Animals Have Souls Series

Animals Have Souls

Nearly all pet lovers have asked the question, “Does our pets have souls?” Which can be answered through the hard work of study. The Bible does give clear truths which can answer the question – do animals have a soul?

Just what does the Word of God say?

To help understand a soul, let us take the human perspective. Humans are comprised of three parts according to Scripture. May God Himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thessalonians 5:23)

Our body is our physical shell, and our spirit is the part which enables us to connect and commune with God. Our soul is where our will and emotions live. In a post from Bibles for America I read, “Our soul is our personality, who we are. With our soul we think, reason, consider, remember, and wonder. We experience emotions like happiness, love, sorrow, anger, relief, and compassion. We are able to resolve, choose and make decisions.”

People often use the term soul and spirit interchangeably, and how you use the word will determine what you believe regarding animals having a soul. Knowing the fact the soul is where our emotions flow out of, where you get the foundation of thinking, reason and making decisions, then yes animals have a soul. Animals can think, reason, sense danger, enjoy happiness, sadness, and all of the things we mentioned in our understanding of the human soul - then common-sense points to animals having souls.

Every pet owner can tell the happiness their pet expresses when they return home from work or from a trip. You can also see that expression on their face when they recall what they had done was wrong. These are intentional emotions which flow out of their soul. Taking note how animals hunt, protect their young, mourn loss – all these emotions come from a soul. Taking time to looked at the word of God, will also show us animals have souls

God Gives Animals Souls

The Bible tells us that God created animals with a soul. In fact, Scripture says that animals are souls. For example, the Hebrew word for “soul” is [nephesh.] It is translated as “soul” 256 times in the Old Testament, and “creature, living being, life and lifeblood” other times. Genesis 1:20, 21, 24, 30; 2:7, 19; 9:12, 15, 16 provide a few examples where nephesh is translated as “creature” or “creatures.” Nephesh is used to refer to the life blood (Proverbs 28:17), a man’s appetite (Ecclesiastes 6:7), a person’s heart (Song of Solomon 5:6), a man’s hunger, and a person’s life (Proverbs 29:24). The soul in the Old Testament has the meaning of a “life force.” Nephesh refers to the essence of life, that which causes the body to function. Animals have a nephesh, and so do people. So, that means a creature and soul were interchangeable concepts.

Revelation 5:13 says, “And I heard every creature in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them saying, ‘To Him who sits on the throne and the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!’”

All animated creation now joins in the ascription of praise. Those under the earth are probably the “spirits in prison” of 1 Pet. 3:19, though Vitringa understands the expression to be used of the devils “who unwillingly obey Christ,” and even declare his glory, as in Mark 1:24, “I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God.” The sea is meant literally; the apostle’s object being to include all animated beings wheresoever existing. It has been remarked that St. John’s exile at Patmos would render him familiar with the appearance of the sea, and account for its frequent use in the Apocalypse, both literally and symbolically. The things on the sea would signify, not merely ships with their inhabitants, but also those animals in the sea which are known to men by dwelling near the surface. “All things that are in them” serves to render emphatic the universality of the description, as in Exod. 20:11 and Ps. 146:6, “The Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is.” (Spence-Jones, H. D. M., ed. (1909). Revelation (p. 167). Funk & Wagnalls Company.)

From the Derby Bible – which was written in 1890, by John Nelson Darby. We read from Romans 8: 18-22, “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the coming glory to be revealed to us. For the anxious looking out of the creature expects the revelation of the sons of God: for the creature has been made subject to vanity, not of its will, but by reason of Him who has subjected the same, in hope that the creature itself also shall be set free from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans together and travails in pain together until now. (Darby, J. N. (1996). The Holy Scriptures: a new translation from the original languages (Ro 8:18–22). Logos Research Systems.)