Do all dogs really go to heaven?
12 May
If you are here because you read the title and thought this was an anti-universalism post; you are right. Universalism is dumb, read your Bible.
If you’re still reading; you’re in for a treat – a post true to its title. But first…
A recent discussion inspired a strange thought in my mind – is pet personification a bad thing? The Bible tells me that only men and women are created in the image of God, and the souls of men and women are derived thereof. So, by implication animals do not have a soul to call their own. If that last statement sounded strange it is because you need to consider that the characteristics we see in animals are only what we impose based on our understanding of relationships and emotions. If we didn’t see anger or shame in our own species, we wouldn’t define similar behaviors in animals as such – we simply wouldn’t have a point of reference. So while many people would like to think animals possess a soul, such cannot be the case according to Scripture.
But is it wrong to pretend? The simple answer is I just don’t know. You see, there are many times where the Lord has used animal metaphors. But I can’t think of any instances where personification has been used. What’s the difference you ask? Metaphor doesn’t actually attribute human characteristics to its subjects. It simply compares them. So while I can find many times metaphor is used in Scripture, I can’t think of any where personification is used. That doesn’t mean there are none (please do respond in the comments if you have found any).
On the other hand, it is never stated that pretending, relating to this issue, is wrong. I think it only really matters when you start believing it. In much the same way as enjoying the story of Pinocchio isn’t wrong but believing it to be factual is.
So where do animals go when they die? I don’t know the answer to this question either, but I will ask the Lord when I see Him. My gut feeling is that nothing happens to them when they die. No soul means no Heaven or Hell.
Is this the end, Fido? The Lord is good – I’m sure you if you really want Fido back in Heaven, you can ask.
