All Dogs Go To Heaven

Monday, 28 November 2011

Today we lost a week-old puppy that must have been slightly defective from birth.  Ned’s dog Ellie gave birth to a litter of four cute puppies but one would not nurse properly and could not digest what it did manage to eat.  She was a concern to us from the day she was born and though Ned and Nicole did all in their power to save the little thing she could not be helped and saddened us all by taking her leave this afternoon.

The passing of this little creature called to my mind a clever conversation that appeared on the Internet a few years ago.  It was a short dialog carried out between the marquees of two churches, the  Our Lady of Martyrs Catholic Church and, across the street, the  Beulah Cumberland Presbyterian Church.  The conversation is shown in the following images taken from the Internet.

All Dogs Go To Heaven

  

Rebuttal:  Read The Bible

God Loves All His Creations

Rebuttal: Dogs Don't Have Souls

Catholic Dogs Go To Heaven

Conversion Does Not Grant A Soul

Yes It Does!

No, It Doesn’t; Dogs Are No Different From Rocks

OK, All Rocks Go To Heaven, Too

 There is no winner to this debate by appeal to the Bible because, unfortunately, the condition of plants and animals in the next life is not plainly dealt with in the Bible.   But the Bible does give some information in  favor of the Catholic viewpoint, especially when considered in the light of restoration scripture.

Chapters one and two of the book of Genesis give two accounts of the creation.  The two accounts are connected by verse 5 of Ch. 2;  “And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.”   This verse implies that although the seven creative labors were accomplished there was still no life on the planet until “there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.”

Man is now created in the flesh and likewise all the plants and animals.  We know from the Book of Moses that the first account describes the spiritual creation and the second account the temporal:

For I, the Lord God, created all things, of which I have spoken, spiritually, before they were naturally upon the face of the earth. For I, the Lord God, had not caused it to rain upon the face of the earth. And I, the Lord God, had created all the children of men; and not yet a man to till the ground; for in heaven created I them; and there was not yet flesh upon the earth, neither in the water, neither in the air;

But I, the Lord God, spake, and there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.

And I, the Lord God, formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul, the first flesh upon the earth, the first man also; nevertheless, all things were before created; but spiritually were they created and made according to my word.

And out of the ground I, the Lord God, formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and commanded that they should come unto Adam, to see what he would call them; and they were also living souls; for I, God, breathed into them the breath of life. (Moses 3:5-7, 19)

Here is our clue that the animals and plants have spirits and constitute living souls just like Adam, you, and me.  We also learn from Genesis that God valued everything He created: “And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good (Gen 1:31) .” If the plants and animals are living souls just like people, and God considers them to be “very good”, there is no reason to believe they will not be resurrected along with humans to enjoy the blessings of eternity.

In my mind the real difference between people and animals is agency.  Animals make decisions by instinct, not by agency.  They cannot be tempted to lie, cheat, or steal.  They act out of natural instinct to preserve their species rather than out of desire for wealth, power, or fame.  They do not need repentance but they do need resurrection as provided by the Savior’s infinite atonement.

What else can we say about the state of animals in the next life?  The Lord provides some insight in a revelation given to Joseph Smith early in the history of the Church.  This revelation contains marvelous knowledge about the Millennium and the end of the world.  It seems to have been given as a reward for the faithfulness of the elders in rejecting false spirits and putting their faith in the Prophet Joseph.  Verse 24 describes conditions that will occur at the end of the Millennium.

And the end shall come, and the heaven and the earth shall be consumed and pass away, and there shall be a new heaven and a new earth.

For all old things shall pass away, and all things shall become new, even the heaven and the earth, and all the fulness thereof, both men and beasts, the fowls of the air, and the fishes of the sea;

And not one hair, neither mote, shall be lost, for it is the workmanship of mine hand. (D&C 29:23-25)

At this point death will have been done away and all things will have become glorified, including people and animals.  I think we are safe in including dog hairs in the Lord’s promise in verse 25.  The animals are definitely the workmanship of his hand.

Joseph Smith received additional understanding of the conditions in the next life in March 1832 as he was working on his inspired translation of the Book of Revelation.  In response to a question posed about the four beasts referred to in Revelation 4:6, Joseph explained:

They are figurative expressions, used by the Revelator, John, in

describing heaven, the paradise of God, the happiness of man, and of

beasts, and of creeping things, and of the fowls of the air; that

which is spiritual being in the likeness of that which is temporal;

and that which is temporal in the likeness of that which is spiritual;

the spirit of man in the likeness of his person, as also the spirit of

the beast, and every other creature which God has created.  (D&C 77:2)

Here is another instance where the Bible, correctly interpreted, provides insight regarding the destinies of the beasts and the fouls.   They all have spirits, will be resurrected, and will enjoy an eternal happiness prepared just for them.

In a later revelation referring to the next life, Joseph Smith provides a glimpse of how things will be there.

When the Savior shall appear we shall see him as he is. We shall see

that he is a man like ourselves.

And that same sociality which exists among us here will exist among us

there, only it will be coupled with eternal glory, which glory we do

not now enjoy.     (D&C 130:1-2)  

I am comfortable defining our mortal sociality as including pets.  Any social situation that does not include pets surely could not provide the complete happiness we look forward to.

Have any Church leaders since Joseph Smith expressed opinions about the future of the beasts? Elder Orson Pratt once gave a discourse in which he gave his personal view of how heaven will be.  His description is not considered church doctrine but no one since has refuted or criticized what he said.

A Saint who is one in deed and in truth, does not look for an immaterial heaven, but he expects a heaven with lands, houses, cities, vegetation, rivers, and animals; with thrones, temples, palaces, kings, princes, priests, and angels; with food, raiment, musical instruments, etc.      (Orson Pratt, JD 14:40 41.)

Elder Pratt’s view sounds reasonable to me and is couched in temple images.  God has pronounced all of his creations to be “very good” and I can’t believe he would intentionally leave any behind.  Our love for vegetation, rivers, animals, musical instruments, etc. is, I believe, inherited from our Father, who must also love these things. 

It is difficult for me to imagine a Heavenly Reward that does not include the things that we instinctively love here, especially family, friends, and pets.  I have to agree with the good Vicar of “Our Lady of Martyrs”.  Surely “All Dogs Go To Heaven!”