Comparative Theology, book by H. H. Pope Shenouda III

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III

Repentance and newness of life

What we call in Orthodoxy 'repentance' is frequently called by our Protestant brethren ‘newness of life’, ‘renewal’ or ‘salvation’. Some Protestants ask one another: “Have you been renewed? Have you been saved? Have you experienced newness of life?” And all they mean is the act of repentance; no more, no less.

In the Orthodox concept, all these expressions: Crenewal', 'newness of life' and 'salvation' are completed in the Sacrament of Baptism, but repentance is a process of change in man's way of life.