On the Nature of Non-Human Entities.

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Please tell me your religious affiliation, and then respond to the questions below.

Do animals have souls? Plants? Bacteria? Non-living entities?

If the don’t, are they conscious of God? And how is that possible without a soul?

Animals can clearly make choices, so do they have Reason? And can they obey and/or disobey God? And if so, does such a choice make them righteous or sinful?
 
I am Catholic.

Now, I may be wrong about this, but it is my understanding that only humans have an immortal soul. All other living creatures, such as animals and plants, have mortal souls that exist as long as they live, but are not immortal. I cannot remember the words for these types of souls.

Only humans are made in the image and likeness of God. This means that we have intellect, are capable of complex thought including the eternal, have a capacity to love and to put others before ourselves, and have free will. As a result of the fall, we can judge good and evil. This was not needed in the garden, as there was only one rule. Anyway, animals, no matter how smart, cannot consider the eternal and do not have free will. They are governed by their instincts and basic drives. The cannot defy God as men can.

Non-living things have no form of souls at all.

All of creation knows God. Only man can ignore that knowldge.
 
ralphinal said:
I am Catholic.

Now, I may be wrong about this, but it is my understanding that only humans have an immortal soul. All other living creatures, such as animals and plants, have mortal souls that exist as long as they live, but are not immortal. I cannot remember the words for these types of souls.

Only humans are made in the image and likeness of God. This means that we have intellect, are capable of complex thought including the eternal, have a capacity to love and to put others before ourselves, and have free will. As a result of the fall, we can judge good and evil. This was not needed in the garden, as there was only one rule. Anyway, animals, no matter how smart, cannot consider the eternal and do not have free will. They are governed by their instincts and basic drives. The cannot defy God as men can.

Non-living things have no form of souls at all.

All of creation knows God. Only man can ignore that knowldge.
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Thank you for your reply. I have some issues though:
  1. When an animal creates and uses tools, doesn’t that require forethought, speculation, and conceptualisation? Would that not, then, be a rational process, as opposed to instinctual?
  2. If they cannot defy God, and therefore sin, what was Christ’s justification in cursing the fig tree? He obviously felt it did something worthy of negative consequences. If it had no freewill, and cannot defy God, does that mean that God told it to do something worthy of punishment? Doesn’t that violate the all-loving nature of God? 🤷
  3. When a animal risks its life to protect offspring, isn’t that a selfless act, and therefore a act of love?
 
Zabdi_Premjit said:
Please tell me your religious affiliation, and then respond to the questions below.

Do animals have souls? Plants? Bacteria? Non-living entities?
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I am Lutheran.

No. Animals do not have immortal souls. Only humans were gifted with the breath of God (ruach).
If the don’t, are they conscious of God? And how is that possible without a soul?
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They are not aware of God as we are. They perform their functions according to how God created them.
Animals can clearly make choices, so do they have Reason? And can they obey and/or disobey God? And if so, does such a choice make them righteous or sinful?
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They do not possess reason. They possess instinct. They behave, react, and “make choices” according to their survival instincts. They cannot disobey God or obey God. They exist and do what they are made to do. In this way they obey God the way gravity obeys God. They cannot sin, but they do suffer the effects of living in a sinful world and are cursed along with humanity because Adam represented all of creation as well as humanity.
 
Zabdi_Premjit said:
Thank you for your reply. I have some issues though:
  1. When an animal creates and uses tools, doesn’t that require forethought, speculation, and conceptualisation? Would that not, then, be a rational process, as opposed to instinctual?
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Yes and no. Yes, it is advanced problem solving. Yes, it does require more complex thought than people give them credit for being capable of. However, it does not show that they have any means to consider the eternal. Nor does it show that they understand what we as humans would consider the “self”
  1. If they cannot defy God, and therefore sin, what was Christ’s justification in cursing the fig tree? He obviously felt it did something worthy of negative consequences. If it had no freewill, and cannot defy God, does that mean that God told it to do something worthy of punishment? Doesn’t that violate the all-loving nature of God? 🤷
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The Cursing of the Fig tree is one that I myself had a hard time understanding. The figs were not even is season. Why would Jesus do such a thing? Part of it is answered in his response to his followers: if they have faith, there is nothing that they cannot do. Second, this was during his last few days. He had entered triumphantly into Jerusalem. This tree knew who it was that asked for fruit, but it yeilded no fruit. Such as it is with those of us with faith but who yeild no fruit. We will wither and die as well. It was not a sin of the tree in the understanding of sin. Besides, God does love all of creation, there is no reason to think that his love for a tree is the same as his love for man.
  1. When a animal risks its life to protect offspring, isn’t that a selfless act, and therefore a act of love?
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No. That is an act of genetic preservation. If an animal has its scent changed, its parents will ignore it.

Love, as we should properly understand it, is willingly putting someone elses needs above our own. Yes, that animal is defending her young, but it is for her own benefit (preservation of species). Now, if an animal fought to defend another species, we can talk…
 
ralphinal said:
Yes and no. Yes, it is advanced problem solving. Yes, it does require more complex thought than people give them credit for being capable of. However, it does not show that they have any means to consider the eternal. Nor does it show that they understand what we as humans would consider the “self”

The Cursing of the Fig tree is one that I myself had a hard time understanding. The figs were not even is season. Why would Jesus do such a thing? Part of it is answered in his response to his followers: if they have faith, there is nothing that they cannot do. Second, this was during his last few days. He had entered triumphantly into Jerusalem. This tree knew who it was that asked for fruit, but it yeilded no fruit. Such as it is with those of us with faith but who yeild no fruit. We will wither and die as well. It was not a sin of the tree in the understanding of sin. Besides, God does love all of creation, there is no reason to think that his love for a tree is the same as his love for man.

No. That is an act of genetic preservation. If an animal has its scent changed, its parents will ignore it.

Love, as we should properly understand it, is willingly putting someone elses needs above our own. Yes, that animal is defending her young, but it is for her own benefit (preservation of species). Now, if an animal fought to defend another species, we can talk…
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Awesome response, man 👍
 
Zabdi_Premjit said:
  1. If they cannot defy God, and therefore sin, what was Christ’s justification in cursing the fig tree? He obviously felt it did something worthy of negative consequences. If it had no freewill, and cannot defy God, does that mean that God told it to do something worthy of punishment? Doesn’t that violate the all-loving nature of God? 🤷
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You have to examine the context of what Jesus does here in relationship to His Messianic purpose.

Mark 11:12-14: On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. And he said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it.

The incident has nothing to do with the tree having been evil. It is a narration of judgment. The fig tree represents apostate Israel. A tree full of leaves normally should have fruit, but this one was cursed because it had none. The fact that the cleansing of the temple (vv. 15–19) is sandwiched between the two parts of the account of the fig tree (vv. 12–14 and vv. 20–25) may underscore the theme of judgment. Jesus pronounces judgment on the self-centered and fruitless piety of Israel and thereby calls His people to repentance.
 
Zabdi_Premjit said:
Please tell me your religious affiliation, and then respond to the questions below.
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Buddhist.
Do animals have souls? Plants? Bacteria? Non-living entities?
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Neither humans nor animals nor anything else has a soul. All things are anatman - soulless.
If the don’t, are they conscious of God? And how is that possible without a soul?
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Which god? Buddhist Scripture contains tens of thousands of gods, none of whom are of any great impoerance. All living beings are capable of attaining nirvana, including all humans, all animals, all gods and all demons.
Animals can clearly make choices, so do they have Reason?
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To some extent, yes. A gorilla has more reason than an ant.
And can they obey and/or disobey God?
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Irrelevant. To the extent that they can make intentional choices they are subject to moral law (karma) as are all other living beings, gods included.
And if so, does such a choice make them righteous or sinful?
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Sin is not a Buddhist concept. There are skilful and unskilful actions which they can chose to the extent that they are capable of choice.

rossum
 
I am a Catholic, and also I love and revere God’s world. Sometimes I think trees are the most evolved beings - gentle giants. Yes I believe everything that God created in this world has a soul. Because God created everything in this world, and saw that it was good.

And yes, I think Man is the only being that can sin. That is why we need religion, because all the other beings in this world obey God and be what He created without complaint. Only mankind is willful and tries to get more power, more money, (more, more, more). Only mankind can cheat and lie and murder and covet, etc.
 
The phrase that keeps alluding everyone is material soul vs. immortal soul. Animals have the former, humans the latter.
 
CHRISTINE77 said:
I am a Catholic, and also I love and revere God’s world. Sometimes I think trees are the most evolved beings - gentle giants. Yes I believe everything that God created in this world has a soul. Because God created everything in this world, and saw that it was good.

And yes, I think Man is the only being that can sin. That is why we need religion, because all the other beings in this world obey God and be what He created without complaint. Only mankind is willful and tries to get more power, more money, (more, more, more). Only mankind can cheat and lie and murder and covet, etc.
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Thank you for being the kind of Catholic you are, Christine! I agree with what you said.

I have a problem because my religion (traditional Judaism) teaches that animals do not have souls in the same way humans do. In fact their teaching is very much like the traditional Catholic one on that. But I don’t agree.

Anyone who has ever had animals as pets, and developed friendships with them, know they each have their own distinct personalities. Animals have also been known to rescue humans from certain death. I find it very hard to believe that such beings will end their entire existence once they die! (Incidentally, Orthodox Judaism also teaches that unborn babies do not have souls until they are 40 days old outside the womb…a belief I also do not agree with. I believe ensoulment takes place at conception.)

St Francis of Assisi called the animals his brothers and sisters. I think perhaps he saw things more along the lines that we do.

I will say one thing: traditional Judaism has a principle which all religious Jews must adhere to, and it is the basis for the humane nature of the laws of kashrut (kosher): tsa’ar ba’alei chayim, which means we are to be kind to animals always, and never cause them needless suffering. In fact if an animal is killed in a way that caused them pain, their meat is not kosher. This is also why Judaism forbids hunting…because we cannot be certain the animal died without suffering.

Judaism teaches that a reason why we must be extra kind to animals is because (they believe) that they do not exist after this life…so we must make this life as pleasant for them as possible!
 
Okay. After thinking about it more, and talking to some people,here’s how I view things. The earthly world has three classes of “awarenesses”:
  1. “Simple Awareness” - Seeing as all creation was created by God, and is wholly dependent on him, everything (living and non-living) is, in some way, aware of God. Of course, I wouldn’t say that non-living things have understanding or are conscious, but I think they still have some basic awareness of the Divine.
  2. “Mortal Soul” - Bacteria, fungi, plants, animals, etc. have more than simple awareness, they have souls. This gives them life, instinct and emotions. Judging from the fact that they can create tools, they must also be able to plan, conceptualise, speculate and think logically about concrete things.
  3. “Immortal Soul” - Man is unique from other animals in that his sole is not earthy, but spiritual. It is similar to, but still lower than, the souls of angels. Thus, it possesses all the attributes of Simple Awareness and Mortal Souls, but additionally possesses immortality and the capability to process abstract concepts such as love, truth, good, evil, etc. (It might not be correct to say “souls of angels”, since they have no body are souls, but you know what I mean. 😉 )
 
I think that you have the basic understanding of it, which is about all we can have. 👍
 
Thanks, Sepharad. Yes, I agree with you that the Kosher way of killing animals is the best. Reverence for all life is most important. Cruelty to animals is awful. God made such a beautiful world, full of all kinds of life, we all should take care of His creation.
 
Every creature is important to God. Hence the words Creator and creature. Many creatures use tools, and all are intelligent to some degree. Tools and intelligence do not equal having souls.
 
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