Expert: Brenda Martin - 2/27/2005

Question
My daughter Miriam ( 8 years ) had a pet animal who died last week.Amid her grief,she asked me if it's soul will go to heavens !! I did not know the answer and did not want to tell her nonesense.We are a Christian family and we want to bring her up knowing the scripture teachings, but such questions are really confusing.Could you help ? Thanks.George

Answer
Hello George, you said--""PET DIED LAST WEEK"

Sorry to hear, I know how I would feel if anything happened to my dog.

"ITS SOUL GO TO HEAVEN?"

When I attended church, I was taught that the good go to heaven, so I can see where she's coming from, however, when I started to study the bible for myself I did not find any scriptures that speak of us;- having an immortal soul or ;"all good people go to heaven" either.

So when we know what the bible teaches concerning these 2 things, we know then that animals do not have an immortal soul either and most definitely do not go to heaven when they die.

I am sure this is not the answer you were hoping for, but it is what the bible teaches and you said you are a "Christian family" and you want to bring her up "knowing the scripture teachings"

Here is what the scriptures teach regarding the soul and heaven—

The ancient Greek philosophers Socrates and Plato held that there must be something inherently immortal inside man and woman—a soul that survives death and never really dies. Earth wide, millions believe this today. The Bible teaches us something quite different about the dead.

In considering the condition of the dead, we must remember that our original father, Adam, did not have a soul. He was a soul. In an awe-inspiring act of creation, God formed man—the soul—from the basic elements of the earth and then breathed into him “the breath of life.” Genesis 2:7 tells us:

God clearly explained what death would mean for the sinner Adam. God said: “In the sweat of your face you will eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken. For dust you are and to dust you will return.” (Genesis 3:19) Adam would return where? To the ground, to the dust from which he had been created. At death Adam would simply cease to exist!

In this regard, human death does not differ from that of the animals. They too are souls, and the same spirit, or life force, energizes them. (Genesis 1:24) At Ecclesiastes 3:19, 20, the wise man Solomon tells us: “As the one dies, so the other dies; and they all have but one spirit, so that [in death] there is no superiority of the man over the beast . . . They have all come to be from the dust, and they are all returning to the dust.” Man was superior to the beasts in that he was created in God's image, reflecting the qualities of God. (Genesis 1:26, 27) Yet, at death humans and animals alike return to the dust.

Solomon further explained what death means, saying: “The living are conscious that they will die; but as for the dead, they are conscious of nothing at all.” Yes, the dead know absolutely nothing. In view of this, Solomon urged: “All that your hand finds to do, do with your very power, for there is no work nor devising nor knowledge nor wisdom in Sheol, the place to which you are going.” (Ecclesiastes 9:5, 10) Where do the dead go? To Sheol (Hebrew, she´ohl'), the common grave of mankind.

However death was not part of God's purpose for mankind. (Ezekiel 33:11; 2 Peter 3:9) Hence, death does not have to be final for us or for our loved ones. It is God's purpose to rescue us and our dead loved ones from Adamic death. Therefore, God's Word refers to the dead as being asleep. John 11:23, 24.

Martha expressed no thought about an immortal soul living on elsewhere after death. She did not believe that Lazarus had already gone to some spirit realm to continue his existence. Martha had faith in the wonderful hope of a resurrection from the dead. She understood, not that an immortal soul had departed from the body of Lazarus, but that her dead brother had ceased to exist. The remedy would be the resurrection of her brother.

Pause for a moment to consider this: Nobody would need to be resurrected, or brought back to life, if an immortal soul survived death. In fact, it would be no kindness to resurrect someone like Lazarus back to imperfect life on earth if he had already passed on to a wonderful heavenly reward. Actually, the Bible never uses the expression “immortal soul.” Instead, the Scriptures say that the sinning human soul does die. (Ezekiel 18:4, 20) So the Bible points to the provision of a resurrection as the real remedy for death.

A limited number of men and women will be resurrected to life in heaven. As kings and priests with Jesus, they will share in undoing all the effects of death that mankind inherited from the first man, Adam. (Romans 5:12; Revelation 5:9, 10)

By far the majority of those who have died will be resurrected to a paradise earth. (Psalm 37:11, 29; Matthew 6:10)

Animals are a part of God's generous provision for human welfare. Animals have served man as burden bearers, as sources of food and clothing, as sanitation agents, and as helpers in the vital activities of plowing and harvesting. Their variety of form and color has delighted his eye; their habits and instincts have been and still are an extensive field for inquiry into the marvels of God's creative work. However although animals die in the same manner as man, they do not share his hope of a resurrection.—2Pe 2:12;

As I say, it is probably not what you were expecting, and it is up to you what you tell your child of course, to comfort her, but I felt I had to tell you what the "scriptures" say on the subject. If you have any further questions on any topic and would like to know what the scriptures say, I would be happy to answer them.

All the best
Brenda (mum of 4)