Will dogs be in heaven?

[Statilius the Epicurean]

[Mr. Smith]

All Dogs Go To Heaven isn't Disney.

And yes, and I reject the realities that say otherwise!

[DC Al Fine]

No, they'll be on the new earth with us

[Donerail]

Do dogs have thetans?

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

Yes.

There's a lovely poem called "The Rainbow Bridge".  It isn't Scripture, but it very well could be.

[afleitch]

It's my husband's childhood story as to why he's not religious. Being told his dog wouldn't go to heaven was enough for him.

[Fuzzy Bear]

[TDAS04]

Yes.  Cats too.

[pbrower2a]

Yes.  Cats too.

So far as I know, all cats violate the commandment "Thou shalt not kill". A family cat that I had seemed to kill for the fun of it, specializing in birds. He was a loving pet inside the house, but once he got out he was a killing machine.

If I am to say that Heaven is real, than what brings happiness will be there. Sin will not be, and if I were a preacher I would tell people to expect to see no strip clubs or pornographic movie houses. No gambling casinos, either -- because money would no longer be relevant. 

Any Nazis out there? Change your ways or go to Hell.

OK -- my idea of Heaven is a family-friendly place, probably a mix of dude ranch and Chautauqua. There will be horseback riding. And, yes, dogs. 

[afleitch]

Cats would knock everything out of heaven.

[RINO Tom]

I'm not sure what my actual beliefs on an afterlife are just yet, but something my grandma said one time kind of struck me and maybe comes closest to my idea - "Heaven" would likely be entirely in the eye of the beholder.  If I went to Heaven and my deceased grandfathers were also there, would they appear as I remember them to maximize my happiness?  Would they be kids, so as to be reunited with their childhood families?  Would their parents be kids via the same concept??  You run into logistical problems quickly.

If there is a Heaven, it exists outside of Space-Time and is therefore not constrained by the logic we use to analyze the world around us.  There wouldn't be dead relatives waiting for their grandchildren to pass away; everyone would already be there, and yet simultaneously diametrically there or not there, within the context of the realm of time.  (This is one idea that the Lost finale illustrated beautifully, FWIW.)

[Kingpoleon]

If man is to be raised as to be equal with the angels, cannot the animals and brutes likewise he raised up? For now they do not understand God as we do. But if they do in the future, what of it?

(I should say that I only dare speculate in this matter. I am certain of very little, but I am certain that those who claim to know all in matters like this - the afterlife, endtimes, and the like - are either the basest of fools or the vilest of evildoers.)

[PSOL]

Is there biblical precedent that show that animals have a soul or not in the Bible? Are they just there as mindless creatures for our use?

See, this is one of the things I’ve noticed in the Abrahamic faith is that it’s theology is exclusively human focused and oriented. It isn’t universal or expanding across all of life. That’s why I think that the Bible was written and edited to put us front and center, as from my knowledge most human writers stick to writing about their view of the experience of humanity.

[John Dule]

This thread provides yet another addition to the already insurmountable mass of evidence that "religion" and "philosophy" do not belong on the same board.

[afleitch]

I mean as a thought experiment any god that sends Dave the unbeliever to hell,  Mike the believer in something else to hell but loyal Fido to heaven because he was useful to humans would be morally questionable. It is more reasonable as a concept if god's redemption is universal, taking it to it's widest form.

[PSOL]

Is there biblical precedent that show that animals have a soul or not in the Bible? Are they just there as mindless creatures for our use?

C’mon you scriptural readers, there has to be an answer to this on any possible biblical position?

[TJ in Oregon]

Is there biblical precedent that show that animals have a soul or not in the Bible? Are they just there as mindless creatures for our use?

C’mon you scriptural readers, there has to be an answer to this on any possible biblical position?

To provide a little background here, there's a distinction between different usages of the word soul that are important. Our word soul comes through the Latin anima, which is translated as soul, but can also mean something closer to 'life principle' than how most people today understand the word soul. So in that context, yes, animals definitely have souls. This is in contrast to the word spirit, which is often used in the Bible to refer to the supernatural component of personhood, which people will commonly mean when they use the word 'soul' today. It's also worth noting that Biblical passages sometimes use the word 'soul' to encompass both the flesh and spirit, and sometimes just the spirit.

So moving right along beyond that, we do not have a clear revelation on whether or not animals go to heaven, but, the conventional understanding is that individual animals have souls but lack immortality cease to exist upon death. That being said, the Bible contains descriptions of heaven that include animals.  The conventional answer to this is usually that there will be dogs in heaven but not the same dog as your dog here on earth. But this is also speculative.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Animals dont have souls, people do, that's why there is a belief of reincarnation

[Oswald Acted Alone, You Kook]

Yes, of course. Heaven is full of animals.Your dog, however, is of unknown status.

[bagelman]

If there is a heaven, most dogs go there. Not most pit bulls or bad dogs.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

We should ask our extra terrestrial ancestors if all dogs go to heaven. In reality, reincarnation or resurrection of the soul involves humans, not beast

[Stand With Israel. Crush Hamas]

If there is a heaven, they basically have to be, no? Because so many people would be unhappy as long as they didn't have their dogs there. So you don't even need to debate whether dogs "can go to heaven" on their own merits - they'll be brought there to fulfill the promise of heaven for us.

[Statilius the Epicurean]

If there is a heaven, they basically have to be, no? Because so many people would be unhappy as long as they didn't have their dogs there. So you don't even need to debate whether dogs "can go to heaven" on their own merits - they'll be brought there to fulfill the promise of heaven for us.

Wouldn't this logic apply to loved ones?

I understood the Christian claim as heaven was something like being in total communion with God, which is perfect happiness in and of itself.

[RI]

If there is a heaven, they basically have to be, no? Because so many people would be unhappy as long as they didn't have their dogs there.

People only say such things because they are have little understanding (or a complete rejection) of the Christian vision of heaven, joy, and creation. Everything good they find in a dog only exists as a reflection of the innate and infinitely more full goodness of God who put it there. If someone truly loves dogs without loving their creator, then they create an idol of creation (and of themselves-- what they love, if not God's, must be a construct of their own design and thus that "love" is ultimately narcissistic), and I doubt they would have interest in or the ability to attain heaven in the first place.

[John Dule]

If there is a heaven, they basically have to be, no? Because so many people would be unhappy as long as they didn't have their dogs there.

People only say such things because they are have little understanding (or a complete rejection) of the Christian vision of heaven, joy, and creation. Everything good they find in a dog only exists as a reflection of the innate and infinitely more full goodness of God who put it there. If someone truly loves dogs without loving their creator, then they create an idol of creation (and of themselves-- what they love, if not God's, must be a construct of their own design and thus that "love" is ultimately narcissistic), and I doubt they would have interest in or the ability to attain heaven in the first place.

....

Seriously mods, we should really make separate boards for "religion" and "philosophy."