Do animals have freewill?

[chosenchild]

I LOVE ANIMALS. but I wonder if God gave the freewill or if he can control whatever they do? If you guys could help me out that'd be kool.
~chosenchild~

 

[awashinlove]

Very, very interesting question. A lot of people use the argument of "reflex," that animals act on instinct and therefore can't decipher good from evil. But if you get into semantics and go to the base logic of the phrase, animals can absolutely choose between preferences. I'm intrigued by what others may say here...

Good thought-provoker, chosenchild!

 

[mylittlelambs]

I htink they respond by instinct. They have the fight or flight so if they cannot get away they will fight. I do sometimes think that animals can react to our emotions but I dont think they can tell right from wrong. They can learn good behaviors and learn to respond to commands, but I dont think they sit and say " I am going to be bad and destroy everything in the house". Hope that made sence.

 

[chosenchild]

those answers are great and all but I still wonder if God controls them. (as in every aspect of them including instinct and reflexes) or if he slo gave them freewill. Because I mean (i know it sounds horrible and I adore animals and hate to see them dead but) God can use the death o a pet to open our eyes. So he could make a cat or dog go out into the middle of the road for example.

 

[awashinlove]

Oh, yeah, God can absolutely use animals in any way and control their actions. How often he actually makes them do something, though, I wouldn't venture a guess. But I think we also know that demons can get inside an animal and control it, as is an example in the NT with those poor pigs (Matthew 8:30-33) and as we know they can do with us. But I think that's a discussion for a different forum.

 

[Lycana]

I think animals can also be controlled by angels. I think a lot of people saved from death are saved by animals with angels controlling them.