Nathan's nearly 3 year old anole lizard, known as Queen Lizard, passed away yesterday. This came soon after a sunday school class in which one of the elder's of our church announced emphatically that animals do not have souls and therefore do not go to heaven. The statement brought tears to the eyes of the girls during Sunday school, and made Nathan's grief just that much more yesterday afternoon. Which got me to thinking about animals and souls. DO animals not have souls? What IS a soul anyway? Where in the Bible does it say that animals do or do not have souls?
The scripture passage that the elder referred to resides in the first chapter of Genesis where the writer states that "God created man in his own image." (Genesis 1:27) But if you look at the context of that passage, it's very clear that being made in God's image means that humans have been made to rule over the earth. The poetic excerpt regarding being made in the image of God is neatly nestled between two prose passages that describe the role of mankind on earth. (Adam and Eve were set in the garden "to work it and take care of it" as is described in chapter 2. (Genesis 2:15)) There's no reference to souls anywhere in that chapter.
On the contrary, when the Pharisees had a cow over the fact that Jesus's disciples were praising him during the triumphal entry (Luke 19:37-40), Jesus replied that, "if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out." If the stones can cry out praises to God, then what is it in them that is doing the crying out? I'm not trying to imply that there is "a piece of God" inside everything. I don't subscribe to that form of theology. However, I do think it's a fair question to ask, "How do we know that animals won't be in heaven? Why is a soul necessary and how do we know that animals don't have them? If God's creation can shout out in praise to him, then why would this creation be barred from residence in God's heavenly kingdom (or in the New Earth at the very least)? (2 Peter 3:13)"
Shown to the upper right are Queen Lizard and her original companion, Little Green Riding Hood, who passed on (to who knows where) about a year ago.
