Do animals have souls?

Leevo · Mar 26, 2015

Do you guys believe that animals have souls? What evidence do you have to support your claim?

Pope Francis said and I quote "One day, we will see our animals again in the eternity of Christ. Paradise is open to all of God’s creatures" He was speaking pastorally when he said this, but still, it shows his opinion...

So what do you guys think? I would personally prefer to agree with the Pope. I still am unsure where I stand though.

Gwendolyn · Mar 26, 2015

According to Aquinas, animals have souls, but not immortal souls like humans.

AXO · Mar 26, 2015

One more time, the quote seems to have been fabricated by the media. No evidence that the Holy Father pronounced those words.

Sumwear · Mar 26, 2015

Mark 16:15

He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation."

then you have saints who saw animals as more than just animals. st. francis referred to animals as brothers and sisters. him releasing brother rabbit from a trap. preaching to sister birds. st. anthony preached to the fishes. animals who were suffering would come on their own accord to st. blaise so that he could heal them. daniel was to be eaten in a lion's den but God made the lions docile. st. hubert had a stag reveal christ to him. he saw a crucfix between it's antlers.

sound a little familiar?

there are a plethora of instances where saints see animals as more than just animals. there are little snippets here and there in the Bible where - at least from my perspective - animals are part of the big picture along with us.

Leevo · Mar 26, 2015

AXO said:
One more time, the quote seems to have been fabricated by the media. No evidence that the Holy Father pronounced those words.

Did he deny saying those words?

AXO · Mar 26, 2015

Leevo said:
Did he deny saying those words?

No, he simply didn't say that. Unfortunately, there are no few forgeries with this pope.

Leevo · Mar 26, 2015

AXO said:
No, he simply didn't say that.

Where is your proof? As far as I can tell, he didn't deny it, and he didn't complain when the story came out, and the media pulled it from somewhere because it was reported on a large scale. So, until proven otherwise, Ill stick with, he did say it.

gurneyhalleck1 · Mar 26, 2015

All Creation is bound together in a mystery the Scriptures and Fathers tell us. The Fall affected not only Man, but all of the natural realm. Animals are special in the grand economy of God, made for Man for love and comfort and friendship. I believe we'll see all our pets again. That's NOTHING for God in the big picture! He can do anything. I don't care about what "kind" of soul they have. They will be in heaven. We're told that!

Leevo · Mar 26, 2015

gurneyhalleck1 said:
All Creation is bound together in a mystery the Scriptures and Fathers tell us. The Fall affected not only Man, but all of the natural realm. Animals are special in the grand economy of God, made for Man for love and comfort and friendship. I believe we'll see all our pets again. That's NOTHING for God in the big picture! He can do anything. I don't care about what "kind" of soul they have. They will be in heaven. We're told that!

Sounds good to me!

AXO · Mar 26, 2015

Leevo said:
Where is your proof? As far as I can tell, he didn't deny it, and he didn't complain when the story came out, and the media pulled it from somewhere because it was reported on a large scale. So, until proven otherwise, Ill stick with, he did say it.

The lack of denial does not prove the words true. Why would he need to deny every hogwash that comes out of the mouths of the media? It is simply unnecessary because the reality is another. There is no more further than this. The words are false, that's it. Pluralitas non est ponenda sine necessitate.

MikeK · Mar 26, 2015

Animals may or may not have souls, but they differ from humans in that they are not of infinite worth and are not made in the image and likeness of God.

Leevo · Mar 26, 2015

AXO said:
The lack of denial does not prove the words true. Why would he need to deny every hogwash that comes out of the mouths of the media? It is simply unnecessary because the reality is another. There is no more further than this. The words are false, that's it. Pluralitas non est ponenda sine necessitate.

Why do you feel the need for it to be untrue? Does it upset you?

bill5 · Mar 26, 2015

Leevo said:
Why do you feel the need for it to be untrue? Does it upset you?

Why are you picking a fight? Maybe he's just pointing out that you have a claim you don't appear to be able to back up? Not that it's a big deal to me either way, I've no idea if he said it.

However JP II did say it and that's good enough for me.

MoreCoffee · Mar 26, 2015

Leevo said:
Do you guys believe that animals have souls? What evidence do you have to support your claim?

Pope Francis said and I quote "One day, we will see our animals again in the eternity of Christ. Paradise is open to all of God’s creatures" He was speaking pastorally when he said this, but still, it shows his opinion...

So what do you guys think? I would personally prefer to agree with the Pope. I still am unsure where I stand though.

Animals do have souls - in various old testament passages the souls of animals are mentioned. I'd give you references but this is my netbook and I haven't got any bible software on it yet so it isn't easy to do a search or a cut & paste from the bible ...

bill5 · Mar 26, 2015

MoreCoffee said:
I haven't god any bible software on it yet

I couldn't resist quoting that

MoreCoffee · Mar 26, 2015

bill5 said:
I couldn't resist quoting that

whoops

AXO · Mar 27, 2015

Leevo said:
Why do you feel the need for it to be untrue? Does it upset you?

The "upset" comes from the part in which you attribute the words to Pope Francis. I would have no problem if you did not, but I am not upset at all. It is not a feeling, it is a reality. As a Christian I have the duty of combating the falsity.

Leevo · Mar 27, 2015

bill5 said:
Why are you picking a fight? Maybe he's just pointing out that you have a claim you don't appear to be able to back up? Not that it's a big deal to me either way, I've no idea if he said it.

However JP II did say it and that's good enough for me.

I don't pick fights, not worth my time and besides, I wasn't picking a fight. Just defending my claim tis all, it probably sounded slightly aggressive but I had no intent for that. Although, the way he came into the discussion wasn't the nicest sounding either.

I was also unaware that JP II said it, that's interesting.

Leevo · Mar 27, 2015

Leevo · Mar 27, 2015

AXO said:
The "upset" comes from the part in which you attribute the words to Pope Francis. I would have no problem if you did not, but I am not upset at all. It is not a feeling, it is a reality. As a Christian I have the duty of combating the falsity.

I stand corrected, after further researching this, it seems that it was a misunderstanding and that it wasPope Paul VI that said it.

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