WHAT DOES HANK HANEGRAAFF (a.k.a. THE BIBLE ANSWER MAN) SAY ABOUT ANIMALS IN THE AFTERLIFE?

The president of the Christian Research Institute (a.k.a. The Bible Answer Man) supports the possibility of animal resurrection. In his book, Resurrection, he writes:

Scripture does not conclusively tell us whether our pets will make it to heaven. However, the Bible does provide us with some significant clues regarding whether animals will inhabit the new heaven and the new earth. . . .

[T]he Garden of Eden was populated by animals; thus, there is a precedent for believing that Eden restored [the new heaven and earth, Isa. 65:17; Rev.21:1] will be populated by animals also. . . .

Furthermore, the Scriptures from first to last suggest that animals have souls. . . . It wasn’t until the advent of the seventeenth-century Enlightenment and the thought of Descartes and Hobbes that the existence of animal souls was even questioned in Western civilization. . . .

Finally, while we cannot say for certain that the pets we enjoy today will be “resurrected” in eternity, I, like Joni [EarecksonTada] are not willing to preclude the possibility. Some of the keenest thinkers from C. S. Lewis to Peter Kreeft are not only convinced that animals in general but that pets in particular will be restored in the resurrection. . . .

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 (p. 120-122).

Next week we’ll read what the great Reformation theologian, Martin Luther, has to say about animals in Heaven. ©