“About those Christians who are outside the Orthodox Church, therefore, I would say: they do not yet have the full Truth. Perhaps it just hasn’t been revealed to them yet, or perhaps it is our fault for not living and teaching the Orthodox Faith in a way they can understand. 

With such people we cannot be one in the Faith, but there is no reason why we should regard them as totally estranged or as equal to pagans (although we should not be hostile to pagans either- they also haven’t yet seen the Truth!). It is true that many of the non-Orthodox hymns contain a teaching or at least an emphasis that is wrong- especially the idea that when one is “saved” he does not need to do anything more because Christ has done it all. This idea prevents people from seeing the Truth of Orthodoxy which emphasizes the idea of struggling for one’s salvation even after Christ has given it to us, as St. Paul says: “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” Philippians 2:12 But almost all of the religious Christmas carols are all right, and they are sung by Orthodox Christians in America (some of them even in the strictest monasteries!).”

-Hieromonk Seraphim (Rose) of Platina

#orthodoxy #orthodoxstr #orthodoxchristianity ☦️ https://image.nostr.build/a992be3f59f7876e86e18287ce6099b9114c4e5f385c1ac24584d9dfb2168bde.jpg  

 Based