Greetings,
Allow me to quote a little from the introduction of "Preaching Another Christ" by Saint Theophan the Recluse
"St. Theophan addressed the letter contained in this booklet to an Orthodox Christian, who lived in an Orthodox country of the 19th century. Some of the things mentioned in this letter may sound harsh to comtemporary ears, especially to non-Orthodox, but even to Orthodox. Living in a modern, multicultural, free, highly progressive, and 'politically correct' society, some readers may find the language and/or tone used by the Saint as austere, fanatic, or simply as out of space and time. We surely do not know how the Saint would have approached the same subject if he were addressing directly a non-Orthodox person. The letter was primarily meant to guide Orthodox Christians."
After reading some of your posts as well as Orthodox books on the subject I've come to the conclustion that Protestantism is indeed heretical. I agree that it does sound harsh. But we have to remember what's at stake here: our salvation- yours and mine. And I want to be clear that when I say that Protestantism is heretical, this in no way means that Protestants are hell-bound. Just as we Orthodox cannot say we are heaven-bound. These are judgements that only Jesus the Christ can pronounce. A human, regardless of his/her faith, is still made in the image and likeness of the same God we Orthodox worship. This means that they are inherently valuable and must be afforded the same love that we have for one another. That being said, if someone conscientiously denies that which was handed down to us by our Lord and Savior Jesus, the Apostles, and Saints, when it comes to matters of faith we must part ways.
Let me illustrate with a personal story. I work with an older gentleman whom I really respect. He is both kind and patient and a very loving person. He attends a Baptist church every Sunday and is always ready to share his faith. I loaned him the book "Becoming Orthodox" by Fr. Peter Gillquist. Both him and his wife really enjoyed it. He said he could tell that Fr. Peter was 'on fire for Christ'. But then he added that the Bible is clear that if you pray to anyone but Jesus, your Christianity is in doubt and you're on a slippery slope. In other words, brothers and sisters, he's saying it's a sin to pray to the Theotokos and the Saints! Now, that was his first ever exposure to Orthodoxy so I didn't expect him to sign up for catechumen classes right away, but that was two years ago and he's since added that the Orthodox Church is in grave error because we also worship 'graven' images! I ask you, does this sound like a minor/cultural difference? Does this sound like something the Holy Saints would shrug off? I still love him, but he is preaching another Christ as St. Theophan would say.
Gabriel