Elect, it's important to pay attention to punctuation. I went back and read the whole chapter of Ecclesiastes 3. The author, if you were to look at the punctuation and realize the sentence is a quite literal question, was asking literally "who knows if the spirit of man goes upward, or the spirit of beasts down to the earth?" This was before the time of Jesus, and His salvation which guarantees we go to heaven if we accept Him. If you read the whole passage, he equated humans to animals. While I agree that we are similar in some ways, we are very different. Humans are born into sin, because of Adam and Eve. Therefore, we require the salvation that Jesus provided to us, who took all our sins so that we could become pure in the eyes of the father through Jesus. Animals, while they kill, as in the case of carnivores, they are not impure. They did not eat the apple from the forbidden tree, so they do not require salvation. Perhaps most important to remember is that we, as humans, are made in the likeness and image of God. Animals are products of our God's incredible creativity.
Before I go off on another tangent, let me point out again that Ecclesiastes was old testament, before Jesus, His death and rise and the salvation of all humans.
So, as I was saying, animals do not require salvation because they are not born into sin as we humans are. It was said that animals have no soul. Can you truly believe that? If animals did not have a soul, they would be comparable to rocks or trees or soil. But animals, anyone who has owned or become friends with one before, can clearly see that they are thinking and feeling creatures. They feel love, anger, loyalty, pain, fear. Not all of them have long term memory, and some emotions such as hatred I'm not so sure they feel (I think hatred is related to holding grudges which requires holding a long term memory). However, I truly believe they have a soul. Can you look into the eyes of a beaten animal and truly think "they are like dust or a robot, there is no soul". Can you look at the dogs who have saved and even died for their owners, and the dogs who have taken on rattlesnakes to protect the children playing in the yard, who acted out of love and loyalty, and say they have no soul? Wouldn't you say that to hold these emotions requires a soul? Because the rocks and trees and grass and sky and clouds do not have emotions, and it is difficult to believe they would have a soul. Clearly God made animals different, as living and breathing and feeling and learning creatures, like we are.
I myself have connected with animals on a deeper level. I've seen and experienced bonds between person and animal, such as my horse who will do for me what she will do for no one else, and my mother's parrot who will leave food and the company of other birds of his own volition to come across the room and cuddle with my mother (if there ever was a bird that loved a human, this is the one).
What really cleared up all confusion for me was the day I hit a wild bird. I was driving along, and there are gray morning doves that live in my area, and for some reason they will sit in the middle of the road and fly away from oncoming cars. I didn't even see this one, until it flew up at the last second and hit the truck with such a loud impact I knew it was dead. I was so upset and was even apologizing to God, though I really didn't know why as my logic side kept telling me 'its just a bird'. then I heard God say to me "its OK, I've got him" and gave me a vision of Him, with the bird sitting in His hand in heaven. This erased all doubt for me as to whether or not animals go to heaven. If the little morning dove made it, I'm sure that my beloved furred family friends will make it as well.
Logic doesn't explain everything. Logic won't tell you how God can be a trinity. It doesn't tell you how and why God does things and works in the way that He does. It can't explain the presence of the Holy Spirit or how spiritual gifts are given. It can't tell you why God loves humans the way He does, as evil and sinful we are by nature. Logic often tells me to do exactly the opposite of what God tells me to do, as in the career I will be going into.
I have found that logic is irrelevant when it comes to God. Logic is us trying to reason the universe and God out, and it doesn't work. Let's not forget: "For the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God. As the Scriptures say, "He traps the wise in the snare of their own cleverness." (1 Corinthians 3:19)
