World Religion: Do animals have souls?

One of life's greatest joys is having a pet. They bring so much happiness, companionship and fun that we cannot imagine life without them. When we lose a beloved pet, it is not unusual to suffer as deeply as we would for a human companion. So, many Christians ask themselves, "Do animals have a soul? Will our pets be in paradise? "

Will we see our pets in paradise?
To answer the question, consider this story of the elderly widow whose beloved little dog died after fifteen faithful years. Upset, she went to her pastor.

"Parson," she said, tears streamed down her cheeks, "The vicar said that animals have no soul. My dear dog is dead. Does that mean I'll never see her again in heaven? "

"Lady," said the old priest, "God, in his great love and wisdom created heaven to be a place of perfect happiness. I am sure that if you need your little dog to complete your happiness, you will find it there. "

Animals have the "breath of life"
In recent decades, scientists have undoubtedly shown that some animal species possess intelligence. Porpoises and whales can communicate with other members of their species through audible language. Dogs can be trained to perform relatively complex tasks. Gorillas have also been taught to form simple sentences using sign language.

But does animal intelligence constitute a soul? Does an animal's emotions and ability to relate to humans mean that animals possess an immortal spirit that will survive after death?

Theologians say no. They stress that man was created superior to animals and that animals cannot be equal to him.

Then God said: "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them dominate the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, on the livestock, on all the earth and on all the creatures that move along the ground" . (Genesis 1:26, NIV)
Most Bible interpreters assume that man's likeness to God and the submission of animals to man implies that animals have the "breath of life," nephesh chay in Hebrew (Genesis 1:30), but not a immortal soul in the same sense as a human being.

Later in Genesis, we read that by command of God, Adam and Eve were vegetarians. They were not said to eat animal meat:

"You are free to eat from any tree in the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, because when you eat it you will surely die." (Genesis 2: 16-17, NIV)
After the flood, God gave Noah and his children permission to kill and eat animals (Genesis 9: 3, NIV).

In Leviticus, God instructs Moses on animals suitable for sacrifice:

"When any of you bring an offering to the Lord, bring the animal from the herd or flock as an offering." (Leviticus 1: 2, NIV)
Later in that chapter, God includes birds as acceptable offerings and also adds cereals. Except for the consecration of all the firstborn in Exodus 13, we do not see the sacrifice of dogs, cats, horses, mules or donkeys in the Bible.

Dogs are mentioned many times in the scriptures, but cats are not. Perhaps because they were favorite pets in Egypt and associated with the pagan religion.

God forbade the killing of a man (Exodus 20:13), but did not place any limitations on killing animals. Man is made in the image of God, therefore man must not kill anyone of his kind. It seems that animals are different from humans. If they have a soul that survives death, it is different from that of man. It needs no redemption. Christ died to save the souls of human beings, not of animals.

The scriptures speak of animals in heaven
Even so, the prophet Isaiah says that God will include animals in the new heavens and a new earth:

"The wolf and the lamb will feed together and the lion will eat straw like the ox, but dust will be the food of the snake." (Isaiah 65: 25, NIV)
In the last book of the Bible, Revelation, the apostle John's vision of the sky also included animals, which showed Christ and the armies of heaven "riding on white horses". (Revelation 19:14, NIV)

Most of us cannot imagine a paradise of unspeakable beauty without flowers, trees and animals. Would it be paradise for an avid bird watcher if there are no birds? Would a fisherman want to spend eternity without fish? And would it be a paradise for a cowboy without horses?

While theologians may be stubborn in classifying the "souls" of animals as inferior to those of humans, those learned scholars must admit that the descriptions of the heavens in the Bible are at best. The Bible does not provide a definitive answer to the question of whether we will see our pets in paradise, but says: "With God, anything is possible." (Matthew 19:26, NIV)