According to 1 Thess. 5:23 (and many of the Greek Fathers), man is composed of body, soul, and spirit. Man alone has a spirit among all the creatures of the Six Days of Creation. This makes us unique among the created order (angels have spirit but no soul or body). Soul in the Scripture is from a Greek word meaning life. So all living things have life, or a soul. Scripture and Tradition have revealed that the spirit and soul of man is immortal. Animals do not have a spirit but they do have a soul (or they would not have life). Their state is not revealed to us in either Scripture or (as far as I know) Tradition. There are only individual opinions. Animals are definitely in the future Heavenly Kingdom. Whether they are the ones we have known or newly created one (or both) we do not know. We may only hope. Cf. Eclessiastes 3:21.
As for the individual who earlier referred to comments about my dog's "Christlikeness" as "pathetic", I am not sure whether it worth my time to respond or not. Many of your previous post lead me to doubt whether you would be open to an Orthodox-minded response at all. Why debate different Orthodox theological opinions when your post shows a lack of even basic Christian compassion for a brother's loss?
Pet Loss
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DavidHawthorne
- Member
- Posts: 181
- Joined: Mon 25 July 2005 1:40 pm
- Location: Dallas, Tx.
