All these other quotes are make-do damage-control kumbaya nonosense rationalizations, lip service, etc. so as not to portray the Orthodox Church as inclusive when in fact the Orthodox Church is the most inclusive of all Christian churches.
Most of the quotes you read here are by various apologetics from feel-good books that are much more idealistic than the practice and the canons of Orthodoxy.
error: inclusive = exclusive
Kosta if you follow the link I posted most recently it is an "official" church website. That of the GOARCH.
Both of the extensive quotes I posted are from the church website, which includes the one to spark.
It is blasphemy, imo, to think that God would be as limiting and exclusive as you seem to believe. You would come here and use a church you claim to rarely attend, and state that these people, by virtue of being outside the Orthodox church, are damned to eternal hell?
Since when have you been given this authority and knowledge? Because the archpriest at the parish I attend says otherwise and so does our proto-deacon. Both of whom I think are more immersed in the practise and spirit of the Orthodox church than you or I. They say that God is perfect love and it is not our place to judge or condemn anyone, as Orthodox Christians.
So now I suppose you can fall back on your old standby, that the OCA teaches the protestant version of Orthodoxy, which is somehow supposed to reduce her vision and spiritual wealth.
Here is a post from the official website of the Orthodox Church in America.
"It is the common teaching of the Orthodox Christian tradition that the Church has no monopoly on grace and truth and love. The Church teaches on the contrary that God is the Sovereign Lord who saves those whom He wills.
The Church believes as well that salvation depends upon the actual life of the person, and God alone is capable of judging since He alone knows the secrets of each mind and heart. Only God is capable of judging how well a man lives according to the measure of grace, faith, understanding, and strength given to him.
The Orthodox would insist, nevertheless, that an honest seeker of truth and love will see these things perfectly realized and expressed in Jesus Christ and will recognize God, the end of their seeking, in Him.
We all know, however, that our image of Christ is deformed both by the lives and the doctrines of those who claim him, and thus His truth and love and His very person remain obscure and hidden to those who might follow Him if they could see Him clearly.
But once again, let it be clear that every man is judged by God alone according to the actual truth and love in his life. This goes for Orthodox and non-Orthodox alike".
But I wonder if your three hermits were regular participants in the Mysteries?