DIVINE JUSTICE AND THE INFINITE MERCY OF GOD—A MOVING INCIDENT There are accounts from the lives of the Saints that make us reflect on how limited human judgment is when compared with God’s infinite knowledge and justice. The following account was shared by an abbess who personally knew the saint and had been close to him. THIS IS A TRUE INCIDENT. The Saint had a Turkish friend, a very good man, who helped Christians and did everything with kindness and love. The saint wondered what would happen to this man’s soul, since he was not Orthodox, yet he had such a good heart. One day, he prayed and asked God where his friend’s soul was after his death. Then he saw his Turkish friend in a beautiful, bright, and peaceful place and asked him, “What is this place? It looks like Paradise.” And the Turk replied, “Yes, my friend Anthimos, this too is Paradise—the Paradise of non-Orthodox people. There are many paradises for good people.” The Saint then asked him, “And why didn’t you become Orthodox?” And he replied, “I was afraid for my head.” 👉 The message of this story is the divine justice and mercy of God, who knows people’s hearts beyond the boundaries of religions, as well as the fear that kept many people away from their faith in those times. GOD’S LOVE KNOWS THE HUMAN HEART. This account reminds us that we human beings cannot know everything that lies within another person’s heart. We do not know their fears, their difficulties, the circumstances in which they lived, or their innermost struggles. But God knows everything. He alone can judge with perfect justice, overlooking nothing that shaped a person’s life. The Orthodox Church does not teach that there are different Paradises for different religions. It confesses one God, one truth, and the final judgment of Christ. At the same time, it teaches us not to condemn the souls of others but to entrust their judgment to God. For God’s justice is perfect, and His mercy is infinite.
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