need not concern ourselves with matters that are greater then our understanding or our present need. It is enough to know that we have found our true home and to hope that those around us, whether Protestant, Rom Catholic, or otherwise disposed, will join us one day in our joy. So we pray for them and we commend their salvation to the Lord whose ways are higher then our ways. We also rely in faith on the counsel of the Holy Spirit, who will guide us and call to our rememberance all the teachings of the church when they are most needed and with the clarity that is required for the moment.
I guess what I am trying to say is that this question does not seem to be one that can be settled in the rational, carnal mind of man where confusion, limited vision, and varied circumstances will always cloud the issue. But rather, in faith, let us commend our thoughts to God and allow His omnipresence and ineffable wisdom to console our heart in these matters. He who is greater then us all will sort through the hearts of each man (and woman) guiding us toward all truth and salvation.
I write this more for myself then for any of you. I am a sinner, learning each day my own weaknesses and relying on your mercy as I stumble through the process of relearning my Christianity. Thankyou for allowing me to ramble. Thank you more so for sharing your thoughts and your lives here.
AnnaChristine
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