*Article* **Ecumenical Convergences: Romanian Evangelicals Exploring Orthodoxy**

**Cristian Sonea**

Faculty of Orthodox Theology, Babes-Bolyai University, 400084 Cluj-Napoca, Romania; cristian.sonea@ubbcluj.ro

**Abstract:** Historically, in Romania, the relations between the Romanian Orthodox Church and the evangelical communities have been characterized by tension and mutual distrust. That is why, unfortunately, there has been no official dialogue between the two communities so far. The present article investigates the theoretical possibility for such an ecumenical dialogue to occur by analysing the contributions of several evangelical theologians who published research studies on theological topics specific to Eastern orthodox theology. Their positions were analysed from the perspective of an inclusive theology which allowed us to identify some common themes for both traditions: the authority in interpreting the Scriptures, salvation as a process, and the Church understood through the application of a perichoretic model. All these convergent themes could constitute the basis for a future official ecumenical dialogue between the evangelicals and the orthodox from Romania.

**Keywords:** ecumenical convergence; Romanian evangelicals; Bible authority; deification; perichoretic model; inaugurated eschatology; proselytism
