How come animals don't get to go to heaven?

Question

It wont be much of a heaven if there aren't any cute kittens around.

Answer 1

*hugs*


prrrrr!

Answer 2

Nowhere does Scripture explicitly state that animals do not have souls...There is nothing in Scripture I know of that would preclude the possibility of animals' continued existence...The Bible does give us some reason to hope that departed animals will be restored. We read in the Bible that redemption is a cosmic matter. The whole creation is destined to be redeemed through the work of Christ (Romans 8:21), and we see the images of what heaven will be like; beautiful passages of Scripture tell us about the lion and lamb and other animals being at peace with one another.(Isaiah 11:6-8). Whenever heaven is described, though it may be in highly imaginative language, it is a place where animals seem to be present. Whether these are animals newly created for the new heavens and the new earth, or they are the redeemed souls of our pets that have perished, we can't know for sure.

Answer 3

Who says they don't? No, it isn't mentioned in the Bible, but the Bible is salvation history. It is about man's fall from grace and man's redemption. Kitties as far as we know never rebelled against God.

Some Catholics will tell you they don't have a soul because some sister told them so. However, the Catholic Church does not have a defined docrine on the souls of animals.

St. Thomas Aquinas said all life was a soul but only humans have an immortal soul. However, a priest friend said,"The Church has never said Thomas Aquinas was infallible. Apparently Aquinas did not have a dog or a pet of any kind."

Answer 4

Who really knows if they do or not? I suppose since heaven is a religious thing, only humans can be there right? What if your ide of heaven is to run free with the tigers and swim with the dolphins? If that makes you happy then woyuldn't that be what heaven holds in store for you if you qualify?

Answer 5

Because animals are part of the natural environment, just like trees and rocks and air and water. They are not created in God's image and likeness, do not have moral capacity, and do not possess an immortal soul. When they die, there is nothing left that could go to heaven. They are gone! Besides, who would want a heaven full of crocodiles, sharks, tyrannosaurus, skunks, rats, cobras, mosquitos, cockroaches, ticks, fleas, tapeworms, head lice ... or ... is it only the cute fuzzy animals that get to go to heaven?
.

Answer 6

The bible is pretty silent about this. There is only one verse referencing this that I have found. Ecclesiastes 3:21 "Who knows if the spirit of man rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?" This is the NIV (New International Version). It sounds a little different in other version.

So if the way the NIV interprets this verse is correct. The Bible never says animals won't go. It simple says, we don't know. Thanks for asking. I had to go hunting to find that verse.

Answer 7

I would like to see the biblical reference that states that animals will not get to heaven, or even the where it says they don't have souls.

Answer 8

According to St. Thomas Aquinas the eternal part of the soul is the intellect. Human souls have intellect, as do angelic souls, but animal souls do not possess this nature and therefore are not eternal.

Answer 9

That is just someone who really doesn't know that says they do not go to heaven. God loves everyone and everything.

Answer 10

Let's pretend that heaven exists....no one has the answer to that. Everyone can guess all they want and argue until they're blue in the face, but the truth is that no one really knows.

Answer 11

"Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God" John 3:5

An animal can't be born again of the Spirit. The bible also uses dogs and pigs to show what is unclean and says without the cleansing of Jesus' blood you don't enter heaven.