Do animals have souls? Which ones then?

Question

My guess is that most people think that animals do, in fact have souls. Do they then have an afterlife?

If you feel that the do, then at what point would you consider a living being to no longer have a soul? For instance, If you feel your dog has a soul, then does a cow at the slaughter? Does a chicken? Does a mouse? Does an ant? Does an amoeba or bacteria? Does a plant have one?

Can you find any scriptures in any religious works that possibly back up whether or not they have souls?

Thoughtful answers only, please.

Answer 1

I think any living being that feels compassion or expresses feelings of sympathy, or love has to have a soul. When you are feeling sad or you are sick your dog won't leave your side, I believe that he knows something is not right and he wants to make you feel better so he stays with you and to a point you do feel better. Do you every watch animal planet? Animal Cops? Why do these dogs that are abused not bite their owners? Love. Its the same reason a child will still love a parent that abuses. I unfortunately had to put my dog Rphus to sleep about 2 months ago. When no one was home he jumped off something or fell down the stair, and somehow paralyzed his back legs. the vet told me that there was to much pressure on his spinal cord and within days he would die a painful death and as the vet was putting the needle in his leg I had a hold of his face, I got close to him, looked him in the eyes, and with streams of tears I said to him "I'm so sorry buddy I love you" Gave him a kiss on the head, then looked at him again, he gave me two licks on the nose and then he was gone.Watching him go see the sad in his eyes Iknow he had a soul. I believe the licks where his way of forgiving me. I mean he could have bitten me. When you look at thinks like that and other thing that our pets do for us how can they not have souls.

Answer 2

All the living entities right from humans to amoeba has soul. How can you differentiate between a living and a dead unless the living has soul. Consciousness is a symptom of the soul and not of the body or the mind. Even plants have consciousness according to research. Soul is the vital force which makes the body work. Otherwise, the body is only a lump of matter. Soul makes the body active.

Bhagavad Gita describes the soul thouroughly in the 2nd chapter. You will be amazed by the wisdom in the verses of Bhagavad Gita.

Answer 3

They answer to all of the questions is yes.
Before the CREATOR made the physical universe. IT threw off sparks of its self that became the souls of ALL that was and will be.
After the physical universe was made THE CREATOR let these souls into it and marvel at what was made. Most entered the bodies of everything that was there and became so engrossed with the sensations that they forgot not only that they could leave but were they came from.So all things have a soul even if you do not reconise it as such because its in different form than yours. th planet , rocks ,trees,grass, flowers, wild animals,and tame ones, large and small.
The earlier translations of the book of Genesis. Before
the war in heaven and before the Creation of ADAM and EVE(the first of the race called Israelites)as they found and met other tribes out side of the GARDEN. There for they were NOT the first humans on the Earth.But just one linage . Where did these other tribes come form? Who created them? how long had they been around before ADAM and EVE?

Answer 4

Soul originally meant the life principle, so any living thing is by definition ensouled. Anima is the Latin word for soul, and it is the origin of our word, "animal." So, animal means souled one.

Philosophers generally distinguished among various types of soul. The vegetatative soul is simply involved in metabolism, or basic life-processes. The animal soul involves perception and appetites, and thus it also causes movement. The rational soul is what humans have . . . it has reason, and as such can deliberate and think.

In addition, Christians used the terms spirit and heart to deal with the higher aspects of our souls, or with a spiritual reality in addition to our souls (there were various formulations).

I hope that this helps.

Answer 5

Ultimately it depends upon your definition of the soul. I would say that if humans have souls then trees, ants, bacteria and all living things have souls. For scripture from the Bible, check out the book of Ecclesiasties. It says that mans fate is like that of the animals. After all, both die and breath and are made of the same stuff. Why would one's spirit go to one place and another's spirit go somewhere else? Personally, I would even go so far as to say that inanimate things have a kind of "soul". I'm a pantheist so I believe that everything in existance extends from God's own nature and "soul".

Answer 6

I don't believe that they have souls. It tells that God breathed into man and he became a living soul. There is also a verse in the Bible that says the Lion will again lay down with the Lamb. So maybe God already has animals up there.

Answer 7

Yes... Animals have souls.... because they are filled with the breath of life......

Genesis 6:17
And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.

Job 33:4
The spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life.

A soul is not the spirit!!!!

A soul is the body of man......

The spirit is the image of God.......

Genesis 6:3 And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he ALSO is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.

Here, in the above Scripture, notice how God distinguishes the two!!!!..... He says: My spirit shall not always strive with man because not only is he spirit, but because he is also flesh.... and it is his flesh that is causing him to faulter with me......

Now.... As for animals...... If they are alive, and have the breath of life, which is given from God..... They have a spirit.....The soul, is the flesh.... and that we know they have because it is the body.


Your sister,
Ginger,
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Answer 8

This one is tough. I would love to think that my dog has feelings and a soul, but I would hate to think that the cow Im eating for lunch contemplated its life after death. Honestly, I dont think they do. They may have feelings and emotions, but not souls. This is a hard one to think about, but i guess in the same way that i want my laptop to be in heaven with me, too. lol.

Answer 9

In Genesis chapter one, the word creature is the Hebrew word nephesh - soul. Same as man.

Soul is simply breath life.

God breathed into man's nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul (nephesh).

Answer 10

ANIMALS DESIGNED AS FOOD FOR ANIMALS AND AFTER THE FLOOD FOR MAN

Eccl.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. Eccl.3:20 All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again. Eccl.3:21 Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth? Eccl.12:7 spirit of man goes back to God for resurrection. Psm.104:29.30;

Acts 2:27,31 For thou will not leave my soul in hell [ John 19:38-42 sepulchre hell, cave, tomb, or grave ] neither will thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption as Psm.49:14 as king David 1Cor.15:22-28,51-53 the heavenly body and the earthly body will be resurrected, Jesus will destroy the devil and death. Heb.2:9,14,16;