Soooo...Heaven

Rb

Hi all,

Following a discussion in AH about the afterlife, I've come to wonder the following;

Christians believe in Heaven, however I've heard quite a few Christians say that there's no such thing as heaven for animals and I was wondering what is your take on it?

Personally I'm agnostic though I've been brought up a Protestant, my own view on it is that if there is such thing as Heaven, then there must be a "doggy heaven", "cat heaven" etc. or that in fact, animals go to the same Heaven as humans. This is refuted by quite a few Christians, who've insisted that animals aren't intelligent and therefore do not go to heaven...?

It has also been said that if you are a sinner, you go to hell, so how are animals judged? Going by the ten commandments, animals regularly sin, so therefore are they all condemned to hell? And if so, is it the same hell as humans go to, or is it "doggy hell" or "shark hell"?

Satan is said to preform cruel acts on those who go to hell for eternity, does he preform these on said animals who arrive in hell?

On the topic of Heaven, traditionally it was believed that heaven was in the sky and hell was at the core of the Earth. Scientifically it has been proven that neither exist in the places that they are said to have i.e you go up in a plane, you do not see people having fun on the clouds or you drill down into the earth far enough and there's no sign of Satan, so where are these things? Are they there but we just don't see them?

Anyway, interested to see your opinions on the above...

Agent Smith

God Made Man in his own Image, thats Why Man would go to heaven or Hell, and not animals.

SEPT 23 1989

i believe we are in Heaven,the Earth is heaven we are already in heaven when we are are lucky enough to be born , look around the world it is literally a paradise as much as we try and mess it up

philologos

Interesting question. There is nothing in the Bible to suggest there is an animal afterlife, however there is nothing in the Bible to suggest that animals have original sin from Adam as we do. God's rulings and law are for humankind, it's clear that animals play a different role in God's intention for the earth than we do. Anything really about animal afterlife would be speculation.

Rb wrote:

Satan is said to preform cruel acts on those who go to hell for eternity, does he preform these on said animals who arrive in hell?

Could you refer me to where it is said Biblically about Satan's role in Hell? Apologies, however I don't remember anything like that mentioned.

Tim_Murphy

Interesting question. There is nothing in the Bible to suggest there is an animal afterlife, however there is nothing in the Bible to suggest that animals have original sin from Adam as we do. God's rulings and law are for humankind, it's clear that animals play a different role in God's intention for the earth than we do. Anything really about animal afterlife would be speculation.

In fairness, when anybody says anything about an afterlife it is just speculation.

philologos

Tim_Murphy wrote: »

In fairness, when anybody says anything about an afterlife it is just speculation.

If you do not believe the Bible is divine revelation yes it's speculation.

Tim_Murphy

Jakkass wrote: »

If you do not believe the Bible is divine revelation yes it's speculation.

Even if you do, it is still speculation. Speculation based on a belief.

santing

Tim_Murphy wrote: »

Even if you do, it is still speculation. Speculation based on a belief.

Come on Tim, everything is speculation, including the possibility that you actually wrote the above quote - it could have been an illusion of my mind.

If someone came back from the death, he would have something to say about the after life. If someone claims to be God, and backs up his claims with many infallible proofs, that he definitely has something to say.

That's why I believe Christ, not based on speculations, but on pure facts.

Tim_Murphy

If someone came back from the death, he would have something to say about the after life. If someone claims to be God, and backs up his claims with many infallible proofs, that he definitely has something to say.

That's why I believe Christ, not based on speculations, but on pure facts.

If you knew for sure these things happened then yes you could say that you believed in Christ based on facts and not speculation. But I'm willing to bet that you weren't around 2000 odd years ago? I have no issue with anybody believing in Christ, or indeedy any other diety, but the idea that one can do so based on 'pure facts' is frankly ridiculous.

TravelJunkie

Rb wrote: »

Hi all,

Following a discussion in AH about the afterlife, I've come to wonder the following;

Christians believe in Heaven, however I've heard quite a few Christians say that there's no such thing as heaven for animals and I was wondering what is your take on it?

Personally I'm agnostic though I've been brought up a Protestant, my own view on it is that if there is such thing as Heaven, then there must be a "doggy heaven", "cat heaven" etc. or that in fact, animals go to the same Heaven as humans. This is refuted by quite a few Christians, who've insisted that animals aren't intelligent and therefore do not go to heaven...?

It has also been said that if you are a sinner, you go to hell, so how are animals judged? Going by the ten commandments, animals regularly sin, so therefore are they all condemned to hell? And if so, is it the same hell as humans go to, or is it "doggy hell" or "shark hell"?

Satan is said to preform cruel acts on those who go to hell for eternity, does he preform these on said animals who arrive in hell?

On the topic of Heaven, traditionally it was believed that heaven was in the sky and hell was at the core of the Earth. Scientifically it has been proven that neither exist in the places that they are said to have i.e you go up in a plane, you do not see people having fun on the clouds or you drill down into the earth far enough and there's no sign of Satan, so where are these things? Are they there but we just don't see them?

Anyway, interested to see your opinions on the above...

Christians wouldn't believe in heaven if it wasn't in the bible, other holy books, or passed down through word of generations.

That said, there is no mention of doggies in heaven in scripture. And why would I want a doggie in heaven? He's not next to me worshiping god in a church is he?

The Mad Hatter

So dogs get to die, too?

Flamed Diving

Is there a doggie god and a doggie bible?

I would follow that!

wolfsbane

Rb wrote: »

Hi all,

Following a discussion in AH about the afterlife, I've come to wonder the following;

Christians believe in Heaven, however I've heard quite a few Christians say that there's no such thing as heaven for animals and I was wondering what is your take on it?

Personally I'm agnostic though I've been brought up a Protestant, my own view on it is that if there is such thing as Heaven, then there must be a "doggy heaven", "cat heaven" etc. or that in fact, animals go to the same Heaven as humans. This is refuted by quite a few Christians, who've insisted that animals aren't intelligent and therefore do not go to heaven...?

It has also been said that if you are a sinner, you go to hell, so how are animals judged? Going by the ten commandments, animals regularly sin, so therefore are they all condemned to hell? And if so, is it the same hell as humans go to, or is it "doggy hell" or "shark hell"?

Satan is said to preform cruel acts on those who go to hell for eternity, does he preform these on said animals who arrive in hell?

On the topic of Heaven, traditionally it was believed that heaven was in the sky and hell was at the core of the Earth. Scientifically it has been proven that neither exist in the places that they are said to have i.e you go up in a plane, you do not see people having fun on the clouds or you drill down into the earth far enough and there's no sign of Satan, so where are these things? Are they there but we just don't see them?

Anyway, interested to see your opinions on the above...

We don't have enough information to be sure about animals in heaven, AFAICS. But Good Christians have thought so: I think it was Agustus Toplady who challenged bull-baiters with the comment that the bull would see God's face when they were in hell.

No, animals do not sin, as they are not morally responsible creatures.

Satan is punished in hell, not the punisher. The latter idea is just a bit of garbled tradition.

The location of heaven and hell are represented by up and down, but they are spiritual places, another dimension from the physical world.