I’ve been asked multiple times by various people what I think about the idea of animals in heaven. The Average-Joe-Christian, I think, immediately assumes that ‘all dogs go to heaven.’ But theologians often think this idea is crackpot at best. The following is a biblical line of thought that would lead one to conclude that animals make it, if not into heaven, at least into the new heavens and the new earth after the return of Christ. I’m not willing to die on this hill, but I think it is worth pondering:
1. Every living creature is, or possesses, נָ֫פֶשׁ, nephesh (often translated by the English word, ‘soul’):
- Genesis 9:12 And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature (נָ֫פֶשׁ) that is with you, for all future generations:
- Genesis 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul (נָ֫פֶשׁ).
Soul, in this simple sense, simply means that both men and animals have an immaterial part of their being. There is a part of them that you cannot see. They are inwardly animated.
But is there a difference between the souls of men and of animals?
The Westminster Shorter Catechism is helpful here. Question 22 describes the soul of Christ in this way:
Q. 22. How did Christ, being the Son of God, become man?
A. Christ, the Son of God, became man, by taking to himself a true body, and a reasonable soul, being conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost, in the womb of the virgin Mary, and born of her, yet without sin.
Men, including Christ, who was truly man, have reasonable souls – that is, souls capable of reasoning. Animals have souls in the simplest sense (an immaterial aspect of being), but do not possess the faculty of reason (or, at least, not in the same way humans do). God shows mercy on those who are incapable of reason:
- Jonah 4:11 And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?”
Jonathan Edwards called the emotional experiences we share with animals ‘animal spirits.’ These would include goosebumps, heart palpitations, sweaty palms, and raw sexual desire (to name a few). This illustrates our common soulishness (common to men and animals) but also distinguishes men from animals, since men are capable of higher reasoning and emotion (i.e. love).
2. Animals are explicitly included in the Covenant of Grace both in salvation from the flood and promises of future grace in its Noahic administration:
- Genesis 6:19 And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female.
- Genesis 8:21 And when the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, the LORD said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done.
God’s covenant with Noah is a part of the unfolding of the Covenant of Grace. The ark is a type of Christ, who saves his people from the flood of God’s wrath as they are united with him through faith (they are said to be ‘in Christ’). Animals are brought into the ark and are included in the promise of the covenant. The ‘bow’ (think war bow, as in bow and arrow) in the heavens, as C.H. Spurgeon once said, points upward (toward the heavens) to demonstrate the way of salvation – God taking the arrow for his covenant people. It would appear that he takes the arrow for animals as well.
In the past I struggled with the idea of God’s covenant with Noah being an administration of the Covenant of Grace because it appears quite similar to God’s original administration of the Covenant of Works (similarities include the command to ‘bear fruit and multiply’) and because of the favored standing of animals within it. But the idea of animals being included in a unique way in the Covenant of Grace eases that tension. The Covenant of Grace calls men into a new relationship with creation, including animals. We are called to be stewards of all that exists – animate and inanimate – in light of the greatness of Christ’s atoning work, which is foreshadowed in the flood and ark.
It is also interesting to note that the post-flood world was a type of a new, and cleansed, creation that was to come. It is our first pointer to a ‘new earth.’ In this new earth there are animals. We’ll look at the ultimate ‘new heavens’ and ‘new earth’ below.
3. In the New Covenant administration of the Covenant of Grace, animals are explicitly declared ceremonially clean:
- Acts 10:15 And the voice came to him again a second time, “What God has made clean, do not call common.”
Hence animals possess a quality that unregenerate men do not possess – they are free from moral and ceremonial defilement.
4. The apocalyptic visions of John included those of heavenly animals:
- Revelation 19:11 ¶ Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.
This language is apocalyptic and metaphorical, but can you really imagine a king without a horse?
5. The new heavens and the new earth, while being new, share continuity with the old (and animals are certainly in the old)
Isaiah’s description of the new heavens and the new earth includes:
- Isaiah 11:6 The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them.
- Isaiah 65:25 The wolf and the lamb shall graze together; the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and dust shall be the serpent’s food. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain,” says the LORD.
While it is fairly clear that the language Isaiah is using is symbolic (hence the lion and the lamb pointing to Jesus Christ as the true Lion and Lamb, where power and weakness meet together in fullness), the particular symbolism used should not be ignored. The exalted Christ who comes to usher in the new heavens and the new earth is called ‘The Lion of the Tribe of Judah’ and ‘the Lamb who was slain.’ It is difficult to fathom Christ as a Lion or Lamb when lions and lambs are destined for non-existence.
Our ultimate hope is not for life after death, but for life after life after death – resurrection (both for us and the earth).
- Romans 8:19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
We do not simply long to be taken up to heaven but for heaven to be brought down to us – on the earth.
- Revelation 21:3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.
We are going to drink wine and eat bread in the new heavens and the new earth. This entails the existence of grapes and grain. If soulless plants may enter, why doubt that animate creatures such as animals would enter as well? They were created for God’s glory, and they glorify, and will glorify him.
