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To: monkfan; The_Reader_David
I am interested in learning more about the statement, "Exclusiveness is rejected as a matter of Truth".

Apparently from this source?
Philip Sherrard, "Christianity: Lineaments of a Sacred Tradition, Chapter Three,"Christianity and Other Sacred Traditions, Brookline MA: Holy Cross Orthodox Press (1998) p. 54.

So if anyone has this book and can or is willing to elaborate, I would be grateful.

Additionally in The Orthodox Church, Bishop Ware states that "...several of the Fathers have none the less believed that in the end all will be reconciled to God". He does add that it is heretical to say that all must be saved, but it is legitimate to hope that all may be saved.
Any more information you can offer here is also welcome.

441 posted on 12/15/2004 11:40:59 AM PST by MarMema
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To: 1 spark
The same link I posted above, an official church website, also has this to say:

"It is basic Christian doctrine that the Holy Spirit may act wherever and whenever. Presuming to constrain the activity of the Holy Spirit - to limit God Himself- is not the way. Orthodoxy recognizes and accepts the mandate to seek Truth and to follow the Holy Spirit wherever He leads, including in other religions or philosophies when his Truth is to be found there.[37]

The way of Orthodoxy is to converge on the golden mean, carefully avoiding extremes and the pitfalls that can lead to destruction. The Tradition of the Church fosters the understanding of Truth in all the experience of the human person. As the sun shines and gives life and energy to the physical world, the Son of God, the Logos, illuminates every human person who "comes in the world" (Orthodox prayer to the Holy Spirit). The Holy Spirit and the Logos offer Life to all. However, the centrality of Christ, the "Savior of the world", the Logos, is not to be dismissed. He was incarnate for universal salvation and is "the same forever".

The salvation of all people, including non-Christians, depends on the great goodness and mercy of the Omniscient and Omnipotent God who desires the salvation of all people. Those who live in faith and virtue, though outside the Church, receive God's loving grace and salvation. Saint Paul reminds us, "O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and how inscrutable His ways!" (Rom. 11: 33).

442 posted on 12/15/2004 11:53:37 AM PST by MarMema
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