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POLL

Unknown
edited December 1969 in Coptic Orthodox Church
Do you think that the Kingdom of heaven is prepared only for the Coptic Orthodox people? Why? Why not? What other churches do you believe should be included or not included?
All thoughts are welcomed.

Comments

  • peterfarringtonpeterfarrington
    Dear Godslamb

    Because of history we tend to think in terms only of the people and Christian communities that we know.

    But the Coptic Orthodox Church is only one part of the Orthodox Church to which we belong. We have brothers and sisters in the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Syrian Orthodox Church, the Ethiopian Tewahedo Church, the Eritrean Orthodox Church and the Indian Orthodox Church. These communities are truly One Church to which we belong, even though in terms of our own experience we belong to the local community which is called the Coptic Orthodox Church.

    I hope and pray that more and more we will have a greater and greater sense of belonging truly to this wider Church so that we understand properly that a bishop of the Syrian Orthodox Church is a bishop of our Church, and a priest of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church is a priest in our Church.

    We are wise to be hesitant in asking for whom the Kingdom of Heaven is prepared. Or rather it is prepared for the citizens of the Kingdom, and we need to ask ourselves if we are truly citizens of this world or the next. God will judge us all, and there are those among us who will discover that they have lived a lie, while others outside the formal bounds of our Orthodox Church will discover that they have already found life and light in Christ.

    I would suggest that while it is proper to judge other Christian systems of teaching and compare them with our Orthodox Faith, we should ask only if we ourseves are fit for the Kingdom. The Kingdom of God is the place where God rules, and we are to help bring this rule of God into the world by the transformation of our own lives in obedience and service. We see that there are many others who love Christ and seek to serve him, and we must leave it to God to judge if they have entered the kingdom even while they are ignorant of many true teachings of the Church. Nevertheless we can see and say that Protestantism does not prepare properly those who love God for the Kingdom. And Roman Catholicism is deficient. Yet this says nothing about those in these communities whose judge is God alone.

    We will wonder at the grace and mercy of God when we pass into the heavenly realm. For now, let us seek to be more closely united with those who are truly of the same Body as us, while seeking to illuminate all those others outside the bounds of Orthodoxy. All the while seeking the salvation of our own souls.

    God bless

    Father Peter
  • user00
    Of course not! I believe all Orthodox (esp. because I believe we all have common faith in Christilogy, though we have yet to be officially united) are definately in the right way to Heaven. Of course, there are no guarantees for anyone, even clergy! Also, as Father Peter said, we should follow the commandment not to ponder on who will ascend to heaven or descend to the abyss.

    We do know from the Bible that there are certain thigns without which a person definitely has no eternal life- like baptism, holy Communion, and repentance and confession-- so I guess that rules out many protestant denominations, if not all of them.

    I believe that the advantage that Orthodoxy has over other denominations (specifically Catholicism) is that it better prepares its children for the Kingdom of Heaven-- in its resources, liturgy, and the way it is set up. In other words, its wisdom has produced generations of saints, martyrs, theologians, and righteous. So I beleive our Church is very helpful in guiding us to the right way that would lead us to heaven, but there could definitely be copts in hell and catholics in heaven so we must watch!!
  • mikeforjesusmikeforjesus
    The thing God never even cared to tell us is why does He want to judge us based on a set of rituals.. if a person loves Him and strives to follow Him should He not be accepted by Him?

    I believe all my church's teachings but I must say that.


  • christ_rosechrist_rose
    The Kingdom of Heaven is not limited to any type of Christian Catholics, Orthodox, Protestant Any christian baptized into the faith has the chance of heaven. Gods judgement is what counts and no one knows his judgement. all that matters is how that person lives a christian life

    God Bless
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