Ecumenism: One of the Most Dangerous Heresies - St. Sophrony the Athonite

St. Sophrony is one of the greatest saints of the 20th century, a teacher of prayer of the heart and one graced with the experience of the Uncreated Light. He was glorified as a Saint in 2019 and is beloved by the entire Church worldwide.

St. Sophrony writes:

"...I would like to say a little about the fact that at the present time a significant part of the Christian world tends to accept one of the most dangerous heresies. What is consists of is people saying that in our days there is not one Church which has kept fully the true teaching of Christ; or which possesses complete knowledge of the mystery of the holy, grace-filled Christian life on the ethical and ascetic level. Supposedly, many of the Churches which are nominally Christian have equal grace, and because of that we should proceed towards the union of the Churches on the basis of some common program."

"Some people think that no single one of the existing Churches can receive the fulness of knowledge and grace, because each one of them in one or another degree has deviated from the truth. They think that only now ‘at the end of the ages’ they (these sages) have fully grasped the spirit of the teaching of Christ, and that the entire Christian world has been led astray for many centuries until now. That now the time has come when we must unite all the separated parts into one universal and apostle Church, which will have the fulness of truth in all its aspects, even though this union will only embrace what is common to all the Churches. What is even worse, some of them are pondering in their hearts a certain high, supra-ecclesial, mystical, understanding of Christian religion, which… I won’t say more about this."

"I digressed into discussing this for one reason only: to tell you that I very much want you (and I pray to God for this) not to be deceived by all that, but to be convinced firmly in your heart and mind that on this earth there is one unique and true Church which Christ founded; that this Church maintains unspoiled the teaching of Christ, that she in her totality (and not in her individual members) possesses the fulness of knowledge and grace and infallibility."

"The definitive form of expression of the Church’s teaching at the Ecumenical Councils cannot be subjected to any change. All future academic work must obligatorily concur with what was given in divine revelation and in the teaching of the Ecumenical Councils of the Church. The same is true in connection with grace: only the one and unique Church can have the fulness of grace. All the other Churches, however, do have grace because of their faith in Christ, but not in its fulness. We can, furthermore, believe that in our days there are still people who, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, are equal to the great Saints of the Church of ancient times. (I am saying this in connection with what I heard about several people in Russia.) [This is] because Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever (Heb. 13:8). All this is the truth. Whoever departs from this faith will not stand."

ALSO from St. Sophrony's letters to David Balfour:

"Whoever makes a mistake in dogma will inevitably make a mistake in his inner, moral life too. So without fail we must adopt the view that the true Church must be true in both the one and the other, because if it is in error somewhere in the one, it will inevitably be in error also in the other. Of course here I am referring to the Church as a whole. Individual members of the Church may, while they live in the Church, be ignorant of many things, and even be mistaken in something, without however losing their salvation because of their incomplete knowledge. And in fact, knowledge is not accessible to any one man in it's fullness; it belongs to the whole Church. What I mean by this is that for salvation it is necessary to be a member of the true Church. Outside of her it is not possible for men to receive either true grace or true knowledge.”
-Striving for the Knowledge of God, p. 304

"I do not want the 'union of the Churches' to come about, at least at the present time, because the Roman Catholics will not change, but the Orthodox will be corrupted."
-St. Sophrony, "I Know a Man in Christ", 1979, p. 295

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[joannajones]

SO True!! Thanks to God for our beloved, Saint Sophrony!

[seekingtruth]

I was a Roman Catholic but left the Ecumenism over 15 years ago but tried to stay as a traditional catholic until 3 years ago I left, but still prayed at home with my family while I went on a search of what to do, finally I came across videos of the orthodox christian faith and began to listen and study and praise be Jesus I believe in the Orthdox faith is Christ's. But now I am getting heavily attack because I believe as was taught in this video as many orthodox priest have said including saints. Its very hard right now when I am considering becoming orthodox to see this division. I have seen it in the Roman Catholic Church and it caused confusion and division l. Please pray for me

[savvasbournelis]

“Ecumenism is dominated by unclean spirits.” + St. Ephraim of Katounakia

[seekingtruth]

Sadly even in orthodoxy this has been excreted but not by all. It seems those who won't comprehend get labeled like schismatics. We need to defend truth

[hiphop]

the word of God is ultimate truth, we are the church and not any building. the bible call us to believe and to be obedient, and to do God's will.

[Nebojsa]

John 17:21-24 NLT

I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me. “I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one.

[orthodox]

While we have the true faith, we must be very, very careful not to judge those outside of the church.

[dg_f_Christs]

This is a hard teaching. It's too easy to argue either way, my priest told me to stop over thinking, that's like telling a rain drop to choose where it lands.

[atthewlundgren]

Elsewhere he says the somewhat more lax version,
"The heterodox live in ignorance. God will judge them accordingly. But for us Orthodox salvation is theosis, that is, our union with Christ through His holy commandments and Mysteries."
(from the book "I Knew A Man In Christ: The Life and Times of Elder Sophrony, the Hesychast and Theologian")

I'm not suggesting that he contradicts himself or that any of what he says here is wrong; but rather, that there are levels of rigorism depending on the context and who you're talking to, and one quote of one saint often does not fully represent even their own views (let alone the view of the Church or of God).
The same is true of St. Porphyrios, and St. Paisios the Athonite, who, on at least two occasions I know of, very straightforwardly says that the heterodox are somehow saved, and elsewhere, he kind of implies that they aren't.

[loulasher]

As a Catholic, I regret the seperations that split the original Church into 3 groups: Oriental Orthodox, Eastern Orthodox, and Catholic. Looking at the evil in the world and the suffering, we would face it better united. The gates of hell can not prevail, but that line implies attack which we would do better unified.

[georgi]

What about greeks and russians affirmed papa is not heretic? Isnt it ecumenism?
P.S it is!

[SeanWinters]

I do not call this man a saint, he is as those Paul warned of. "For have we been saved by Apollos? Did Paul die for your sins?"

[probablysmart]

How does St Sophrony explain that God protected the Children of one of His Protestant evangelicals in Africa, and sent an army of Angels to surround their school when BokoHaram tried to enter into the school and kidnap the blonde little girls of the Pastor?

Why would the Theotikos appear and heal the sick of the Catholic faithfuls on mountains of Spain, Italy and Philippines if they are not receiving full Grace??

I was born Coptic Orthodox, watched the Theotikos appearing in Cairo and reflecting in the sun, then bringing the sun closer to earth without burning it..I joined Eastern Orthodoxy, knowing that the Grace of our Lord does not see what St Sophrony said…

Christ is far outside of the scope of our understanding, and giving Grace and Gifts of the Holy Sprit does not come automatically because you have an Orthodox label on your forehead!

Make no mistake, the Orthodox Church has the most reserved faith in Christianity, and represents the fullness of our human understanding of Chrisology, but there are other humble souls outside of Orthodoxy that receive Gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to their hard labor to spread the Word of God and His good news!

God has a plan, to gather the faithful from the four corners of earth..no one can take from His hand, unless they are given.. and those whom were given to Christ, He never lost a single one of them..

[davidhoban]

"The day is coming when no one will worship God either on this mountain or in Jerusalem.... True worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth for these are the kind of worshippers God wants. ..God is spirit and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth."

" I pray that those who come to believe in me will be one. ..May they be brought to complete unity so that the world will know that you sent me."

I hate this bickering between those who call themselves Christians.
It's clear that from Christ's words above it is obvious that he does too.

A great part of the world either despises or completely ignores Christianity and with Christians squabbling amongst one another and calling each other names is it any wonder.
Shame on those who perpetuate the split between brothers and sisters which harms so many and dilutes belief in God. Horrible, horrible theology. The arrogance in thinking that the Church I was brought up in is right and everyone else is wrong. Well ain't that a coincidence.
I mean seriously, we haven't time for this crap anymore ..Grow up

[ciscodealmeida]

God would not leave us Hostage to old books and devious translation and all these different Religions to teach us the path back home.Just go within your temple most High, within the chamber of your heart you will meet the I Am That I Am .All you guys rejected Reincarnation the fundamental Teachings of Christ, you set a path of your own to fail in development. too many philosophy's with no true grit.

[goodideas]

The Greek Orthodox has many good things but no church is complete in all things. There is no such thing as an singular elitist church that alone serves God fully. Wherever man is, there will be problems and errors to some degree. A number of ancient early church teachings have been lost over time....St Paul said as much would happen.

[tudorgramada]

Orthodox faith has many biblical issues especially when it comes to baptise and praying at images of any Saint as it is very clean for anyone reading the Bible this is against God's commands that he issued to the Jewish people especially...