Do animals live after physical death?

They do if someone resurrects them.

People base their theology upon what they want and not much more than that.

myst33 said:

because animals do not sin

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When God gave the law against bloodshed to Noah, he said that animals who shed the blood of men will be held accountable for that.

Balaam's ass protected him before it spoke to him.

A snake caused some trouble once, and strikes at the heel of man.

Not sure we can say that animals do not sin. Some passages imply they can.

The Bible contains God's revelation for man. Whatever deal he has with the animals, he has not revealed to us.

section9+1 said:

People base their theology upon what they want and not much more than that.

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That's why there are so many denominations in the world.

Jesus appeared to John the Baptist as sheep in the heaven though God cannot be sheep .

As per the below scripture, four spirits of God has appeared four horses

So in heaven, animals exist but as a spiritual manifestation
Then I turned and raised my eyes and looked, and behold, four chariots were coming from between two mountains, and the mountains were mountains of bronze. With the first chariot were red horses, with the second chariot black horses, with the third chariot white horses, and with the fourth chariot dappled horses—strong steeds. Then I answered and said to the angel who talked with me, “What are these, my Lord?” And the angel answered and said to me, “These are four spirits of heaven, who go out from their station before the Lord of all the earth.
Zechariah 6:1‭-‬5 NKJV
Zechariah 6:1-5 Then I turned and raised my eyes and looked, and behold, four chariots were coming from between two mountains, and the mountains were mountains of bronze. With the first chariot were red horses, with | New King James Version (NKJV) | Download The Bible App Now

myst33 said:

I do not want to ask "are animals saved", because animals do not sin, so its not about salvation.

But are animals (well, I am asking specifically about our pets, not about some insects living in the wild) just temporal beings or do they have soul/spirit that lives after their bodies fail like ours? Will we meet them again?

I know that Bible (sadly) does not say much about this. There are few verses that are about animals (like "who knows, whether the spirit of the beast goes down" or Paul's restoration of creation), but these are quite ambigous. So, what is your opinion or reasoning?

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The only verse I've seen alluding to that issue is

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

Interesting that he leaves it as a rhetorical question, indicating that we can't really say one way or the other. The scriptures haven't revealed the answer, just like it doesn't speaking of many issues, like quantum mechanics and such. The scriptures are about man's relationship with God.

@myst33,

if they went to heaven or not would seem to beg the query of whether or not if they had morality

i just now saw this 45 second video

where a baby elephant makes the moral decision to save someone she thought was in trouble

she could have shown heartless contempt

but she showed concern enough to go and "rescue" a man she remembered as a good person

who had rescued her in the past-(showing love for others too)

myst33 said:

I do not want to ask "are animals saved", because animals do not sin, so its not about salvation.

But are animals (well, I am asking specifically about our pets, not about some insects living in the wild) just temporal beings or do they have soul/spirit that lives after their bodies fail like ours? Will we meet them again?

I know that Bible (sadly) does not say much about this. There are few verses that are about animals (like "who knows, whether the spirit of the beast goes down" or Paul's restoration of creation), but these are quite ambigous. So, what is your opinion or reasoning?

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Bible says in 7 places animals have spirits. They couldn’t even be alive if they didn’t. Says nothing about where they go when they die though. In fact it says no one knows.

Alot of people don't like when I say it but the honest truth is once a pet dies... thats it. There is no heaven for them. We are the only ones with souls. Now being a pet lover I understand the pain of a lost pet and not being able to accept they aren't in heaven. But I got past it because I realized we are not here to own pets and see them in heaven. We are here to worship God and spread the word. Pets are about as meaningless as anything else in the world, at least in the end of everything. They only serve a purpose here on earth.

There are some who say a verse mentions a animal in heaven. Maybe its a special animal made for heaven. Regardless it doesn't mean pets go to heaven. Again I'd love to see my past pets in heaven but I have accepted they won't be there. Once we let go and accept that, we can let of go of our grief and move on to acceptance.

myst33 said:

I do not want to ask "are animals saved", because animals do not sin, so its not about salvation.

But are animals (well, I am asking specifically about our pets, not about some insects living in the wild) just temporal beings or do they have soul/spirit that lives after their bodies fail like ours? Will we meet them again?

I know that Bible (sadly) does not say much about this. There are few verses that are about animals (like "who knows, whether the spirit of the beast goes down" or Paul's restoration of creation), but these are quite ambigous. So, what is your opinion or reasoning?

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I wonder if they are really are not, or perhaps came from the "same spirit" and go back to the or that "same spirit" (back to us, be with us, among us, ect) or not...?

Maybe only while they are here, seeming to be having differing personalities maybe, while they are here...?

God Bless!

Can an animal possess immortality?
We are taught that this would involve their possessing a soul/spirit to carry over after the death of the body. My question would be if an animal was capable of possessing Agape love, does it not follow that there resides in their material shell (body) something that carries over into eternity?

In Australia there is a zoo where tigers give birth to their cubs and the person responsible for each cub they are assigned to, is the voice that cub first hears. As the cubs mature into complete adulthood, no leash is needed for them to walk around the crowded zoo with their handler.

Vicomte13 said:

Not sure we can say that animals do not sin. Some passages imply they can.

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Sin requires three conditions to be met:
--- it must be an evil
--- it must be known to be an evil
--- it is done in the full knowledge that it is evil

NothingIsImpossible said:

Alot of people don't like when I say it but the honest truth is once a pet dies... thats it.

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A lot of people don't like it when you say it for various reasons.

I don't like it because you're just making it up. It's your opinion, not based on any revelation of God, and rather contrary to some of the inferences that can be drawn from what is in the Bible.

It's fine that you believe it. What is off-putting is your certitude about something that God has not revealed. Unless of course he talked directly to you and told you this. Did he?

Dave L said:

Gordon Clark (taught philosophy at Butler University in Indianapolis) said: In one way this is reminiscent of Genesis 2:7. As God breathed into Adam’s nostrils the breath or spirit of life, so too God sent forth his spirit into the animals.

Some people are afraid to say that animals have souls. They not only have souls, they are souls. Some people are afraid to say that animals have spirit. But Genesis 6:17 and 7:15, and Psalm 104:29, as well as Ecclesiastes 3:21 ascribe spirit to animals. Animals are souls. They are not just clay.

So I hope to see my pets on the other side.....

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I've prayed that my pets will be waiting for me, including my wild ones.

The thought of never seeing my dog again is far more than I can bear. I have prayed about that, I have begged, I refuse to take no for an answer.

By my reasoning, I think all sentient life is eternal. Maybe a cell or a plant can die, but I don't think a sentient life can. It's just not how they're made. In the absence of Scriptural support, I tend to look more for NDE experiences to suggest the answers. The guy in "Heaven is For Real" said Heaven has lots of animals. But I want to see my dog with my own eyes and know he's okay.

usexpat97 said:

The thought of never seeing my dog again is far more than I can bear. I have prayed about that, I have begged, I refuse to take no for an answer.

By my reasoning, I think all sentient life is eternal. Maybe a cell or a plant can die, but I don't think a sentient life can. It's just not how they're made. In the absence of Scriptural support, I tend to look more for NDE experiences to suggest the answers. The guy in "Heaven is For Real" said Heaven has lots of animals. But I want to see my dog with my own eyes and know he's okay.

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If you have unstoppable faith about the matter, it is likely to come true. Faith tells us when our prayers are answered before we see them answered.

Dave L said:

If you have unstoppable faith about the matter, it is likely to come true. Faith tells us when our prayers are answered before we see them answered.

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I believe God gave me that prayer to pray so I am looking forward to seeing Sabu, Sabutu, Cadbury, Precious, Hershey, and Firelight, plus my wild ones, especially Big Boy, Mama and Blackie.

My childhood pets are more than likely already with my mother. Good place for them.

1stcenturylady said:

I believe God gave me that prayer to pray so I am looking forward to seeing Sabu, Sabutu, Cadbury, Precious, Hershey, and Firelight, plus my wild ones, especially Big Boy, Mama and Blackie.

My childhood pets are more than likely already with my mother. Good place for them.

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Most of my pets are squirrels and believe it or not, each is different with their own personality.

section9+1 said:

People base their theology upon what they want and not much more than that.

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I don't know our church tries to stick straight to the Word found in the Bible.
M-Bob

myst33 said:

I do not want to ask "are animals saved", because animals do not sin, so its not about salvation.

But are animals (well, I am asking specifically about our pets, not about some insects living in the wild) just temporal beings or do they have soul/spirit that lives after their bodies fail like ours? Will we meet them again?

I know that Bible (sadly) does not say much about this. There are few verses that are about animals (like "who knows, whether the spirit of the beast goes down" or Paul's restoration of creation), but these are quite ambiguous. So, what is your opinion or reasoning?

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Jesus ate fish with his disciples so I don’t think that animals have eternal life.