I Need A Sincere Christian Response Please

[Jenny A]

Most theologians are going to say pets don't make it to heaven for precisely the reason Polaris gave. But if you'd like to give her hope there are two passages in Isaiah about a time of peace which might suggest animals will share the second coming.

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A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
2 The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him,
the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the spirit of counsel and might,
the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
3 His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.

He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
or decide by what his ears hear;
4 but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
5 Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist,
and faithfulness the belt around his loins.

6 The wolf shall live with the lamb,
the leopard shall lie down with the kid,
the calf and the lion and the fatling together,
and a little child shall lead them.
7 The cow and the bear shall graze,
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp,
and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den.
9 They will not hurt or destroy
on all my holy mountain;
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.

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Isaiah 11

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For I am about to create new heavens
and a new earth;
the former things shall not be remembered
or come to mind.
18 But be glad and rejoice forever
in what I am creating;
for I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy,
and its people as a delight.
19 I will rejoice in Jerusalem,
and delight in my people;
no more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it,
or the cry of distress.
20 No more shall there be in it
an infant that lives but a few days,
or an old person who does not live out a lifetime;
for one who dies at a hundred years will be considered a youth,
and one who falls short of a hundred will be considered accursed.
21 They shall build houses and inhabit them;
they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 They shall not build and another inhabit;
they shall not plant and another eat;
for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be,
and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
23 They shall not labor in vain,
or bear children for calamity;[e]
for they shall be offspring blessed by the Lord—
and their descendants as well.
24 Before they call I will answer,
while they are yet speaking I will hear.
25 The wolf and the lamb shall feed together,
the lion shall eat straw like the ox;
but the serpent—its food shall be dust!
They shall not hurt or destroy
on all my holy mountain,
says the Lord.

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Isaiah 65:17-25

[Minimalist]

When I was 11 and sitting in some boring ass sunday school class I noticed the girl next to me was crying. I thought she was bored to tears as I was so I didn't think anything of it. Eventually, sister mary numb-nuts up front noticed her crying and asked what was wrong.

The kid said her dog died the night before and the nun made some "I'm sorry" sounds and prepared to go back to her jesus bullshit. Then the girl asked "will I see my dog in heaven?" Rather than just say 'yes' this nun gave pretty much the answer that Polecat gave which only caused the kid to cry harder.

It was right about that time that I realized that these religious types were fairly useless as human beings. Its been all downhill from there.

[ShaMan]

Well, you could just tell her that everything in the bible is bullshit and there is no heaven for anyone, human nor animal.
I'm sure she'll like that answer.

Respectfully... She's heard that from me (in so many words). While I agree with you, I also find it necessary to build a bridge, and therefore, I seek legitimate apologetic advance, one way or the other.

@PaulMaul...
Thank you sincerely for your response.

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The image of God is the soul as the only faith of the Book that alludes to God having physical attributes akin to human form is Christianity. She has to examine the Bible for herself.

nonsequitar

[Polaris]

Well, you could just tell her that everything in the bible is bullshit and there is no heaven for anyone, human nor animal.
I'm sure she'll like that answer.

Respectfully... She's heard that from me (in so many words). While I agree with you, I also find it necessary to build a bridge, and therefore, I seek legitimate apologetic advance, one way or the other.

@PaulMaul...
Thank you sincerely for your response.

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The image of God is the soul as the only faith of the Book that alludes to God having physical attributes akin to human form is Christianity. She has to examine the Bible for herself.

nonsequitar

God does not have a physical form (just look at the Jewish beliefs on depicting God); therefore, if humans are made in the image of God, "made in the image" applies to the spiritual and not the physical. They are granted the potential for Heaven because their spirit is ultimately from Heaven itself whereas the non-humans are solely of the earth.

[Bibliofagus]

Revelation 19:14 says the armies of heaven come in riding horses. So I'd say yes.

[jesus_wept]

Doesn't the bible say you need to believe in Jesus to go to heaven? I'm pretty certain my dog doesn't believe in Jesus.

[John V]

Animals do have souls. The Hebrew translated "living creatures" in Genesis is the same that's translated as soul with regard to humans. However, that doesn't really matter in this case, as to my knowledge there's no passage which says that creatures with souls necessarily go to heaven, or that a soul is a requirement to go to heaven.

Personally I believe that there is a place for animals in the next life, based on:

Romans 8
20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; 21 because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

Creation itself is saved, and animals are part of creation.

[Fidel_Castronaut]

I think a lot of animals have more 'soul' than a lot of people do.

[Cato]

Of course animals will go to heaven. Anyone that's read the Bible knows God's fondness of the aroma of their burning flesh.

[LivingNumbers6.626]

Like all religions, it is open to creative interpretation. In other words, if it feels good, believe it. No evidence required.