2007-02-28 02:38:29 · 37 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Yes, I believe animals have souls...I have no explanation for it, no ridicule for others, I just refuse to consider a heaven that has no animals in it.
ME
2007-02-28 02:41:44 · answer #1 · answered by Dust in the Wind 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The Bible tells the creation story as it happened. And the answer is simple. God formed man out of the dust of the earth. Then He breathed into his (man's) nostrils, and man became a living soul. Genesis 2:7
Nothing is mentioned about animals becoming living souls anywhere in the creation story, nor can I find a credible reference to is anywhere else.
Having a living soul sets man apart from animal. If animals were given souls, they'd be responsible for choices they make or don't make, and since they are driven by instinct, and not by freedom to choose, or the intellect to make wise choices,I'd say that they have no soul. that is not a bad thing, it's simply the way our Great Creator designed things. Who are we to question Him? Can the clay pot tell the potter how to shape it? Can the paint rebel against the artist? Would a piece of marble refuse to give in to the costant chiseling away by the master sculptor? I think not. Hope this helps.
2007-02-28 02:51:10 · answer #2 · answered by jewel 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
What is soul & what is life ? There is no clear definition of these two things. Animals have souls but it is totally different than humans, it is obvious. But animals dont have the 6th sense. They cant even count from 1 to 10. They cant think and act. It is only physical urge that controls its actions.
2007-02-28 02:50:42 · answer #3 · answered by meena 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The bible shows that humans and animals are souls, not that they have a soul that leaves the body.
Gen. 2:7 "Jehovah God proceeded to form the man out of dust from the ground and to blow into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man came to be a living soul." If he became a living soul, then he must have been a dead soul before.
1 Pet. 3: 20 "In Noah's days...a few people, that is, eight souls, were carried safely throught the water."
Other scriptural references to human souls : Gen. 9:5; Josh. 11:11; 1 Cor. 15:45
Are animals souls?
Gen. 1:20, 21, 24 & 25: "God went on to say: 'Let the waters swarm form a swarm of living souls...and God proceeded to create the great sea monsters and every living soul that moves about, which the waters swarmed forth according to their kinds, and every winged flying creature according to its kind...And God went on to say: 'Let the earth put forth living souls according to its kind and God proceeded to make the wild beast of the earth according to its kind and the domestic animal according to its kind and every moving animal of the ground according to its kind." (In Hebrew the word for soul is ne'phesh. Which is the word used here as with humans in the prior scriptures)
Other scriptures that mention animals as souls: Lev. 24:17 & 18;
Rev. 16:3
Can the soul die? Yes "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 (ne'phesh) that is sinning - it itself will die."
Ezek. 18: 4 also Acts 3:23
2007-02-28 03:01:27 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Whether I believe it or not is irrelevant. Whether a soul exists or not is irrelevant. What is relevant is that a number of religions teach that only humans have souls.. Some of them go us far as to claim that the non believer has no soul. The Judeo/Christian/Islamic religion claims animals are here for our pleasure and to dispose of as we see fit. we have been butchering them for 100s of thousands of years. Of course they have no soul. If they did their would have to be a heaven and hell for them eternal soul and all that. It gets very complicated> Solution: SIMPLE;animals have no soul. I personally do not believe in the existence of a soul but I have to admit that when I look into the eyes of an animal in pain my belief momentarily suffers.
2007-02-28 02:50:37 · answer #5 · answered by The Stainless Steel Rat 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Animals do have souls -- meaning that they have minds, wills and emotions. The question is whether animals have "spirits" -- a part of their being that continues to live after the body has died. Most Christians believe they do not, although the Bible is somewhat vague on this issue. Either way, it would not affect my faith.
2007-02-28 05:35:46 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It depends how you define soul. If you agree that everything that is alive have a soul, animals have souls. If you agree that everything that has intelligence have a soul then, animals have souls. there intelligence might be limited to their physical capacities I believe they have life, they are intelligent and they have souls. If you read the Bible ( christian) you will see that animals are included in the description of heaven but not Hell
2007-02-28 02:49:55 · answer #7 · answered by TOBE 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Proverbs 12:10 -"The righteous one is caring for the soul of his domestic animal, but the mercies of the wicked ones are cruel."
I, however, do not believe that the soul is something that lives on after death as some spirit creature....
When God first created Adam, it says that he blew the breath of life into him-(Gen.2:7)-, "and the man came to be a living soul."
So "soul" actually refers to life or a living creature itself.
Ezekiel 18:4 says "The soul that is sinning—it itself will die."
2007-02-28 02:49:12 · answer #8 · answered by CHRISTINA 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Humans believe they have a Soul because they can remember so many Pain and Suffering and can tell others about it, but they are to ignorant to grant this believe to Animals as well.
I for my don't kill anything above a certain Size (the fat Flies) because of that Thought.
2007-02-28 02:42:30 · answer #9 · answered by shortCut 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I believe everything has a spark of the divine, the sparks vary and although I would say animals have souls I would not say they have the same kind of soul a human has.
2007-02-28 02:42:21 · answer #10 · answered by Quantrill 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
People are animals too. If people have souls, all the other animals also have souls.
The arrogance of the human animal on this subject is sometimes amusing, but usually just sad.
2007-02-28 02:44:33 · answer #11 · answered by Sweetchild Danielle 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋