I am astounded by the lack of clear Christian teaching about house pets and animals in general. I can normally tell if an Orthodox teacher is a modernist based upon their guidance about animals.
Should we have pets living in our homes?
“There were saints who treated animals well.”
“We are to treat all God’s creatures with tenderness and love.”
Will our pets be with us in heaven?
“Of course God will resurrect all animals.”
This question will quickly escalate to a thermo-nuclear confrontation around most animal idolators. I am no expert on the Orthodox Faith. It is not difficult to apply the basic teachings of the Orthdox Faith to clearly determine how to answer questions about animals.
God did not incarnate in the nature of a dog or a cat. He took on human nature in the person of Jesus Christ. Therefore our whole economy of salvation is tied to our shared human nature. People will either end up in heaven or in the fires of gehenna.
Will your pets be with you in heaven?
This assumes YOU will be in heaven. Orthodox Saints who are glowing with the grace of God and/or floating up in the air are constantly begging for the prayers of the faithful to save their sinful souls from the fires of gehenna. They are filled with such Grace and do not know about their own salvation while you are certain that you and fido will be playing fetch in the after life. The modernist assumption of universal salvition is an ancient heresy. To spread universalism to the irrational animals is a heresy holding the leash of a heresy.
