What does the Bible say about therians?

What Scripture says about human beings

Genesis doesn't mention masks, but it does say who human beings are. "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them" (Genesis 1:27, ESV). In the same account, the animals are placed under man's care (Genesis 1:26-28): stewardship, not contempt. Adam names them (Genesis 2:19-20): he names them and does not count himself among them. The psalm says it with wonder: "Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor" (Psalm 8:5, ESV).

Identity, in the Bible, is not invented: it is received. Paul calls us to put off the old conduct and put on "the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator" (Colossians 3:10, ESV). Neither the trend of defining yourself however you like nor the contempt in the hallway comes from there.

There is no verse about therians. There is no text about tails or walking on all fours, and stretching one to shut down the conversation wears out the Bible. Romans 1:23 (ESV) speaks of those who "exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things," and in its context the issue is worship: to whom you hand over glory. It is a warning about worship, not a label to stick on a classmate.

How to treat someone who says they are a wolf

James gives the image of God as a reason to guard the tongue: "With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God" (James 3:9, ESV). Your classmate still carries that likeness, even if they don't believe what you believe. A nickname, a video to get the group laughing, a joke in the hallway: that is not defending doctrine.

Jesus set the order: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22:37-39, ESV). Truth without love hits; love without truth helps no one.

Débora Pedace, a psychologist and director of the Centro Terapéutico Integral de Buenos Aires, told AP that the matter is understood as a symbolic identification with an animal. It becomes worrying, she added, when that belief takes root and the person ends up acting entirely like the animal, with risk of harm to themselves or others. That judgment is clinical, not pastoral: it's not a young person's place to diagnose another. If you see real risk, talk to a trusted adult or a professional.

Before giving your opinion, ask your friend what they feel when they put on the mask, how long they've been doing it and what they find there that they can't find anywhere else. Listen to the whole answer before giving yours, and don't record them for the group. If identity is the topic, talk about the Creator who gives it, not the uniform that the trend imposes. What would you do if it were the classmate sitting next to you?