“God is gracious and loves mankind.” This is a deeply-rooted dogma of Orthodox Christianity, repeated in prayers and benedictions constantly.
How (not how much) does he love mankind? John 3:16 comes to mind. He “so loves the world that He gave his only-beggoten son.”
Is His love limited — to semites, or to those in the western realm called Christendom? What follows is not a dogma (official teaching), but is a prayer by a 20th Century Serbian Saint:
All the prophets have from the beginning cried out to my soul, imploring her to make herself a virgin and prepare herself to receive the Divine Son into her immaculate womb;
Imploring her to become a ladder, down which God will descend into the world, and up which man will ascend to God;
Imploring her to drain the red sea of sanguinary passions within herself, so that man the slave can cross over to the promised land, the land of freedom.
The wise man of China admonishes my soul to be peaceful and still, and to wait for Tao to act within her. Glory be the memory of Lao-tse, the teacher and prophet of his people!
The wise man of India teaches my soul not to be afraid of suffering, but through the arduous and relentless drilling in purification and prayer to elevate herself to the One on high, who will come out to greet her and manifest to her His face and His power. Glorious be the memory of Krishna, the teacher and prophet of his people!
The royal son of India teaches my soul to empty herself completely of every seed and crop of the world, to abandon all the serpentine allurements of frail and shadowy matter, and then–in vacuity, tranquillity, purity and bliss–to await nirvana.” Blessed be the memory of Buddha,’ the royal son and inexorable teacher of his people!
The thunderous wise man of Persia tells my soul that there is nothing in the world except light and darkness, and that the soul must break free from the darkness as the day does from the night. For the sons of light are conceived from the light, and the sons of darkness are conceived from darkness. Glorious be the memory of Zoroaster, the great prophet of his people!
The prophet of Israel cries out to my soul: Behold, the virgin will conceive and bear a son, whose name will be — the God-man.” Glorious be the memory of Isaiah, the clairvoyant prophet of my soul!
0 heavenly Lord, open the hearing of my soul, lest she become deaf to the counsels of Your messenger.
Do not slay the prophets sent to you, my soul, for their graves contain not them, but those who slew them.
Wash and cleanse yourself; become tranquil amid the turbulent sea of the world, and keep within yourself the counsels of the prophets sent to you. Surrender yourself entirely to the One on high and say to the world: “I have nothing for you.”
The thunderous wise man of Persia tells my soul that there is nothing in the world except light and darkness, and that the soul must break free from the darkness as the day does from the night. For the sons of light are conceived from the light, and the sons of darkness are conceived from darkness ….
St. Nicolai Velemirovic, Prayers by the Lake, Prayer XLVIII (internal citations omitted, bold added).
Tipsy Teetotaler ن 