Do animals and other living beings have souls like humans? Are they also children of God? Are we not all one?

Question

One of the Jewish prophets from the old testament, Ecclesiastis ( mispelled, I'm sure) said in so many words, that animal and people are the same. I don't rememeber the verse but if you read the last 1/2 of this short book from the bible, you will find it. Its in 2 places in a variety of verse. I'm 48 years old. Frrom the age of 6, I had this burning belief in me that all creatures were eaqual and loved by God. After many years of prayar, meditation and really listening to my heart, I realized that we are all one. The ocean, rocks, sand, animals,humans, planets, etc. Am I on the right track. If my notion is wrong. Why? Why do humans think they are so close and dear to God?

Answer 1

Maybe the answer to your question can be found in Numbers 22:21-41.
This is the story of a man named Balaam and his donkey. On the path the donkey was able to see the angel of the Lord while Balaam was unable to. The readers digest version, Balaam beats the donkey 3 times for not continuing on the path where the Angel of the Lord was standing. (In this case the donkey had more sense than the man. By the way, the Lord rebuked Balaam for beating the donkey.)

Answer 2

The soul initially was a concept for the mind, the source of rational thought, which is why thought that animals don't have souls started, because the soul was defined as what we had that animals didn't. It's a more recent occurance that the soul is a more touchy-feely thing that connects "soulmates" and one to God, humans are after all capable of emotions in a sense of the word, so it depends on how you define soul.

Now, that said, dolphins and bonobos aren't really that much stupider than us (both can use complex abstract language and have complex social structures). So, with either interperetation one could say they have souls, I mean if dolphins had thumbs they might've become the prevalent race on this planet, after all, humans were apparently lacking even defined languages a couple hundred thousand years ago, dolphins in the wild have names and complex dialects of their languages.

Answer 3

Other creatures are all loved by God. I worked with a lady once and she was telling me that when she was a teenager, she had a hermit crab. One day when it died, she was boo-hooing, and talking to her mom, telling her mother that at least peanut (or some cutesy little name like that) was in heaven. Her mother had the audacity to tell her that it was an animal and could not accept Jesus Christ as its personal savior, and therefore could not possibly be in heaven! SHE ACTUALLY TOLD HER DAUGHTER THAT! Wicked mom! And not in the wicked-cool way. Silly little story, but I told her the same thing I will say now...I have seen animals (in particular pets and my own dog) that have more soul than a lot of people. I believe it is in the new testament, but I could be wrong, where it states something to the effect that if God takes care of the birds in the sky, then how much more he loves and will take care of us. As far as everything being one, that sounds a little to eastern religious in thought to me, but I do not have all the answers. I think that as humans, especially those who believe the Bible is the word of God, we believe that man was created in God's image...it doesn't say that the sand, the ocean, etc. was created in His image. And plus we are egocentric. However, the point is that God created all things, and God is good. Therefore what He created is good to. And that leads me to a question that I am now going to post.....if God created everything and God is good, did he create evil. I understand free will, but where did evil come from... Thanks for making my mind hurt! But I hope I helped or at least entertained you with the story about the hermit crab.

Answer 4

Yes we are of the same materials. All of us animals are made up of elements of this earth. What makes us different is that we are aware of our existence. At some point God incorporated his DNA in the human species. This accounts for the jump between us and other animals. This is what the church refers to the human soul.
Humans are the only animal that has been given the promises of eternal life.
The Idea of a soul has been over stated, it is only the life in your body that goes no where when you die.
Yes God loves all that he has created.

Answer 5

IN Ecclesiastes The writer was lamenting the state of the world and man in general. Probably not a good proof of the souls of animals.

However if you awaken the soul in an animal you are responsible for that animal until one of you dies. If you mistreat other creatures you might want to pray that you are the one to die first. Then they and God can forget you. You wouldn't want to be remembered as a cruel person before God.

Answer 6

Most believe that humans are the only beings with souls. The question is, what makes them think so?

Yes, I know its because the bible implies it (so who wrote it, who decided it be in the bible, etc?), but I say its because people want to believe we're better than "mere" animals. Personally, I think we're all equal under whatever power there may be.

But to say that we're all equal makes us not as special. Christians and Jews worship a God that looks like us, thinks like us, has human emotions and human wants and desires. Does that sound like God's planning, or humans?

Answer 7

On an episode of Mystery Hunters, someone reported that they kept seeing their pet dog flash across the hallway periodically. Their pet dog died years ago. Some say that animals have souls too. You've dived into one of the little known topics here.

Yes, the bible says so.

All animals and living things live together. You can put it that way. Besides, the human race can be classified as mammals.

Answer 8

We are the living soul...that includes animals...Human is designed by Jehovah as his likeness and equipped with knowledge and wisdom....and subject to live in paradise on earth to time indefinite, whereas the animals is designed for a cycle or lifespan within....and then die...

Answer 9

Ecc.3:18 I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.
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:
3:20 All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.
3:21 Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?

Answer 10

You can observe that many animals, take cats for example, have the same feelings and emotions as we do - curiosity, jealosy, pride, fear... they also have four limbs, two eyes, a nose and a mouth, they eat and digest food, they breed - We really arn't that much different, so if you assume we have a soul, why assume that they don't?

Trees? hmmm I could argue that they are not a consious form of life, and therefore have no soul, but im not so sure.