Animal have souls, too!

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Like I said, that is an archaic term; I’m not up on the new terminology. Some of you people get too caught up on details!
The devil is in the details.
Perhaps that is why you are not doing your homework on this.

What exactly are you speaking of when you say ‘negative energies’?
 
This word “humane” is widely accepted, yet erroneously applied to animals.
I wasn’t applying it to animals, but to us.
It is sinful to treat animals as humans. It is proper to treat animals as animals.
Yes - but not to treat them as if we were animals ourselves. There’s a huge difference between being “humane” and applying human standards to animals.
 
Pets (or any non-rational animal) do not love. The will is required to love and animals to not have an intellect and a will. The intellect knows and the will seeks that knowledge.
Oh come on! You can’t tell me that pets are not capable of some form of love! Sure, they may not be capable of the kind of love that humans are capable of but humans aren’t capable of the kind of love that God gives us either. At least I don’t think we are. I may be wrong on that. But the point is, just because pets can’t love like we do doesn’t mean they can’t love at all.

I mean, if you would see the way my cat acts towards me at times, I think that would be proof enough that she does love me.
 
The devil is in the details.
Perhaps that is why you are not doing your homework on this.

What exactly are you speaking of when you say ‘negative energies’?
I’m not a doctor. If you want to know about medicine, contact your local traditional medicine doctor. Nearly every city has one or two.

Second, you’re making a big deal out of nothing, man. Reread my post and you’ll see that was just an afterthough, dude.

And, now, I think you should go eat a snack. Your obviously giant brain needs nourishment.
 
I think I’ve read an article about Pope John Paul II saying that animals have souls.
 
Oh come on! You can’t tell me that pets are not capable of some form of love! Sure, they may not be capable of the kind of love that humans are capable of but humans aren’t capable of the kind of love that God gives us either. At least I don’t think we are. I may be wrong on that. But the point is, just because pets can’t love like we do doesn’t mean they can’t love at all.

I mean, if you would see the way my cat acts towards me at times, I think that would be proof enough that she does love me.
I would term it “loyalty” but not as we think of it. Since animals are not able to think of themselves objectively, all of their responses to us are more instinct and conditioning than any true choice on their part. “Devotion” may also describe how they act toward us. They do not have emotions as we do, but they can show a type of devotion based on our bond with them. It is hard to break out of the idea that our pets can love us, because that is what we use to relate to others - Agape, Eros, and Philia. Really, an animal does not have the awareness to experience “love.”
 
Of course they do.
Without the soul, they would not be alive.

The real question is if the soul is immortal or not.
Does this mean plants have souls as well? They’re alive, but as for having souls - I doubt it.
 
Oh come on! You can’t tell me that pets are not capable of some form of love! Sure, they may not be capable of the kind of love that humans are capable of but humans aren’t capable of the kind of love that God gives us either. At least I don’t think we are. I may be wrong on that. But the point is, just because pets can’t love like we do doesn’t mean they can’t love at all.

I mean, if you would see the way my cat acts towards me at times, I think that would be proof enough that she does love me.
We are rational and animals are not, they have only the sensitive and vegetative souls. They would only tend toward something, but not out of knowing and willing.
God’s love is infinitely greater than ours, but we are in his image and likeness, animals are not.

Cats like people because people provide them with means to their ends. They stay there because of habit.
 
Who knows, maybe chimpanzees have souls too 😃 - we really don’t know what has a soul and what doesn’t (except that humans do - though we still don’t know where to draw the boundary).

Animals have spirit, not souls in traditional Catholic theology - but that is based on Aristotelian philosophy which is somewhat outdated now as with modern biolody we don’t need to invoke the animating principle to explain why animals ‘live’.
 
Animals have plenty of emotions, but they lack an intellect to understand those emotions, or to remember. For example, a pet given to a new owner. Unless your cat is overly hostile to strangers, it shouldn’t react too badly to new owners, assuming the new owners are nice people. Cats don’t have good memory, and thus you will be forgotten shortly enough. It’s not that the emotions the cat felt for you weren’t real, it’s just that you became less and less important as time went on, and it forgot you.
 
Hello,

My understanding as a Creationist, drawing upon the Holy Scriptures, is that humans and animals have souls, but not plants. Never does God use the word “living”, “life”, “death”, “dying”, etc. to refer to plants. But uses “green things” (Job 39:8) and “withering”. That is another clue as to why humans and animals were able to eat plants before the fall of mankind, since death (sin, disease, suffering, etc.) did not enter into the world until after the sin of Adam and Eve.

answersingenesis.org/articles/am/v1/n2/do-leaves-die
answersingenesis.org/articles/am/v3/n3/little-green-machines
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soul_in_the_Bible#Animals_as_Nephesh

As the Catholic church is open to creation science and animals being in heaven, i agree with both. In my understanding and belief, animals won’t be saved as humans will be saved, since animals cannot chose to sin, like humans (whom are in need to daily choose Jesus). But, since all of creation will one day be redeemed through Jesus Christ, i believe that will include animals. Just as Mary was full of grace and was still needing to be saved through the Cross (Luke 1:47), animals can be saved through the cross by no choice of their own (Romans 8:20-21). So in essence, the Cross of Jesus Christ redeems both humans and animals in three different ways, if you will.

I read on catholic.com that those animal souls that are bonded to human souls may be only the animals that go to heaven. Of course there is a lot of speculation…

What scriptures are out there stating that animals will not go to heaven?

Any thoughts? Thanks!

Brian
 
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