June 2026 New Horizons

Orthodox Soteriology

by Robert Letham

“He [Christ] became man that we might become God.” [1] What a gross violation of the Creator-creature distinction! This is the gut reaction of most Reformed people, I am sure. Those were the words of Athanasius in De incarnatione (54), written probably in the 330s. He was following a similar statement by Irenaeus in the second century. Deification: it has been and remains central, overarching, to the soteriology of the Eastern church. What Did It Mean? Athanasius was one of the staunchest defenders of the deity of the Son. He no more intended that we cease to be human than he said that the Son ceased to be God when he became man. Rather, the eternal Son took human nature into personal union, remaining who he is, with the express purpose that we humans might become partakers of the divine nature in union with him. In short, we are enabled by grace to be in union with God, while remaining who we are. There are various strands of thought on theosis, as Norman Russell demonstrates in his ... Read more

The Appeal of Eastern Orthodoxy

by Alan D. Strange

Some of us find the recent turn to Eastern Orthodoxy among some in our churches quite concerning. This phenomenon is what has led us to conceive this issue of New Horizons . There are those in the pews and in the pulpit who have been part of this rather curious movement to Eastern Orthodoxy. We want to explore why Reformed folk would turn away from the Orthodox Presbyterian Church to become Greek, Russian, or another form of Eastern Orthodox. Perhaps the best place to start is to acknowledge that we can understand why broader evangelicals might make such a trek. The broader evangelical world is besotted with much theological pablum, and, perhaps even more relevantly, its worship is often self-centered, not God-centered, containing no hint of reverence and awe. Little wonder that those enmeshed in the broader evangelical world come to long for something more evidently transcendent, mysterious, and otherworldly. Worship is not the only question, although it is an important one. The greatest proponents of ... Read more

Covenant Theology and Eastern Orthodoxy

by Lane G. Tipton

Both Eastern Orthodoxy and confessional Reformed theology affirm the ecumenical creeds and profess commitment to their doctrinal orthodoxy. Yet within that shared creedal framework, irreducible doctrinal differences emerge—most apparently in the Reformation doctrines of sola Scriptura and justification sola fide . By sola Scriptura , the Reformed confess that Holy Scripture, as the self-authenticating Word of God, stands as the supreme and final authority in all matters of faith and life, such that the Holy Spirit speaking in Scripture judges all councils, traditions, and human opinions (Westminster Confession of Faith 1.10). By justification sola fide , the Reformed confess that God justifies sinners by imputing to them the righteousness of Christ alone, received through faith alone, apart from the good works of the believer, in union with Christ (Shorter Catechism 33). Without the clarity offered by these two doctrinal touchstones, one risks conflating fundamentally distinct doctrines under shared ... Read more