Will Animals Go To Heaven?

[ironmonk]

[quote name='Aloysius' date='Mar 5 2004, 06:34 PM'] i'm relying on the Bible..... the infallible word of God according to the Church

it says God created man in His image and likeness, and God created animals for the sake of man.

ok, i meant to say that only humans are aware and think of their own mortality. animals do not sit and ponder what happens after they die.

i never claimed there was an infallible statement so there was no need to refute such a claim. am i not allowed to believe my above statement? am i not allowed to proclaim it to others? there's no infallible statement either way, that doesn't mean we don't talk about it and assume IronMonk is correct.

the Bible says He created man in His image and likeness. He did not create animals in His image and likeness unless you have some infallible statement that says He did. animals were created for the sake of humans. that is why i believe animals will only be in heaven for the sake of humans. [/quote]
Creating man in God's likeness does not equate to animals not having souls.

The bible does not state that Angels were created in God's likeness yet they are eternal.

It could be either way.

Some ECF's used the premise that animals did not have higher thinking to say that they do not have souls.

Well, they have higher thinking... we do not know if they can think of their own mortallity.... no animal wants to die... the animals did not eat of the tree of knowledge... we did. We did not know that we were naked and did not think about death until after eating of the forbidden fruit.

Using the "thinking of mortality" to justify who has a soul could be used justify infantcide.

Maybe animals have souls, maybe they don't... point being... if God wanted to give animals souls, He could have... we don't know.

We will never know until we die and go to Heaven....

The topic is pointless to argue because there can NEVER in our lifetime be an end to it.

God Bless,
ironmonk

[Aloysius]

blah. whatever.

i don't deny they have souls, just not immortal souls.

in any case, we know that animals were created for man's sake. we know that human life has more value than animal life. everything else is irrelevant. but i believe that if animal souls go to heaven it is for the sake of humans.

[nikkan_hanil]

Makes you wonder about those birds St. Francis preached to, eh?

[Craftygrl06]

WOW tough question You know i've been thinking about this issue lately, ever since i heard Jack van impe talk about it on his sunday morning show he his thought was taht Animals will be in heaven. I'm inclined to think the same thing. Though i'm not exactly sure how to reason it, the Church teaches that all God's creations are good because they are from God, so animals were created by God he must have some affinity for them. I mean i don't think every Dog that ever existed will exist in heaven, but you know animals obviously have some purpose in God's big plan. A priest i know has a dog who goes to the office with him and has been like a therapy dog for people who come to him in distress. Do you think that's God working though that dog to bring someone comfort or peace?
something to think about.
on a different topic. i just wanted to say that I LOVE THIS PHORUM it's lovely the people here have really great intelligent things to say in the most civil of manners. keep it up!

[Paladin D]

[quote name='Craftygrl06' date='Mar 22 2004, 11:17 PM'] WOW tough question You know i've been thinking about this issue lately, ever since i heard Jack van impe talk about it on his sunday morning show he his thought was taht Animals will be in heaven. I'm inclined to think the same thing. Though i'm not exactly sure how to reason it, the Church teaches that all God's creations are good because they are from God, so animals were created by God he must have some affinity for them. I mean i don't think every Dog that ever existed will exist in heaven, but you know animals obviously have some purpose in God's big plan. A priest i know has a dog who goes to the office with him and has been like a therapy dog for people who come to him in distress. Do you think that's God working though that dog to bring someone comfort or peace?
something to think about.
on a different topic. i just wanted to say that I LOVE THIS PHORUM it's lovely the people here have really great intelligent things to say in the most civil of manners. keep it up! [/quote]
Welcome to the board!

[DAF]

[quote]in heaven each of us will be happy but each of us at different levels but if what would make you truly happy is being with your favorite pet/s God might be able to make that happen[/quote]

But pets aren't what make us truly happy. The beatific vision will be our only occupation in heaven, we wont have time nor the will to think about how cute our idiot dogwas.

[hierochloe]

WOW how coincidental. I was thinking on this the other day while walking through a greenbelt to get a Wendy's frosty (mmmmmm). There were all kinds of birds and rabbits and all sorts of critters and plants thriving in this tiny wetland corridor in the middle of an urban area.

I have to admit the last person I expected to be open to the possibilty of animals having eternal souls would be IM! Cool.

Isn't it the case that humans are eventually united with physical bodies once again? I forget.

It is appealing to me to think that other lifeforms gain some reward for their service to God, through their service to humans if you will. Yes, I'm somewhat of a carebear that way - BUT, I do LUV mah ribs! :