Do Animals Deserve to Go to Heaven?

Some theologians and philosophers think they do—and will. They believe domesticated animals in particular are compensated in Heaven for the suffering they endured on earth at the hands of cruel masters. I agree and explain why in my new book (below).

One example is the eighteenth century Anglican clergyman and cofounded of Methodism, John Wesley. He preached that after death animals will be compensated for the suffering they underwent in this life. In Heaven animals will be released from all the abuses they underwent as victims of human sin. Speaking on animal recompense for their suffering on Earth, in his famous sermon titled “General Deliverance,” Wesley wrote:

[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.”)

If you would like to read more quotes from other well-known theologians and philosophers who write about animals in Heaven, see my book Will Dogs Chase Cats in Heaven?: People, Pets, and Wild Animals in the Afterlife, which is now available on Amazon or though my website: www.danstory.net. (Go to my home page and click on the cover photo.) ©

This new series will include the thoughts and comments of other Well-known apologists and theologians, including C. S. Lewis., John Calvin, and others.