"Across the centuries, Christians have approached that question in a variety of ways. The historic consensus is that, yes, animals do have souls, but animal souls are not like human souls. We could go on from here to discuss the specific difference between animal souls and human souls, but that is quickly going to get pretty technical, and most folks aren’t at all interested in that kind of theological shop talk. Because when we ask whether animals have souls, what we actually want to talk about is our connection with animals: Is it for real or is it something we just imagine?
In Holy Orthodoxy, we believe that connection is real. In fact, in the Church, we teach that not only are we connected to the animals, but that the animal world is going to be saved through us. For example, in chapter two of the Book of Genesis, the First Man, Adam, names all the animals, and, in Holy Scripture, when you name something, you are responsible for it. Down through the ages, we’ve done a horrible job at following through on that responsibility, but, in chapter eight of his Letter to the Romans, St Paul writes that, along with the rest of the creation, the animals “wait with eager longing” for us to get our act together. "
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