Christ the Saviour openly said: “I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:18). Consequently, He created a single Church and not may different churches, else He would have used the plural – “churches.” Therefore, it is strange to hear various Christian leaders, regarding themselves as authorities on the subject, saying that the existence of diverse churches in Christianity – the Roman Catholic Church, the Protestant Church, and others – is supposedly a positive manifestation, for each person can choose for himself a church after his own taste, whichever he likes best, whichever suits him most. It is even stranger still to hear the words of one such liberal professor, who eloquently developed the theme that Orthodoxy, Catholicism and Protestantism are one and the same Christianity, but from “different points of view.” Such an opinion radically contradicts the teaching of the word of God, which clearly instructs us: “That all may be one” (John 17:11); “One Lord, one faith” (Ephesians 4:5); “Be ye all of one mind” (1 Peter 3:8).

Where the spiritual and grace-filled tie with the apostles and their successors, and with the Holy Fathers has been broken, where various modernisms have been introduced into the faith and its moral teaching, in order to “go along with the times,” to “invite progress,” to avoid being “old-fashioned,” and to adapt to the demands and fashions of this world which lies in iniquity, – there can be no talk of the true Church.

Where dogmas totter, where the moral teaching of the Gospel is subverted, where the canonical structure of the Church that is based upon it is shaken, – there the work of the servants of the coming Antichrist can be plainly seen, no matter what they call themselves, or what “Christian” garments they adopt.

The gates of hell will not prevail over the Church, but they are prevailing and will quite likely prevail over the many who regard themselves as pillars of the Church, as Church history testifies, since they rationalize in vain, abandoning unity of thought and unity of spirit with the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, and relying on their own ideas and opinions which go counter to the teaching of the Church, the holy Apostles and the Church Fathers.