Will Our Pets (and Other Animals) Greet Us in Heaven? *

Part Fifteen:  If Animals Inhabit Heaven, What Will Heaven Be Like?

This blog article is a milestone in my series, “Will Our Pets (and Other Animals) Greet Us in Heaven?” Up to this point, my goal has been to demonstrate that at least sentient animals (animals that can perceive and feel things) possess an immaterial dimension to their being—a mind/soul—and therefore God has gifted them with immortality. What remains to be answered in this series are three things: (1) Assuming that earth-bound animals do possess immortal souls and will dwell in the new heaven and earth, which is prophesied in both the Old and New Testaments, what will such a heavenly environment be like? (2) If earth-bound animals inhabit Heaven, what will they be like and what will our relationship with them be like? (3) And (most controversial) will our pets and other animals—both deceased and alive—resurrect alongside God’s people when Jesus returns to vanquish Satan and his minions and set up His prophesied eternal Kingdom.

Before we begin exploring this exciting and intriguing dimension of animal immortality, I want to be sure you do not misunderstand what I am saying in this series. I am not saying that animals are equal to humans in God’s eyes. God does love and provide for non-human life independent of His love and provision for people; He wishes for all created life to fulfill the purposes for which He created them. Humans, however, are far more important to God than nature. According to Psalm 115:16, God had the human race in mind when He created the Earth, not to destroy it but to care for nature and it’s wild inhabitants. (I go into great detail on this in my book, Should Christians Be Environmentalists?—Kregel Publications, 2012). The Bible also says that only people were created in God’s image (Gen. 1:27); we are the crown of creation (Ps. 8); and we are more valuable to God than animals (Matt. 12: 11-12; Luke 12:6-7). But this in no way distracts from the reality of God’s love, provision for, and enjoyment of animal life—and that He has gifted them with an eternal immortal soul.

Will Earth-bound Animals Live in the New Heaven and Earth? 

I want to start part two of this series with a quote from Randy Alcorn’s novel Safety Home:

The pure air of heaven filled his lungs. He saw horses and deer and dogs and cats and rabbits and squirrels and badgers and hedgehogs. Until now he’d never thought of animals celebrating or lost in joy, but that’s exactly the impression he got when seeing them run and frolic and play with each other and with people. He saw trees that cast light instead of shadows. Some of them hung heavy with citrus fruits, picked and eaten freely by passersby. . . .

The best parts of that other world, he realized, had been but sneak previews of this one. . . .

       Compared to what he now beheld, the world he’s come from was a land of shadows, colorless and two-dimensional. This place was fresh and captivating, resonating with color and beauty. He could not only see and hear it, but feel and smell and taste it. Every hillside, every mountain, every waterfall, every frolicking animal in the fields seems to beckon him to come join them, to come from the outside and plunge  into the inside. This whole world had the feel of cool water on a blistering August afternoon. The light beckoned him to dive in with abandon, to come join the great adventure (pg. 376).  

                              

Who would not wish for Heaven to be as Alcorn describes it? But is it a realistic portrayal? Will humans run, frolic, and play with horses, deer, dogs, cats, badgers and other wild and domesticated animals? Just how accurate is Alcorn’s description of heaven, when measured against biblical revelation?  I believe the remaining articles in this series will reveal that it’s very accurate. And I for one look forward to joining the “great adventure” in the age to come.

Before we get started, a few preliminary things need to be said upfront.

First, the Bible doesn’t give us all the information we wish we had with regard to what heaven will be like. Rather, it’s more like the trailer of a movie—a stirring glimpse of what the full feature will reveal; a partial unfolding of the rose, but not the full blossom. Still, there is enough information about Heaven in Holy Scripture to allow me to draw some legitimate conclusions with regard to animal life, which I believe to be sensible and

accurate.

Second, some of what I’m about to share may be interpreted differently by some readers. Fair enough. On the other hand, I believe that what I share can be reasonably assumed from Scripture and from what we know of God’s great love for all created life. And nothing I suggest is outside biblical possibilities or contrary to established, orthodox biblical truths. Heaven may very well be as Alcorn (and I) describe.

Finally, this and the following four articles may seem to drift away from the focus of this book—which is to demonstrate that pets and other earthly animals in will inhabit Heaven. But there is a reason for this apparent rabbit trail. The best way to envision why soul-bearing, earth-bound animals will inhabit Heaven is to see that there is a continuity between our present earth, its animal inhabitants, and the “new heaven and earth” prophesied in the Old and New Testaments. So, let’s explore this together beginning next week. 

*  The blog articles in this series are adapted from copyrighted material and may not  be reproduced in book or article form, either electronically or in print, without my written permission. But feel free to send links to these articles, with a brief introduction, to your personal email list, Facebook friends and groups, or other people who may enjoy them. Or post a link on your own website. If you would like to be added to my personal blog email list (people who receive an email notice whenever I post a new blog article), contact me through my website: www.danstory.net.

Will Our Pets (and Other Animals) Greet Us in Heaven? *

Dan Story Photograph

 

Part Fourteen:  Do Animals Have Emotions and Thoughts Analogous to Humans? (Continued)

Last week’s blog article looked at some of the emotions that many animals share with humans. In this article we’ll see that many animals also share cognitive (thought-driven) attributes analogous to humans. Altogether, they further confirm the existence of a mind in sentient animals.  As I said last week, however, space in these short articles does not allow me to include examples. But I did suggest three books written by some of the world’s leading ethologists (people who study animal behavior), which give specific examples of human-like emotions and cognitive behaviors displayed in many sentient animals. In terms of cognitive attributes, they are readily observed in three broad areas.

Learning

Cognition is the mental ability to acquire and understand knowledge through thought, experience, and the senses. It was long assumed that animals were incapable of much thought and functioned mostly on instinct. It’s now widely known that many species have astonishing cognitive skills. They are quite proficient at learning and benefiting from what they learn, as well as teaching such information to offspring and others of their kind. Mammals and birds in particular, but even some less complex animals, are capable of gaining knowledge and understanding and can learn to respond with flexibility to environmental and other challenges,  often in ways that trump instinct.

Memory

Learning would be of little value unless an animal could apply it by remembering the past and planning for future activities. Studies in animal behavior have shown that many species of birds and mammals think about the future and learn from past mistakes. For example, subordinate chimpanzees and wolves will pretend they do not see a particular food item if a dominate animal is around—but will return later to eat it. Actually, it doesn’t take a trained ethologist to know that animals have remarkable memories. Most dog and cat owners are well aware of the abilities of their animal companions to remember past errors that resulted in punishment and behaviors that elicit rewards. And as many of us know, dogs have an incredible ability to learn and remember human words. Some can respond to more than a hundred commands!

Communication

If animals can learn and remember, it follows they should be able to communicate this knowledge to other animals. They can. We may not understand them, but many animals speak a “language” using various audible sounds that communicate specific information. Dolphins, whales, elephants, dogs, crows, ravens, parrots, gorillas, and many other animals communicate verbally. Other animals “speak” to one another through body language. Specific postures and the position of ears, eyes, tails, and facial expressions are all ways in which animals communicate their emotions and feelings to each other—as well as to humans, if we are attuned to them.

Self-awareness

In this and the previous blog article, I have just touched briefly on the mounting scientific evidence that numerous animal species have emotions, express deep feelings, and engage in thought-driven behaviors. They can learn and pass on important knowledge, retain memories that determine how they will respond to future events and circumstances, and, in one way or another, are able to clearly communicate with one another. All these human-like mental activities seem to imply the likelihood that at least some sentient animals are self-aware (have a degree of self-consciousness). Recent research with primates, dolphins, dogs, and a few other animals have demonstrated this. Within the limitations their individual mental capabilities, it seems likely that at least some animals are self-aware. Why is this significant? More than any in other mental activity, self-awareness cannot be reduced to mere instinct. It requires independent, flexible, and abstract thought. 

Conclusion

Decades of field studies by skilled ethologists and laboratory research by trained scientists has demonstrated that many animals do in fact possess emotional and cognitive abilities that reflect intelligence, feelings, and thought-driven behaviors remarkably similar to humans. This in turn sufficiently demonstrates that animals, like humans, possess an immaterial dimension to their being: a mind—the seat of all mental activities. In humans, as we saw in parts eleven and twelve, the mind is the essential faculty of our souls and cannot be reduced to chemical and neurological processes operating within our physical brains. Since animals likewise possess emotional and cognitive attributes that originate in an immaterial mind distinct from their brains, it’s legitimate to conclude that animals also possess souls.

What does this have to do with Animals immortality?

Let me review what we’ve seen so far in this series of blog articles. In parts 1-6, I demonstrated that animals have value to God independent of their instrumental value to humans; God also created animals for His own enjoyment and to fulfill the purpose of their individual creation. In parts 7-12, I demonstrated, theologically and biblically, that animal, like humans, possess immaterial minds and souls. And in my recent articles, parts 13 and 14, I have provided scientific evidence to support this conclusion. Altogether, I believe I have made a compelling case that God has bestowed on (at least) sentient animals immortal souls.

Now it’s time to move in a new direction and explore a different but intriguing aspect of animal immortality. Assuming that earth-bound animals do possess immortal souls and will dwell in the new heaven and earth prophesied in both the Old and New Testaments, what will such a heavenly environment be like? This will be the topic of the next few blog articles. Then, I’ll end the series with the most controversial issue of all: will earth-bound animals be resurrected alongside of God’s people when Jesus returns to set up His eternal Kingdom (cf. Rom. 8:19-23)? 

*  The blog articles in this series are adapted from copyrighted material and may not  be reproduced in book or article form, either electronically or in print, without my written permission. But feel free to send links to these articles, with a brief introduction, to your personal email list, Facebook friends and groups, or other people who may enjoy them. Or post a link on your own website. If you would like to be added to my personal blog email list (people who receive an email notice whenever I post a new blog article), contact me through my website: www.danstory.net.

Will Our Pets (and Other Animals) Greet Us in Heaven? *

Al Hochrein photograph

 Part Thirteen: Do Animals Have Emotions and Thoughts Analogous to Humans?

We learned in the previous two blog articles that mental states in humans originate in our minds—the immaterial dimension of our being—not from the physical matter of our brains. While in our physical bodies, our minds are “housed” within our brains, and our brains are the vehicles through which our thoughts are expressed. But the brain and mind are not the same thing. The brain decays at death, but the mind lives on in our souls.

In this and the next blog article, I’ll demonstrate that many animals have certain cognitive abilities and emotions that closely parallel similar characteristics in humans. If such mental states in people originate in their minds, it’s perfectly legitimate to conclude that such traits in animals would likewise originate in their minds. Moreover, since in humans the mind is the essential faculty of our souls, it can further be concluded that animals must also have souls (as I demonstrated in parts 7-9).

Now, we must keep this in perspective. Regardless of the degree of their complexity, mental activities in animals are far less sophisticated and intensely experienced than they are in humans. Nor does the fact that some animals have mental faculties analogous to humans elevate their value in the created order to that of people—not my mind, not in most peoples mind, and certainly not in God’s mind.

Space in these short articles does not allow me to give examples of the following human-like emotions and thoughts displayed in animals. But let me assure readers that I’ve researched this topic thoroughly and examined numerous sources that document what I’m going to share. For readers who are interested seeing examples of animal displaying these characteristics, there are three books in particular that I can recommend. Two of them are by one of the world’s leading authorities on animal behavior, Marc Bekoff: Animal Passions and Beastly Virtues and The Emotional Lives of Animals. For current studies on dogs—probably the most  frequently studied domesticated animal in behavioral research (other than experiments on rodents)—read Inside of a Dog; What Dogs See, Smell, and Know by psychologist and animal behaviorist, Alexandra Horowitz.

Then and Now

Prior to the 19^th century, most scientists assumed that nature was a vast organic machine operating according to immutable natural laws. Animals were regarded as little more than biological machines. Rene Descartes and other 17^th century philosophers and scientists even believed that animals do not feel pain. This resulted in the cruel practice of vivisection, where experiments and surgery were performed on live animals without anesthesia.

Today, it’s hard to imagine anyone ever believing that animals don’t feel pain or experience other emotions. During the last century, an enormous amount of data has been accumulated on animal behavior. It’s widely recognized today that animals not only feel pain and retain memories of it, but they also engage in thought-driven behaviors and experience real emotions. As Professor Bekoff put it:

 New studies are producing information that shows just how fascinating and complex animal behavior can be. Animals who seem incapable of much thought have been shown to have remarkable cognitive skills. . . . Many individual . . .  animals show distinct personalities and idiosyncratic quirks, just as humans do. There are extroverts, introverts, agreeable individuals, and neurotic animals. . .  There is now mounting evidence that joy, love, grief, jealousy, and embarrassment, for example, are all experienced by individuals of many species. (The Emotional Lives of Animals, p.xx, 10).

So it turns out that what many pet owners intuitively knew all along is true—animals can have real emotions, and their behaviors are often deliberate, flexible, and not motivated by just instinct. Below I’ll point out some of the most obvious and well-attested emotions displayed in many animals, and next week we’ll look at some of the cognitive  (thought-driven) behaviors observed in many species of animals. In both cases, you will see that many of these mental attributes parallel similar thoughts and emotions in humans.

Emotions and Feelings

What kinds of human-like emotions and feelings do animals experience? Most of the same kinds that humans experience: altruism, devotion, loyalty, grief, loneliness, sadness, compassion, empathy, joy, pleasure, play, affection, and, yes, even love. Now, when it comes to fully understanding what these human-like emotions mean to animals, we must be careful not to be guilty of exaggerated anthropomorphism. Animal emotions cannot be thought of as being directly equivalent to similar human emotions. If a dog or elephant expresses love or joy, it will be dog-love and dog-joy and elephant-love and elephant-joy, not human-like love and joy.  Animal emotions can only be expressed within the mental capabilities and physical makeup of the animal. But that they are not human-like in intensity or complexity does not mean they do not exist. The same is also true of animal cognition—learning, memory, communication, and (for some animals) self-awareness. We’ll examine these mental attributes in next week’s article.

^*  The blog articles in this series are adapted from copyrighted material and may not  be reproduced in book or article form, either electronically or in print, without my written permission. But feel free to send links to these articles, with a brief introduction, to your personal email list, Facebook friends and groups, or other people who may enjoy them. Or post a link on your own website. If you would like to be added to my personal blog email list (people who receive an email notice whenever I post a new blog article), contact me through my website: www.danstory.net.

Will Our Pets (and Other Animals) Greet Us in Heaven? *

Al Hochrein photograph

Part Twelve:  More Scientific Evidence That Animals Possess Immaterial Minds/Souls

In last week’s blog article, I provided scientific evidence that our minds—the essential faculty of our souls—are distinct from our material (physical) brains. In this article, I will provide additional scientific evidence to support this thesis and then address a common challenge.

Now, these two articles may seem rather technical, and it may appear that I have drifted away from the goal of this series; that is, to demonstrate that earth-bound animals will be redeemed alongside God’s people and will inhabit the new heaven and earth, when Jesus returns to establish His eternal Kingdom. But this is not a rabbit trail. My purpose in these two articles is to demonstrate that sentient animals also possess immaterial minds distinct from their physical brain. And since the mind is the essential faculty of human souls, there is every reason to believe animals also possess immaterial souls.

Our Thoughts Can “Rewire” the Neurons (Nerve Cells) in Our Brains

Recent studies in brain science have demonstrated that changing one’s thinking can actually rewire the brain. Studies using brain-imaging technology on people experiencing obsessive-compulsive disorders (OCD) have revealed that changing one’s thought patterns can alter the neuronal circuits of the brain. In other words, it was discovered that when OCD sufferers learned to focus their attention on positive things, they literally  rewired the brain circuit in the area of the brain that was the source of the problem.

This data is supported by “cognitive therapy,” a counseling technique that teaches patients to redirect their thoughts away from compulsions to thoughts and behaviors that are more emotionally beneficial and pleasant. The outcome of such therapy was changes in the way patients felt about themselves and other people. (It’s significant that the apostle Paul gave us the same advice nearly two thousand years ago in Philippians 4:8-9!)

This is exciting because it gives empirical, scientific confirmation that chemical and neurological processes in the brain do not dictate our subjective thoughts and other mental activities, as evolutionary materialists claim. Rather, our subjective thoughts and feelings, originating in our immaterial minds, can alter the physical functions of our brains. The mind dominates the brain, not the other way around. This is tremendously compelling evidence for the existence of immaterial souls.

But what about Brain Injury?

If it’s true that our minds exist independent of our brains, why do people loose mental capabilities when their brain is injured by head trauma? Why is thinking impaired—sometimes to the point of hallucination—from alcohol or drug abuse? Along the same line, why does the mind seem to loose mental acuity as one ages? These are valid questions, but not hard to explain.

It’s true that injury, substance abuse, and age can cause the brain to dysfunction, and this can affect mental processes. However, this only shows that while in our physical bodies our minds are “housed” within our brains—not that brain and mind are one and the same. Our brains are a receiver and the medium of transmission for our minds, but they are not identical. Injury to the brain would impose certain limitations on how the brain processes our thoughts while our souls are confined to our physical bodies. But because the mind exists independent of the physical brain—and remember the mind is the essential faculty of our souls—injury to the brain would not obliterate the mind itself. In other words, damage to or deterioration of the brain may interrupt the transmission of mental activities, but it would not affect our mind once it’s disembodied from our brain—the mind itself is not affected by our physical condition. Once our mind is liberated from its physical body, as when death occurs, it continues to exist fully functioning within our immaterial soul. When our brains die our consciousness continues in our souls because our souls never die.

                                                                             

Now, let’s apply this to animals. If sentient animals have cognitive thoughts and emotional feelings (albeit much less sophisticated or as intensely experienced as in humans), it strongly suggests that they too must possess immaterial minds that exist independent of their physical brains. In other words, if the origin of such mental activities in humans can’t be reduced to neurological and chemical process in brain cells (merely matter), why would similar mental states in animals not also originate in their immaterial minds? To go the logical step further, if human minds are the essential faculty of our souls, and if some animals experience mental states in their minds similar to humans, we have a good reason to believe that animal souls will also survive physical death. There is no scientific reason—or biblical (as we saw in parts 7-9)—why this shouldn’t be true.

The key here is whether or not animals actually experience emotions, feelings, and thoughts that in humans can only originate in our immaterial minds, our souls. If sentient animals share these same qualifying attributes, they too must have an immaterial mind or soul distinct from their physical brain. Demonstrating that sentient animals do possess human-like emotions, feelings, and thoughts—the fundamental attributes of immaterial minds/souls—is the topic of the next two blog articles.

^*  The blog articles in this series are adapted from copyrighted material and may not  be reproduced in book or article form, either electronically or in print, without my written permission. But feel free to send links to these articles, with a brief introduction, to your personal email list, Facebook friends and groups, or other people who may enjoy them. Or post a link on your own website. If you would like to be added to my personal blog email list (people who receive an email notice whenever I post a new blog article), contact me through my website: www.danstory.net.