Does it say that animals have souls in the bible?

Question

someone told me that anilmals have souls in the beginning of the book of Genisis..what do you all think? I would like mature responses please.

Answer 1

I don't know about in genesis, but I've always found ecclesiastes 3:19-21 interesting.

"Man's fate is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath (or spirit); man has no advantage over the animal. Everything is meaningless. All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return. Who knows if the spirit of man rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?"

just some food for thought.

Answer 2

I would not take the book of Genisis too seriously.

Stories were often simplified in the old testament of the Bible in order to teach little lessons for the people of the time (who did not think the same as we did). If you want to take this literally, there was no mentioning of animals having souls in Genisis, but those animals did communicate with the Human beings.

But in general, all Christians decide for themselves whether animals have souls or not...Hope this is of some use!

Answer 3

(Ecclesiastes 3:19-20) For there is an eventuality as respects the sons of mankind and an eventuality as respects the beast, and they have the same eventuality. As the one dies, so the other dies; and they all have but one spirit, so that there is no superiority of the man over the beast, for everything is vanity. 20 All are going to one place. They have all come to be from the dust, and they are all returning to the dust.
(Ecclesiastes 9:5-6) For the living are conscious that they will die; but as for the dead, they are conscious of nothing at all, neither do they anymore have wages, because the remembrance of them has been forgotten. 6 Also, their love and their hate and their jealousy have already perished, and they have no portion anymore to time indefinite in anything that has to be done under the sun.

(Ezekiel 18:4) Look! All the souls—to me they belong. As the soul of the father so likewise the soul of the son—to me they belong. The soul that is sinning—it itself will die.

Three scriptures answered your question.
1. Your 'soul' is YOU, living, breathing.
2. There is no activity, even spiritual, after death
3. Animals have the same outcome as people.
4. The teaching that when people die, a spiritual part of them goes to heaven and can still function etc is WRONG. The Bible says otherwise.Eccl. 9;5,6
The word 'soul' is translated from the Hebrew word NEPHESH which means ' that which breathes'
You have to be alive to breathe.
And Ezekiel says the 'soul' can die.
You have to be alive to die.

The 'spirit' mentioned in Eccl. 3 is the breath of life given by God. The same 'breath' breathed into the nostrils of Adam and Eve. It is a 'force' or 'power' given us and is NOT independant.

Answer 4

I believe animals have souls although I cannot say what the bible says as I do not know and do not care. Really, how naive humans would be to think that they are the only ones with souls. We are not so superior that we are the only being deserving.

Answer 5

If you only want to know what it says in the Bible, I can't help you, but all livng things have souls. (Minerals, plants, animals, amphibians ...) Obviously, some are less evolved, but eventually all will incarnate into a physical human body. It won't tell you that in the Bible because the books of the Bible that spoke of karma and reincarnation were eliminated at the Council of Nicea in order to retain "control" of the masses.

The reference you may be referring to in Genesis is captured here:

The word soul can be used to describe the physical form of life that both men and animals possess and that ceases to exist at death. The word “soul” (nephesh) often is employed to mean “life principle.” In Genesis 1:20,24,30, God spoke of the “nephesh hayyah” which is literally “soul breathers” or “life breathers” and is also translated as “living creatures” or “life.” Since a common understanding of nephesh also includes “breath,” it can be shown that Genesis 1:20,24,30 and Genesis 2:7 all fit together in understanding Moses as saying that all animals and man too are breathers. Breathers, coupled with “hayyah” translates well into “living creatures” for animals and “living beings” for men.


(Yeah, I know ... the Christians are going to thumbs down me . but that's okay .. I'm used to it.)

Answer 6

It has been clinically proven that animals do not have souls via experiments conducted in the early 20th Century by one physician who weighed animals right before death and right after death, considering all weight altering factors, i.e. air in the lungs, expulsion of bodily fluids, etc. After death, the animals had no weight differential. However, when the same experiments were conducted on humans, before and after expiring, there was a definite weight differential of 3 ozs. that was surmised to be the displacement of the human Spirit (Soul) via its evacuation.

Answer 7

It never said that, but, I believe they do and people that say they don't it was never said and it never said only humans have souls and it also says in the bible there will be animals in Heaven and I want to believe that animals have souls and they go to heaven, until someone shows me proof, logical, visible proof that they don't.

Answer 8

I've actually never heard anyone say that animals have souls, except my little sister, who isn't the most religiously verses person... I think animals may have souls, and they may not. But does it matter? We should treat them wel either way.

Answer 9

If animals had souls, I don't think God would have condoned the killing of animals by man for food, not to mention the millions of animal sacrifices carried out by the Jews.

Answer 10

Yes, they have souls, according to the Bible.