do animals go to heaven and hell too?

[serenedi]

I will be so amazed to see my cocker spaniel there I lost him 17 years ago. I've had another dog for 12 years...I love her dearly and can't stand the thought of losing her but if I do, I trust she will be in the afterlife with everyone else I love...

 

[churchclap]

Humans love animals and we are created in God's image so how much more does God love these animals? He created so many! The Bible says that Jesus will come riding on a white horse and the lion will lie down with the lamb. I see no reason why our pets wouldn't be with us in heaven.

This is how I feel, too. I certainly hope when my cat dies she goes to heaven and will be waiting for me!

 

[Orange Kitten Bob]

I 've studied the KJV New Testament through 9 times. Because animals are incapable of speech, they cannot go to hell. I believe that dogs and cats will be in heaven, simply because God built them to teach us love one another.

 

[Acebopata]

Animals in Hell, most likely not. However, most of the evidence used against animals in heaven comes from the phrase, "And god breathed the breath of life into man and man became a living soul." This phrase is not near enough for me to Believe that Animals will not be in heaven. Furthermore, many animals have personalities, which suggest they are much more than flesh and bones.

 

[Passionate Chicken]

well, the title pretty much sums up the question. thank you in advance for your answers.

Animals aren't as accountable as we are. They're living their God given nature so they'd go to Heaven I'd think.
If they'd go to Hell I'm in the wrong religion because that's just absurd.

 

[brinny]

God's creatures return to their Creator Who created them.

This verse gives us a glimpse of just Who our Creator is, and the state of all of His creation (plants, animals) before the fall. Truly amaaazing it is. Trees of the field clapped their hands, and praised God. Another verse speaks of how everything that has breath, praise the Lord. Animals have breath. Before the fall it appears quite possible that they "spoke" and "sang". It appears all of creation sang and praised God. In this "fallen" state, everything is askew and distorted, including most views on animals and where their final destination will be. It clearly makes sense that the creatures God created retuyrn to the One Who created them, their Creator. He LOVED them from the gitgo. He still does. That's why we love them so much. We inherited it from our Creator.

"For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands." ~Isaiah 55:12

"Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD." ~Psalm 150:6

 

[dogs4thewin]

Well, the Bible does say the lion will lay down with the lamb, however whether it is current animals there is no mention, either way.

 

[bronwync]

I am a believer that animals go to heaven. But then you have to ask questions like, what about animals that attack and kill innocent children, or turn on their owners?

 

[bronwync]

Always liked this quote.

"God will prepare everything for our perfect happiness in heaven, and if it takes my dog being there, I believe he'll be there." - Billy Graham

I love this! Also, I like what another poster said about all animals returning to their creator. That would be SO many animals in heaven! What if every insect that ever lived was there too? That would be absurd! Does that mean only pets go to heaven? Or only mammals?

 

[AbigalOto]

Well, I believe that animals have a soul and a spirit (their spirit gives their soul life). Without a spirit, I think they would only be half-alive (IE only alive in the physical world), but I see the physical and spiritual worlds linked. But... I have no biblical evidence to my belief, so I can't say for sure.

If animals have a spirit, then I say that they go to heaven. Definitely not hell.

 

[Orange Kitten Bob]

I see no reason why not.

Animals cannot make a decision to reject Christ as their Saviour, and their actions are carried out according to God's plan for that species. Like children, animals are innocents and I see nothing that would bar them from heaven.

But I see heaven as very like the Earth, but with all sin removed, so there is plenty of room for animals

YES! I would not be surprised if we live as we do now[technologically]but God is running all, so all is perfect!

 

[ArmorOfGodDJ]

I am a believer that animals go to heaven. But then you have to ask questions like, what about animals that attack and kill innocent children, or turn on their owners?

That's the MAN's fault for teaching the animals to attack. When animals (I'm speaking of domestic ones, not wild) - attack, it is a learned behavior. It's not instinct.

Dog fights, cockfighting, dog attacks, it was a learned behavior. When they were born, they didn't automatically have the ability to attack. This is the reason why I never blamed the dog that attacked me 13 times and left me scared and PTS for a while. It wasn't the dog's fault, it was the previous owners fault.

Wild animals - is exactly it - they're wild. They should be left alone. Push them hard enough, they will attack.

Feral cats/dogs are wild. They're not used to human beings, and should never be adopted out. However, there are feral cat/dogs colonies that people do give food, but that's about it. Have you ever seen the show Animal Hoarders where there's dozens of cats running around like a madhouse? It's sad, but they're feral, and will never be "adoptable", so they're put to sleep. I, as a cat lover, know that I cannot save everyone. It's not the cats' fault, it's the owners' fault for not spaying/neutering them or socializing them. I'm perfectly fine with them being put to sleep. There's thousands of other cats out there.

 

[ArmorOfGodDJ]

I love this! Also, I like what another poster said about all animals returning to their creator. That would be SO many animals in heaven! What if every insect that ever lived was there too? That would be absurd! Does that mean only pets go to heaven? Or only mammals?

That's something I've always wondered. I believe that animals do go to Heaven, but their own special Heaven (like Rainbow Bridge). I believe that the animals that is deeply connected to a human, and the human believes in God and Heaven - the animal(s) will be with them. For example - if Jane Goodall has passed on in Earth, and she goes to Heaven (I am just making an assumption that she believes in Heaven) - she will have all the chimps that was with her/that she saved.

I believe the other animals - wild animals, predators, and prey animals that are given to our animals (crickets/mealworms given to Lizards for example), etc, gets recycled in the Earth.

I've had 15 mice once - I took care of them, but I never have a deep love relationship with them. I do not believe that they will be with me in Heaven. My cats and my dog, and even my two bearded dragons, I definitely believe that they will be with me because I have a much deeper relationship with them.

Oddly - I also believe that while they're (the animals) waiting for us, they're still with me in spirit. Once in awhile, I feel like I have more cats on my bed than the physical cats that are sleeping on my bed. I always felt like the cats that has passed away is around me somehow.

I do wonder if our passed on animals' spirit is somehow put in the ones that are alive. My cat, Jamie, passed away a few years ago. I can see some of her personality in my current cat, Telly. They even sort of look alike (brown tabby). She would do a few things that only Jamie did.


Sorry for such a long post!

 

[Talihood]

I HOPE my dog makes it in.

 

[Gxg (G²)]

I think pets will make it

 

[PrayerandPeace]

I refuse to believe animals would go to hell.

 

[Timn420]

Yes, they're with St. Francis

 

[Kurama]

All the animals we eat...all the animals we slaughter...I think they will have the same destiny as aborted babies: Heaven

-Christian vegetarian

 

[Ariel Loves]

I HOPE my dog makes it in.

Our Father is not one who is out to take anything from us. The devil does that. If anything, He wants to multiply and give us more according to our level of stewardship. He is a Multiplier not a divider...His Holy Word in Romans 8:18-21 says..."That's why I don't think there's any comparison between the present hard times and the coming good times. The created world itself can hardly wait for what's coming next. Everything (it doesn't say 'some things') in creation is being more or less held back. God reins it in until both creation and all the creatures are ready and can be released at the same moment into the glorious times ahead. Meanwhile, the joyful anticipation deepens (MSG version). I have received by Faith that this means I will have all my furbabies back in the New World to come...I'm counting on it!

 

[Brookelowe454]

I believe that all animals do go to heaven. I believe this because first of all, technically, we are animals, and new studies are showing just how intelligent animals actually are, so they might be capable to sin (not sure, it might depend on the type of animal) For example, we are classified as primates, and there are some experiments where a monkey will trick another monkey so that he can get the food first. I mean, it's not exactly sinning, but it could be? Who knows. I just believe that all animals have souls. Believing that we are better than animals is a little shallow, IMO. (Side note, I'm not non-denominational, it was an accident when I was setting up my account)