14.

 How does the textbook modify St. Cyprian's statement?

            The textbook modifies St. Cyprian's statement with non-patristic speculation. It begins by citing Blessed Augustine's correct assertion that there are sheep outside the Church and wolves within. Thus, not all in the Church will be saved, it is noted.

            Mr. Barnes, the same convert to Orthodoxy, writes that unfortunately, this introduction with Blessed Augustine's comment could lead one to an improper understanding of Orthodox ecclesiology and the status of heterodox Christians. When taken in context, this Father's remark does not support the textbook's later comment concerning an invisible Church membership or its comment that the heterodox may be linked to the Church by “invisible bonds.” The textbook's statements in this regard can easily be misread in support of the non-Orthodox notion of an “invisible true Church,” especially in the light of its claim that “we know where the Church is but we cannot say where it is not.”

            Mr. Barnes again comments. He first notes that there is no doubt that Blessed Augustine believes in the necessity of visible membership in the Church for salvation, a teaching that is found throughout the writings of the Holy Fathers. The same writer then makes the correct observation that the textbook incorrectly uses the word Church in two senses. Thus, he continues, when taken with the textbook's other remarks, one can read its (the textbook's) assertion as follows: “We know where the [visible, historical and one true] Church is, but we cannot be sure where it [the Church in an undefinable or mysterious sense known only to God and containing people who are united by 'invisible ties'] is not.” Mr. Barnes observes that this kind of thinking is not far removed from the heretical branch theory.

            Theorizing with regard to those outside the Church, the textbook also states that many people, notwithstanding their outward separation, could possibly be members of the Church, inasmuch as there are many ways of being related to-, and separated from-, the Church. Just how and to what extent they are members is impossible to determine, the text's writer opines, for it is known to God alone. However, he concludes, a person must belong to the Church in some sense in order to be saved.

            In connection with the textbook's careless lapse in an elementary point of theology in this matter, Hieromonk Patapios of Etna writes that the Church on earth is a visible organism through which its members are united to God and one another by their participation in the Holy Mysteries (Sacraments). Thus, to be “invisibly” linked to the Orthodox Church without the benefit of its Mysteries is of no avail whatsoever, Fr. Patapios states. Either one belongs to the Church or one does not.

            Mr. Barnes explains that the status of heterodox Christians is seen in two ways. With regard to their ecclesial status — that is, in their relation to the Orthodox Church, they cannot be seen as its members as they have not been grafted into the true Body of Christ through Holy Baptism. On the other hand, with regard to their eternal status — that is, in the implications of their ecclesial separation, the Orthodox leave them to the mercy of God and do not pass judgment on them or make any pronouncements about their eternal destiny. To affirm their separation is not to imply their damnation.

            The same writer further states that in keeping with its apophatic mindset, the Orthodox Church remains circumspect on this matter. Thus, to state that there is “no salvation outside the Church” is not the same as saying that “no one outside the Church can be saved.” Sacred Scriptures show that ultimately, God looks upon the heart of man and has mercy upon those whom He chooses to have mercy (Rom 9:18), and that He rewards each according to his intentions and deeds (Rom 2:6 ff.). Therefore, concerning those who were never afforded the opportunity to encounter Orthodoxy, God can save them.

            In the concluding remarks of his book, Mr. Barnes makes the following remarks to a Reformed Protestant who expressed an interest in Orthodoxy:

There are certain things that God has chosen not to reveal to us. One of these is how He will ultimately judge others on that Day. He has revealed certain aspects of that Day of Judgment in order that we may repent and prepare ourselves; but He has not told us how He will — in His infinite knowledge of our incredibly complex nature and His providential ordering of our lives — ultimately weigh each of us in the balance. “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9). This being true, we should not concern ourselves with whether God will save others or how. For us it is enough to know where and how we can be saved. We affirm this to be only within the Orthodox Church; but we can also make a compelling case from Holy Tradition that we do not also have to affirm that He will not save a portion of those who do not enter the Church in this life [The Non-Orthodox: the Orthodox Teaching on Christians Outside of the Church, p. 173].

Mr. Barnes' conclusions are in complete accord with some remarks that St. Theophan the Recluse once made to an inquirer who asked about the possibility of salvation of those outside the Church. The saint replied:

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.

It is recorded in his hagiography that St. Nektary, one of the elders of the famous Optina Hermitage in Russia, once told his disciples that:

In the last times the world will be girded about with iron and paper. But such were the days of Noah: the flood was drawing near. Noah knew about it and told the people, but they did not believe. He hired workers to build the ark, and they, building the ark, did not believe, for which reason they only received wages for their work but were not saved. Those days are the foreshadowing of our own days. The ark is the Church. Only those who are inside will be saved.

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 simple 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].

Metropolitan Philaret, former First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, expressed the same views. He wrote:

It is self-evident... that sincere Christians who are Roman Catholics, or Lutherans, or members of other non-Orthodox confessions, cannot be termed renegades or heretics — that is, those who knowingly pervert the truth.... 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 will have all men to be saved” (1 Tim. 2:4) and “Who enlightens every man born into the world” (Jn 1:9), undoubtedly is leading them also towards salvation in His own way [From the pamphlet “Will the Heterodox Be Saved?” (Leaflet #213 published by the St. John of Kronstadt Press].