"It would seem to me that the issue is not whether "outside the church there is no salvation." That is, one way or another, affirmed by Orthodox, Catholics, and Protestants. The issue is where the bounds of "the Church" are."
Interesting. As an Orthodox Christian, I wouldn't say that at all. I think The Church is quite well defined. Where I as an Orthodox Christian will not go is to say that so and so, because he/she is not a baptised member of The Church, he/she has no hope of theosis. I simply don't know what the Spirit does to whom.
Dear Kolokotronis,
Are not all who are saved, saved through Jesus Christ? By His Body? Do not the graces by which we are saved flow to us through the suffering He took upon Him in His Body?
Thus, are not all who are saved incorporated into and saved through the Church, which is His Body? Even if they are not formally incorporated into the Church, and known by us in this life to be so incorporated, they are, nonetheless, somehow mysteriously incorporated into the Church, no?
sitetest
This is probably the fundamental difference between Orthodoxy and Protestantism. Protestants believe that those who ultimately are saved (which is roughly equivalent to theosis, but theosis seems to be a more elegant term) are by definition members of the Church, they therefore believe that the bounds of the Church are not well-defined.
In the end, however, we come to the same conclusion - it doesn't matter which Church's rolls your name is inscribed in; rather, it is theosis.
(As an aside, I had to look up theosis. Interesting concept. I should examine it further.)