Do animals have a soul?

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B

Bookreader

Banned
#21
Jan 10, 2013
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#21
I think that the question is the problem.

Living animals are souls (and are called that in the Bible). People are souls (and are called that in the Bible).
The word translated into 'soul' is nephesh - though it is also translated into lots of other words including 'beings', 'creatures', 'heart', 'lives', person', 'man', even 'desires' and 'appetites'


Flesh + Ruach(breath/spirit) = Nephesh (soul/creature)

So it is God's breath into lifeless material that creates life.
A thing that is alive is a soul. When the soul/person/animal dies it becomes lifeless material once more. It no longer has the breath of God within it.
God will resurrect people and they will once again have life - to face judgement and either eternal life or the second death.

The idea of the soul as something distinct is an invention of some in the early church who believed more in the works of Plato and Socrates than the scriptures of the Old Testament - the immortality of the soul is the result.
And was the first ever to talk about the immortality of the soul?
Gen 3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
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Maranatha-TheLordIsComing

Maranatha-TheLordIsComing

Member
#22
Apr 15, 2013
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#22
kenisyes said:
I've posted a few times that I believe our pets go to heaven if we want them to. The logic is that God gave us authority to name the animals, so we can call one "friend and blessing", and another one "lunch", and God honors our choice. Then, I think "whatever you bind on earth is bound in heaven" covers the survival into the new heavens and new earth after we rise.
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you think the treasures we store up on earth are also converted with us?
 
T

Theophane

Guest
#24
#24
Maranatha-TheLordIsComing said:
i believe naked I came from my mothers womb, and naked I will leave.
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That's right. We come in with nothing and we leave with nothing. There's nothing of this world that we can take with us except the essence of who we are. Rich or poor, every man is equal in death.
 
RickyZ

RickyZ

Senior Member
#25
Sep 20, 2012
9,635
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#25
Ok, sorry to post and dissapear, I know it's bad form to not monitor something you started, but I ran off out of town at the last minute to work a charity event. But I'm back to annoy you all again :)

Wow, I'm humbled by the discussion that went on in my absence. All your responses were well thought out and placed. I've learned (and relearned) quite a bit in what you've all said. Thank you.

And Liz, I hope you're feeling better.

My functional understanding is that there's the flesh, and there's the spirit, and where the two interface ceates the life force we know as a soul. A soul cannot exist without either one of these. Our flesh dies, the soul dies, as would be the payment for our sins - lest Jesus had not paid for them, enable the ressurection of the flesh and the recreation - restoring - of the soul on the other side.

All the animals I've known have had flesh, they've had spirit, they've had a soul I find myself liking more than most humans these days. They never sinned against God, and they were pure enough to be accepted by Him in place of ours. I don't think they were subject to the second death, just sentenced as part of this creation to physically die before moving on.

All we see and know in this creation is but 10% of what's out there, by scientific estimates. I can't imagine that having provided the bounty He has in the here and now, God would do any less for us on the other side. And that includes the lion and the lamb.

Thank you all for responding!
 
C

CDavid

Guest
#26
#26
I sometimes think dogs do. But, I'm pretty certain cats don't. (just joking)
 
JaumeJ

JaumeJ

Senior Member
#27
Jul 2, 2011
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#27
Psa 33:6 By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.

It is also written when God takes back His Breath, everything disappears. I have always believed our Father, Himself, sustains any life. We are given souls, and we are given dominion over all that is in the world. We have souls, animals' life is supported by our Father. Slaughter cattle, you do not kill our Father. Go out and kill just for the sport of it, and you offend God and His Children. In having dominion over life on earth does not translate as having dominion over our Father. It is a temporal gift, undeserved, and a great blessing. Thank You, Father, amen...............
 
P

Porthos

Banned
#29
Apr 15, 2013
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#29
RickyZ said:
The soul, that life form created where the spirit meets flesh, do animals have one? Do animals have a spirit?

Think back Old Testament times, the price of sin was death and the price of redemption was your soul. But God allowed them to sacrifice an animal, to put an innocent to death in their place. Can a man's soul be redeemed by a creature without one? Can one considered pure and innocent be so without a soul?

With the return of Jesus’ rule, the world is delivered from the bondage of corruption and made free for the children of God (Romans 8:19-21). Swords and spears beget plowshares and pruning hooks, and there is peace between the nations and no more war (Isaiah 2:4). Micah 4 speaks of the same things. God makes a covenant with the animals and ceases the violence, that all may lie down safely, and the earth responds with grain, wine, and oil. Isaiah 11, 13, and Ezekiel 34 and 36 also talk about nature being restored and man being at peace with the animals. Can a covenant be made with those without a soul?

Romans 8:22 says all creation groans; Jesus even said the stones could cry out Luke 19:40. The lion and the lamb of Isaiah 11:6... Clearly God includes the animals, and all creation, in His redemption plan. Can one without a soul be redeemed? Does not all creation itself have a soul?
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I believe we are separate from animals, and that 'no helper could be found' from the animals, because we are not made to behave like the animals in unkowingness. In saying that, do animals get a place on the new earth? Yes, they do.

'And I saw all things in the Earth and in the sea, and everything within them singing 'Praise be unto God forever and ever'.
 
RickyZ

RickyZ

Senior Member
#30
Sep 20, 2012
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#30
Couldn't have said it better
 
J

jmlidea

Banned
#31
Mar 26, 2013
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#31
If this life is all about the next one, then no they don't and neither do you.
 
A

Abbe

Guest
#32
#32
We as humans love our pets, they love us, God is the one that filled the world with love, you all say that God can see and know what is in the heart of man, he can do all things, sooooo, he can know what is in the heart of an animal, He talks to them , they talk to him, you don"t need to find everything in scripture, you need to know the heart of God, He reavales his heart to us in his word. God loves the workes of his hands, he made the animals before he made us. After all his eye is up on the little sparrow. We as the all knowing human LOL.don"t speak Dog, God gave them the ability to understand us, they are our eyes, when we can"t see, they go with us when we go to war,there on our police force, they help us when we can"t help our selves, they protect our homes, our children, when we get old, and forgotten, they love us, if were poor, they love us, If ever I saw the love of God , it"s in the loyalty, and love of a dog, you can see it in there eyes. God gave that to them to pass on to us, Some Day we will stand befor God, I think we are going to have to pay for the inhumain things we have done because , it was just a dog, It"s His Dog, Yes , God has made a place for them, that much love and ability to help us , will not go unrewarded.
 
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maxwel

maxwel

Senior Member
#33
Apr 18, 2013
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#33
I simply refuse to feel guilty every time I eat a chicken.
: )
 
A

Abbe

Guest
#34
#34
Yep, I like Chicken.
 
Radius

Radius

Senior Member
#35
Feb 11, 2013
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#35
I believe there will be animals in heaven, and I also believe our pets will be there also. And my reasoning is...why not?! Surely God did not create such cute and comforting little things to only be enjoyed on earth. There'll be animals in heaven, and you may even be able to talk to them, how about that?
 
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