Question: If the Orthodox faith is the only true faith, can Christians
of other confessions be saved? May a person who has led a perfectly
righteous life on earth be saved on the strength of his ancestry while
not being baptized as Christian?

Answer: “For He saith to Moses I will have mercy on whom I will have
mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So
then it is not him that willeth, nor of him that runneth (struggleth),
but of God that showeth mercy” (Rom. 9:15-16). In the Orthodox Church
we have the path to salvation indicated to us and we are given the
means by which a person may be morally purified and have direct
promise of salvation. In this sense, St. Cyprian of Carthage says
that “outside the Church there is no salvation”. In the Church is
given that of which Apostle Peter writes to Christians (only
Christians): “According as His divine power hath given unto us all
things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of
Him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us
exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be
partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is
in the world through lust. And besides this, giving all diligence, add
to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge
temperance; and to temperance patience, and to patience godliness; and
to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
For if, these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye
shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord
Jesus Christ” (2Peter 1:3-8). And what should one say of those outside
the Church, who do not belong to her? Another Apostle provides us with
an idea: “For what have I to do to judge them also that are without?
Do not ye judge them that are within? But them that are without God
judgeth” (1Cor.5:12-13). God “will have mercy on whom He will have
mercy” (Rom. 9:18). It is necessary to mention only one thing that to
“lead a perfectly righteous life”, as the questioner expressed it,
means to live according to the commandments of the Beatitudes – which
is beyond the power of one outside the Orthodox Church without the
help of grace which is concealed within it. The question: Can the
heterodox (i.e. those who do not belong to Orthodoxy – the One, Holy,
Catholic, and Apostolic Church) be saved has become particularly
painful and acute in our days. In attempting to answer this question,
it is necessary, first of all, to recall that in His Gospel the Lord
Jesus Christ Himself mentions but one state of the human soul which
unfailing leads to perdition, i.e. blasphemy against the Holy Spirit
(Matt. 12:31-32). The Holy Spirit is, above all, the Spirit of Truth,
as the Saviour loved to refer to Him. Accordingly, blasphemy against
the Holy Spirit is blasphemy against Truth, conscious and persistent
opposition to it. The same text makes it clear that even blasphemy
against the Son of Man – i.e. the Lord Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son
of God Himself – may be forgiven men, as it may be uttered in error or
in ignorance and, subsequently, may be covered by conversion and
repentance (an example of such a converted and repentant blasphemer is
the Apostle Paul, See Acts 26:11, and I Tim 1:13). If however, a man
opposes the Truth which he clearly apprehends by his reason and
conscience, he becomes blind and commits spiritual suicide, for he
thereby liken himself to the devil, who believes in God and dreads
Him, yet hates, blasphemes, and opposes Him. Thus, man’s refusal to
accept Divine Truth and his opposition thereto makes him a son of
damnation. Accordingly, in sending His disciple to preach, the Lord
told them: “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he
that believeth not shall be damned” (Mk. 16-16), for the latter heard
the Lord’s Truth and was called upon to accept it, yet refused,
thereby inheriting the damnation of those who “Believed not the
truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness” (II Thes. 2:12) The Holy
Orthodox Church is the repository of the divinely revealed Truth in
all its fullness and fidelity to the Apostolic Tradition. Hence, he
who leaves the Church, who intentionally and consciously falls away
from it. Joins the ranks of its opponents and become a renegade as
regards to Apostolic Tradition. The Church dreadfully anathematizes
such renegades, in accordance with the words of the Saviour
Himself, “And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But
if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a
heathen and a tax collector”. (Matt. 18:17) and of the Apostle Paul:
“But even if we or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to
you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have
said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel
to you, than what you have received, let him be accursed”.
(Gal.1:8-9), threatening them with eternal damnation and calling them
to return to the Orthodox fold, It is self-evident, however, that
sincere Christians who are Roman Catholics, or Lutherans, or members
of other non-Orthodox confessions, cannot be termed renegades or
heretics – i.e. those who knowingly pervert the Truth…* They have been
born 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 be saved”
(I 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. With reference to the above question, it is particularly
instructive to recall the answer once given to an “inquirer” by the
Blessed Theophan the Recluse. The blessed one replied more or less
thus: “You ask, will the heterodox be saved… Why do you worry about
them? They have a Saviour, Who desires the salvation of every human
being. He will take care of them. You and I should not be burdened
with such concern. Study yourself and your own 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.” We believe the foregoing
answer by the saintly ascetic to be the best that can be given in this
matter.

Archimandrite Philaret

(Metropolitan Philaret of blessed repose)

*The Greek word for ‘heresy’ is derived from the word for ‘choice’ and
hence inherently implies conscious, willful rejection or opposition to
the Divine Truth manifest in the Orthodox Church.
Orthodox Life, Vol. 34, No. 6, 1984