>>I doubt such a belief would harm the soul.<<
I think you would be surprised. One of the great “tricks” of people that misslead is to get you to accept a very tiny lie as truth, and then build monstrosities on it. I actually read a thesis back in 1972 where the writer “proved” that black is white. It took some people multiple readings before they could find the tiny fallacy the author got them to accept, upon which he built the logic.
Getting people to, on a spiritual level, even entertain the idea of animals being similar to humans can be the starting point of getting them to accept great falsehoods about God and his plan for mankind, who was created in His image, while animals are clearly not.
I really like what Billy Graham said to an elderly man who asked if he would see his dog in heaven. Billy said that if he needed to see the dog, it would be there. Hehehe...I don’t think, once he is in heaven, he will need to see his dog. ;)
Why? Look at the bible, right down to the ten commandments. It can ALL be broken down to two concepts:
1. Man’s relationship with his fellow man.
2. Man’s relationship with his Creator, God.
Everything else is the mere frame around the picture.
Ok - can someone explain this? This is hypothetical! Let’s assume I go to heaven when I die but knowing that my son will never arrive because he doesn’t believe in God. How can I be happy in heaven knowing I’ll never see him again?