Will our pets be in Heaven?

This is a question I have been asked many times, especially with my own children. I admit as a younger man, I would have given a quick, insensitive answer. But as an older man, my response is much more measured and nuanced.

It has been about three months since I put down Lola, our beloved dog of twelve years. As I reflect on that day, I recall it was heart wrenching watching my middle daughter cry and strangely enough I found myself shedding tears (which is rare for me), wondering what my youngest will do, when his security blanket, his safe place, is no more.

So I wrote this blog post. Maybe it was out of grief. Maybe out of theological curiousity. Either way, the question was, “Will our pets be in Heaven”? This is what I wrote:

Emotionally, I want to say yes. To imagine seeing my charcoal Labradoodle, frolicking with a luscious coat, looking at me with new eternal eyes, is a beautiful thought indeed. But is this pipe dream? Is this a legitimate eschatological hope?

Here is what I know (biblically speaking):

Animals were created to enjoy the original Garden of Eden

In the beginning, animals were created and placed in the ancient Garden of Eden to enjoy living under the sovereignty of God and the stewardship of humanity. In other words, in the beginning, humans, animals, angels and the Godhead were intended to enjoy communion in that mysterious garden. Additionally, almost every scholar would assert there is an undeniable parallelism of Genesis 1-2 to Revelation 21-22. This would allow us to cautiously state that the existence of animals, living in the renewed Garden of Eden, located on the New Earth, is very much an eschatological possibility.

If there is a physical, millennial kingdom, animals are definitely there.

Scripture makes this point easy to defend. Here is a verse that clearly places animals in the millennial kingdom:

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. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den. (Isaiah 11:6-8)

What is interesting is that these verses show that the stain of sin is gone. Animals that after the Fall of mankind could not co-exist, can now apparently co-exist. This means that in the millennial kingdom, the stain of original sin has been removed. Now does this apply to the Eternal State? Good question. I am not sure. But if it is possible in the millennial kingdom, there is a chance it is possible in the Eternal State. This opens the possibility for animals to be with us for all eternity.

Animals were created with a soul.

Randy Alcorn, in his influential work, Heaven, discusses the possibility of animals having a soul.

“Am I suggesting animals have souls? Certainly they do not have human souls. Animals aren’t created in God’s image, and they aren’t equal to humans in any sense. Nonetheless, there’s a strong biblical case for animals having non-human souls. I didn’t take this seriously until I studied the usage of the Hebrew and Greek words nephesh and psyche, often translated “soul” when referring to humans. (Nephesh is translated psyche in the Septuagint.) The fact that these words are often used of animals is compelling evidence that they have non-human souls. That’s what most Christians in the past believed. In their book, Beyond Death, Gary Habermas and J. P. Moreland point out, “It wasn’t until the advent of seventeenth-century Enlightenment . . . that the existence of animal souls was even questioned in Western civilization. Throughout the history of the church, the classic understanding of living things has included the doctrine that animals, as well as humans, have souls.” (Heaven, 293)

 What does this mean? At the least, it opens up a possibility for the existence of animals in the afterlife. Let us not forget that angels are NOT made in the image of God and they are created with invisible, immaterial parts, that are fashioned for an eternal existence. Why is this not available to the animal realm? Especially the higher animals? These are valid questions, meant to be explored.

Conclusion

 Is it possible that this is just the wishful thinking of a man who hates watching the emotional pain of his children? Yes, I admit spiritual blind spots are common—even in the most mature followers of Jesus. And yet, as Alcorn humbly asserts,

“God’s plan for a renewed Earth after the Flood emphatically involved animals. Wouldn’t we expect his plan for a renewed Earth after the future judgment to likewise include animals? If the rescue of mankind in the ark is a picture of redemption, doesn’t the rescue of the animals in the ark also anticipate their restoration as part of God’s redemptive purposes?”

Does this mean I will see my sweet Lola again? I hope so.

Does this mean I firmly believe I will see animals again in the life to come? Absolutely.