Evidence for God from Science

Do animals go to heaven along with us? If so what is their heaven like?

I always feel guilty for taking the life of an animal (fishing, hunting) and think it is OK they go to heaven. But, do they actually?

Do our pets reunite with us in heaven?

Thanks in advance.

I do not think so, although admittedly the Bible is not explicitly clear on the topic. One verse commonly cited for prove that they do, which is Isaiah 11:6 (And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, And the leopard will lie down with the young goat, And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little boy will lead them., NASB), does not seem to be anything more than a metaphor. J.P. Moreland writes that the fact that animals do not seem to have souls or free will seems to indicate that they cease to be at the end of their physical life, although he admits that he could be wrong, and as the Bible does not say for sure, neither can we say for sure, but it does not appear to be likely based on what we know.

(By the way, I assume you didn't mean it like this, but the question raised in the wording of this topic title would not be consistent with any worldview other than universalism.)

Mingram wrote:Do animals go to heaven along with us? If so what is their heaven like?

I always feel guilty for taking the life of an animal (fishing, hunting) and think it is OK they go to heaven. But, do they actually?

Do our pets reunite with us in heaven?

Thanks in advance.

It's a good question that comes up every once in awhile... There are a number of different schools of thought on this issue. Actually nowhere does scripture explicitly state that animals do not have souls. There are verses in the Bible that state that the whole creation is destined to be redeemed through the work of Christ Romans 8:21 but its not really clear on what it means. There's really nothing in the Bible that would preclude the possibility of animals continued existence but most of this is sheer speculation.

For comfort, I always think of 1 Corinthians 2:9 when I get too discouraged about something I don't understand...

Thanks, well I guess to make myself feel better I will go with they do have souls. I don't think God would think less of any of his creations.

Oh dear.

I have killed loads of spiders in my life because I am terrified of them.

If I find out when I get to heaven that God is actually a big spider with a great white beard, then I am screwed.

Silvertusk wrote:Oh dear.

I have killed loads of spiders in my life because I am terrified of them.

If I find out when I get to heaven that God is actually a big spider with a great white beard, then I am screwed.

LOL!

This kind of begs the question of whether hunting animals is morally/ethically o.k.

I personally hunted with bow and arrow for a number of years and considered it a humane method of taking animals for food, but would hunting for sport be counted as ethical according to God's word ?

I would love to hear some of your thoughts.

Cross.eyed wrote:This kind of begs the question of whether hunting animals is morally/ethically o.k.

I personally hunted with bow and arrow for a number of years and considered it a humane method of taking animals for food, but would hunting for sport be counted as ethical according to God's word ?

I would love to hear some of your thoughts.

IMHO...for food as a way of living day to day I could easily accept.

Food as in just going out to hunt...kill...and eat for "sport" when other food is readily available...I fall on the side of not "kosher".

For sport...not at all.
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The Bible is clear throughout that eating animals is perfectly fine, contrary to what radical vegetarians want to have you think.

nobible wrote:

Daniel wrote:The Bible is clear throughout that eating animals is perfectly fine, contrary to what radical vegetarians want to have you think.

Um, "radical vegetarians" don't usually use the Bible to argue in favor of vegetarianism...and vegetarianism isn't really a radical position. Maybe you're referring to vegans.

I'm not talking about all vegetarians, I'm talking about the PETA-funded website that claims that Jesus was a vegetarian and that eating meat is a sin.

nobible wrote:

Daniel wrote: I'm not talking about all vegetarians, I'm talking about the PETA-funded website that claims that Jesus was a vegetarian and that eating meat is a sin.

Which site is that? I wanna check it out

http://www.jesusveg.com