Praying for animals???

[GreatistheLord]

I dont know of anything in the bible, but I'm sure it must be right. Did Jesus die to heal your pet. If so, can they be saved?

 

[MoonlessNight]

I think a better question is, do animals need to be saved in the first place? They didn't sin in the fall (well, I guess you might count snakes or something, but that's debateful for a wide variety of reasons). Many people contend that they have no free will and are only capable of acting in accordance with their natures. In these cases it would be impossible for an animal to sin, so they would have no need of salvation.

 

[Self Improvement]

Well, humans are animals. So technically every time you pray for someone you are praying for an animal. So I'd say its alright to pray for an animal .

 

[Matt Never Existed]

Hmm.. I pray for animals, but not for their sake, more for the owners. I have lost a few pets in my life, and it always breaks my heart.

Many people contend that they have no free will and are only capable of acting in accordance with their natures. In these cases it would be impossible for an animal to sin, so they would have no need of salvation.

Haha, I love people who think this. Normally, I will ask if they think animals can sin, and when they say no, I'll ask them what they think about the gay penguins in the New York Zoo. They tend to say some pretty wierd things to justify their beliefs.

 

[Marek]

Haha, I love people who think this. Normally, I will ask if they think animals can sin, and when they say no, I'll ask them what they think about the gay penguins in the New York Zoo. They tend to say some pretty wierd things to justify their beliefs.

Just because it's not sinful for spiders to eat their mate, doesn't mean it's okay for humans to eat their mate...

 

[XCWE48]

*** i can't believe i spent 98 seconds of my life reading this thread. AND i felt compelled to reply. please pardon me for stealing 7 seconds of your life with this post!

 

[Allister]

Many people contend that they have no free will and are only capable of acting in accordance with their natures. In these cases it would be impossible for an animal to sin, so they would have no need of salvation

i think the same applies to humans. .

 

[Lifesaver]

As far as I know, the soul of animals is not subsistent. When their body is dead, their soul vanishes.

However, I don't know of any reason why shouldn't expect God to re-form the body of beloved pets in the ressurection, and thus they would be brought back to life. Not sure at all, though.

 

[MoonlessNight]

In the end I do not think it is a subject that Christian Philosophers have devoted much energy to. Aquinas mentioned the state of the animal soul in passing, but it seems that he did so only because Aristotle did so (who in turn probably only mentioned because Plato thought that the souls of animals were in fact immortal, and to better describe the nature of the soul in general), but he does not develop the idea in terms of whether animals are subject to sin and the like as far as I know. I believe C.S. Lewis mentioned a theory for the fate of beloved pets in one work or another, but I cannot remember which or what he said. It just doesn't seem to be an important issue for the philosopher in general, and the Christian philosopher in particular.

The Bible doesn't say all that much on the matter either, as far as I know. Attacks by animals and similar things are usually treated more as disasters, rather than something the animal can truly be said to be at fault for, but that's hardly a proof of anything.

If anyone knows of a Christian philosopher who's went in depth with this, or a passage from the Bible that deals with the ultimate fate of animals or with animals and responsibility or morality, I would greatly love to hear it. This is a topic that interests me as well, so if I have missed something, it would be a shame not to rid myself of that ignorance.

 

[Lifesaver]

In the end I do not think it is a subject that Christian Philosophers have devoted much energy to. Aquinas mentioned the state of the animal soul in passing, but it seems that he did so only because Aristotle did so (who in turn probably only mentioned because Plato thought that the souls of animals were in fact immortal, and to better describe the nature of the soul in general), but he does not develop the idea in terms of whether animals are subject to sin and the like as far as I know.

Actually, I do believe he says sin is only possible in a rational will. That is certainly said by St. Augustine, though, and he did make the distinction between rational souls and those of animals.

I am also certain that St. Thomas did believe and write that the souls of animals cease to exist once their body dies. It is in the Summa Theologica. I will search the passage it if you are interested.

 

[MoonlessNight]

Actually, I do believe he says sin is only possible in a rational will. That is certainly said by St. Augustine, though, and he did make the distinction between rational souls and those of animals.

I am also certain that St. Thomas did believe and write that the souls of animals cease to exist once their body dies. It is in the Summa Theologica. I will search the passage it if you are interested.

I actually looked up that passage before posting (It's in Part I, question 75). He does say that animals do not exist after death because they do not have a rational soul, since it was the rational power of the human soul that lead him to believe that it could survive beyond the destruction of the body. And yes, you are probably right in that it would not be possible to sin in the view of Aquinas since they cannot reason, but I don't remember him explicitly saying that anywhere. Like I said before I just don't think that Aquinas thinks that this topic is terribly important, which isn't surprising considering all the other topics he dealt with. If he had to think of animals each step along the way he never would have gotten as much of the Summa finished as he did.

 

[GreatistheLord]

Have you read Revelation, it's full of animals.

 

[WeLikeSheep]

I don't worry about the salvation of my critters' souls...unless they are annoying the stew out of me and then I demand that the demons come out of them immediately. St. Francis did believe that we were to preach the Gospel to all, including all fauna (and flora I believe).

We raise dairy goats and pray that God will bless our herd and bless our care of them. We also have kitties and we pray regularly for those wretched peices of cat flesh. (Kidding! We love them.) We are very fond of our animals and when one dies, we pray that God will give them safe passage home...and yes, to heaven. We bury them in our garden with crosses above them. We talked about this just the other night...we have no basis for believing we'll see them in heaven, but it brings great comfort to believe we will.

 

[Abbadon]

Animals are God's creatures. They do have some sort of lifeforce and personality (whether or not you believe this is a soul or what is not the subject of this post) so this could pass on to heaven (what, it isn't like we've honestly had anyone tell us that have actually been to the next life).

Actually, I'm hoping headphones will get into heaven, too. The best pair I've ever had died recently after 7 years of sound quality better than those really big $60 headphones that cover half your head.