Do dogs go to heaven? (What does your religion say?)

June 2nd | Myself

[LauraleeBraswell]

What does your religion say about our beloved pets in the afterlife? Dogs? Cats? Does your pet have a soul? Do you believe they go to heaven, or simply out of existance?

And what do you tell your six year old when Fluffy the formerly lost hamster turns up dead in the hallway closet? "Fluffy doesn't exist anymore?" Is a dog different from a hamster?

What's your religion and what does it say?

[Recovering Ex-hippie]

wow..Great post. Thanks. I never saw all those scriptures in one place.

[No Truce With Kings]

Dogs -- and animals -- do not have souls. (This according to Orthodox Christian teaching.) Only creatures with souls go to heaven.

One of my priests (who was very much a dog lover) said that when an animal dies, that is it for the animal. But that is not an excuse to treat animals -- especially pets -- badly. Since this life is it for them you must treat them in a kindly and Christian manner -- even those animals that you raise for food. Pets give you love unreservedly, and especially merit good treatment because of that. In a sense, they offer an opportunity to practice Christian virtues.

Seemed like a good explanation to me. Will one miss pets in heaven? Good question, but since you will not miss a lot of things that are important to life on Earth (remember Christ said you do not take each other in marriage in heaven -- even those that were married on Earth), I kind of doubt whether the presence or absence of a beloved pet will be of consequence.

[AGreatPer]

"but the Bible is pretty much silent on the subject."

As a devout Christian I do expect certain things and happenings to be there when I go.

1. All my past relatives better be there to say welcome.
2. All my past animals better be there to lick and kiss me.
3. There better be beer and wine available with no LCB to catch me.
4. There better be sports games, I want to see the best at baseball, football, soccer, et all.

It's called heaven, right?

PS: I really do want to meet a few people too. Some of them would be: Bach, great music, Babe Ruth - we could have a beer, I want to meet Lincoln and George Washington and many more.

Or, are we just fooling ourselves with the grandure of a future with hope? The bible is NOT vague on that. Yes is the bible's answer. It just doesn't describe how its going to be.

[Republic]

Great post. Meaningful and WONDERFUL! :^)

[iconoclast]

Bump for later.

I have a story.

[DocRock]

"The Preacher did not know about the Resurrection."

Read on... maybe he did.

Ecc 3:21 Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?

[VeritatisSplendor]

A week after my uncle's beloved, ancient miniature poodle died, he saw the dog standing on the right side of the altar in church, patting one foot on the altar, and quivering as if about to run to him. My uncle had a wild youth but at this time was a sober, church going man. He said it took him a few years to figure out the dog's message: stay on the right side of God.

And then "greater love hath no man than he who lays down his life for his friends." When you consider that animals have sacrificed their lives, you might wonder.

I never loved an animal so dearly myself that I think it would not be heaven without its presence. And I really don't have an opinion. But it is possible, I think. The Bible speaks of all of nature singing God's praises, and the lion lying down with the lamb.

[VeritatisSplendor]

those are wonderful verses.

Mrs VS

[jo kus]

"I believe dogs are souls, just as humans are souls...When souls die, their thoughts perish and they have no consciousness,"

What is your definition of a soul? According to Scripture, a soul must have an intellect and a will. Dogs don't have an intellect that can rationalize. God creates our soul at the moment of conception, and since it has no parts, it is indestuctable. Our soul utilizes our fleshy intellect currently, but once we die, our soul will still have access to some sort of intellect - it will no longer be limited by our human brains. Animals are not made in the image of God, although all creation somehow reflects God.

"God can resurrect them (breathe the breath of life, the spirit, back into them), to heaven or to earth."

What exactly is God breathing life back into? Our body? There is no resurrection of our own individual bodies until the final resurrection at the end of time. However, Scripture is clear that God is the God of the living. Thus, the soul lives on AFTER death. The soul doesn't die upon our body's death. This has been an enduring belief since before the Greeks.

"I do not believe there is going to be any resurrection of animals because the Bible does not teach this."

We don't really know what God has planned for animals. In Romans, Paul discusses how creation will return to a pre-Adam existence. Perhaps animals do not die in that state? But animals will not be resurrected. To all of those pet owners out there, sorry. But I doubt you will much care for your pet while in the total union and ecstasy of the Godhead...

Regards

[GrannyML]

This is a silly discussion. None of us has the least idea what heaven will be like, but I think the beatific vision would be more than sufficient for complete happiness.

I have had several pets whom I love(d) very much, but trust that God will dispose with justice and mercy and I will be happy with the result.

God Bless,

[Knute]

My understanding is that there will be animals in heaven, but they will not be our pets. Our furry friends are not eternal spiritual beings. We live forever, they do not.

[escapefromboston]

What about Aliens? Is Alf going to be there? the evil aliens from Aliens? Predator?? Yeesh I hope not. Did Jesus go to different planets? How did the alien from Aliens go from bursting out of someone's chest to being twice the size of a normal human in the space of a couple of hours????
Who knows.

[lightman]

Two references to dogs in Martin Luther's "Table Talk":

c. 1523
"Dr. Martin Luther played with his dog and said,'The dog is a very faithful animal and is held in high esteem if he isn't too ordinary. Our Lord God has made the best gifts most common. The pre-eminent gift given to all living things is the eye. Small birds have very bright eyes, like little stars, and can see a fly a room-length away. But we don't acknowledge such everyday gifts. We are stupid clods. In the future life we'll see them, however; there we ourselves will make birds with pretty, shining eyes."

c. 1542
"The Doctor [Martin Luther] said, 'I just received a letter from Jonas. He wrote that a dog had &hit into the grave of the bishop of Halle. I believe it's fatal, for it has also happened to others before. Once when there was a procession with banners around the church, the verger put the holy water pot on the ground. A dog came along and pi&&ed into the holy water pot. A priest noticed this because he was sprinkling the water, and he said, 'You impious dog! Have you become a Lutheran, too?'"

[LauraleeBraswell]

Wait, so according to that then it is bad to eat animals? And I thought According to Christianity, man had dominance over the earth and was above the animals?

[LauraleeBraswell]

""Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on th face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food." And it was so.""


So where does it say it's okay to eat steak?

[LauraleeBraswell]

That's actually a true story.

[Michael Goldsberry]

In the same area you quoted.

[LauraleeBraswell]

That's Mormonism!

[LauraleeBraswell]

""Ecc 3:19 For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all [is] vanity.""


I just got that from a link someone else posted. I really don't know much about the bible, but I find theology interesting.

[Michael Goldsberry]

Ecclesiastes

Please bear with me. I have read the Bible, save some Psalms and Lamentations, but wasn't that written by Solomon?