Wis 1:14 For he created all things that they might be: and he made the nations of the earth for health: and there is no poison of destruction in them, nor kingdom of hell upon the earth.

Paul Evdokimov:
In the immense cathedral which is the universe of God, each man, whether scholar or manual laborer, is called to act as the priest of his whole life – to take all that is human, and to turn it into an offering and a hymn of glory.

I love this website…

If any one expects to find in this period, or in any of the church fathers, Augustin himself not excepted, the Protestant doctrine of justification by faith alone…he will be greatly disappointed…Paul’s doctrine of justification, except perhaps in Clement of Rome, who joins it with the doctrine of James, is left very much out of view, and awaits the age of the Reformation to be more thoroughly established and understood.

And if the same test should be applied to his doctrine of solifidian (faith alone) justification, it would be difficult to support it by patristic or scholastic tradition, which makes no distinction between justification and sanctification, and lays as much stress on good works as on faith. He felt it himself, that on this vital point, not even Augustin was on his side. His doctrine can be vindicated only as a new interpretation of St. Paul in advance of the previous understanding…he felt the difference between the patristic and the Protestant theology. The Continental Reformers generally thought much less of the fathers than the Anglican divines…

Alister Mcgrath:

Despite the astonishing theological diversity of the late medieval period, a consensus relating to the nature of justification was maintained throughout. The Protestant understanding of the nature of justification represents a theological novum…It will be clear that the medieval period was astonishingly faithful to the teaching of Augustine on the question of the nature of justification, where the Reformers departed from it.

The essential feature of the Reformation doctrines of justification is that a deliberate and systematic distinction is made between justification and regeneration. Although it must be emphasised that this distinction is purely notional, in that it is impossible to separate the two within the context of the ordo salutis, the essential point is that a notional distinction is made where none had been acknowledged before in the history of Christian doctrine. A fundamental discontinuity was introduced into western theological tradition where none had ever existed, or ever been contemplated, before. The Reformation understanding of the nature of justification—as opposed to its mode—must therefore be regarded as a genuine theological novum.

(Iustitia Dei: A History of the Christian Doctrine of Justification, the Beginnings to the Reformation, two volumes, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993, 1:184-5)

Whereas Augustine taught that the sinner is made righteous in justification, Melanchthon taught that he is counted as righteous or pronounced to be righteous. For Augustine, ‘justifying righteousness’ is imparted; for Melanchthon, it is imputed in the sense of being declared or pronounced to be righteous. Melanchthon drew a sharp distinction between the event of being declared righteous.

and the process of being made righteous, designating the former ‘justification’ and the latter ‘sanctification’ or regeneration.’ For Augustine, these were simply different aspects of the same thing . . .The importance of this development lies in the fact that it marks a complete break with the teaching of the church up to that point. From the time of Augustine onwards, justification had always been understood to refer to both the event of being declared righteous and the process of being made righteous. Melanchthon’s concept of forensicjustification diverged radically from this. As it was taken up by virtually all the major reformers subsequently, it came to represent a standard difference between Protestant and Roman Catholic from then on . . .The Council of Trent reaffirmed the views of Augustine on the nature of justification . . . the concept of forensic justification actually represents a development in Luther’s thought . . . .Trent maintained the medieval tradition, stretching back to Augustine, which saw justification as comprising both an event and a process . . .

(Reformation Thought: An Introduction, 2nd ed., Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1993, 108-109, 115; emphasis in original)

Norm Geisler:

[O]ne can be saved without believing that imputed righteousness (or forensic justification) is an essential part of the true gospel. Otherwise, few people were saved between the time of the apostle Paul and the Reformation, since scarcely anyone taught imputed righteousness (or forensic justification) during that period!For Augustine, justification included both the beginnings of one’s righteousness before God and its subsequent perfection — the event and the process. What later became the Reformation concept of “sanctification” then is effectively subsumed under the aegis of justification. Although he believed that God initiated the salvation process, it is incorrect to say that Augustine held to the concept of “forensic” justification. This understanding of justification is a later development of the Reformation. . . a feature in Augustinianism which Protestants will no doubt find interesting is that God may regenerate a personwithout causing that one to finally persevere [City of God, 10.8].

. . .Augustine does not deny the freedom of the human will …He resisted the notion of double predestination, which argues that God not only decides to elect some to eternal life but also actively predestines others to eternal destruction…the distinction between justification and sanctification– which came to the fore in the Reformation — is almost totally absent from the medieval period…Like Augustine, Aquinas believed that regeneration occurs at baptism…he held that not all the regenerate will persevere…Aquinas believed that humankind is unable to initiate or attain salvation except by the grace of God…he is completely dependent on God for salvation…

Whereas the Reformers distinguished forensic justification and progressive sanctification, Augustine and Aquinas did not…Augustine never held the doctrine of ‘double’ predestination… and actually argued against it …Before Luther, the standard Augustinian position on justification stressed intrinsic justification. Intrinsic justification argues that the believer is made righteous by God’s grace, as compared to extrinsic justification, by which a sinner is forensically declared righteous (at best, a subterranean strain in pre-Reformation Christendom). With Luther the situation changed dramatically…

(Roman Catholics and Evangelicals: Agreements and Differences, co-author Ralph E. MacKenzie, Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1995, 502, 85, 89,91-93, 99, 222; emphasis in original)

One thing I can’t quite figure out is that each of the three still claim to be “the one”. If you’re Orthodox, then according to Rome you’re a schismatic and hoping for salvation within the Orthodox faith is sketchy at best. The same goes for the other side of the coin. So much for unity!

Have you dealt with this issue yourself, and how did you find resolve? Personally, I don’t think I could go to Rome because I don’t see evidence in the pre-Nicene era for the primacy of the Roman bishop. Orthodoxy is appealing, but at the same time “scary” because I am a westerner and am not used to that culture or mindset. And, of course, the issue with Anglicanism (I’m sure there is a good apology for this somewhere, I just haven’t read it) is its rather dubious beginnings with King Henry. How do you work around that as not being schismatic?

Lastly, I can’t find a good Anglican church anywhere near my home. All of the ones I have seen are rather liberal, and seem to have departed from the apostolic faith.

Tragically, this is the fundamental truth that has escaped Evangelicals. A gospel that is not ecclesial is not the Gospel. Christ came to build the ground and pillar of truth which the gates of Hades cannot prevail against, this new theanthropic organism, with Him as it’s Head, has been given the very unity and glory of the God it worships: “The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.” Jn. 17:22-23

When asked which was the most important commandment, the Lord Jesus responded with the Shema: “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” Mk. 12:29-31 Thus, Christ’s prayer in Jn. 17 demonstrates that God has glorified man for this purpose: to be one in His Body the Church. This means actually entering INTO the love, unity and plurality of the Trinity. Life in God, life in Christ and the Spirit is life in the Church and not in ones own self. To live this “in-corporated” life is the greatest commandment. Just as one should NEVER dare to think of Christ apart from the Father and the Spirit, one shouldn’t dare to think of Him apart from His human members either.

God is one, Christ the Lord is one, the Spirit is one, the faith is one,the Gospel is one, the baptism is one, the body is…. 28,0000 denominations and still counting because each man has his own “personal relationship with Jesus.” This new “personal Christ” has as many doctrines as there are persons apparently. People need to find the whole Christ, head and body.

Acts 2:47 …And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.

New Martyr St. Hilarion Troitsky: Perhaps the most pitiful ill of our times is the perceived division between Christ and the Church. Christianity is viewed not as a new life of saved humanity united in the Church, but as a sum of certain theoretical and moral stands. Rather too much they’ve begun to talk about Christian teachings, and as a consequence have become oblivious of Church life. Coinciding with this, they’ve also forgotten that the most important thing in Christ’s mission is His Incarnation.

Rev 14:9-10 And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur IN THE PRESENCE of the holy angels and IN THE PRESENCE of the Lamb.

http://www.orthodoxpress.org/parish/river_of_fire.htm