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The Ancient Greeks loved and cared for dogs. They were considered family and best friends. But this was not the case everywhere and not always. Previously, in Orthodoxy, a dog was considered an unclean animal. In the Old Testament, out of 30 mentions of this animal, only 2 were not of a negative nature. The hatred of the Jews for their enemies, the Egyptians and Romans, may have transferred to the animals they bred, loved, and used in battle.
Is a dog considered an unclean animal and are cats and dogs allowed to live in a house?
The division of animals into clean and unclean is very arbitrary. In fact, there is none. Especially in the New Testament Church. Any creature of God is pure, for it was created by the Lord and is the fruit of His love for the world. By insulting God's creation, are we not also insulting the Creator who created it?
An unclean person can be a person or a fallen angel, a demon - beings of a higher order who have the will and right to choose to deviate into good or evil. If a person or angel (demon) freely, of his own free will, deviates into evil and is defiled by evil, then he becomes unclean.
In the Old Testament there was a list of unclean animals that Jews could not eat (see chapter 11 of the Book of Leviticus). But from this position, this institution was fulfilled and abolished in the New Testament (see Book of Acts, chapter 10: 9-16).
Why did the Lord command that an animal that He Himself created be considered unclean? This was not due to the beast itself (he was still God's pure creation), but to man's attitude towards him. Saint Patriarch Photius of Constantinople wrote on this topic:
“Many things are very good by nature, but for those who use them they become great evils, not because of their own nature, but because of the depravity of those who use them... The pure began to be separated from the unclean not from the beginning of the universe, but received this distinction due to certain circumstances. For since the Egyptians, who had the Israelite tribe in their service, gave divine honors to many animals and made bad use of them, which were very good, Moses, so that the people of Israel would not be carried away to this bad use and would not ascribe divine honor to the dumb, it is fair in the legislation called them unclean - not because uncleanness was inherent in them from creation, in no case, or uncleanness was in their nature, but because the Egyptian tribe did not use them cleanly, but very badly and wickedly. And if Moses classified something of the things that were deified by the Egyptians into the rank of the pure, like the ox and the goat, then by doing so he did nothing inconsistent with the present reasoning or with his own goals. Having called some of the things they idolized an abomination, and consigned others to slaughter, bloodshed, and murder, he equally protected the Israelites from serving them and the harm arising from this - after all, neither vile, nor slaughtered and subject to slaughter could be considered a god by those who treated him that way.”
Based on the foregoing, we see that the measure of division of animals into clean and unclean was not ontological, that is, the purity or impurity inherent in their nature, but historical. It was necessary, with God's help, to eradicate the remnants of the pagan zoomorphic (animal worship) religion in the popular Jewish consciousness. And the division of animals into clean or unclean lies not in their nature, but in human nature, distorted and sick with sin.
Indeed, today among Orthodox Christians there is an opinion that a cat is a clean animal, and a dog is unclean. This is how His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus' answered this question when he was Metropolitan of Smolensk and Kaliningrad: “I treat animals well and love dogs very much. I have three dogs in Moscow and two in Smolensk. The Church has never considered dogs unclean animals and has never forbidden them to enter premises. Many people are against allowing a dog to enter a church, but not for theological reasons, but for reasons of a purely traditional, historical nature, rooted, as it seems to me, in ideas about hygiene. Returning to the issue of dogs, I would like to say that the ban on dogs entering the temple is not enshrined in canon law. This is simply part of the tradition, and the same tradition probably extends to horses, piglets, chickens, geese and other animals. But does not apply to cats. Why? Yes, because they always caught mice. And cats were allowed into the temple precisely for this purpose. Moreover, a cat is a very clean, almost sterile creature, domestic in the full sense of the word. It does not create hygiene problems for the space in which it is located. I think that the problem lies only in this, and there is no mysticism associated with dogs, and even more so there is no “anti-dog” theology. We must love animals, because by showing love to animals, we train our human emotions and become more humane. As for the immortal soul, I must say that only man was created in the image and likeness of God. According to Christian teaching, animals do not have an immortal soul, and therefore, when an animal dies, we say goodbye to it forever.”
Based on the words of His Holiness, based on the principles of Orthodox theology, we must understand that in hierarchical terms, a dog, like any other animal, is a lower being compared to man and is subordinate to him. His soul is not immortal. She dies with the death of the body. The holy righteous John of Kronstadt speaks about the same thing in his book “My Life in Christ”: “The whole material world is like nothing before God; Some spiritual beings are like something, such as: Angels and humans. Those only creatures who have lasting existence are those who are close to God and have His image and likeness; “The rest of creation passes away like a shadow—even heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away (Mark 13:31).”
In the same work, Saint John wrote: “Do not breathe malice, vengeance, murder even on animals, lest your own soul be put to death by a spiritual enemy who breathes malice in you even against dumb creatures, and so that you do not get used to breathing malice and vengeance on of people. Remember that animals are also called to life by the goodness of the Lord so that they can taste as much as they can, in a short period of life, of the joys of existence. The Lord is good to everyone [Ps. 144, 9]. Do not hit them if they, being unreasonable, do anything wrong or if any of your property suffers from them. Blessed is he who has mercy on cattle (Psalm).”
We must treat animals with warmth and love, as we do with any of God’s creatures, but we must not treat them as equals or (God forbid!) as superiors. This is already the beginning of paganism and idolatry.
Thus, you should not call animals by human names, especially by the names of the holy saints of God placed in the calendar.
All the verses of Holy Scripture that seem to relate to a negative attitude towards dogs, such as: “Lord! But dogs also eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table” (Matthew 15:27); "Beware of the dogs!" (Phil. 3:2); “The dog returns to his vomit” (2 Pet. 2:22) - cannot be taken literally and formally. So, for example, in the Epistle to the Philippians in the verse “Beware of dogs!” The holy supreme apostle Paul did not mean dogs at all, but false apostles-heretics who creep into Christian communities and seduce people from the true path of faith. After all, we will not take literally the words “...and there are eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 19:12), and mutilate our own flesh by cutting off their organs, as the sectarian eunuchs did. No. A reasonable person will understand that our Lord Jesus Christ actually prophesies about monasticism, about those people who have castrated themselves spiritually. That is, they broke ties with the world, abandoned everything for the sake of serving Christ.
In everything, understanding, reasoning and sober thinking, dissolved by faith, hope and love, are important. And so, with God’s help, wisdom is born.
The rule of not keeping a dog in the house is more of a historical tradition. Unlike a cat, a domestic animal that catches mice, a dog is a service animal that carries out guarding, shepherding, and riding functions in the North. Therefore, their place was on the street, in a kennel, in a stable. In addition, decorative miniature types of dogs have now appeared; previously they were all large, powerful, strong, and it was simply inconvenient to keep them in the house.
Comparison with other religions
Surprisingly, dogs are very similar in character to people: there are evil, kind, loyal, lazy. The many faces of the animal determined the attitude of representatives of other religions towards it.
Zoroastrianism
This religion has a reverent and respectful attitude towards dogs. Since ancient times, adherents of the movement considered them their equals. The question of the animal's soul does not arise. Moreover, the soul of a deceased person, possibly an ancestor, lives in the dog.
After physical death, the soul of the dog serves the deceased people, accompanies and protects them on their final journey.
Islam
The enemies of Zoroastrianism, the Islamists, have the exact opposite attitude towards dogs. Although the Koran condemns cruelty to animals, the persecution of dogs continues. Many Muslims are as incompatible with these creatures as Jews are with pork.
The souls of dogs after death do not go to heaven or hell, since they are deprived of self-awareness, they believe in Islam.
Buddhism
Buddhists deny the existence of the soul and God as the creator of everything. The world has always existed, it is endless, moreover, it is not alone. Buddhists consider everything around them to be a stream of a single consciousness, so they do not see the difference between humans and the rest of the animal world.
Dogs have served people since ancient times. The attitude of people and religions towards them is different. Dogs in Orthodoxy were considered unclean animals because pagans deified them. Dogs can and should be loved, but without worship. Abuse is condemned by the Church. Therefore, people began to treat their “little brothers” more responsibly: they feed, care for and treat them.
It is possible to keep animals in a house, as well as to consecrate it. It is not allowed to enter the temple, but the accidental presence of a dog does not make it desecrated.
Why Orthodox Christians cannot keep a dog at home
Just recently I met an old friend of mine who had spent her entire life breeding certain breeds of dogs and selling puppies for very decent money. This is how the woman lived until she began going to church, helping at services, and became completely immersed in the life of the Orthodox Church.
The problems arose by chance, the priest found out that she lives in an apartment with a dog, and the dog literally sleeps on the bed with her. He urgently asked to give up the dog and consecrate the apartment.
This reaction at first confused my friend, but after receiving an explanation, she without hesitation got rid of the animal, giving it to her relatives, and continued serving in the temple with a clear conscience.
Why is Orthodoxy against keeping dogs in the house?
Today's pet boom is driving many people crazy. Cats and dogs are considered almost like family members. This, according to church ministers, is wrong.
Let's try to understand why true Christians interpret a dog as an “unclean” animal, why after a dog was in the house, it certainly had to be illuminated.
If we turn to the Bible, we will see how this burning question is interpreted in relation to this animal. Deuteronomy says, “You shall not bring the wages of a harlot or the price of a dog into the house of the Lord your God by any vow, for both are an abomination to the Lord your God.”
By the way, exactly the same opinion exists in Islam; there, too, dogs are not allowed into people’s homes, being considered a desecrated animal.
What does the Bible say about this?
Let's look again at the Bible, where the word "dog" and the word "dogs" are mentioned about 25 times. In the Ancient East and the Bible, the dog is associated with poverty, deprivation and suffering. It is worth paying attention to such passages as “Thou shalt not bring the price of a dog into the house of the Lord,” “Thou shalt not give holy things to dogs.”
Here we clearly see a negative attitude towards four-legged pets in terms of their uncleanliness. It is forbidden to bring into the temple money intended for donation, which came from the sale of dogs or was earned by prostitution.
According to Blessed Pelageya of Ryazan, if a dog lives in a house, the grace of the Holy Spirit leaves it. Moreover, if this animal lives in a house that has icons, the owner of this home is not allowed to receive communion.
Another example from the life of one elder, whose name is Alexy Penza: once an old familiar priest came to visit him and took his sons with him. The elder immediately sensed and foresaw that one of his sons had a dog living in his house.
He strongly recommended not to keep it in his apartment in the future, and to subsequently consecrate it. He repeatedly noted that a dog's life is intended for protective actions, so its place is near the house, and not near the bed on which a person is reclining.
How is the Sacrament of Marriage performed?
Photo: Elitsy.ru
The ritual consists of three parts:
- engagement;
- wedding;
- common bowl.
Before the betrothal begins, the priest is obliged to ask the groom whether he takes the girl as his wife of his own free will, and whether he has previously promised to marry someone else. A similar question is addressed to the bride.
The newlyweds bring rings with them to the temple. The priest blesses them at the altar. This is a symbol of love and fidelity. A white towel is laid under the feet of the newlyweds. It symbolizes the pure and faithful relationship between lovers in a family.
Photo: Moscmc.ru
Then the bride and groom put rings on each other. This tradition came to Christianity from Ancient Rome. It symbolizes that a person gives himself to another into voluntary slavery. After this, the husband and wife are considered to belong not to themselves, but to their spouse.
The priest says special prayers dedicated to prosperity, peace in the family, love between spouses. He asks the Almighty to grant the married couple a long life and healthy children.
Photo: Blago-kavkaz.ru
Next, the priest blesses the bride and groom with crowns. They imply a reward that is due to believers for leading a chaste life before marriage. The Holy Scripture and the Apostle are read, as well as the prayer “Our Father.”
A cup filled with wine is brought out, from which the bride and groom must drink. This is a kind of symbol of future trials and difficulties that a husband and wife must endure together. Everything that happens during a wedding strongly resembles agape, which is the name of the ancient supper of love.
Photo: Eparhia.ter12.ru
Next, the spouses follow the priest, holding each other’s hands. To the singing of the troparion “Isaiah rejoice,” they walk around the lectern. In some cases, they are followed by witnesses who continue to hold the crowns above their heads.
If the wedding is repeated, for example, when the husband or wife from the first marriage has died, there is no betrothal. If spouses who have previously lived a long life together in a state-registered marriage are getting married, a prayer of repentance is added to the rite, and the prayer for the gift of children to the couple is also excluded.
The Orthodox Church believes that after the Sacrament of Marriage, husband and wife become one flesh.
What are the consequences of having a dog in your home?
According to Orthodox Christians, evil spirits can easily enter a house where a dog lives, which is why cases of dogs attacking their own owners often occur. The dogs do not spare either adults or children. There have been repeated cases of such brutal attacks.
Of course, every creature has the right to life, but every creature has its own place on earth, allotted by God. Animals must serve man; this is why the Creator created them. A dog occupies a strong place in a person’s life, but its place is next to the home, and its purpose is to protect this very home.
There is no more loyal friend and guard than a dog; it protects its owner and serves him faithfully. In the North, it is extremely difficult to live without dogs; they are both the main means of transport and play a vital role in the economy. These animals have many roles, but we must not forget where their place should be.
No one is saying that dogs should be thrown out onto the street and left without care, as many cruel people do. If you have an animal, you must be fully responsible for it, its life and health. But, if you go to church and pray to the holy Image, there should not be an “unclean” animal in your house.
Let it live in the yard, for this you can build an enclosure or a booth where the dog will fulfill its main mission, guard and protect your home.
About the “devilish” mice and the “cat” monastery
One of the last Optina elders named Nektary, who died in 1928, told a legend according to which a cat saved Noah’s Ark during the Great Flood by gobbling up a mouse, which, at the instigation of the devil, was trying to gnaw a hole in the bottom.
There is a legend about Saint Helen Equal to the Apostles, mother of Emperor Constantine the Great, whose ship once landed on the island of Cyprus, where the empress learned that the inhabitants of the island were suffering terribly from an invasion of snakes.
We advise you to study the Icon “Ilya of Muromets”
To help them, the Empress ordered a thousand cats to be brought to the island from Egypt, and soon the snakes were done away with, and Helen founded the St. Nicholas Monastery on the Akrotiri peninsula, in which the monks took care of many cats. This “cat” monastery existed until the 16th century, when part of Cyprus was captured by the Turks. Now the monastery is being revived, however, instead of a men's monastery, they made a women's monastery here, but cats still live in it.
There is also a completely everyday justification for the fact that cats are even allowed into the altar - they hunt mice and do not allow them to gnaw on prosphora and wax candles, that is, they bring specific benefits to the temple and thereby serve God. And on Holy Mount Athos they also perform their service - they catch snakes.
Will the cat Barsik be saved?
One of the most frequently asked questions about animals is whether they will go to the Kingdom of Heaven. I heard a story about how in Russia, in some city, a mother abandoned a baby - she left it in the entrance, and the cat lay on him and warmed him with his warmth, and when people wanted to take the baby, he hissed at them. I think that such cats will be saved. There are animals that show such sacrifice that many people are far from them. I’m not sure about this child’s mother, but the cat will certainly be saved. But those cats that steal food from the table will definitely not get into the Kingdom of Heaven, because the owners will not want to see such a cat there next to them - I’m joking, of course.
There is no clear answer in Holy Scripture to the question of whether animals will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The holy fathers and theologians also have different opinions on this matter. However, it is clear that we humans have a responsibility for animals. Because of the fall of man, all of nature suffered, and therefore we simply have to take care of it. By working on ourselves, improving, eradicating our shortcomings, we transform not only ourselves, but also the world around us. If the owner is worried about the present or future of his pet, it is better for him not to spend money on him, buying expensive collars with rhinestones, but to take care of his soul. Now in the lives of many people there is a substitution, and the interests of the animal are sometimes placed above the interests of the person. Have you seen Vasily Lozhkin’s paintings “Who offended the kitten?” and others? That's exactly what they're talking about. Animals sometimes seem better to us than people, but still you can’t talk to them, they won’t respond to our requests, they won’t give advice.
Saints Seraphim of Sarov and Gerasim of Jordan are an excellent example of Christian attitude towards animals. They did not buy rhinestones for the animals, but took care of themselves, and around them even the animals changed and came to eat bread, not meat. They may object to me: “When did that happen! Did it even happen at all?” I’ll give another example: Saint Paisius the Svyatogorets, our contemporary. Near his monastery there lived a bear who accompanied pilgrims to the elder’s cell.
If a person likes to help animals, to work with them, let him do it, there is nothing wrong with that. I have a friend who grooms dogs. She likes her job and I'm glad about that. Adequate care for animals is wonderful. However, when dressing their pets in overalls or boots, people don’t think about the fact that animals often don’t need them. It’s good if this is due to concern, and not stupid fashion, which happens more often. A jumpsuit is justified if the dog is really cold in winter or has long hair and it’s dirty outside. But if she has twenty of these overalls, and they cost a lot of money, this no longer has anything to do with care.
Origins of enmity
Given this history, where did the idea that Islam is hostile to dogs come from?
The short answer is that the cause is illness. About two centuries ago, ideas about disease transmission began to change. Although they were still very far removed from what we recognize today as germ theory, people in Europe, the Middle East, and elsewhere began to notice connections between outbreaks of malaria, plague, and cholera and the physical proximity of those infected to sites such as landfills, cemeteries, and swampy lakes.
So governments and city planners throughout the Middle East began to move these sources of deadly disease away from urban areas, where populations continued to explode. Food waste began to be transported outside the city walls. The disappearance of garbage from city streets inadvertently led to the disappearance of the dogs that fed on it. If previously animals kept the streets clean, now people did it.
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Is it possible to let a dog into the house?
Another popular question. To people who ask me this question, I recommend that they stop eating mackerel and catfish, because fish without scales was also considered bad in the Old Testament: “Of all the animals that are in the water, eat these: those that have feathers and scales in the water, whether in the seas.” , or rivers, eat them; and all those who do not have feathers and scales, whether in the seas or rivers, of all those who swim in the waters and of all that live in the waters, are unclean to you; they shall be unclean to you: you shall not eat their flesh, and you shall abhor their corpses” (Lev. 11:9-11). Modern Christians need to decide: do they live according to the Old Testament canons or the New Testament ones? The New Testament says nothing about unclean animals.
Is it possible to keep dangerous exotic animals at home?
Having wild animals in the house is very difficult and responsible. Last year an eagle lived with me. My wife and I picked it up on the road. This is a dangerous animal. Those few months while we were nursing him, I was all scratched up, he pecked at my hands, I had to buy gloves for feeding. And one of my friends had piranhas in an aquarium. They seemed harmless, but one day one of them ate all the others. Here's a safe variety for you.
There is also such an aspect as pride, when a person acquires an exotic animal in order to attract attention that he cannot get in other ways. For example, I want a python for myself. It seems to me that this is just a desire, but in fact, this is one of the manifestations of vanity: “I have a python! Let’s go, I’ll show you!” Who else has a python and not some ordinary dog? Therefore, I think python will not be useful for my spiritual life. In any case, you need to be very attentive to these kinds of desires and understand their reasons.
The state's attitude towards weddings
According to the law, a church marriage is not a substitute for an official one. That is, if the spouses got married, but did not register with the registry office, then for the state they are not a family. Legal regulation in their favor also does not change in any way. The state provides the right to enter into church marriages, but in no way recognizes them in the legal field.
Only in special cases in court will this nuance be taken into account, for example, when regulating property disputes. But this is very rare
It is necessary to note that many clergy oblige those who wish to undergo a wedding ceremony to first register their relationship with the registry office. This allows us to significantly reduce the divorce of families who have “legalized” their relationship before God, since from the Orthodox point of view this is a great sin and is simply unacceptable
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An exception to the rule may be the case when both spouses are parishioners of the same church and are well known to the priest (and he is confident in the sincerity of their feelings).
How does the state treat Catholic marriages? They are also not legally recognized. But it is worth mentioning that in Europe there are countries where Catholic marriage is comparable to official marriage.
If you enter into a family union in them, and then submit documents to the Russian civil registry office (with a notarized translation and an apostille, which is necessary to certify documents issued in other countries), then such a family will be recognized in all legal aspects.
A wedding certificate issued by a church also has no legal force. And with its help you won’t be able to get a stamp in your passport.
Such a “document” also cannot be submitted to regulatory or judicial authorities to confirm marital status.
In summary, church marriage is a generally accepted rite for those professing Christianity. But in the Russian Federation, a wedding is not a replacement for the official registration of a marriage. Accordingly, in order to have the right to be called a full-fledged family, spouses are also required to register their relationship with the registry office and obtain a marriage certificate.
Can a pet replace a child?
It is not uncommon for spouses who do not have children to become attached to their pets as if they were relatives. Unspent love requires a way out, this is understandable. There is nothing wrong with caring for animals, but treating them like people is still not normal. I came across this joke on the Internet: sometimes you need to pluck up the courage and tell the cat that it is he who lives with me, and not I with him. Everything must be approached with reasoning. After all, we often raise children in such a way that they are absolutely not adapted to life. They don’t know the price of bread, literally and figuratively. If the family is young and they have no children, why not adopt a child from an orphanage? It often turns out that it’s easier to love animals, and that’s the whole point.
To summarize, I will say: in everything you need to try to adhere to the golden mean. The same applies to animals: you need to take care of them, but not make a cult out of this care. After all, animals are not people, and people are not animals. Let us have pity and care for people, help animals and always remember the already mentioned words of the Apostle Paul: “Everything is permissible for me, but not everything is beneficial; “Everything is permissible for me, but nothing should possess me” (1 Cor. 6:12).
Recorded by Ekaterina Shcherbakova
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The Lord asks us to be laconic in our prayer requests: “Do not say too much when you pray...” (Matthew chapter 6)
When the apostles asked Christ to teach them the correct prayer, He gave them the “Our Father.” Despite all its simplicity and brevity, it contains everything that needs to be asked of God. In the lines “our daily bread” one should understand food in general, in “deliver from the evil one” - a request to preserve from all evil, conflicts, quarrels, attacks and temptations.
St. John Chrysostom argued that the “Our Father” is a model of prayer and that God is pleased not with an abundance of words, but with the vigilance of the soul. Based on this prayer, it is not forbidden to pray in your own words. As St. said Basil the Great, the order of prayers should be as follows:
- Glorifying God;
- Thanksgiving for all God's blessings;
- Confession of your sins;
- Asking for what is good for oneself, but most of all what is necessary for the salvation of the soul.
