Part Eleven:   What Kinds of Earthly Animals Can We Expect to See in  Heaven?

 The Bible reveals there will be continuity between our present Earth and the eschatological New Earth (i.e., Heaven). It will be a world spiritually redeemed, physically transformed, and set free from nature’s curse. It will be rich in vegetation, abounding in scenic wonders, and vastly more beautiful than any wilderness or garden our most creative imaginations can conjure up. As theologian H. Paul Santmire put it, “The wilderness [in the New Earth] will remain, to be sure, for God also loves the alligators and the mountain lions and wills their fulfillment. But the dream of wilderness without darkness and violence and pain will come true” ((Brother Earth: Nature, God, and Ecology n Time of Crisis, p. 110).    (Continued below photo)

This leads us to this week’s blog: what kinds of animals will inhabit this incredible restored Paradise? Wonderfully, it will be populated with the same kinds of animals presently dwelling on our present Earth—although predation and death will no longer exist.

Depending on the interpretation of some Hebrew words, the Bible refers to more than a hundred animals.  For example, Psalm 104 refers to a stork, cattle, wild donkeys, wild goats, coneys, and lions. Job 39 mentions a doe and fawn, wild ox, ostrich, hawk, and an eagle. Isaiah 60:6 speaks of camels; Revelation 19:11 talks about a horse.

How about our pets specifically? Will there be pets in Heaven? Why not?  God allows many animals on this Earth to be our servants, helpers, and devoted and faithful friends. It would be consistent with God’s great love for His people that these same animals will continue their role as our friends and companions in the age to come. Our Lord may include pets in Heaven for no other reason than to bless the people who loved and faithfully cared for them in this life. There is nothing in the Bible that should cause us to doubt this.

I like how theologian and philosophy professor Peter Kreeft answers whether or not animals—and specifically pets—will be in Heaven. In His book Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Heaven . . . But Never Dreamed of Asking, he writes:

Would the same animals be in Heaven as on earth? “Is my dead cat in Heaven?” Again, why not? God can raise up the very grass; why not cats? . . . We were meant from the beginning to have stewardship over the animals; we have not fulfilled that divine plan yet on earth; therefore it seems likely that the right relationship with animals will be part of Heaven: proper “pet-ship”. And what better place to begin than with already petted pets? (p. 45)

It should be apparent by now (in this series) that the continuity between this earth and the eschatological New Earth will include the same kinds of animals that now dwell on our present Earth. However, there are three more compelling evidences to support this, and we’ll look at them in the next two blogs.

Next Week: If animals are blessed with immortal souls and reside in Heaven (i.e., the New Earth—Isa. 65:17; Rev. 21:1) with God’s people, what may such a heavenly place be like? Exploring this will be the topic of next week’s blog.

Note:  For a more in-depth study of this, please read my book, Will Dogs Chase Cats in Heaven? People, Pets, and Wild Animals in the Afterlife. A thoroughly researched and documented study. Go back to my home page and click on “description” below the cover photo.

Part Ten:  Human Redemption Initiates Animal Redemption—Confirming Evidence Resurrected Animals Will Join God’s People in Heaven

The Bible teaches the redemption of God’s people will initiate nature’s redemption; it provides the framework by which the curse will be removed and nature restored to its pre-Fall state. The Apostle Paul explains in Romans 8:18–23:

Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he [God] will give us later. For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. Against its will, everything on earth was subjected to God’s curse. All creation anticipates the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. And even we Christians, although we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, also groan to be released from pain and suffering. We, too, wait anxiously for that day when God will give us our full rights as his children, including the new bodies he has promised us (NLT).

Biblical theology and church tradition—taken as a whole—agree that saved humanity’s redemption will include the whole of creation. Paul expresses this great hope in the passage above, and its a major theme in some Old Testament prophecies. Moreover, as we saw in Part Eight, the best explanation for the Bible’s revelation that earthly animals will inhabit Heaven with God’s people is resurrection. The question is, how exactly will creation’s redemption—the removal of the curse and the restoration of Earth to Eden-like conditions—be linked to animal resurrection?

The Bible teaches that the damage wrought on creation (the “curse;” Genesis chapter three) is due to fallen humanity. But, as Paul explained, it will be removed in the same redemption of God’s people (Rom. 8:21; cf., Rev. 21:1; Rev.22:3). All creation, Paul declares, “is waiting eagerly” for its redemption alongside saved humanity, when it will finally “join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay” (Rom. 8: 19, 21. Other passages confirm this, which I quote in Will Dogs Chase Cats in Heaven?

It makes perfect theological sense that God will redeem creation through human redemption. Animals did not sin, and nature did not fall when Adam and Eve disobeyed God and were banished from Eden. Nature was cursed because of the first couple’s sinful rebellion—and to this day, it continues to suffer because of human sin. In the case of people, those who accept salvation offered by Jesus Christ are granted forgiveness of sins and promised eternal life in a renewed new heaven and earth. Because the curse is tied directly to human sin and is removed by human redemption, it follows that soul-bearing animals (see Parts Four and Five) will share in that redemption. Why would God give humans such glorious grace and not the animals whose curse people are responsible? There is no biblical reason why animals will not be redeemed alongside saved humanity and resurrected as well.

This blog has only summarized a more detailed biblical explanation of this remarkable event in my book, Will Dogs Chase Cats in Heaven? People, Pets, and Wild Animals in the Afterlife.

Next week’s blog will discuss what “kinds” of animals besides pets will inhabit the New Earth with God’s people.

Part Nine:   Why Is Divine Justice a powerful argument for animal resurrection?

Last week’s blog post pointed out three possible origins for the animals that will inhabit the New Earth (Heaven) and explained why resurrection is the best option. However, there is one other compelling reason why resurrected animals will live on in God’s eternal Kingdom. It has to do with divine recompense for the suffering and abuse many animals endured in this life.

Perhaps no well-known theologian expresses this better than eighteenth-century Anglican clergyman and evangelist John Wesley. He hoped for a “general deliverance” where animals will be compensated for the suffering and abuse they endured from the human race:  

[W]hen God has “renewed the face of the earth,” and their [animals’] corruptible body has put on incorruption, they shall enjoy happiness suited to their state, without alloy, without interruption, and without end. . . . They [animals] could not sin, for they were not moral agents. Yet how severely do they suffer!—yea, many of them, beasts of burden in particular, almost the whole time of their abode on earth; So [sic] that they can have no retribution here below. But the objection vanishes, if we consider that something better remains after death for these poor creatures also; that these, likewise, shall one day be delivered from this bondage of corruption, and shall then receive an ample amends for all their present sufferings. (“General Deliverance Sermon 60.”)

In other words, as Randy Alcorn explains, since animals experience pain and suffering due to human sin, it “seems to require that some animals who lived, suffered, and died on the old Earth must be made whole on the New Earth” (Heaven, 386). Other theologians agree. “Many Christian thinkers,” writes philosopher Michael Murray, “have argued that animal immortality plays an important role in explaining the reality of animal pain and suffering in the earthy life. Perhaps there is a connection between the earthly life of animals, filled as it is with pain and suffering, and a blissful, eternal existence [‘as resurrected beings’] for those animals in the divine presence. (” Nature Red in Tooth and Claw, 122.)

The argument that God’s love and justice will embrace animal resurrection is a legitimate biblical position. Christian theologian Andrew Linzey, who has written books and articles on animals and Christianity, sums it like this: “The issue of suffering and evil endured by animals makes the question central to theodicy [justifying divine goodness in light of evil]. However we may construe the origins of evil in the world, a just and loving God must in the last analysis be able to offer recompense and redemption commensurate with the evil that has been endured.” (Animals on the Agenda, 118) I see no better way for this to happen than resurrection into eternal life in the Peaceable Kingdom.

In next week’s blog, we’ll see how the redemption of creation—including humans—initiates Animal Resurrection

Part Eight: Is Resurrection the Best Option for the Animals that will Dwell in Heaven (the “New Earth”)? What are the Other Options?

This brings us to the very heart of this study: Will our pets resurrect and reunite with God’s people in the future new “heaven and Earth” (Isa. 65:17; Rev. 21:1). Likewise, will the wild animals roaming Earth today resurrect and live without fear of humans in the “Peaceable Kingdom” (i.e., Isa. 11:6-9)? I believe the answer to both questions is yes.

However, there are other possibilities for the origin of the animals that will inhabit the New Earth (Heaven). So before we conclude the resurrection of earthly animals is the best explanation, let’s eliminate the other possibilities. (The following only summarizes the fuller information I provide in my book, Will Dogs Chase Cats in Heaven? People, Pets, and Wild Animals in the Afterlife.) (Cont. below photo)

God Could Recreated Animals for Heaven

The first option is that the animals that will inhabit the New Earth could be the same kinds of animals presently dwelling on this Earth but recreated anew for Heaven. However, it can be argued that this view seems to compromise God’s righteous judgment. Rather than recreating the same kinds of animals now living on Earth to dwell on the New Earth, It seems more reasonable that God will resurrect existing animals. Nowhere does the Bible suggest that God will re-create the same kinds of animals now living on this Earth to populate the restored New Earth.

God Could Create Different Kinds of Animals to Inhabit Heaven

 A second possibility is that God could create entirely different kinds of animals specifically designed for Heaven. The problem with this theory is there is no biblical precedent to make such a claim. The animals Scripture mentions dwelling on the New Earth are the same kinds of animals presently inhabiting this Earth (e.g., Isa. 11:6-9; cf. Hosea 2: 18).

Animals Inhabiting Heaven Will Be Resurrected Earthly Animals

I believe the third option is the best: The animals that will reside on the New Earth are those that died under the curse and redeemed alongside saved humanity (Rom. 8: 19-23) will be resurrected at the end of this age.

Look at it like this. Why would God give animals immortal souls (see Parts Five and Six) if they will not be given imperishable physical bodies? I believe He gave animals immortal souls precisely because they will be resurrected. If God’s people are resurrected in the age to come, it reasonably follows that soul-bearing animals who will share the redemption of God’s people—as the verse above states—will likewise enjoy resurrected bodies.

There is one other compelling reason why many theologians believe animals will be resurrected and join God’s people in Heaven: Divine Justice. This argument points out that animals are not fallen but cursed (Gen. chap. 3), and many suffer horrible abuse at the hands of sinful humans. God’s perfect justice will bless them with redeemed and resurrected bodies in Heaven.

Divine Justice will be the topic of next week’s blog post.

Part Seven:  Theologians Who Believe in the Probability of Animal Resurrection

When well-known Bible scholars agree that animals will probably be resurrected, they can be persuasive corroboration. The following are examples of some of the most well-known. You can read their full comments and sources in my book, Will Dogs Chase Cats in Heaven? People, Pets, and Wild Animals in the Afterlife.

John Calvin. In his Commentary on Romans, Calvin wrote, ” There is no element and no part of the world which is being touched, as it were, with a sense of its present misery [this would include animals] that does not intensely hope for resurrection.”  (More below photo)

Martin Luther:  When asked if he believed dogs, in particular his dog Tólpel, would be in Heaven, he is reported to have answered, “Certainly, for there the [New] earth. . . .” ⁴   Professor Michael Murray agrees: “Martin Luther appears to have held that at least some animals are immortal.”

 John Wesley:  This eighteenth-century theologian argued that Romans 8:19-22 implies that the future New Earth would include the exact same animals that dwell on Earth today. He believed this was the only way earthly animals could be “compensated for the suffering they underwent and liberated from the rages of which they partook” on Earth due to human fallenness.

Joseph Butler. Anglican bishop and moral philosopher Butler wrote: “Neither can we find anything in the whole analogy of Nature to afford even the slightest presumption that animals ever lose their living powers, much less that they lose them by death.”

Peter Kreeft. Answering the question “are there animals in heaven?” well-known theologian Peter Kreeft wrote: “Why not? How irrational is the prejudice that would allow plants (green fields and flowers) but not animals into Heaven. . . . It seem likely that the right relationship with animals will be part of Heaven”

Hank Hanegraaff. President of the Christian Research wrote in his book Resurrection: “Scriptures from first to last suggest that animals have souls. . . . In the final analysis, one thing is certain: Scripture provides us with a sufficient precedent for suggesting that animals will continue to exist after the return of our Lord.”

 Randy Alcorn. This author of the highly acclaimed book Heaven writes: “We know animals will be on the New Earth, which is a redeemed and renewed old Earth, in which animals had a prominent role. People will be resurrected to inhabit this world. As we saw, Romans 8:21-23 assumes animals as part of a suffering creation eagerly awaiting deliverance through humanity’s resurrection.”

Richard Bauckham. I emailed this British scholar and theologian and asked him,

“What’s your belief (and why) on whether or not pets and other animals alive today will be in the new heaven and earth?” Bauckham replied, “I take seriously that the new creation is the new creation of all things. So plants too and rivers and mountains! God will take everything of value into the new creation. Redeemed from all evil and suffering.”

C.S. Lewis. This brilliant and gifted scholar is arguably the most widely read and admired Christian apologist in the twentieth century. In his book, The Problem of Pain,  Lewis suggested that at least “higher” animals (which would include most pets) will experience resurrection and eternal life.

 Next week’s blog:  There are three options for the origin of the animals that will inhabit Heaven. Next week’s blog looks at all three and shows why resurrection is the best option.

Part Six:   Will God Give Animal Souls Immortality?

Last week’s blog demonstrated that animals have souls. Although most Christian theologians agree, some assume animal souls are extinguished when animals dies Whether or not God will give animals immortal souls is determined to a large degree on the meaning of two Hebrew words: nephesh (soul) and ruach (spirit). If these two words describe immortal human souls and spirits and also refer to animals, it’s reasonable to conclude they too may be given immortality. Continued below photo:

Nephesh:  The Hebrew word nephesh is translated soul 238 times—nearly a hundred times more than its second most common usage (life). When translated as “soul,” Nephesh refers to the immaterial part of our being that continues to exist after physical death. Nephesh also relates to animals in the following passages. (Translating nephesh as “life” in some of the following passages seems unlikely and repetitive.)

 Genesis 1:20: “Let the waters team with swarms of living creatures” (nephesh—souls).

Genesis 1:24: “Then God said, ‘Let the earth bring forth living creatures (nephesh--souls) after their kind. . . .'”

Genesis 1:30: “. . . and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that moves on the earth which has life” (nephesh--soul).

Genesis 2:19: “. . . and whatever [Adam] called a living creature (nephesh--soul), that was its name.”

Job 12:10: “In whose [God’s] hand is the life (nephesh—soul) of every living thing.”

Proverbs 12:10: “The righteous man has regard for the life (nephesh—soul) of his animal.”

In the following passages, spirit is also applied to animals. However, only people have spirits in the sense of being created in God’s image. I believe this means animals are bipartite—body and soul—unlike humans, who are body, soul, and Spirit. Therefore, animal “spirits” should not be taken to mean they have the spiritual connect with God that humans can have.

Ruach:  The Hebrew word ruach is translated as breath, wind, or spirit. However, it’s used 203 times for spirit (or Spirit)—more than twice its next most common usage (wind). Moreover, translating ruach as “wind” in the following passages doesn’t make grammatical or theological sense. The following passages show that ruach translated as spirit is ascribed to animals.

Genesis 6:17: “Behold, I, even I am bringing the flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh [human and animal] in which is the breath [ruach—spirit] of life.”

Genesis 7:15: So they went into the ark to Noah, by twos of all flesh in which there was the breath [ruach—spirit] of life.

Genesis 7:22:  . . . of all that was on the dry land, all in which nostrils was the breath of the spirit [ruach] of life, died.

Psalm 104: 29:  You hide Your face, they [the animals] are dismayed; You take away their spirit [ruach] they expire and return to their dust.

Ecclesiastes 3:19:  For the fate of the sons of men and the fate of beasts is the same. As one dies, so dies the other; indeed, they all have the same breath [ruach—spirit] and there is no advantage for man over beast.”

This brief word study shows that the Hebrew words translated soul and spirit are applied to humans and animals. In light of this, if human souls are given immortality, it’s reasonable to believe God will also bless animal souls with immortality—especially since nothing in the Bible tells us that animal souls are extinguished upon physical death.

This brings us to the very heart of this study: Will our pets resurrect and reunite with their human companions in the future new Heaven and Earth? Likewise, will the wild animals roaming Earth today resurrect and live without fear of humans in the Peaceable Kingdom? (Isa. 11: 6-9  I believe the answer to both questions is yes.

Next Week’s blog: Before I give biblical evidence for animal resurrection, I want to share the views of several well-known Christian theologians and scholars who believe in the probability of animal resurrection. That will be the topic of next week’s blog post.

Part Five:   Do Animals Have Souls?

Many Christians assume that animals do not have souls and will not be in Heaven. Other Christians acknowledge that animals possess souls in terms of an animating life force but assume that God did not intend for animals to survive physical death. Therefore, their souls extinguish when life ends. Still, others reject the idea of animals in Heaven because the Bible only speaks about people going to Heaven; it does not provide specific information on the eternal destiny of animals.

I reject all three views. Moreover, in the remaining blogs in this series—and especially in my book, Will Dogs Chase Cats in Heaven? People, pets, and Wild Animals in the Afterlife—I will present a compelling biblical case that animals not only possess souls, but their souls will continue to exist after physical death. (In a later blog, we’ll see whether this includes resurrected bodies.) (More below photo)

What Does the Bible Say?

Theological studies on whether or not animals have souls, especially immortal souls, have not been high on the church’s agenda. Nevertheless, theologians who commented on the subject seem to agree that animals have souls. For example, Gary Habermas and J.P Moreland point out that “throughout the history of the church, the classic understanding of living things has included the doctrine that animals, as well as humans, have souls. Christians have maintained this because the Bible teaches that animals have souls” (Habermas and Moreland, Immortality; The Other Side of Death, 51). Even so, many theologians down through the ages have maintained that animal souls are different from human souls in that animal souls are not immortal. So the crux of the argument is not whether animals have souls but whether their souls are immortal or extinguished at physical death.

 To phrase this more positively, the question becomes, if human souls are eternal, why wouldn’t animal souls be eternal? I believe they are. In Matthew 10:28, Jesus warned us not to “be afraid of those who kill the body [soma] but cannot kill the soul [psyche].” The Old Testament agrees: “It came about as her soul was departing (for she died) . . .  “ (Gen. 35:18). These two verses teach that the soul can exist without the body. So again, why would this not also be true of animal souls? The fact is, the exact Hebrew words are used for both human and animals souls. Since this is the case, it seems possible that animal souls, like human souls, can likewise survive physical death.

For Christians, whether or not animals have immortal souls depends on what the Bible says on the subject. In turn, this  hinges, to a large degree, on the definition and application of two Hebrew words translated in the Old Testament as “soul” and “spirit.”

Next week’s blog will give examples of these Hebrew words as they are used for animals.

Part Four: Animals Have Emotions and Thoughts Corresponding to Humans—Does This Provide Evidence They Have Souls Like Humans?

An enormous amount of data has accumulated during the last century on animal behavior. It’s now widely recognized that sentient animals engage in thought-driven behaviors and experience real emotions and feelings analogous to humans. One of the world’s leading authorities on animal emotions and cognitive abilities, animal behaviorists (ethologist) Professor Marc Bekoff, explains:

New studies are producing information that shows just how fascinating and complex animal behavior can be. Animals who seem incapable of much thought have been shown to have remarkable cognitive skills. . . . Many individual . . .  animals show distinct personalities and idiosyncratic quirks, just as humans do. There are extroverts, introverts, agreeable individuals, and neurotic animals. . .  There is now mounting evidence that joy, love, grief, jealousy, and embarrassment, for example, are all experienced by individuals of many species. (The Emotional Lives of Animals, xx, 10).

As Bekoff points out, many animals have the same fundamental emotions that closely parallel similar emotions in humans. To these examples can be added altruism, loneliness, sadness, compassion, empathy, friendships, and others. Likewise, these sentient animals also have cognitive abilities analogous to humans, such as acquiring (continued below photo)

knowledge and benefiting from what they learn. Animals retain memories of what they learn and can pass the information on to their offspring and others of their kind. Moreover, animals can communicate in remarkable ways, and, as many ethologists believe, some animals, such as dolphins, primates, and dogs, even have a degree of self-awareness. I provide numerous examples of these emotions and mental abilities—and illustrate them in various species of animals, including pets—in my book, Will Dogs Chase Cats in Heaven; People, Pets, and Wild Animals in the Afterlife. be

If such mental states in people originate in their minds rather than merely instinctive behavior, it’s perfectly legitimate to conclude such traits in animals would likewise originate in their minds. (Instinctive behavior is generally survival information Gods programmed into animals.) Since the human mind is the essential faculty of our souls, it can be reasonably concluded that animals with minds must also have souls. Providing biblical evidence for this is the topic of parts five and six.

However, regardless of their complexity, mental activities in animals are understandably less sophisticated and developed than they are in humans. Nor do animal emotions and mental faculties elevate their value in the created order to that of people—not in my mind, not in most people’s minds, and not in God’s mind. But that animal emotions and cognition are not human-like in intensity or complexity does not mean they do not exist. As scientists who study animal behavior, zookeepers, and pet owners all know and experience, such mental states are unarguably real.

Next Week: I’ll show what the Bible says about whether or not animals have souls—the fundamental requirement if they are to enjoy Heaven.

Part Three:  How God Demonstrates His Love and Provision for Animals—and Observes in Nature What People Rarely See

Someone once told me that the Bible doesn’t say much about animals, so maybe we shouldn’t either. Is this true? The answer is no; God has much to say about animals!

Numerous passages in the Bible describe how God made specific provisions for the survival and propagation of animals. It begins as early as Genesis chapter one. The creation story relates that God designed Earth from the beginning to support animal life. Before the first creatures were spoken into existence, He created vegetation to produce “plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds” to be food for both humans and animals (Gen. 1:12, 29-30). Thus, food and shelter were available when wildlife began to inhabit the earth.

Further along in history, God’s concern for the welfare of non-human life continued with the emerging Jewish nation. He commanded the Israelites to adhere to specific stewardship guidelines that included provisions for wild animals (e.g., Ex. 23:10–11; Lev. 25:1–7). Moreover, God required humane treatment of domestic animals. This is expressed in Proverbs 12:10: “A righteous man cares for the need of his animal,” and in God’s instructions on the care of farm animals (e.g., Exod. 23:12; Deut. 22:1-4; 25:4).

God provides food, shelter, and habitats for wild animals apart from human considerations. Nowhere does the Bible communicate God’s love and joy for animals—independent of His even greater love and joy for people—more clearly than in Job 38 and 39 and Psalm 104. These passages mention specific animals and specific habitats, which God prepared for individual varieties of animals: The wild donkey was given “the wasteland as a home, the salt flats as his habitat” (Job 39:6). The Ostrich “lays her eggs on the ground and lets them warm in the sand” (13-14). The eagle builds “his nest on high” and “dwells on a cliff . . . a rocky crag is his stronghold” (27-28). God “makes springs pour water into the ravines; it flows between the mountains” to give “water to all the beasts of the field.” There “the wild donkeys quench their thirst” (Ps. 104:10-11). God waters the trees He created, and there “the birds make their nests; the stork has its home in the pine trees. The high mountains belong to the wild goats; the crags are a refuge for the coneys” (17-18). God “provides food for the raven (Job 38:41) and the lions “seek their food from God” (Ps. 104:21). Indeed, all animals, the Psalmist declares, look to God “to give them their food at the proper time” (v. 27).

In a series of rhetorical questions, He asked Job, God reveals He is always present and observers all the activates of wild animals, just as he does all people:  “Do you know when the mountain goats give birth? Do you watch when the doe bears her fawn? Do you count the months till they bear? Do you know the time they give birth?” (39:1-2). The self-evident answer to these rhetorical questions is that only God observes these events and is present when they occur.

In sum, Animals have intrinsic worth and value to God because He created and values them. This is more evidence that God has an eternal plan for the creatures He loves and created.

Next week: In the next three blogs we’ll look at the bedrock evidence that pets and wild animals will join God’s people in Heaven: Do they have souls? Together, they will demonstrate biblically, with scientific support, that animals do have souls.

 Note: The blog articles in this series are adapted from my book Will Dogs Chase Cats in Heaven? People, Pets, and Wild Animals in the Afterlife. To review the book, go to my home page and click on “description below the cover photo.

Part Two:  Does God Love and Value Animals As Much As He Does People?

Today’s blog lays the theological foundation for the rest of this series. It demonstrates from Scriptures that God loves and values the animals He created, independent of His even greater love for humans.

I’ll begin by answering the question posed in the title: No, God does not love and value animals as much as humans. Only people are created in God’s image (Gen. 1:27). We are the “crown” of creation (Ps. 8:4-6) and of more value to God than animals (Matt. 12:11-12; Luke 12:6-7). However, as the Psalmist points out in Psalm 26:6, God preserves both man and beast. (The NRSV says, “You save humans and animals alike, O Lord”). And Jesus said that not a sparrow falls to the ground that God isn’t aware of it (Matt. 10:29).

The Psalmist writes in 24:1, “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it. ” This passage is key to understanding God’s perspective on non-human life. People do not own the earth; God does—and everything else He created. This is clear from in other passages in the Bible. Centuries before David penned Psalm 24, Moses wrote in Deuteronomy, “To the Lord your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it” (10:14). Everything means everything, and everything includes animals. Indeed, God specifically emphasized his ownership of the animal kingdom: “Every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird in the mountains, and the creatures of the field are mine” (Ps. 50:10-11).

The Bible mentions dozens of animals by name, and even in antiquity, King Solomon “taught about animals and birds, reptiles and fish” (1 Kings 4:33). Job told his accusers that people could learn from fish, birds, and other animals (12:7–8). Furthermore, God often used animals for His own purposes. When He instructed the prophet Elijah to go into hiding, He used ravens to bring him food (1 Kings 17:1–6). God used a great fish to save Jonah’s life (Jon. 1:17) and a small fish to provide the money for Jesus and Peter to pay the temple tax (Matt. 17:24–27). Jesus used the sparrow and raven to illustrate spiritual lessons (Luke 12: 6-7, 24). Perhaps most remarkable of all, wild animals accompanied Jesus during His temptation in the wilderness (Mark 1:13). We’ll examine this remarkable passage in a later blog.

All this implies God likely has more in mind for the animal kingdom than purely instrumental value to humans—including a place in Heaven, as later blogs will demonstrate.

Next week, I’ll provide specific examples of how God oversees and provides for animals and observes all that occur in the lives of wild animals.

Note: The blog articles in this series are adapted from my book Will Dogs Chase Cats in Heaven? People, Pets, and Wild Animals in the Afterlife. To review the book, Go to my home page and click on “description” below the cover photo.