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.
Answered by Dr. Richard Geraghty, PhD
that is just so beautiful. thank you.
I heard that your pets are the first to greet you at the pearly gates.....
thanks....a good view..it makes sense.
Good analysis.
Did you by any chance attend St. Mary's Convent High School?
Your experiences seem remarkably like mine.
thanks, sums it up nicely.
Thank YOU!!! I'm going to see if I can't look that up on Netflix tonight when I get home. I remembered the essense of that one, that program really touched my heart ... and I never had an idea what the title was. Thank you a thousand times ...
My understanding of Christianity is that the bible provides the instructions for humans, not animals, and additionally animals don’t have original sin to deal with so Christ’s sacrifice wasn’t for them & wasn’t needed by them.
**Rev 4:7 And the first beast [was] like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast [was] like a flying eagle.
Rev 4:8 And the four beasts had each of them six wings about [him]; and [they were] full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.
Rev 4:9 And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever**
These are not actually beasts, but rather angels. I’ve even heard that they represented the evangelists:
lion
Calf
Like a man
Eagle
From my Bible with the footnotes which I have bolded in next post.
5 [5] Flashes of lightning, rumblings, and peals of thunder: as in other descriptions of God's appearance or activity; cf Rev 8:5; 11:19; 16:18; Exodus 19:16; Ezekiel 1:4, 13. The seven spirits of God: the seven "angels of the presence" as in Rev 8:2 and Tobit 12:15.
6 [6] A sea of glass like crystal: an image adapted from Ezekiel 1:22-26. Four living creatures: these are symbols taken from Ezekiel 1:5-21; they are identified as cherubim in Ezekiel 10:20. Covered with eyes: these suggest God's knowledge and concern.
7 [7] Lion . . . calf . . . human being . . . eagle: these symbolize, respectively, what is noblest, strongest, wisest, and swiftest in creation. Calf: traditionally translated "ox," the Greek word refers to a heifer or young bull. Since the second century, these four creatures have been used as symbols of the evangelists Mark, Luke, Matthew, and John, respectively.
8 [8] Six wings: like the seraphim of Isaiah 6:2.
I am so glad you know exactly what heaven will be like and who will be there..whew!
You may have missed something of the spiritual connection some of us have with our pets..My dog Lola was a gift from God ( God gives all good things) and she taught me more about love, God and being a Christian than any “human”.
If God brought this furry being to me, he most certainly will not “kill’ that bond becasue she died. I have no idea how this will work out in heaven, but I believe in the love of God.
God created all things on earth including animals, therefore they are divine in their own right as they are created by God. That being said of course their soul goes to heaven it can’t be otherwise IMHO. My late Lab -german shepard mix was heaven sent to me during a terrible time in my life. If there are “divine beings” my K.C. was truely one.
You two are proving my point. You are loving the creation more than the creator.
Excellent point — which, BTW, that quote from Revelation speaks to worshipping God.
thank you for your judgemental response.
Remind me to attend your next brilliant exposition at your next bible study. I would want to hear more about “loving”.
No heaven will not ever heaven be
unless my cats are there
to welcome me.
Epitath on an old tombstone in England
I certainly don't have the answers (no one does). But I would point out several issues that I never see addressed in these types of threads:
First, animals wouldn't *need* to be "saved" to go to heaven; they are not sinners.
Second, God never intended for any animals to die. The animals were created before Adam and Eve, and thus before sin and death entered the world.
Finally, people talk about heaven as though all the redeemed are going to spend eternity floating around as spirits. Heaven is only going to be a temporary stop. Man will spend eternity on the (new) earth, in a (resurrected) physical body.
The new earth will likely be much like the current earth, in that it will be populated by plants and animals, as in the Garden of Eden. Now, which animals will populate the new earth? New animals who never existed? Or will God bring back animals who lived and died on this earth? Seems to me that, since God never intended animals to die in the first place, He just might bring back animals who had to die on this earth through no fault of their own.
Food for thought....
God has infinite love. Would he not love all that he created?
______________
Yes, and knowing how we love our pets, I would think He would want us to be happpy.
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