Dogs have souls?

[IvanOng]

From its expressions and actions, its so much like humans, just that they couldn't talk. Any1 here can explain the definition of having soul and spirit?

 

[PorcelainHeart]

Everything has a soul, dogs, plants and birds. If it breathes, feels and moves it has a soul, even though most christians will tell you most animals don't have a soul. I do know the bible says only we have souls, I just don't believe it.

 

[Sketcher]

I for one do not believe it, since man is the focus of the Bible and God created us seperately from the animals. I love my dog, but Christianity can't really apply to him. I can tell him to sit but I can't make him understand the Gospel message. I leave plants and animals to God, who created them.

Oh and Marmaladegirl22, I don't mean this as an attack, but you would do very well to believe the Bible and only the Bible. This is because there are lies out there and the Liar can hurt you very deeply. He successfully put me into a deep depression and a good many people thought I was going crazy. What I was believing made a lot of sense, but it was not Biblical and not true. Yet I was continuing to hurt myself and letting the devil hurt me because it all seemed so right. But I found life, I rediscovered the truth, and God helped me to believe what was true & I hardened myself to what was false. I know first hand that lies can enslave you, but the truth can set you free.

 

[PorcelainHeart]

I know, but I kinda of have a different belief then most christians. I use to read the bible and go to church until I felt like what is the point. I met so many bad christians I was turned off by religion. I basically put the bible away and I hardly go to church, only because I'm sick of hypocrites. I know what the bible says, I know all about Jesus. I'm just not into organize religion anymore. I have my own personal relationship with GOD and it works fine, I feel his spirit truly in my life. I might not read the bible anymore or go to church, but I still talk to GOD and pray. He knows my great love for animals, and I feel he will let me have my pet in Heaven if I go.

 

[IvanOng]

Well I know the focus is on humans, but the bible didn't mention about any animal like dogs having souls.. Im curious... The only differences between humans and dogs arent just intelligence and appearance?

What's the meaning of having soul and spirit?? To be able to worship God?

 

[Adstar]

Well I know the focus is on humans, but the bible didn't mention about any animal like dogs having souls.. Im curious... The only differences between humans and dogs arent just intelligence and appearance?

What's the meaning of having soul and spirit?? To be able to worship God?

The differences between animals and people are what they are. Whatever the case we can trust that God will do what is right. Animals will be a part of Jesus's kingdom. scriptures says:

Isaiah 11

The Reign of Jesse’s Offspring

1 There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse,
And a Branch shall grow out of his roots.
2 The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him,
The Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
The Spirit of counsel and might,
The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD.
3 His delight is in the fear of the LORD,
And He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes,
Nor decide by the hearing of His ears;
4 But with righteousness He shall judge the poor,
And decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth,
And with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked.
5 Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins,
And faithfulness the belt of His waist.
6 “ The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb,
The leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
The calf and the young lion and the fatling together;
And a little child shall lead them.
7 The cow and the bear shall graze;
Their young ones shall lie down together;
And the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
8 The nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole,
And the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den.
9 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain,
For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD
As the waters cover the sea.


All Praise The Ancient Of Days

 

[TheListener]

Dog's don't have souls. If they did we should be teaching them the Bible.

 

[PorcelainHeart]

Mentally retarded people can't accept GOD and they have a soul. Just because you can't read or accept Jesus christ doesn't mean you don't have a soul.

 

[DIVA_for_Christ]

From its expressions and actions, its so much like humans, just that they couldn't talk. Any1 here can explain the definition of having soul and spirit?

I will explain the best way I can with what was revealed to me. Every living creature has a soul and a spirit. With that said, every creature does not have the spirit of God dwelling in them, He mandated that for us.

First I will say that our soul is made up from our mind, will and emotions. Our soul will follow whatever is stronger in us between our spirit man and our flesh. Here are some visuals:

This is us as non-believers soul is closed off from spirit of God because we are spiritually dead. Yet our soul is being controlled by our flesh and Satan has full access to us.

God​

Spirit​

​

(soul)​

Flesh​

Satan ​

This is us as a new Christian. Our soul is now opened up to the spirit of God and our flesh. This is where the warfare really gets crazy and a whole lot of confusion, doubts, etc. takes places. One minute you can believe your saved, the next minute you doubt everything about God. It's a back and fourth fight. Through persistance and consistence in our seeking God we get stronger and our soul stops listening to the flesh.

​

​

God​

Spirit​

(soul)​

Flesh​

Satan​

This is us as mature Christians, one who is moving from glory to glory with God. We still are tempted by Satan but our soul knows the right thing to do because we close the door to the flesh. Do we still act out by being disobedient from time to time, yes, becasue we are human and none of us are perfect. However, when we mess up we repent and move on. We continue to seek the things of God and our soul is lead by the spirit. We have doubts from time to time about God doing what He said but we hold onto our faith because of all of the experiences with Him we've already had. He has revealed Himself to us so much that there is no denying who He is.​

God​

Spirit​

(soul)​

Flesh​

Satan​

Hope I helped!

 

[TheListener]

Mentally retarded people can't accept GOD and they have a soul. Just because you can't read or accept Jesus christ doesn't mean you don't have a soul.

We're talking about dogs not mentally retarded people.

 

[Live2Worship]

I know, but I kinda of have a different belief then most christians. I use to read the bible and go to church until I felt like what is the point. I met so many bad christians I was turned off by religion. I basically put the bible away and I hardly go to church, only because I'm sick of hypocrites. I know what the bible says, I know all about Jesus. I'm just not into organize religion anymore. I have my own personal relationship with GOD and it works fine, I feel his spirit truly in my life. I might not read the bible anymore or go to church, but I still talk to GOD and pray. He knows my great love for animals, and I feel he will let me have my pet in Heaven if I go.

All I can say is you are headed down a dangerous path. By seperating your self from christian fellowship and not reading God's word for us you are making yourself an easy target for Satan.

As for hypocrites, Christianity is not about eligon, it is about having a relationship with God through Jesus, religon is not a representation of God but of man''s pathetic attempt to 'do some of the work himself"!

Only God can save us, leave the hypocrites to themselves!

 

[PorcelainHeart]

I already know I'm on a bad path, I just can't get into the whole religion thing. Plus, I can't seem to get into the bible. I basically worship GOD and Jesus in my own way. I don't think I have to have a name for my beliefs.

 

[charita]

Defination of a "SOUL":

In the Bible "soul" is translated from the Hebrew word "ne'phesh" and the greek word "psy-khe". Bible usage shows the soul to be a person or an animal (or the life that a person or an animal enjoys.

What does the Bible say to help us understand what the soul is?

Gen 2:7 ...
"God proceeded to form the man out of dust from the ground and to blow into hisnostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living soul." Notice that this does not say that man was given a soul, but that he became a soul, which mean a living person. The part of the Hebrew word here rendered "soul" is ne'phesh.

Gen. 9:6...
"Besides that, your blood of your souls (or lives) shall I ask back." (here the soul is said to have blood.)

Josh. 11:11...
"They went striking every soul (Hebrew, ne'phesh) that was in it with the sword" The soul is here shown to be something that can be touched by the sword, so this souls could not have been spirits.

Where does the Bible say that animals have souls?

Gen. 1:20...
"God went on to say; Let the waters swarm forth a swarm of living souls....., And God proceeded to create the great sea monsters and every living soul that moves about, which the waters swarmed forth according to their kinds, and every winged flying creature according to its kind". (Also here "soul" is orginally translated from the word Hebrew word ne'phesh) Even some translators use other words like "creature" or "things".

 

[Peripatetic]

This may not be the proper or "official" definition, but I think of the Soul as being all the attributes that make a person who they are. If you think of the "triune person", the body is just that... flesh. The Spirit is God inside you. While the Soul is what defines who you are (personality, likes/dislikes, what you think about, temperament, etc.) When we think of our Soul moving on after we die, I like to think that all of who we are will move on... the remaining sin and evil that was not sanctified during life will be burned away (1 Corinthians 3:15), but much of our personality/soul will stay in tact to inhabit our glorified bodies.

There are personality attributes of a dog, so in a way, I guess they have a Soul. I don't believe that animals have the Holy Spirit working through them, however, and I don't think they can accept grace or salvation.

 

[childofmercy]

From its expressions and actions, its so much like humans, just that they couldn't talk. Any1 here can explain the definition of having soul and spirit?

The definiton I like is the spirit is the intellect of the soul. The soul is your spiritual body as opposed to your flesh body.

I've always believed animals do have a soul. So when I saw your question I set out to study if it were true. This is what I found.

Proverbs 12:10
A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast: but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.

In the strong's bible dictionary are the definitions of the two words bolded in this verse.

life: ref 5315 .. nephesh .. used 90 times in the bible .. life; breath; wind; soul ..

beast: ref 929 .. used 83 times .. animal, beast

It's the only reference I could find showing an animal has a soul. Works for me. I hope this helps.

 

[childofmercy]

Hello

The definiton I like is the spirit is the intellect of the soul. The soul is your spiritual body as opposed to your flesh body.

I've always believed animals do have a soul. So when I saw your question I set out to study if it were true. This is what I found.

Proverbs 12:10
A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast: but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.

In the strong's bible dictionary are the definitions of the two words bolded in this verse.

life: ref 5315 .. nephesh .. used 90 times in the bible .. life; breath; wind; soul ..

beast: ref 929 .. used 83 times .. animal, beast

It's the only reference I could find showing an animal has a soul. Works for me. I hope this helps.

I decided to add this because I think it is of interest to the question. First I wanted to add that the thing that seperates us from animals is we were made in God's image.

This verse is interesting. It seems animals recognize Jesus and worship Him in heaven.

Revelation 5:8
And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odors, which are the prayers of the saints.

beasts: ref: 2226 .. used 7 times .. living animal

We know there will be animals in heaven from these verses.

Isaiah 65:25
The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord.

Revelation 19:11
And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and true, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.

Zechariah 14:20
In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; and the pots in the Lord's house shall be like the bowls before the altar.

 

[chilehed]

From its expressions and actions, its so much like humans, just that they couldn't talk. Any1 here can explain the definition of having soul and spirit?

The word "soul" has its root in an ancient word which means "animating life-force", so by definition everything that is alive has a soul. Plants have one kind, animals have another, and human beings have yet another. Vegetative and animative souls are not eternal; when the plant or animal dies then its soul ceases to exist. Only human souls are eternal, and only human beings have bodies which express a person.

 

[reigningfish]

If you do a little bit of Googling, you'll find that there are a lot of passages of Scripture that folks use to insinuate that animals have souls. Some of them seem like a stretch to me. But there is this one passage that's always intrigued me...

Ecclesiastes 3:21 Who knows if the spirit of man rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?"

To me the writer of Ecclesiastes (probably Solomon) is either saying one of two things: a) animals do have spirits, but we don't know what happens to those spirits, or b) we don't know if they even have spirits.

God gave dogs (animals in general) one command, and they obey it pretty much perfectly: Be fruitful and multiply. They seem to me to be doing God's will for them, and dogs are a valuable part of God's creation. They are, like all things, a manifestation of God's will.

One thing is for sure, dogs are ALIVE and the SOURCE of LIFE is GOD. For this reason, I believe that dogs have a soul.

If you ever look into an intelligent dog's eyes, they look back at you, probing you just like you're probing them. There's something there.

Another thing I know is this: God is just. He will do the right thing with His creatures.

 

[Formerly_a_Saul]

I already know I'm on a bad path, I just can't get into the whole religion thing. Plus, I can't seem to get into the bible. I basically worship GOD and Jesus in my own way. I don't think I have to have a name for my beliefs.

Sorry, this sticks out to me more than the thread subject. You worship God and Jesus in your own way, yet you can't get into the Bible and you don't read it. And, you already know "all about" Jesus without reading the Bible? I would have to agree with the above poster, indeed you're on a bad path.

If you can't get motivated by the Word of God to learn more, then how do you have a relationship with Him? Also, do you still continue to dwell within sin?

Just so this post is topic-related, though it is unbiblical, I would like to think that animals have souls. I don't really worry about it though, God sorts everything accordingly when their final day comes.

 

[Bouke285]

Mentally retarded people can't accept GOD and they have a soul. Just because you can't read or accept Jesus christ doesn't mean you don't have a soul.

How do you know mentally retarded people cant accept Jesus? He can work in anyone if they are looking for the truth he will show them in the ways they understand.