Posted on 05/18/2011 2:31:49 PM PDT by Salvation
Pets in Heaven? A question that comes up frequently is whether people will see their pets in heaven. Now the Catechism of the Catholic Church does not directly address this question. But it does hold principles which lead us in the direction of an answer. One principle is that all living things have a soul. Here soul is defined as what makes an organic body live. Now when any living thing dies, its soul is separated from its body. In the case of plants and animals the soul goes out of existence. But in the case of man, the soul remains in existence because it is a spiritual or immaterial thing. Consequently, it differs from the souls of animals in two important respects. First, it is the seat of intelligence or reason. For this reason a man is held responsible for his actions in a way that animals are not. Secondly, the soul is immortal. A thing which has no physical parts cannot fall apart or be poisoned or be crushed or be put out of existence. For this reason the souls of the saved will always be aware of themselves as enjoying the vision of God for all eternity. This enjoyment will be the result of having chosen to act on earth in such a way that one did the will of God rather than one's own will. And the souls of the damned will be aware of themselves as never attaining this vision of God because they have shown by their lives on earth that they did not wish this vision but instead preferred their own will. In the light of this essential difference between human beings and animals, it would seem that we would not see the souls of our pets in heaven for the simple reason that they do not have immortal souls and are not responsible for their actions. They do not have the intelligence which allows them to choose either God's will or their own will. There is, then, an incomparable distance, say, between the soul of the sorriest human being who ever lived and the most noble brute animal that ever walked the earth. Now a child might be heartbroken at the thought that he will never see his pet again. He cannot yet understand this explanation about the difference between the human and the animal soul. I suppose that one could tell the child that when he hopefully gets to heaven, he could ask God to see his old pets if he still wished to. There would be no harm in that. For we know that when a person finally sees God, he will not be concerned with seeing old pets or favorite places but rather will be captured in the complete fulfillment of the joy of which old pets and favorite places are but little signs. We adults know that, even if the child does not. For more information on how the Church sees animals in the lives of human beings, check the Catechism of the Catholic Church 2415-2418. You will learn, for example, that the Church, while it condemns cruelty to animals as an offense against the dignity of man, allow experiments on animals if done in a reasonable way. Again, you will learn of the tremendous difference that the Church sees between the lowliest of human beings and the most noble of the animals. It will allow animals to be used for food or clothing, but will defend the right of an innocent human being to live against Kings and Nations. The Church will demand that animals be respected as part of creation while at the same time insisting that the dignity owed a human being should never be given to an animal.
To have the “salvation” of animals unmentioned when the main focus of the whole Book is the history of God’s redemption of His creation is a pretty big omission.
netmilsmom:
In Revelation 21:5 we read “Behold, I make All Things new”. Is it theologically possible that “All Things new” suggests that all of Creation will be in essence restored back to what it was before the Fall of Man in Genesis and thus “All Things new” could in theory suggest that Animals will be in heaven as well.
This is one of those issues that Sacred Scripture does not directly speak to thus it will always fall in the realm of Theological speculation but Rev. 21:5 does suggest the possibility and I will leave it at that since Catholic Doctrine can not say anything Dogmatic on this question because That is not directly revealed thru Divine Revelation.
Regards
It might help the thread to define "go to Heaven." Some people seem to be under the impression that we're all going to spend eternity floating around "Heaven" as disembodied spirits. In fact, those of us who go to "Heaven" will be there only briefly, until the resurrection and the reformation of the new Heaven and Earth.
We will, in fact, spend eternity on the new physical Earth, in physical bodies, interacting with our surroundings much as we do today. God will presumably return the Earth to the state he originally intended, like the Garden of Eden, which had plants and animals, for that is the type of environment we were designed for.
Heaven is your reward. Why wouldn’t your pets be there?
Eternal life isn’t a reward. We don’t deserve it. It is restored, by God’s grace.
Frankly, my dog deserves it more than I do.
You know you are my hero...Thanks!
Why do people have such a hard time with the thought of animals being able to use human speech?
Every time it’s brought up, religious folks are mocked and ridiculed for it and it’s treated as being untrue.
Honestly, I thought more people knew about the existence of parrots than that.
Isaiah 11
1There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
2And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him,
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.
3And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
or decide disputes by what his ears hear,
4but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
5Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,
and faithfulness the belt of his loins.
6 The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;
and a little child shall lead them.
7The cow and the bear shall graze;
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
8The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra,
and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den.
9 They shall not hurt or destroy
in all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD
as the waters cover the sea.
Lady asks a priest if her dog Foofums will be in Heaven with her.
Priest says no, animals don’t have souls.
Lady says, “But I couldn’t be happy without my Foofums.”
Priest thinks a minute, then says, “Well, if that is indeed true, then Foofums will be there.”
I recently read a new (to me) take on Heaven that asserted the availability of many earthly pleasures in there. I don’t see how food or sports could make one happier than the presence of God, but then, what do I know?
And Myna birds.
Or Lyre birds for that matter.
I have a friend who was a missionary overseas among a native Indian tribe many years ago.
They lived on a farm and had a couple big dogs to protect their property as theft was a terrible problem.
These dogs would not allow any of the native tribespeople near the place, EXCEPT those who had converted to Christianity and become Christians. Those the dogs would not give any trouble to.
It really freaked out the Indians because THEY knew who the converts were and they knew that the dogs knew. My friend firmly believed that they could sense the Spirit of God in those people.
For your consideration....
Job 12:7-9
7”But ask the beasts, and they will teach you;
the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you;
8or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you;
and the fish of the sea will declare to you.
9Who among all these does not know
that the hand of the LORD has done this?
My position on this is fairly simple, at least in my opinion.
If our pets are present in heaven, great. If not, alright. Trying to determine if they will or will not be present seems a waste of time to me. God granted us their companionship here, and I am very thankful for that. Anything we may have or experience in heaven is beyond our ability to conceive in our mortal limitations. Why bother?
I’ve heard of those birds but was not aware of their ability to vocalize or mimic.
I think what many people miss when they criticize the belief that the serpent spoke to Eve, was that all that was necessary was for the serpent to have whatever was necessary to mimic human voice, just like the parrot.
It wasn’t the serpent itself who was Satan, but the serpent was used BY Satan. Satan used it for its voice to appeal to Adam and Eve’s fleshly nature. I think that since he couldn’t reach them though thoughts as it seems that he can for us, because they had not yet sinned and listened to him, he had to use some other means. It seems that sin somehow leaves us vulnerable to having our thoughts messed with by Satan and his minions.
“Why do people have such a hard time with the thought of animals being able to use human speech?”
Consider Adam and Eve when the snake spoke to them. There is no indication that they were shocked at all by it speaking.
You are focusing on this from the human point of view. But what makes GOD happy?
I get a dim glimpse in a mirror of this when I give my dog a treat. If feed him dog food because I have taken on this duty. I give him treats because it delights ME to watch his reaction.
That's an excellent point.
Eve carried on a conversation with it and Adam watched and listened to the whole thing and there's nothing in the passage to indicate that this was unexpected to them.
I'd sure be suspicious if some animal came up to me and started talking to me, trying to sell me something....
But then again, there weren't used to used car salesmen and lawyers....;)
If dogs don’t go to Heaven, it’s not worth the trip.
Any other thoughts?
Revelation 5 describes how 'every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them' is heard to sing God's praises (v. 13). It doesn't seem to matter whether or not they are saved. Either 'every creature' means every creature or it doesn't.
However, Revelation 4 describes what Heaven is like. Even the 24 elders never cease to praise God.
As such, I take gentle issue with those on thread who wish for pets there as agents of our happiness. Heaven isn't about us or about what makes us happy. It's about eternal communion with the Living God and offering eternal praise to Him who sits on the throne of the Most High. That praise in itself brings eternal joy and peace.
All that said, I would certainly be most interested in hearing the voices of 100,000,000 angels praising God (Rev. 5:11). Bless your evening.
A book worth reading on the subject is:
Cold Noses at the Pearly Gates.
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