Salvation in Orthodox theology

This article reports on the work of a group of Orthodox theologians gathered at the Monastery of Pendeli (Athens) in May 1972, as part of the preparations for the World Council of Churches' Bangkok Conference on the theme "Salvation Today." Adopting the form of a collective theological report, the text seeks to articulate the traditional conception of salvation in Jesus Christ with contemporary issues, particularly liberation movements and interreligious dialogue. The central idea is that salvation, accomplished once and for all in Christ, must be understood in a positive sense as theosis — the progressive deification of humanity — and not reduced to a deliverance from sin. The principal contribution lies in the mobilization of patristic categories of theosis, creation, and pneumatology to think through God's salvific action beyond the visible boundaries of the Church, while maintaining the christological and ecclesial centrality of Orthodox soteriology.