What Does The Bible Say About Animals
According to Hillel, Natural History, the Bible records over 150 species of animals. One of the chapters that has an exhaustive list of animals is Leviticus 11 which I encourage you to read. In addition, God often would use the imagery of an animal in how he would describe other things.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray,each of us has turned to our own way;and the Lord has laid on himthe iniquity of us all .
Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour .
All throughout Scripture you will find this type of imagery and there will be various times where God will use animals as part of his plan for sacrifice, for service, even for deliverance.
Your Opinion: Do Animals Have Souls
Niirewen said:I had a conversation today with a man at my church who strongly believes that animals do not have the capacity to feel love or emotion, and that pets are only attached to their owners because they feed them. I’m not very knowledgable on this subject, but being an animal lover, I disagreed, and continue to disagree with him. I thought this might be a good topic for discussion and I was wondering if some of you would care to give your opinions. So, what do you think?
Merry said:Definition: In the Bible, “soul” is translated from the Hebrew ne´phesh and the Greek psy·khe´. Bible usage shows the soul to be a person or an animal or the life that a person or an animal enjoys. To many persons, however, “soul” means the immaterial or spirit part of a human being that survives the death of the physical body. Others understand it to be the principle of life. But these latter views are not Bible teachings.
Thorin said: Wow! I thought I was the only member on this forum who believed this! Another Bible following believer! Who-hoo! There aren’t many of them, that’s for sure!
believe
Conclusion: both animals and humans do not have souls, but are souls. Mankind will be resurrected to immortality at the second coming of Christ and all life will be restored in the New World at the end of time .
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Christians Do Animals Have Souls
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Nope
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The Bible teaches that humans and animals are souls. They do not have a soul.
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I dunno, but it has been reported around town that Stevan may have a soul. But there has been no hard evidence presented to prove that rumor.
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Yes, according to the bible, the soul pertains to a living being/creature.
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Animals have souls, it appears according to the ancient Jews their souls are not quite the same as the Jews
Ironically they also believe, other non-Jews have the same kind of soul as an animal. Seems a bit unkind
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Animals have intelligence, but they don’t have souls.
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Most interpreters of the Bible assume that mans likeness to God, and animals subservience to man, implies that animals may have the “breath of life,” in Hebrew, but not an immortal soul in the same sense as mans.
Only be sure not to eat the blood; for the blood is the soul , and thou art not to eat the soul with its flesh.
I think it is safe to say that animals have a soul.
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In the Bible,”soul” is translated from the Hebrew nephesh and the Greek psykhe. Bible shows the soul is a person or an animal. The soul can die. -Ezekiel 18:4.
The Bible does not teach the religious lies of immortal soul and eternal torment in hell.
It teaches that God is love.
Source:Bible
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The Bible does not indicate that animals have souls. It says that God breathed life into Adam, and he became a living soul. Genesis 2:7.
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Naah bruh
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What Does Heaven Look Like
Another common argument against the notion that pets go to heaven is that “animals don’t have souls.” Often, a proponent of this view will not hesitate to say that there are no animals in heaven, for this reason. Again, the Bible isn’t exactly clear on that, so the question is not answerable on a strictly scriptural basis.
Rather than attempt to address this directly, therefore, I’d like to raise another question: What do you believe heaven is like? If you ask this question of most people, you’re likely to get a description of a glorious garden, filled with beautiful trees and radiant flowers, with sparkling waters and soft breezes. Very few people imagine heaven as some sort of giant, sterile concrete parking lot, devoid of life. We base our image of heaven on the beauties of the creation that is Earth.
Does your garden have birds singing in those heavenly trees? Do butterflies flit among the divine flowers? Just as I can’t imagine a heaven without plants, neither can I imagine one without animals. Whether animals have souls, I am convinced that there are animals in heaven. And if it is remotely possible to encounter heavenly dogs and heavenly cats amongst those heavenly flowers and trees, then perhaps it’s not such a huge stretch to suppose that one of those might be your heavenly dog, or my heavenly cat.
The Spirit Looks Like The Body It Is From
2 Corinthians 12:2 I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, such an one caught up to the third heaven.
Judging from 2Cor 12:2, if a person has an out of body experience, their spirit looks like their body .; This is to say that when a spirit leaves a body, to doesnt look like an animal, a cartoon ghost without legs, or a bright ball of light; it just looks like whatever the body looked like that it came from.
Luke 16:23-24 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.
In hell, the rich mans spirit had eyes, had a tongue, Lazarus spirit had fingers, Abraham had a bosom; This implies a full human spirit body.
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What Prerequisites Are Needed To Gain Everlasting Life
The New Testament is filled with this subject matter, but there are three scripture selections useful to express a short answer of what we need before receiving everlasting life. The first one is from John 3 and it is in Jesus own words when he spoke to Nicodemus. For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. .
The second selection, written by the apostle Paul, is from his letter to the Romans, in chapter 6. Now that you have been freed from sin and enslaved to God, the advantage you get is sanctification. The end is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. .
And the third, also from Romans, is if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. . The only way to gain eternal life in a restored paradise, whether in heaven or upon the earth, is through Jesus Christ.
We have the attributes of God, but the animals dont, therefore, animals have a life that, when it ends, it dies forever. They werent created in Gods image, nor do they have an immortal spirit that has any possibility for eternal life. When an animal dies, it is the end of their existence. So animals were not created the same as humans.
Man And Animals Are Not The Same
Animals do not have souls such as we have. Because animals have a consciousness which makes them different from plants, and because the Hebrew word nephesh in the Old Testament is used sometimes in reference to this characteristic of animals, some people would say that animals have souls. This would lead to the belief that killing an animal for meat would be murder.
However, this is not so. They have a consciousness which makes them different from plants, but they do not have souls like human beings, which go to Heaven or Hell when they die. When animals are buried, that is the end of their life. When man is buried, this is not the case.
The Bible teaches the three parts of man body, spirit and soul in 1 Thessalonians 5:28. Man is the only creature or creation of God which has the ability to be saved if he will turn to the Lord Jesus. Animals do not have the moral conscience which tells them they are sinners in need of forgiveness.
The Bible on occasion pictures animals as possessing souls. The Hebrew word nephesh is translated by the word soul 428 times in the Bible; but on two occasions it is rendered beast . For this reason, we need to define the nature of man and the nature of animals.
Man was created in the image and likeness of God . Therefore, man is triune in naturehe possesses spirit, soul and body. He is a trichotomous being. On the other hand, animals possess body and soul, but not spirit. This would make them dichotomous beings.
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What Is A Soul
To define what is a soul, I will use a human perspective. As humans we are comprised of three parts, body, soul, and spirit. Here is an example of this from Scripture.
May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ .
Your body is your physical shell, and your spirit is the part of you that allows you to connect and commune with God. Your soul is where your mind, will, and emotions live. I found a wonderful description of the soul from a Bibles for America post, that I want to share with you.
Our soul is our personality, who we are. With our soul we think, reason, consider, remember, and wonder. We experience emotions like happiness, love, sorrow, anger, relief, and compassion. And were able to resolve, choose, and make decisions.
Using this as a backdrop, lets now apply this to animals.
God Created Man In His Image
The earth, sky, sun, stars, moon and animals were all created by the words of God. He spoke them into existence. But when God says that he is going to make man in his image in Genesis 1:26, he takes an approach to creation that he doesnt take with any other thing on the earth.
He scoops dust and forms a man and later forms the woman from the man. And he breathes his breath of life directly into them. God made them to reflect him, he made them with spiritual qualities that no other being has. You and I have the breath of God in us and we are image bearers of the Lord in the way that no animal ever could be.
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Only Humans Have A Soul
Because we are uniquely created in the image of God, we are the only residents of earth that have a soul. Our soul is the inner part of us that is indwelled by the Holy Spirit. It is the part of us that is more than just flesh and bone. The part of us that we cant completely understand or describe, but that we know exists.
When a soul that has been saved by belief and confession of Christ dies, it goes to heaven where God gives it a new, perfected body to house it . Ecclesiastes 12:7 says, and the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. We have the Spirit of God in us, and it is our spirit that returns to God in heaven. Animals dont have this spirit and therefore, we are making a stronger case that they are not in heaven.
At this point, our conclusion seems to be very heavily leaning towards animals, including our beloved pets, not finding a residence in heaven after they die. But we cant end here, theres one more of Scripture that cant be ignored.
Bible Verses About Animals Having A Soul
So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body;it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power;it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.
For the fate of the sons of men and the fate of beasts is the same. As one dies so dies the other; indeed, they all have the same breath and there is no advantage for man over beast, for all is vanity.
A righteous man has regard for the life of his animal,But even the compassion of the wicked is cruel.
In whose hand is the life of every living thing,And the breath of all mankind?
Then God said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.
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What Is Ethics And Religion Talk
Ethics and Religion Talk, answers questions of ethics or religion from a multi-faith perspective. Each post contains three or four responses to a reader question from a panel of nine diverse clergy from different religious perspectives, all based in the Grand Rapids area. It is the only column of its kind. No other news site, religious or otherwise, publishes a similar column.
The first five years of columns, published in the Grand Rapids Press and MLive, are archived at;. More recent columns can be found on;TheRapidian.org;by searching for the tag ethics and religion talk.
Wed love to hear about the ordinary ethical questions that come up on the course of your day as well as any questions of religion that youve wondered about. Tell us how you resolved an ethical dilemma and see how members of the Ethics and Religion Talk panel would have handled the same situation. Please send your questions to;.
Linda Knieriemen, Senior Pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Holland, responds:
The Reverend Colleen Squires, minister at;All Souls Community Church of West Michigan, a Unitarian Universalist Congregation, responds:
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Will Our Pets Be In Heaven
- M.A., English Composition, Illinois State University
- B.S., English Literature, Illinois State University
One of lifes greatest joys is having a pet. They bring so much happiness, companionship, and enjoyment that we cant imagine life without them. When we do lose a beloved pet, it is not unusual to grieve the loss just as deeply as we would for a human companion. Thus, many Christians wonder, “Do animals have souls? Will our pets be in heaven?”
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The Nature Of Animals
Animals are dichotomous beings. This means that they do have bodies and a particular kind of soul, which gives them consciousness, but they do not have free will. The knowledge of free will gives man the knowledge of what is good and what is evil.
Animals, however, do not have this. Instead, animals do actions based on their animal instinct and the circle of life where there is a predator and a prey. Because of their lack of free will, God has entrusted humans to have dominion over animals as stated in Genesis 1:28,
God blessed them and said to them, Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.
Man, on the other hand, is made in the image and likeness of God. We are made with;three parts, the body, the soul, and the spirit.;
Then God said, Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.
So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them .
This means that we are unique among all creations because we have the gift of Jesus Christ in our lives. Animals do not have this luxury because they were not made from His image and likeness.