[D-4]  Do Animals Have Souls?

     Most of us have heard all our life that animals do not have souls. Yet the first chapter of Genesis indisputably contradicts that position. The Hebrew word for soul is "nephish" and refers to the part of our being which lives on after physical death. The first chapter of Genesis not only proves that animals have a soul, but it also proves that plant life does not! Here are the verses:
Genesis 1:20 And God said, Let the waters swarm with swarmers {fish} having a living soul and let the birds fly over the earth, on the face of the expanse of the heavens.

Genesis 1:21 And God created the great sea animals and the creeping things all having a living soul...

Genesis 1:24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth souls of life according to its kind, the cattle, the beasts of the field, and creeping things according to its kind.

Genesis 1:30 To every animal of the earth, and to every bird of the heavens and to every creeping thing on the earth, in which is a living soul, every green plant is given for food.

In all four of the above verses the Hebrew word nephish is used which is the exact same word used of man in Genesis 2:7. Most modern translations give no hint that this is in fact the case, but most older King James bibles do give a footnote: Hebrew, lit: soul
for each of the above verses. It is this same "soul" which David refers to in Ps. 16:10 when he says: "You will not abandon my soul to sheol." {Sheol is the place for the souls of those who have physically died.}

Are there animals in heaven?

Rev. 19:11 I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True.

Is. 11: 6-8 The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, and the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper's nest.    {We believe this refers to the millenium, but could also refer to the new heavens and new earth.}

Zech. 14:20 On that day "Holy to the Lord" will be inscribed on the bells of the horses...

Note: The passage from the Revelation shows that presently there are horses in heaven. The passages in Isaiah and Zechariah show that there will be animals in the millennium kingdom on earth.

The present violence in the animal world is a result of the curse in the garden of Eden pronounced by God due to man's sin.

Rom. 8:19 -22 The creation {this includes animals} waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time...

The Lord put all things in the oceans, in the air, and on earth under man's subjection in Genesis 1:26.

What makes man different from the animals is not that he has a soul, but that he is made in the image of God {Gen. 1:26-27}.

The words "let us make" uses the same Hebrew word for "make" found in Ex. 20:4 in which God commands us to "not make" any graven image. It is because we are made in the image of God that murder is forbidden {Gen. 9:6} Also, God breathed His Spirit into Adam Gen. 2:7. This Spirit no longer resided inside of mankind after the fall in the garden of Eden. If it is the Spirit of God that makes us different, then those who have not accepted Jesus as Lord would be no different than animals, but this is not the case! We know it is not the case, because Gen. 9:6 was written after the fall of man.

I do not pretend to understand what all "made in the image of God" means, but there are some things I know it does not mean:
     It does not mean that animals do not have souls, Genesis chapter 1 proves that.
     It does not mean animals cannot reason-- anyone who has ever raised pets of
        any kind know that animals do reason quite well. At times you can almost read
        their thoughts as they make decisions about which food to eat, which food not
       to eat, how to get out of a pen, how to sneak away from you when they know
       they are in trouble, etc.. From Numbers 22:21-34 {about Balaam and his donkey}
       it is quite obvious that at times animals are much more spiritual discerning than
      people are!

    As for the animals, however, we know that animals do have souls.  We know that the soul lives on after the body has died. We know that there are presently animals in heaven. We know that there will be animals upon the earth in the millennium kingdom. We also know that God himself watches over even the birds of the air {Matt. 6:26} and takes care of them. To say that animals don't go to heaven when they die has no foundation in scripture!