Animals in Heaven? (for those who have lost a furry friend)

[VanBummel]

It seems to me that the most Biblical position is...maybe.

Ecclesiastes 3:18-21

18 I also said to myself, “As for humans, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals. 19 Surely the fate of human beings is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath; humans have no advantage over animals. Everything is meaningless. 20 All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return. 21 Who knows if the human spirit rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?”

These verses (like most of Ecclesiastes) seem to focus on life on earth and not eternity, but the last verse seems to imply that the spirit of an animal could ascend to heaven. I guess it's at God's discretion?

I have heard some argue that humans were given a special soul or spirit (not the Holy Spirit, something different) at creation that animals do not have, meaning only humans have a chance to go to heaven. Does anyone have a verse from the Bible that would imply this? Some people cite God's breathing the breath of life into Adam's nostrils (Genesis 2:7), but verse 19 above and Genesis 7:22 imply that animals received the same breath.

Genesis 7:21-23

21 Every living thing that moved on land perished—birds, livestock, wild animals, all the creatures that swarm over the earth, and all mankind. 22 Everything on dry land that had the breath of life in its nostrils died. 23 Every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out; people and animals and the creatures that move along the ground and the birds were wiped from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark.

 

[GunnyFreedom]

It seems to me that the most Biblical position is...maybe.

Ecclesiastes 3:18-21


These verses (like most of Ecclesiastes) seem to focus on life on earth and not eternity, but the last verse seems to imply that the spirit of an animal could ascend to heaven. I guess it's at God's discretion?

I have heard some argue that humans were given a special soul or spirit (not the Holy Spirit, something different) at creation that animals do not have, meaning only humans have a chance to go to heaven. Does anyone have a verse from the Bible that would imply this? Some people cite God's breathing the breath of life into Adam's nostrils (Genesis 2:7), but verse 19 above and Genesis 7:22 imply that animals received the same breath.

Genesis 7:21-23

You have to dig into the Hebrew to see the distinction, as best I can tell. There are three words all translated 'spirit' or 'soul' depending on the English Context, and not so much on which Hebrew word is being used. All creatures have a /nephesh/ but only humans have a /neshama/. However, I do not use this distinction to claim that only humans go to heaven. The nephesh is the living soul, and the Bible clearly indicates that people as well as animals have living souls. The Neshemah, or the 'divine spark' if you will is a part of the spirit of man that the scriptures never claim animals to possess.