Animal Souls

I was in church two weeks ago and there was this woman who spoke, and as she addressed the children she said, "Now I'm going to tell you something before somebody goes and tells you something that is not in the Bible. Animals have souls." No body got up and left, nobody called her on it, and she spoke an entire sermon without any Biblical references. So this made me curious, and I took my curiosity home with me and checked out what www.blueletterbible.com had to say about it. Thank you again Sam for showing me this site as it has made my researching easier as has made Bible reading easier. Here is what I came up with after searching Soul(s), Animal(s), Beast(s), & a bit of Spirit. The following is a list of Biblical examples with some notes made, but for the most part I just tried to feed you the Bible.

October 5^th Bible Study on animal souls

Proverbs 12:10 A righteous man regards the life of his animal,

But the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel. ---------So here we see the term life, but not soul.

I said in my heart, "Concerning the condition of the sons of men, God tests them, that they may see that they themselves are like animals."

For what happens to the sons of men also happens to animals; one thing befalls them: as one dies, so dies the other. Surely, they all have one breath; man has no advantage over animals, for all is vanity.

All go to one place: all are from the dust, and all return to dust.

Who knows the spirit of the sons of men, which goes upward, and the spirit of the animal, which goes down to the earth?

So I perceived that nothing is better than that a man should rejoice in his own works, for that is his heritage. For who can bring him to see what will happen after him?

Footnotes:
	Septuagint, Syriac, Targum, and Vulgate read Who knows whether the spirit . . . goes upward, and whether . . . goes downward to the earth?

From Ecclesiastes we see that animals at least have a spirit, but we have not seen whether they have a soul yet or not. I wasn’t sure about the difference between a Spirit and a soul, but this could possibly be it. That animals have a spirit, but once they die this spirit is extinguished, or “goes down to the earth” Ecc3:21

Geb36:3 Then Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, and all the persons of his household, his cattle and all his animals, and all his goods which he had gained in the land of Canaan, and went to a country away from the presence of his brother Jacob.

--------This verse isn’t related to what I’m talking about, but I find it interesting that cattle are mentioned separately from “All his animals”. I don’t know if this means anything but it is similar to the Hindu belief where cattle are revered for their holiness as a high step in striving toward nirvana. I’m not saying I think cows are holy, or that they even have souls, but I just wonder what sort of cultural significance this might have for the time.

Numbers 35:3 "They shall have the cities to dwell in; and their common-land shall be for their cattle, for their herds, and for all their animals.

Num18:7? "But the firstborn of a cow, the firstborn of a sheep, or the firstborn of a goat you shall not redeem; they are holy. You shall sprinkle their blood on the altar, and burn their fat as an offering made by fire for a sweet aroma to the LORD.

Num20:8 "Take the rod; you and your brother Aaron gather the congregation together. Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield its water; thus you shall bring water for them out of the rock, and give drink to the congregation and their animals."

------I know this sounds a bit out there, but it goes in hand with the verse “the rocks will cry out.”

1king4:38 Also he spoke of trees, from the cedar tree of Lebanon even to the hyssop that springs out of the wall; he spoke also of animals, of birds, of creeping things, and of fish.

-------Check other versions to see if the word “of” is ever translated as “to”.

Joe1:20 The beasts of the field also cry out to You,

For the water brooks are dried up,

And fire has devoured the open pastures.

1 Corinthian 15 – get at it

1cor 15:39 on is about animals and such

Be

Psalm 36:6Your righteousness is like the great mountains;

Your judgments are a great deep;

O LORD, You preserve man and beast.

---------I suppose this isn’t really saying much, just a note about how God is in control of everything.

Psalm 50:12

"If I were hungry, I would not tell you;

For the world is Mine, and all its fullness.

Isaih 42:20 The beast of the field will honor Me,

The jackals and the ostriches,

Because I give waters in the wilderness

And rivers in the desert,

To give drink to My people, My chosen.

------- I believe this is the verse that was referred to in the sermon of Sunday past. The speaker stated that it is not possible to honor or praise without a soul.

Ezekial 14 "Or [if] I bring a sword on that land, and say, 'Sword, go through the land,' and I cut off man and beast from it,

----------------Ezekiel, and the books close to it mention this phrase, or similar ones over and over. I just wonder what the earth means to God when He says this. I’m guessing the earth is meant to reflect humanity in all we use it for, take care of or destroy, and if one area is associated with our sin then God will take it from us, or Israel.

Ezekiel 39:17 "And as for you, son of man, thus says the Lord GOD, 'Speak to every sort of bird and to every beast of the field:

"Assemble yourselves and come;

Gather together from all sides to My sacrificial meal

Which I am sacrificing for you,

A great sacrificial meal on the mountains of Israel,

That you may eat flesh and drink blood.

-------------------- no this passage is talking about the future, and if I take the time to look through other translations I may find another interpretation, but as it stands in the NKJV, we will commune with animals. Still doesn’t say anything about having a soul, but we will continue on.

Jonah 3:8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily to God; yes, let every one turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands.

--------So what does it mean for an animal to turn from its evil way and cry out to God? I know all creation declares His majesty, but does this not look like repentance? It doesn’t say repent, but it says “Let every one turn from his evil way”, and if you were wondering, it’s not written as everyone, but every one, where everyone is used to denote a group of humans. Feel free to correct me on this, but I would never use “everyone” to refer to anything other than a group of humans. I’m just trying to understand this, because it’s in The Word, but I still don’t feel settled about the issue, so lets read on.

Hebrews 12:20 And if so much as a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned or shot with an arrow."

--------- I’m just curious about this one. It just seems harsh to shoot down a bird because it is fly toward a mountain, I mean, how’s the bird supposed to know. But then again, you could say the same for sacrificial animals.

Beasts

Gen 7:21 All flesh that moved on the earth perished, birds and cattle and beasts and every swarming thing that swarms upon the earth, and all mankind;

22 of all that was on the dry land, all in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, died.

beasts creature creatures living things thing

-What is the spirit of life? Is this a spirit of heaven?

QUESTION: How could God justify the sacrificing of souls? Or give rules on which animals to eat, that would eat that which has a soul?

Job 12:7 "But now ask the beasts, and let them teach you; And the birds of the heavens, and let them tell you. 8"Or speak to the earth, and let it teach you; And let the fish of the sea declare to you. 9 "Who among all these does not know That the hand of the LORD has done this, 10 In whose hand is the life of every living thing, And the breath of all mankind?

Psalm 49:14 As sheep they are appointed for Sheol; Death shall be their shepherd; And the upright shall rule over them in the morning, And their form shall be for Sheol to consume So that they have no habitation. 15 But God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol, For He will receive me. Selah

-Sheol is a Hebrew word used to describe a place where the dead gather underground after they die. Other’s have compared it to Hell or Heities. I guess some people might look at this and interpret the verse as saying the subjects in question are appointed to Sheol just as sheep are, but I read it as an example wherein man goes to hell just as sheep to the slotter.

Psalm 49:20 Man in {his} pomp, yet without understanding, Is like the beasts that perish.

Psalm 148 says for everything to praise the Lord, including, sun moon, star, hail, beasts etc.

Ecclisiasties 3:18-22 I said to myself concerning the sons of men, "God has surely tested them in order for them to see that they are but beasts." 19For 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 and there is no advantage for man over beast, for all is vanity. 20 All go to the same place. All came from the dust and all return to the dust. 21 Who knows that the breath of man ascends upward and the breath of the beast descends downward to the earth? 22 I have seen that nothing is better than that man should be happy in his activities, for that is his lot. For who will bring him to see what will occur after him.

---------So what do we have to say about this? Is it to be taken as is, or is this a comparative anecdote, where the writer does not mean literally that we are just as animals, but that our lives are so fleeting that he would compare us to animals just to emphasize his point? I mean, this is what I might think, but is that too much of a stretch from the easier interpretation, that we are just as animals?

Isaiah 43:20 "The beasts of the field will glorify Me, The jackals and the ostriches, Because I have given waters in the wilderness And rivers in the desert, To give drink to My chosen people.

Jerimiah 27:5 "I have made the earth, the men and the beasts which are on the face of the earth by My great power and by My outstretched arm, and I will give it to the one who is pleasing in My sight.

Hosea 2:18 "In that day I will also make a covenant for them With the beasts of the field, The birds of the sky And the creeping things of the ground. And I will abolish the bow, the sword and war from the land, And will make them lie down in safety.

--------- God will make a covenant with animals. This isn’t the sort of thing I would expect to find in the Bible but there it is. It’s still no proof of an animal soul, but it is peculiar.

Hosea 4:3 Therefore the land mourns, And everyone who lives in it languishes Along with the beasts of the field and the birds of the sky, And also the fish of the sea disappear.

-----------The land Morns? Anyone want to take this as a metaphor? I dear you. Give it a try and see what God has to say about it. Curious though isn’t it? I’m not even going to touch this one. It’s up there with “the rocks will cry out.”

1 Corinithians 15:38

But God gives it a body just as He wished, and to each of the seeds a body of its own. 39 All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one {flesh} of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another flesh of birds, and another of fish. 40 There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one, and the {glory} of the earthly is another. 41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory. 42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable {body,} it is raised an imperishable {body;} 43 it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual {body.} 45So also it is written, "The first MAN, Adam, BECAME A LIVING SOUL." The last Adam {became} a life-giving spirit.

James 3:7 & 8

For every species of beasts and birds, of reptiles and creatures of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by the human race. 8 But no one can tame the tongue; {it is} a restless evil {and} full of deadly poison.

------------------ I feel like it wouldn’t be appropriate for one soul to tame another, nor to eat the body of another. But I still don’t get the spirit bit.

Soul

Leviticus 26:43

'For the land will be abandoned by them, and will make up for its sabbaths while it is made desolate without them. They, meanwhile, will be making amends for their iniquity, because they rejected My ordinances and their soul abhorred My statutes.

---------------I’ve come across this statement a few time in the beginning chapters of the old testament, where the human soul is said to abhor Gods statutes. I can’t see an animal being able to abhor Gods statutes, and I guess a more obvious example of an animals subordination to humans is their inability to accept Christ, the only way to heaven. Then again, this way, and the Christian doctrine was created for the salvation of humanity, so an animal would not be expected to take this same path anyways.

If you’re wondering which way I bios, I don’t think animals have souls, but I’m trying to keep my bios to a minimum and merely present what scripture says, letting you decide.

Psalm 74:19 Do not deliver the soul of Your turtledove to the wild beast; Do not forget the life of Your afflicted forever.

----------------- So it’s a Psalm, which is entitled to descriptive and analogous language, but we have to be careful about understanding what the Bible is saying, and seeing metaphor when it is called for. I can see how someone would take this literally and say that even if this is a metaphor, the language being used suggests that David being killed by his enemies is likened to a turtledove being killed, and losing its soul, to a wild beast, just as a lamb is lead to the slottor. Here, all three examples can be presented real possibilities that mimic one another. I don’t think animals have souls, but I would like a good explanation of this verse suggesting otherwise.

I got part way through Spirit and didn’t both to start Spirits after I found one verse stating that animals have spirits, and now I’m tired of this racket. So there isn’t anything saying animals have souls, except verses that are using the idea as an analogy. I still don’t think they have souls, but I was surprised to find that they have spirits and I am curious to know what this means. Is ones spirit what we see as a ghost? Something that remains on this earth even though the soul has left the earth? Or does the soul leave the earth yet? I’m going to have to look into this idea of the soul remaining in the body until the rapture, or tribulation etc. I didn’t look at any other translations so this is not fit to be submitted as University work, but I’m not in University so whatever.

I do recall saying something I was going to edit, but I couldn’t be bothered with that right now so I’m going to pop it up on the blog.