 M. Jean Holmes |
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We see through a glass, darkly. Finite minds can't comprehend the infinite. The Bible gives a glimpse, but only. Ask for more, and you might get the answer Job did: "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?….Who decreed the boundaries of the seas when they gushed from the depths?….Have you ever commanded the morning to appear?….Can you hold back the stars?….Can you ensure the proper sequence of the seasons?….Do you know the laws of the universe and how the heavens influence the earth?….Can you shout to the clouds and make it rain?….Who gives intuition and instinct?" Then, interestingly, God brings animals into the lecture: "Can you stalk prey like a lioness….Who provides for the ravens….Do you know how mountain goats give birth….Who makes wild donkeys wild….Have you given the horse strength….Do you know how a hawk soars? I owe no one anything. Everything under heaven is mine." Okay, and don't slam the door on your way out. OK PetGazette isn't a religious publication, and it's not our intention to proselytize. We're not arguing for or against any particular belief. But we are a publication about animals, and the question (albeit, a controversial one) has been asked. Is there a place for them on the other side? That demands we proceed on the premise there is another side. To find an answer, we must go to the source, and that's what M. Jean Holmes did in her book, Do Dogs Go To Heaven? Let's cut to the chase. Her answer is yes. That will please many pet owners. Now, the question becomes, is it true? Wishing it so, doesn't make it so. Of course, there's no concrete proof, but there is evidence. And Holmes, a Tulsa lawyer, knows a thing or two about gathering evidence. She works for Winters, King & Associates, a Christian law firm with a general civil practice and one of the largest church-law practices in the country. Her practice includes brief writing at the trial and appellate levels, adoptions, guardianships and probate and trademark/copyright law, including intellectual property contracts. Obviously, Holmes, a committed Christian, has the credentials to launch a biblical investigation. As a veterinarian's daughter, she knows animals too. "We had dogs, cats, horses, rabbits, cows, pigs, geese, ducks, lizards, a parakeet and pet crow," she says. "As a young child, I recall asking my father (after he put a client's old dog to sleep) if dogs went to Heaven. He assured me there was a heaven for dogs. Whether this was his personal belief or just like telling a child that Santa is real, I don't know. I know I believed him." A child's question, a child's naïve belief? Little could she know the impact it would have on her life many years later. After her mother lost the last of her dogs, she asked a clergyman: do dogs go to Heaven? (Thus, the book's title.) And she persisted in asking others of the cloth, because each time, she got a different answer–sometimes yes, sometimes no. Most just didn't know. What struck Holmes was only one even attempted to relate it to scripture. The answer was important to the mother, and it became the daughter's cause.
Q: Another publication asked a veterinarian and pastor for their opinions. One said there's no evidence that animals have souls, and the other said scripture and Christian tradition are silent on the matter. How would you respond to them? A: The Bible proves they have souls just like people, and animal behaviorists agree. The only difference between man and animals is that man is made in the image of God. What that means is up for grabs. The distinction isn't, as theologians in the past have argued, that animals lack souls or spirits. I suspect it is simply what it says: we, being designed to become sons and daughters of God, have His image and nature, while animals have their own unique images and natures. As for the Bible's silence, I thought the same until I did the research. It's far from silent, but like many doctrines, it's only when you pull the references on a topic and put them together in an orderly fashion that a clear picture emerges. In fact, the Bible has a lot to say about animal immortality. Q: Animals can go the other way? That's a surprising revelation, though there are some, like mosquitoes, I've wished that fate upon. And certainly, I've dispatched many to whatever. If we start down this path, where do we draw the line? I can visualize dogs, cats and horses in Heaven, but mosquitoes? Will the bacon I had for breakfast, the tuna at lunch, the steak at dinner confront me in the hereafter? A: If you mean we should attempt to segregate the creatures that go to Heaven based on their usefulness or attractiveness to us, I can't agree. We are, at best, stewards of God's garden, not the creator/owners. I doubt any of us know the value God places on mosquitoes or His ultimate plan for them. But I rather like C. S. Lewis' idea that a Heaven for mosquitoes and a hell for men could be conveniently combined! As to the animals we've killed and eaten, have you considered that they may have a special place if they are willing sacrifices for the good of man? We serve a God that blesses those willing to lay down their lives or live sacrificially. Q: Would this apply to animals in the wild where we have little or no interaction? We observe degrees of intelligence and emotion in pets. Wild species are likewise capable; some are quite intelligent and social. Or could we be guilty of anthropomorphism–the attribution of human motivation, characteristics or behavior to animals. Are we, perhaps, projecting our feelings on them and seeing more than is really there? A: There's little dispute among animal behaviorists today that animals have all the characteristics associated with "soul," such as intelligence, personality, moral attributes; they can problem solve and have complex communication and social structures. The Bible tells us to learn from the animals. At the same time, I don't think the Bible answers some questions. While we were created to become God's children, that doesn't diminish the love the Creator has for each thing He created. While an artist may love his or her children with a greater or different love than he or she loves his painting or sculpture, both loves are valid in their place. Animals are God's masterpieces too. How and which of His creatures will enter the resurrection, the Bible doesn't appear to make clear. Perhaps every creature will; perhaps, like Noah's ark, only those that are called will come. The choice is God's. He chose to subject all creation to futility when Adam fell. The Bible makes it clear He also plans to restore all creation in the new Heaven and earth after the Second Coming of Christ. We know that God is well able to handle and provide for all the creatures He has made, both in this life and throughout eternity. I suggest that anyone who doubts it has too small an image of God. Read Part II. Do Dogs Go To Heaven? can be purchased at bookstores, online at www.joipax.com or by phone: 918-499-1897. Back to Archives |
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