A Glimpse into the East's Understanding of Salvation

In my conversation with people from other traditions and denominations of Christianity I have come to learn that many non-Roman Catholics do not really understand what the Roman Catholic Church teaches. They disagree with what they think Roman Catholic teaching is, but once I start explaining away the misunderstandings, they are not as sure that they reject Roman Catholic teaching. I think that many of us, Roman Catholics, on the other hand are also culpable of ignoring what other Churches actually believe. In order to engage in ecumenism, and work for the unity of the Church, I believe one of the first steps we should take is to get to know each other better. As a little step towards this major step, I want to share the following summary of Eastern Christianity's understanding of Salvation.

"Western Christianity tends to see salvation in black-and-white terms: either one is saved (i.e., destined for eternal dwelling in heaven) or not. Legal or forensic models of Christ's redeeming work, focusing on the Crucifixion, predominate. For example, Anselm believed that redemption consisted of Christ paying our debt for violating God's honor through sin, a debt for which God (because He is just) must require adequate repayment. Anselm's approach, which was ultimately integrated with general principles of human law, was highly influential in Roman Catholic and Protestant theologies. This is evident in reviewing the theologies of other western Christian thinkers, such as followers of Luther, who focus on how God declares us righteous "in a divine court" based on our faith in Christ's work on the Cross.

In the Orthodox Christian tradition, salvation is more process-oriented and can be defined as progressive theosis (partaking of the divine nature; 2 Peter 1:4), which is accomplished by joining ourselves more and more fully to God and restoring His likeness within us."

(from "Interpersonal forgiveness from an Eastern Orthodox Perspective" by Elizabeth Gassin)

The experience of salvation "is not limited to a point in time, but is a lifetime synergistic process, involving not only God's presence and activity, but also one's own personal struggle to be open and to cooperate with the energies of Grace." (From "Beloved to God: An Eastern Orthodox Anthropology" by Elizabeth J. Gassin and J. Stephen Muse found in The Psychologies in Religion: Working with the Religious Client by E. Thomas Dowd, Stevan Lars Nielsen)

According to these authors, in the Orthodox tradition, sin is not seen as an individual, legalistic concept, relating to juridical transgression that require substitutionary atonement, but rather as a a sickness, and developmental arrest, that is cured by entering into the fullness of life opened up in Christ.

The follwing quotation from the Orthodox saint Cosmas of Aiotolos are an example of Orthodox spirituality which presupposes cooperating with God's grace in order to work out one's healing, so that one may be open to union with God:

"If you want to cure your soul, you must first forgive your enemies."

"The Christian needs two wings in order to soar upward and attain Paradise: humility and love. When the first order of angels fell from angelic glory and became demons, the other nine orders humbled themselves and worshiped the All-Holy Trinity, and remained in their place and rejoice forever. We, too, my brethren, must reflect what an evil thing pride is - that it cast down the devil from angelic glory and he will always burn in Hades - and that humility kept the angels in Heaven, and they rejoice perpetually in the glory of the Holy Trinity. Let us then, my brethren, avoid pride, because it is the first daughter of the devil, is a path that leads to Hades; and let us have humility, because it is angelic, is a path that leads to Paradise."

"Know my brethren that love has two characteristics, two gifts. One of them is to strengthen man in what is good and the other is to weaken him in what is evil. I have a loaf of bread to eat; you do not have. Love tells me: Do not eat it alone, give some to your brethren and you eat the rest. I have clothes; love tells me: Give one garment to your brother and you wear the other one. I open my mouth to accuse you, to tell you lies, to deceive you; but at once I remember love and it deadens my mouth, and does not allow me to tell you lies. I stretch out my hands to take what belongs to you, your money, all your possessions. Love does not allow me to take them. Do you see, my brethren, what gifts love has?"

Posted by Carlos J. Medina