Some asked for emailed answers to the animal souls item but don't allow for emails. So this is for you.?

Question

If the animals do not have souls why does the Bible mention it several times and that they have a spirit also. Why does the Bible say that they are innocent and their blood was used to cover the sins of man until Jesus came? It was because man was sinful. Why does the Bible say that God made an eternal covenant with man and the animals and in the original Genesis version of the Bible it mentions in this eternal covenant and it says ”And I will establish my covenant with you and your seed after you; And with every living soul that is with you, as well in all birds as in cattle and beasts of the earth, that are come forth out of the ark, and in all the beast of the earth. Four times this is mentioned and one time it says And I will remember my covenant with you, and with every living soul that beareth flesh: and there shall no more be waters of a flood to destroy all flesh. You see when you go back to the original King James version, the original Greek and Hebrew translations and the Dead Sea Scrolls what you find is much different then what is now in the King James version however even in the current King James Version it does mention animals as having a soul and a spirit several time. I find it interesting that one wants to defy what the Holy Bible says and some of the great theologians such as John Wesley, John Calvin, Martin Luther and the late pope John Paul II who using scriptures, emphatically stated that animals go to heaven and some referred to them as having a soul. No they are not equal to man and the Bible makes that very clear however they are pure and innocent and Jesus came to redeem man back to God due to our sinful nature and when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior we can go to heaven however the animals are already innocent. They just fell under the curse because man was given dominion over them. We were never to treat them badly and no doubt as many theologians say, we will be held accountable for the way we treat animals when we get to heaven. I pray you will let the Holy Spirit guide you into the truth within the Holy Bible not only of the need for salvation of man but of the restoration of the animals back to God who did give them the spirit of the breath of life as the original scripture in Genesis so states. I happen to have English versions going back the mid 1500s and it is amazing what man has done to change some wording in the Bible especially after the 1800s and also how materialistic man has become in the past 200 plus years which is part of the reason we deny animals have a soul and spirit as that would mean we are accountable for the way we treat them. Until close to the 1800s it was understood through the Bible and teachers of the Bible that animals possessed an eternal soul and spirit. And often we think that because we eat animals they can not have a soul or spirit but that is not true. Before sin came into the world no person or animal ate each other. The nature of animals was distorted due to the sins of man. They also were created to physically live forever just as man was until we sinned. Unfortunately there are tribes in the world of mankind who kill and eat each other even today. So, do they not have a soul and spirit?



Naturally there are so many scriptures which reveal the eternal life of animals but the soul and spirit of animals is the one area I am addressing which is mentioned several times in the Bible. The one scripture that man normally does not understand in Ecclesiastes 3:21. You certainly can not read it and believe that the writer, Solomon actually meant what he said. He was not even writing it as a statement of fact and he had already answered the question in previous scriptures.

http://www.ourchurch.com/member/w/w_lasalle/

Answer 1

A good summary. There is basically a question of what "soul" means- it could have relevance in some ways used and not in others.