Do our pets go to heaven?
March 9th, 2008 / 6 Comments
Whether it’s your hamster, your goldfish, or your family dog, it is not easy for a child to face the death of a pet. It is even harder for a parent to have to explain it.
At one time we had 6+ hamsters and 2 dogs. Now we are down to one rabbit.
We grieved the hardest when our dogs died - one of old age and one of a car accident. So we’ve had to deal with both on a different level.
Children will inevitably ask, “Do our pets go to heaven?” They want to be reassured that their pet is in a good place, and that someone is taking care of them. They want to know if they will see their Fluffie, Tuffie, Muffie, Stuffie, Puffie and Rose again. (Our hamsters.)
I know that many Christians believe that since animals do not have a soul, they do not live eternally and therefore do not go to heaven.
I agree that animals do not have a soul as humans do, and they do not have a place in God’s kingdom as humans do. However, I am not theologically incorrect when I teach my children that they will see animals, probably plenty of them, in heaven. I am betting that they will see their hamsters as well as Chocolate and Puggie again. (Our dogs.)
- If heaven is a place with no more tears, wouldn’t God give us back our beloved pets to enjoy in heaven?
- If heaven is a place of love, what better place than for our pets to love us and for us to love them even more than when we had them on earth?
- If heaven is a place where the lion lies with the lamb, wouldn’t we see the dogs lie with cats and cats lie with birds?
- If heaven is a place where a creature like an ox with six wings sings praises to God*, wouldn’t it be natural to have a animal with simply four legs howling praises to God also?
I think it is important for our children to know that they will see their pets again. It teaches them that there is more to this life. There is eternity, there is hope, there is a God who loves us.
If we want our pets in heaven, God will surely give us our pets in heaven. I have no doubt about it.
*Revelations 4:7-8
Photo by Lin Pernille ♥ Photography
Comments
It’s so true. I’m lucky that we haven’t come across this yet, but will be thinking of you and this post when that time comes…
It’s painful but it’s all a part of life I guess.
My dog will go to heaven as long as there are beds to lay on and food to steal.
I’m sure we’ll see our pets again in heaven. It wouldn’t really be heaven without them.
[...] In his sermon our pastor mentioned my blog post about pets going to heaven. In case you are wondering, I wrote that in my parenting blog. [...]
@Lisa
Just for the kids yes I agree with you we’ll see our pets again in heaven and I wonder if we can still identify them.:-)
Who’s expert in Bible here do pets really don’t go to heaven for not having a soul?
-Jan
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