Only One Way To God
“works without true doctrine are not accepted by God” - Saint Cyril of Jerusalem
According to Alisa Childers, new studies are showing that 68 percent of Evangelical church goers believe that God accepts worship from people of all religions. That is not Christian theology; it is Masonic, Hindu and New Age. Alisa also stated that 41 percent of these people believe gender is a matter of choice. Wrong again. Gender is in the DNA and chromosomes. It is not a choice. See my article below on the exclusive truth of Christianity.
The heresy that sincere people in non-Christian religions can be saved comes out of the Masonic and ecumenical theology of the Vatican II religion of Rome. I theorize that a lot of modern attacks on traditional Christian beliefs are rooted in Masonry, because Masons want to "strip from all religions their orthodox tenets, legends, allegories and dogmas." (Clausen, Clausen's Commentaries on Morals and Dogmas, p. 157).
The New Catholic Catechism in Part One, Section 847, states that non-Catholics who “seek God with a sincere heart” and “try in their actions to do his will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience,” will “achieve eternal salvation.”
Please also note, the Principles of Wiccan Belief, adopted by the Council of American Witches on April 11-14, 1974, has a strong statement excluding the belief that Christianity is the only way.
There are several views about salvation: universalism, relativism, pluralism, inclusivism, and exclusivism. A definition of terms is in order.
Universalism: The belief that all people will be saved.
Relativism: Every religion is true for the one adhering to it.
Pluralism: Every religion is true.
Inclusivism: One religion is explicitly true, and all others are implicitly true.
Exclusivism: One religion is true and what is opposed to it in other religions is false. This is the Christian position. Some might prefer the term “Particularism” instead of “Exclusivism.”
With the exception of Exclusivism, all these views violate the First Commandment, because other religions do not have the same God as Christians. Second, beneath the pluralists attack on exclusivism is a naturalistic pre-supposition: All religious phenomena can be explained naturalistically; no supernatural explanations are allowed. But this presumptive naturalism is without justification; miracles cannot be ruled out a priori.
St. Polycarp, a disciple of the Apostle John, condemns in one fell swoop all the false religions of the world. He wrote:
"Everyone who does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is an Antichrist; whoever does not confess the testimony of the cross, is of the Devil; and whoever perverts the saying of the Lord for his own desires, and says that there is neither resurrection nor judgment, such a one is the first-born of Satan." (AD-135, Letter to the Philippians).
Saint Paul condemns in one fell swoop all the false religions of the world that reject the gospel. He wrote:
"Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day." (2Thess. 1:6-10).
Patriarch Bartholomew is an ecumenist heretic, who claims to be an Orthodox Christian, but stated on the Charlie Rose Show, that all the religions have the same heavenly Father. His claim directly contradicts the clear-cut statements from Scripture and Church Fathers (see below). Jesus taught that they that worship God must worship him in spirit and in truth. (John 4:24). Not only do other religions not worship God in truth, but they contradict each other. Jesus also taught that "if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins." (John 8:24). The gospel is clear: Christ is the only way to the Father.
Metropolitan Kallistos Ware also was not truly Orthodox. He wrote: "We believe, as Christians, that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the whole world, but we also believe that the light of Christ shines in the hearts of every human person. And if those who are not Christians live by the best that they know in their own tradition, I am fully confident that God will receive them, as I hope God will receive us Christians in His mercy." (Paths to the Heart: Sufism and the Christian East," p. 265).
Notice the feigned piety? Ware's comment reveals that he does not understand the Christian gospel, or he rejects it. I could careless what he is confident of. Where does he get this confidence from? It doesn't come from Christian material. Patriarch Bartholomew and Metropolitan Kallistos promote another gospel, so I don’t see how they avoid the anathema issued by St. Paul in Galatians 1:8-9, which reads:
“But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.”
Below we will look at the teaching of Christ, the teaching of Scripture, and the teaching of Church Fathers.
John 3:5: Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
Matthew 12:30: He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.
Matthew 7:14: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
John 3:36: He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.
John 6:47: Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.
John 8:24: I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.
John 14:6: Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Acts 4:12: Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
Acts 16:31: And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.
According to Romans 10:9, one must confess "Jesus is Lord" and believe that God has raised him from the dead.
In Galatians 5:19-20, St. Paul says heretics will not inherit the Kingdom of God. If heresy prevents people from salvation, then what does that say about people in religions that don't acknowledge Christ?
1 John 5:12: He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.
1 John 2:22: Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.
1 John 2:23: Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.
1 Timothy 2:5: For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
Hebrews 8-10 teaches that Christ is the only Mediator between God and humanity.
Ephesians 4:5: One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
Reconciliation with God is only for those "in Christ." (2Cor. 5:17). The phrase "in Christ" is never used in Scripture of anyone but believers.
Jesus taught that they that worship God must worship him in spirit and in truth. (John 4:24). Not only do other religions not worship God in truth, but they contradict each other.
Athanasian Creed: "Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the catholic faith. Which faith except every one do keep whole and undefiled; without doubt he shall perish everlastingly."
The Third Council of Constantinople (680): In no other than the orthodox faith could men be saved.
St. John Chrysostom: "We know that salvation itself is a property of the One Church, and that no one can be outside of the catholic Church and yet share the Faith of Christ, or be saved...Neither do we offer any part of that hope to the ungodly heretics, but we place them entirely outside of that hope; indeed, they have not the least participation in Christ, but vainly assume for themselves that saving Name.” (Migne P. G. 59:725).
Blessed Augustine: "Outside the Catholic Church everything may be had except salvation. One may have orders and Sacraments, one may sing Alleluia and answer Amen, one may hold the Gospel, one may have and preach in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, but nowhere except in the Catholic Church can one find salvation." (PL. Vo. 43, pp. 689-698).
St. Fulgence of Ruspe (468-533 A.D.): "Hold most firmly and never doubt in the least that no person baptized outside the Catholic Church can become a participant of eternal life if, before the end of this life, he has not returned and been incorporated into the Catholic Church." (Migne, PL Vo. 65. pp. 671-706).
St. Pope Gregory the Great (540-604 A.D.): "The holy universal Church teaches that it is not possible to worship God truly except in her and asserts that all who are outside her will not be saved." (Moralia, Lib. XIV, Cap. V. n. 5. PL, Tom. LXXV. col. 1043).
St. Lactantius (240-320 A.D.): "Therefore, it is the Catholic Church alone which retains true worship. This is the fountain of truth, this is the abode of the faith, this is the temple of God; into which if any one shall not enter, or from which if any shall go out, he is estranged from the hope of life and eternal salvation." (Divinarum Institutionum--The Divine Institutes, Book IV, Chapter 30: See also: Ante-Nicene Fathers, Lactantius, Vol. 7. Edited by Philip Schaff, Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody. Mass., Second Printing, 1999, p. 133).
The following quotes are from the book, "A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs," by Bercot. The sources are provided in the book.
St. Lactantius: ..."This is the everlasting temple. If anyone has not sacrificed in this, he will not have the reward of immortality"...
St. Cyprian: "Likewise, neither can he be saved by baptism who has not been baptized in the church."
St. Cyprian: "There is no salvation outside of the church."
St. Cyprian: ..."remission of sins is not granted except in the church."
St. Cyprian: "The house of God is one, and there can be no salvation to anyone except in the church."
End of quotes from “A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs.”
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St. John Chrysostom: “The universal [catholic] Church is a great paradise...and should anyone be found in the Church ailing with heretical error from the teaching of the serpent...then he is cast out of this paradise, even as Adam was cast out from the paradise [of old].”--[PG 59:545CD].
St. Theodore the Studite: “Chrysostomos loudly declares not only heretics, but also those who have communion with them, to be enemies of God.” [Epistle to Abbot Theophilus].
St. Theodore the Studite: “Guard yourselves from soul-destroying heresy, communion with which is alienation from Christ.”--[P.G. 99.1216.]
St. Cyril of Jerusalem: ‘There is one Lord, one Faith, one baptism’ [Eph. 4:5], and this is what we believe with all our soul, with all our heart, and with all our mind, that there is salvation in none other than in Jesus Christ the Nazerene [cf. Acts 4:10-12]. And this is what we piously believe and follow. And we recognize that works without true doctrine are not accepted by God, neither is true doctrine without works accepted by God. For what profit is it, to know well the doctrines concerning God, and yet to be a vile fornicator? And again, what profit is it, to be nobly temperate, and an impious blasphemer? A most precious possession therefore is the knowledge of doctrines: also there is need of a wakeful soul, since there are many that make spoil through philosophy and vain deceit. The Greeks on the one hand draw men away by their smooth tongue, for honey droppeth from a harlot’s lips: whereas they of the Circumcision deceive those who come to them by means of the Divine Scriptures, which they miserably misinterpret though studying them from childhood to all age, and growing old in ignorance. But the children of heretics, by their good words and smooth tongue, deceive the hearts of the innocent, disguising with the name of Christ as it were with honey the poisoned arrows of their impious doctrines: concerning all of whom together the Lord saith, Take heed lest any man mislead you. This is the reason for the teaching of the Creed and for expositions upon it.”--St. Cyril, Archbishop Of Jerusalem [Catechetical Lectures - Lecture 4:
On Ten Points Of Doctrine].
“In The Spiritual Meadow of St. John Moschus, we read:
“Once a monk called Theophan came to see the great elder Kyriakos...” (He tells the elder that in his country he is in contact with Nestorians whereupon) “the elder begins to try to convince the monk of his error and to pray that he abandon that fatal heresy and join himself to the holy catholic and apostolic Church.”
“‘It is impossible to be saved (‘without right belief).’” (The monk is interested and the elder offers him his cell saying:)
“‘I have hope that God in His mercy will reveal the truth to you.’”
“And leaving the monk in his cave, the elder set out for the Dead Sea, praying for the monk as he went. And indeed the next day about the ninth hour the monk sees someone, strange in appearance, who says to him, ‘Come and find out the truth.’ And taking him he leads him to a gloomy, stinking place emitting flames and shows him Nestorius and Theodore (of Mopsuestia), Eutyches and Apollonarius, Evagrius and Didymus, Dioscorus and Severus, Arius and Origen, and others. And pointing at them he says to the monk, ‘That is the place prepared for heretics and those who taught falsely about the Mother of God and those who follow their teachings. If you do not want to taste the same punishment turn to the holy catholic and apostolic Church to which the elder who is instructing you belongs. I tell you: even though a man be adorned with all the works of charity, but does not have right belief he will find himself in that place.’
“With these words the monk came to himself. When the elder returned the monk told him everything that he had seen and in a short time joined himself to the holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. Staying in the monastery of Kalamon he lived with the elder for some years and died in peace.””--St. John Moscus
[Spiritual Meadow; cited in “Commentary on the Latest
Recommendations of the ‘Joint Commision For Theological Dialogue Between the Orthodox And Oriental Churches,"
Orthodox Life, vol. 42, no. 3 (May-June 1991), pp. 5-18.; quotation appears on p. 17].
RELIGIOUS PLURALISTS, INCLUSIVISTS, UNIVERSALISTS, AND RELATIVISTS ARE ANATHEMATIZED AND CONDEMNED BY THE ORTHODOX CHURCH
The sixth session of the 7th ecumenical council: "Those who, moved by Divine zeal, always concur with the Fathers and the traditional ordinances of the Church flee from all who hold contrary opinions, as though from enemies."
From the Synodicon of the Holy Spirit: "To all things innovated and enacted contrary to the Church tradition, teaching, and institution of the holy and ever-memorable fathers, or to anything henceforth so enacted, ANATHEMA."
Eighth proceeding of the Seventh Ecumenical Synod: “If anyone breaks any ecclesiastical tradition, written or unwritten, let him be anathema.”
St. Vincent of Lérins accurately reflects Orthodoxy with these words: "for Christians to declare something which they did not previously accept has never been permitted, is never permitted, and never will be permitted,—but to anathematize those who proclaim something outside of that which was accepted once and for ever, has always been a duty, is always a duty, and always will be a duty."
The Confession of Saint Dositheos [1672], Patriarch of Jerusalem, which is respected throughout all of Orthodoxy, teaches that the Church is comprised only of all the faithful that believe and profess correctly the blameless Faith that was handed down to us and preached and explained by our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ, the Holy Apostles and their successors, the Holy Fathers and the Ecumenical and Local Synods...