Do animals go to Heaven?

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Brendan said:
No.

Aquinas covered that one.

The purpose of a soul is to animate the matter of the body.

The soul of plants and animals provide animation, but only the soul of humans is spritual and immortal.

The souls of plants and animals cease to exist at the time of their deaths.

So plants and animals cannot go to Heaven, as their soul no longer exists

That is NOT to say that there will not be plants and animals after the Second coming, the New Earth will be populated with them. But they will not be the Fido or Fluffy that we knew in our mortal lives.
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Hog Pock, animals go to heaven they remember and they love and if God is love then go figure.I claim every animal i see that is road kill and pray for it to go to heaven all my pets they will b e there again for God promised to give his children all the desires of their hearts and mine is to have all my animals back to love them without end
 
FaithJoy said:
God creates in the name of perfection. People who decide to turn away from God ,is not God’s fault obviously. Animals are created in God’s perfection and don’t have the ability to turn away from God. When I say perfection, I mean all the fullness of it including creating for the purpose of forever or eternity, absolutely NO death. God doesn’t have the ability to create without perfection, therefore God creates animals for the purpose for forever. Humans messed up the perfection part of that plan, not animals. Another way to look at it, animals are the victims of our nasty and destructive ways upon God’s plan of perfection. Jesus WILL make all things new. When I say ALL, I mean the fullness of all things,including animals who died because of our sin nature.Our sin really made all of God’s creation suffer, not only to ourselves.
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:)Oh You wonderful very intelligent person, this is how i feel also only small minded people think God would bring something so innocent and loving into the world to just suffer and die. NO God has an eagle at his thrown and the darn eagle talks. It’s in Revelations, it praises the Lord.My cat knows love and talks an d say/s I LOVED YOU and he says MOMY,Jesus, heaven.Yeah,He says it without me asking him to.
 
thistle said:
I agree with you but if you read the comments of the people who are fantatical pet lovers it often appears that being in the sight of God is not sufficient for them and they want their animals to make them complete. Yes I know that’s silly but reading the comments in the many threads on this topic it appears many feel that way.
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I have to agree. Our society has given “pets” a higher honor than their fellow human being. Even the worst of the worst are greater than any pet. I am a huge animal lover, not enough to be vegetarian, but close enough, and sometimes I have to check my self and realize that my dog is not greater than the poor man begging me for money, or that murderer sitting on death row. We has humans have a secial dignity, that is we are children of God, our fellow animals are not.
 
Some people are really going beyond what an animal is. Animals do not have free will, they are driven by instinct! Even your beloved pets are driven by instinct. An animal simply cannot love. Love is a spiritual (angelic) and human emotion. Angels share the perfect love of God, they reflect it as “mirrors” of light. We humans are truly special because we share love, for God, or for each other. Animals do not have this ability. They may have emotions like sadness, pain, even “joy”. But these emotions are driven by instinct. An animal realizes that food, shelter, and attention comes from their master so this drives the animal to remain faithful to “the hand that feeds”. Animals are intelligent, but they fall short of being able to love. I know it sounds harsh but we have to be realistic.
 
Is it so hard to believe that someones pet might be brought to heaven? Animals have material souls that do not extend to eternity. That said, if God knows it would make someone perfectly happy to have their pet, who was a beloved member of their family, than why would He not? He is love itself. God would understand this as a necessity for perfect happiness by some people. If God can recreate a persons soul who was cremated and scatter to the wind, he could surely recreate a material soul He Himself created in the first place, to grant that person perfect happiness. Would He? Obviously none of us living can say. But I think it is uncharitable to say that absolutely no way will pets be allowed in Heaven. Anyone who tells my dad that our beloved Holly might not be allowed in heaven would probably have the chance to ask God themselves lololol I’m just saying, pets are just animals. There’s no arguing that. But to say they can not love is asinine. Their love for their owners is deeper than that for men with their neighbors. Maybe that love is based on instinct but it does not take away from the fact it is love. God made animals just as He did humans. It would be foolish to say these creatures were not made to love. Every creature was a thought of God. That itself is an act of love. Think about it my friends. God Bless 👍
 
BigFellaMick said:
Is it so hard to believe that someones pet might be brought to heaven? Animals have material souls that do not extend to eternity. That said, if God knows it would make someone perfectly happy to have their pet, who was a beloved member of their family, than why would He not? He is love itself. God would understand this as a necessity for perfect happiness by some people. If God can recreate a persons soul who was cremated and scatter to the wind, he could surely recreate a material soul He Himself created in the first place, to grant that person perfect happiness. Would He? Obviously none of us living can say. But I think it is uncharitable to say that absolutely no way will pets be allowed in Heaven. Anyone who tells my dad that our beloved Holly might not be allowed in heaven would probably have the chance to ask God themselves lololol I’m just saying, pets are just animals. There’s no arguing that. ** But to say they can not love is asinine**. Their love for their owners is deeper than that for men with their neighbors. Maybe that love is based on instinct but it does not take away from the fact it is love. God made animals just as He did humans. It would be foolish to say these creatures were not made to love. Every creature was a thought of God. That itself is an act of love. Think about it my friends. God Bless 👍
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Seeing that you want to go there and use that type language I would ask then prove it. Prove that an animal does have the same capability of love as we do. Another thing you said is that the soul is destroyed because of cremation. The soul cannot be destroyed simple as that. Out material bodies can be destroyed, but it’s those bodies that will be risen and transformed, not the soul. The soul is eternal. What you claim is the God does not fulfill perfect happiness for some and that a person would need extra in order to achieve eternal happiness, that my friend is asinine! As I mention before I am all for animals going to heaven or at least being with us at the end of time, but some of you here really need realize you are putting the animal equal if not greater then a human.
 
Sister_Angel said:
:)Oh You wonderful very intelligent person, this is how i feel also only small minded people think God would bring something so innocent and loving into the world to just suffer and die. NO God has an eagle at his thrown and the darn eagle talks. It’s in Revelations, it praises the Lord.My cat knows love and talks an d say/s I LOVED YOU and he says MOMY,Jesus, heaven.Yeah,He says it without me asking him to.
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You do know that revelation is filled with much symbolism right? The eagle possibly represents one of the authors of the Gospels.

One thing is that Christ does have his own white horse 🙂 He will ride it on the day of his return.
 
Why is this thread still going on? I thought it ended like a month ago xD. And really, is it that important? God has the ability to put anything He wants in heaven, and we can see if He has animals if and when we get there.
 
archangel04 said:
Seeing that you want to go there and use that type language I would ask then prove it. Prove that an animal does have the same capability of love as we do. Another thing you said is that the soul is destroyed because of cremation. The soul cannot be destroyed simple as that. Out material bodies can be destroyed, but it’s those bodies that will be risen and transformed, not the soul. The soul is eternal. What you claim is the God does not fulfill perfect happiness for some and that a person would need extra in order to achieve eternal happiness, that my friend is asinine! As I mention before I am all for animals going to heaven or at least being with us at the end of time, but some of you here really need realize you are putting the animal equal if not greater then a human.
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If you require proof for an animals capacity to love then I invite you to meet my puppy Holly. There is not one person my family knows who met her who hasn’t fallen in love with her. I do not place animals above OR on equal footing with man. I’m simply saying, it’s not impossible to assume that God would restore the souls of pets to complete families if that was something important to them. I mean if you make it to Heaven it’s not inconceivable to think God won’t spoil them a little 👍 He is a loving and just Father after all!
 
LittleSoldier said:
How can a human being with an IQ of 11 choose God?
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You are so very nice and i to believe like you that if God is so big and has animals in his kingdom now then why would he not let more enter in? They do not sin as man do and they don’t need a spirit for they were made for mans enjoyment God let man have dominion over all the animals in the world and we can see that most animals care about their own and even nurture other animals just to protect their species.OH! Animals can love for God made them and God is love! Blessings to you and keep believing:)
 
archangel04 said:
You do know that revelation is filled with much symbolism right? The eagle possibly represents one of the authors of the Gospels.

One thing is that Christ does have his own white horse 🙂 He will ride it on the day of his return.
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Your not against anyone believing in heaven for animals are you?Saint Francis would be happy if he could have what he loved the most in his life and that was animals those meant allot to him.God will give us the desire of our hearts if we trust and believe in his Son and eternal life,do you agree? Father loves birds and i believe that part is not symbolic.👍
 
archangel04 said:
Some people are really going beyond what an animal is. Animals do not have free will, they are driven by instinct! Even your beloved pets are driven by instinct. An animal simply cannot love. Love is a spiritual (angelic) and human emotion. Angels share the perfect love of God, they reflect it as “mirrors” of light. We humans are truly special because we share love, for God, or for each other. Animals do not have this ability. They may have emotions like sadness, pain, even “joy”. But these emotions are driven by instinct. An animal realizes that food, shelter, and attention comes from their master so this drives the animal to remain faithful to “the hand that feeds”. Animals are intelligent, but they fall short of being able to love. I know it sounds harsh but we have to be realistic.
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You have to be realistic not me for i can believe in what i feel is right for me as i am not you,and my love for animals are far greater then anyones mere opinion.🙂
 
I think I would have to say that no one knows whether or not pets will be in heaven. As someone who went to Catholic school for 12 years, I also was taught by the sisters that they don’t have immortal souls. I also don’t believe that anyone here puts animal life above human life. It is one of the downward spirals of our present society that many who are abortion activists are also animal activists. I don’t think anyone would deny the toll that the abortion holocaust and lack of regard for the sanctity of life in general have taken on our world. It is what we consider in our house the most important issue we face as a society, along with child abuse; every child deserves a safe place. We all know that.
Does imagining a new heaven and new earth where God will wipe the tears from our eyes populated with dogs and cats mean we don’t understand what’s important? I don’t think so. I am a neonatal nurse. I have seen many children die over time. A vision of a green meadow with wild flowers where these children are healthy and well and romp with dogs comforts me; not heretical, and helps me do my job through the sad times. When I am sad, my dogs come to me and a put my hand on their heads and I feel comfort. All they want is love. I look in their soulful eyes and feel their loyalty and have to believe that a God who created something that gives us such joy, now that our children have grown up and gone, well, anything is possible.
And if I am going to err, let me err on the side of compassion.

Here is a link you may enjoy that says it all for me:

petside.com/article/letter-love-postal-worker-touching-story
Code: 
 What a loving compassionate person, and what a treasured memory for that little girl when she is an adult, whether she believes dogs go to heaven or not.  My 10 cents.
I have enjoyed reading all the posts.
 
I think that people who can only conceive of heaven as being for human beings are too narrow minded for heaven.

God is bigger than that.

Shouldn’t we be?
 
Jerry-Jet said:
I think that people who can only conceive of heaven as being for human beings are too narrow minded for heaven.

God is bigger than that.

Shouldn’t we be?
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Let’s think about a good excuse we’ll tell the cows and pigs and all those other animals we enjoyed having on our plate and eating, when we meet them in heaven :crying:

Yours
Bruno
:extrahappy:
 
BrunoMaria said:
Let’s think about a good excuse we’ll tell the cows and pigs and all those other animals we enjoyed having on our plate and eating, when we meet them in heaven :crying:

Yours
Bruno
:extrahappy:
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Actually, there will be far more cows, pigs, chickens, etc, in Heaven, than there would be if human beings did not raise them for food. So it balances out 🙂

ICXC NIKA
 
BrunoMaria said:
Let’s think about a good excuse we’ll tell the cows and pigs and all those other animals we enjoyed having on our plate and eating, when we meet them in heaven :crying:

Yours
Bruno
:extrahappy:
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I think Love carries far into the future of the kingdom of God!🙂 With God ALL things are possible,stay true and he will give you all the desires of your heart within limit. If you love your pets why not be able to have them in heaven? He is making a new world without death why would animals feel death when they did not sin? Why wouldn 't they feel eternal life to?
 
Psalms 37:4-8 NKJV) Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. {5} Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass. {6} He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, And your justice as the noonday. {7} Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass. {8} Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; Do not fret; it only causes harm.

(Mark 11:24 NRSV) So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

👍
 
Hi, Sister Angel,

I just joined the thread … and the first thing that surprised me was the results of the voting … it is a 3-way tie! Amazing. Now, I voted that animals do not go to heaven basing my vote on what I recall St. Thomas addressing.

But, this lack of an immortal soul should in no way give anyone the idea that how we treat any animal. God gave us the command to subdue the earth (Gen 1:28) and I see this is raising animals specifically for food (veggies, too, for that matter - but, that is another story…🙂 ) and raising them for scientific research (e.g., maintianing animals with specific strains of genetic strains so that drugs can be tests specifically for maintaining human health) and, of course, raising them for companionship. Such ‘subduing’ however, does not involve the torturing of animals - inflicting pain for human amusement (like raising dogs to fight one another). No matter what, we humans are responsible for our actions and will be judged by God on our entire lives.

Yes, of course, with God all things are possible. To the best of my knowledge, animals going to heaven (or not) has not been a dogmatic pronouncement by the Catholic Church. Go ahead if you think they go to heaven - that is really fine with me… 🙂 My thinking, however, is that with all the real problems our Chruch is experiencing (at least in the USA) with our pro-death governmental /anti-God policies, I was thinking that maybe there were more pressing issues to address.
QUOTE=Sister Angel;8518570]I think Love carries far into the future of the kingdom of God!🙂 With God ALL things are possible,stay true and he will give you all the desires of your heart within limit. If you love your pets why not be able to have them in heaven? He is making a new world without death why would animals feel death when they did not sin? Why wouldn 't they feel eternal life to?
 
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