Do animals go to hell?

[Leah]

I wonder.......

Especially if they attack and maul people/other animals to death.

Note: I know this is a rather silly question but so what.*

 

[`Raine]

No, they don't have a soul, so they don't really go anywhere after death. The attacks/maulings are out of instinct or training, not the animals' free will, so it's not really a sin. People who abuse them or teach them to be that way, OTOH, are accountable for it.

 

[chilehed]

No, for two related reasons.

1. Animals don't have the capacity to turn away from God (i.e., sin). Hell is the consequence of sin, and since animals can't sin then they don't go to hell.

2. Animal souls are not eternal, and when their bodies cease to exist so do their souls.

 

[Athaliamum]

The attacks/maulings are out of instinct or training, not the animals' free will, so it's not really a sin

Animals do have free will beyond instinct and training. I'm pretty sure it does say somewhere in the bible that God doesn't like animals who attack humans - I just can't remember exactly where.

Say if we look at dogs for instance each animal has it's own distinct personality which it is born with not just because of breed and training, though some breeds are more prone to voilence. They even dream - it's most probably of chasing birds or something.

I believe that animals do have a spirit in them they just don't have understanding, they can't form logic. They were not designed to have personal relationship with God in the way we have been. We have been made in God's image - that is what sets us apart. Even then it wasn't until the fall when humankind gained the knowledge from eating of the tree did death and then it's subsequent consequences such as hell and salvation apply.

Animals obviously have an important role to play though - why else would God include them in things such as passovers killing of the first born? Why must animals also be given shabbat under the Torah?

I know for instance that in cases where I have been brushing my dog and I've pulled the hair a little hard he has a turned around and given me a nip - not hard because half way through I can see him stopping himself. He goes to bite but stops before applying pressure. The next part of instinct would be to run away when I go "Ouch, naughty boy" but he doesn't - he comes up and sticks his head on my leg almost as seeking my forgiveness. Whether you believe an animal has a soul or not you can't say that this is instict or training - it's pure personality.

Other questions could be raised with regards to animals sensitivity to the spirit world. There have been many cases where animals will not enter areas because of strange fear. And other cases again when peoples pets have howled at the hour of death when it is normally uncharacteristic for them to do so. Or cases when the owner has died or been injured and opposite of instinct that animal has not left it's owners side - even to it's own death.

But animals are not subject to the same laws that we as humans are. We were instituted as their caretakers - they do not have the ability to deliberately sin - how can an animal repent?

 

[george]

...No, I don't think animals go to hell, but I did read a book about a guy who went to hell, he saw spiders and snakes, but their not animals.

 

[£amb]

I owned a kitten who I thought it could of been the anti-christ in kitten form. I gave it away to another good home. I truly felt that it would of gone to hell...or least in purgatory for a really loooooong time!

(Please know that I am only saying this in humor)

 

[Maastricht]

Bonobo chimps regularly engage in sexual relations with each other. They are in fact very promiscuous and have relations with the whole troop just about every day, and they don't stick to the opposite sex. Here is a passage from the Wikipedia article on Bonobos:

Sexual activity happens within the immediate family as well as outside it, and often involves adults and children. Bonobos do not form permanent relationships with individual partners. They also do not seem to discriminate in their sexual behavior by gender or age, with the possible exception of sexual intercourse between mothers and their adult sons; some observers believe these pairings are taboo. When Bonobos come upon a new food source or feeding ground, the increased excitement will usually lead to communal sexual activity, presumably decreasing tension and allowing for peaceful feeding.
​

It's pretty clear that if they don't have faith that Christ was brutalized on the cross by God as a sin-payment, then God will not forgive them for their evil, and will instead direct his retribution at them. God does not overlook sexual sin -- not even the sin perpetrated by chimps.

 

[CromulentChimpanzee]

Yes

 

[Assisi]

Bonobo chimps regularly engage in sexual relations with each other. They are in fact very promiscuous and have relations with the whole troop just about every day, and they don't stick to the opposite sex. Here is a passage from the Wikipedia article on Bonobos:

Sexual activity happens within the immediate family as well as outside it, and often involves adults and children. Bonobos do not form permanent relationships with individual partners. They also do not seem to discriminate in their sexual behavior by gender or age, with the possible exception of sexual intercourse between mothers and their adult sons; some observers believe these pairings are taboo. When Bonobos come upon a new food source or feeding ground, the increased excitement will usually lead to communal sexual activity, presumably decreasing tension and allowing for peaceful feeding.
​

It's pretty clear that if they don't have faith that Christ was brutalized on the cross by God as a sin-payment, then God will not forgive them for their evil, and will instead direct his retribution at them. God does not overlook sexual sin -- not even the sin perpetrated by chimps.

And in chimps, why is that sinful?

 

[oldsage]

ok, so, what I would like to know is, where does it say that animals don't have souls? I have read passages where the bible calls them souls. (ie. Gen 1:24)

And granted I do agree with this, where does it say that animal soul's are not eternal?

Chris

 

[GreyLeader]

Animals are not made in the image of God like we humans are and thus do not have eternal souls like God. Like a previous poster said, when they die that's it. There will be animals in Heaven though, I just hope there won't be any spiders, flies, etc. It would be a real shame because there will be no death in the new Earth and new heavens and so you wouldn't be able to kill the darn things. Sigh.

 

[jowana]

Simply no cos they are not sinners

 

[Maastricht]

Chimps are sinners -- the touch, have homosexual activity, have incestuous activities, have rampant promiscuities, and sometimes they kill each other.

I don't think that you could observe a troupe of chimps for a day without concluding that they are totally depraved and provoke Yahweh's eternal vengeance.

Chimps, too, need to be justified by faith in Christ's brutal wrath-bearing death on the cross.

Here is more description from Wikipedia article on Bonobo CHimps:

Sexual intercourse plays a major role in Bonobo society, being used as a greeting, a means of conflict resolution and post-conflict reconciliation, and as favors traded by the females in exchange for food. Bonobos are the only non-human apes to have been observed engaging in all of the following sexual activities: face-to-face genital sex (most frequently female-female, then male-female and male-male), tongue kissing, and oral sex.[2] In scientific literature, the female-female sex is often referred to as GG rubbing or genital-genital rubbing, while male-male sex is sometimes referred to as penis fencing.

 

[Maastricht]

Yes they're definitely going to hell.

 

[oldsage]

Animals are not made in the image of God like we humans are and thus do not have eternal souls like God. Like a previous poster said, when they die that's it.

I would have to say we don't have 'eternal' souls either, because the word eternal means it has always existed, and we had a beginning. Now a case could be made for immortal souls, but I don't agree with that one either.

Chris

 

[GreyLeader]

I've always taken eternal to mean "never ending" as well, but yeah, I guess you're right. We would then have immortal souls. Thanks for correcting me.

 

[chilehed]

ok, so, what I would like to know is, where does it say that animals don't have souls? I have read passages where the bible calls them souls. (ie. Gen 1:24)

And granted I do agree with this, where does it say that animal soul's are not eternal?

Chris

The word "soul" indicates that which animates the body. All living physical things have a soul - plants have vegetative souls, animals have animal souls, humans have human souls. These three kinds of souls have different natures, and the only kind we know to be immortal are human souls.

My understanding is that the sense of the Church is that the other kinds of souls are not immortal.