Hello,

I'm posing these questions to spiritual folks in the house:
- What is a soul?
- How do you know that souls exist?
- Do animals - dogs, cats, worms, flies, mosquitos, lice, chimps - have souls?
- If they do, what are the implications?
- Why is it ok to butcher them?
- Will there be animals in heaven and hell?
- What does a human being have that animals don't have?

Thanks a million.

Of Course they Do. My Pet Pidgeon 's got a soulmate.
Canaries have Soul. Listen to the Music they Make. Thats Soul.
Have u seen the way Dogs Share Soul Food?

Of Course all Dogs Go To Haeven. & 'm sure U've seen the movie.

Is it Fair to Kill them No. of course. It fairer when they kill Us.
What do they have that humans dont have.? They Have Horns.
And dont we all get Hot a times

rotbog:

Of Course they Do. My Pet Pidgeon 's got a soulmate.
Canaries have Soul. Listen to the Music they Make. Thats Soul.
Have u seen the way Dogs Share Soul Food?

Of Course all Dogs Go To Haeven. & 'm sure U've seen the movie.

Is it Fair to Kill them No. of course. It fairer when they kill Us.
What do they have that humans don't have.? They Have Horns.
And don't we all get Hot a times

Madly hilarious. Your nuts.

Nevermind the cracks, lol. This is an interesting topic and I'd be looking forward to answers. . . could make some input a bit later.

Hello im tAMsin

hello all living things have souls.When a livivng thing dies it soul wonders the planet and does its unfinished buisness,sorta like a spirit.Once its unfinished buisness is done it sees the light and flies through the light to heaven .I know this simply because im smart lol im 11 years old!!.

from tamsin

What is a soul?

Your mind will and emotions.

How do you know that souls exist?

See above.

Do animals - dogs, cats, worms, flies, mosquitos, lice, chimps - have souls?

Yeah.

If they do, what are the implications? Why is it ok to butcher them?

Are they supposed to be better than human beings? Human beings have souls and Spirits, and we butcher them.


Will there be animals in heaven and hell?

No, Animals do not have Spirits.

What does a human being have that animals don't have?

Spirit.

What is a soul?

Your mind will and emotions.

You mean my brain is my soul? Isn't that more like part of my body?

If they do, what are the implications? Why is it ok to butcher them?

Are they supposed to be better than human beings? Human beings have souls and Spirits, and we butcher them.

I don't think it's ok to butcher human beings. Do you?

What does a human being have that animals don't have?

Spirit.

What is a spirit, in brief?

I think that anybody who thinks that only humans can have souls is pretty arrogant.

The main reason we believe in souls is because the alternative is pretty depressing!

Is this life all there is? Is it true that when we die, that's it - no more us? Or do we live on after death, continuing to experience things in new realms?

Do we have some sort of immaterial "soul" which is actually the origin of our minds and consciousness now? Does this "soul" continue on after our deaths, migrating to some sort of heaven or higher dimension?

OR ARE WE EATEN BY THE WORMS AND THAT IS OUR LOT?

I think the worms may hold the key!

If the soul is different from the brain, then how come when Terry Shiavo's brain was damaged by a virus she ended up without any mind, will and emotions? When I forget something, does it mean part of my soul is lost? When someone has an accident and his mind/will/emotions are affected, does it mean the physical impact affected his soul?

You're a dishonest person, Drusilla. My simple question was "why is it ok to butcher animals, since they have souls?" and you have tried to dodge it with a trainload of bullshit words. I will pretend you don't exist on this site.

This is interesting, and different strokes for different folks.

Seun, I don't have all the answers, but I wonder why you so
quickly flared up at some perceived "bulls¤¤t" in Drusilla's.

For one, I'm not sure that the soul is part of the body - it simply
is not. This is easy to understand when one dies: the soul exits
and no part of the body leaves with the soul. Here's a Bible text
that might help:

"And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died)
that she called his name Benoni: but his father called him Benjamin."
[Gen 35:18]

The soul is that immaterial and animating part of a person that
seats his/her will, mind and emotions. It can be affected when
the material body experiences certain actions - pain, injury, or
sighting some gory scene. The degree to which a person's soul
is affected is determined by the degree of the experience of the
action. Loss of memory (temporary or permanent), or damage to
the brain or any other material part of a person is not the same
thing as the loss or damage of the soul. The brain is an organ
that is generally thought of as housing the intellect - where the
thoughts of a person are performed. When that is affected in
some adverse way, the soul is still intact but the organ for the
function of the thinking process is unable to operate normally.

However, in some more involving way, the Bible sometimes speaks
of the soul as the real person - the real character that defines any
person. It means that one is not just defined by the material body,
but even more by what that person actually is. Thus, Adam became
"a living soul" and then again, "And it came to pass, when he had
made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was
knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul."
[I Sam. 18:1].

I believe that animals have souls - that is, in terms of the said
animating principle. In Job 12:10, this seems to be so: "In whose
hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind."
The difference is that animal soul are not the same as the soul of
man, and the simple reason for me is that since the soul seats the
will, mind and emotion, animals do not express the same will as
that of man.

Second, it seems most probable that some animals are spoken of
as to be found in heaven at some point. Rev. 19:11 & 14 speak of
white horses.

At the end of the day, what separates man from animals is spirit:
animals don't have spirits while man does. It is the spirit that helps
man communicates with God. Our soul (as the seat of will, mind and
emotion) are many times incapable of grasping the spiritual and the
supernatural, and that is where our spirit function. In brief, I offer
that the spirit is the deepest part of man capable of grasping the
things of the spiritual world that are invisible to our natural senses.
This is clear from the basic teaching of the Bible, that man is a
composite of the spirit, soul and body (I Thes. 5:23).

Lastly, I'm not quite clear what you mean by "butcher", and if you
mean the killing of animals for food, I see no big issue about that. But
I object to the matreatment of animals as much as I object to their
veneration as though they matter much more than human lives.

Perhaps, you might find some help in my post, but I don't have all the
answers.

Drusilla, I get your meaning, and thanks for your comments.

Sean, I haven't read all the answers posted about your question but I'm glad you rejected the theories of Drusilla and I hope you do also the same with Gwain's. If you haven't yet decided for yourself please consider what I have to tell you

"Do Animals have Souls?"

The simple answer is yes.

The view that we are different from animals in anyway (save obvious differences between all animals) is completely wrong! It is an opinion/belief that was, and still is, born out of arrogance and ignorance.

There two main reason why people wrongly believe that we are superior to animals or unique from them in this sense,

Scientifically people are misinformed and do not know the truth. It is fact that the physical parts of the brain known to be responsible for 'emotions' exist exactly the same in all mammals - we are not unique with this. It is only the matter which dictates level of intelligence that differs between all animals - including us.

Spiritually there is no reason to think that we are unique from other mammals of this planet. Although one question could be asked, is there another tipe of difference? The connections to our spiritual selves seems to be greater in animals than in humans.

Souls (as you call them) flow through all life. Our "spirits" or our "spiritual selves" is thought of to be our truest selves, who we are, and our guide of right and wrong, good and evil. Just as evil men are considered to be without a soul. They are actually just more disconnected from their souls,

With this in mind maybe the question should not be do animals have spirits or souls like us. The question should be, do we have souls and spirits like theirs. It seems that it is humans that are inferior to animals when it comes to matters of the soul.

Animals are not so disconnected from their souls like us, which is why they haven't followed our paths of evil. Animals have not stood against there own creator. It is not animals that have lost their sense of what is right and wrong what is truth and what is false. It is humans that have created hell on earth and still to this day destroy all the divine creations blessed to this planet. Plants, animals and other humans all suffer because of the evil that rules humanity.

Animals have souls! This should not be under question. Rather if we are to wonder about souless creatures we should look at humans to be far more likely suspects.

Your soul exists only in your imagination. If it was real it would be visible somewhere in this picture of the human anatomy.

Manmustchop, this is almost like saying that a PC does not have an operating system because the OS cannot be seen when the PC tower is opened. Human beings are some kind of organic computers and their souls are their OS, without which they can neither experience nor navigate properly in this reality.

manmustwac:

Your soul exists only in your imagination. If it was real it would be visible somewhere in this picture of the human anatomy.

Tamsin4:

Hello im tAMsin

hello all living things have souls.When a livivng thing dies it soul wonders the planet and does its unfinished buisness,sorta like a spirit.Once its unfinished buisness is done it sees the light and flies through the light to heaven .I know this simply because im smart lol im 11 years old!!.

from tamsin

you sound sweet! truly smart!

All living things have souls and spirits. The person who made the claim that animals don't have spirits is totally wrong.

@poster,
first of all every living thing is soul.

both animals, plants and humans. they are all souls. the only difference is the cloth they are wearing as soul or their embodiment and their level of consciousness and advancement on the evolutionary scale.

we all start from the bottom and move up the scale through millions of lifetimes. the spirit of God which is the holy spirit is what gives life to all beings and it is present in all beings.

The old testament writers used the word 'soul' as the human body.An example is in Ezekiel 18 vs 20 ''the soul that sinneth,it shall die, '' and also many other examples.This is due to the fact that their research was not classic.Then in the new testament,obviously the writers had gained more knowledge on the idea of the word 'soul'.So all the writers defined soul as something immaterial.Example, in Mattew 10vs28,it is written ''do not be afraid of they who will kill the body but cannot kill the soul;rather be afraid of the one who will destroy both body and soul.(so to all the people thinking that the body is the soul or that when the body dies,it is the the soul dies:this passage proves you wrong)Other examples are in 1st thesselonians 5vs23,hebrews 4vs12,rev 6vs9,rev 18vs13,rev 20vs4,mattew 16vs26.The body is just an abode for the soul.so the soul is something invisible that activates the body.The soul registers information to the brain and it delivers it so that the body can act on it.When a man dies,the soul leaves him so there is nothing to activate it.The soul gives unto the body will,emotion e.t.c.It activates the body hereby bringing growth and development but when the soul leaves and the body dies,the body detoriates.Also animals and every living thing has a soul cos it is what activates the physical body.We kill and eat animals because our creator made them as supplements to us so that we may eat them and survive so that his word (be fruitful and multiply)might be accomplished.Examples are in many places in the bible including Exodus 29vs32 ''at the entrance of the temple,Aaron and his sons are to eat the meat of ram, ''.Besides the only thing that differentiates we from animals is that our soul is more complex than theirs.Our spirit is a supernatural being which is with the soul and delivers unto the soul things in the spiritual realm.It is impossible to separate the two except by divine power; Heb 4vs12 ''For the word of God is living and active, it penetrates even to dividing the soul and spirit,joints and marrows, ''.I hope this helps.

Jenwitemi: All living things have souls and spirits. The person who made the claim that animals don't have spirits is totally wrong.

please sir where did you draw your inspiration, that animals have spirits.

jdilight:


please sir where did you draw your inspiration, that animals have spirits.

Bible said it . Eccl 3:19-21 !

Seun:
Hello,

I'm posing these questions to spiritual folks in the house:
- What is a soul?
- How do you know that souls exist?
- Do animals - dogs, cats, worms, flies, mosquitos, lice, chimps - have souls?
- If they do, what are the implications?
- Why is it ok to butcher them?
- Will there be animals in heaven and hell?
- What does a human being have that animals don't have?

Thanks a million.

@bold, God's likeness

Gen_1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:....

johnw74:

@bold, God's likeness
Gen_1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:....

Bulls.hit! Una don start again.

Zoharariel:


Bulls.hit! Una don start again.

^^^
The intelligence of a split pea

johnw74:

@bold, God's likeness
Gen_1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:....

Haha ! Can you tell what it means that man is in the image of God ?

yes they do...their souls will rise up on judgement day like that of human being . The Animal that was killed by his fellow animal will kill the animal that killed him. they won't go to Paradise or hell but they will all be judge.

Jessicha:


Haha ! Can you tell what it means that man is in the image of God ?

You don't believe the Bible
you couldn't be told anything

johnw74:

Gen_1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:....

johnw74:

You don't believe the Bible you couldn't be told anything

You said I dont believe the bible whereas I do , you are a fake christian .
U dont know ?