Do Dogs go to Heaven?

[lovelorcet]

What about a pitbull that is raised to be a fighting dog and then kills a human? Did this dog make a bad moral choice and therefore condemed to hell?

 

Are you still there JamesM? Are you getting some good answers?

 

 

Does that dog have free will? or was it trained to be a fighting dog and was just reacting out of instinct. It felt threatened and the fight or flight system kicked in.

 

As a human I have felt threatened before and have reacted out of pure instinct. Some decisions I am proud of some I am not.

[blind_otter]

What about a pitbull that is raised to be a fighting dog and then kills a human? Did this dog make a bad moral choice and therefore condemed to hell?

 

Fighting dogs are trained to fight and be aggressive. It's not like they make a conscious choice to be fighters - they are made, not born.

[JamesM]

What about a pitbull that is raised to be a fighting dog and then kills a human? Did this dog make a bad moral choice and therefore condemed to hell?

 

Are you still there JamesM? Are you getting some good answers?

 

Yes, I am out here...watching ...waiting.

 

Seriously, the discussion has been good, and I hate to interrupt.

 

Personally, I don't have a strong opinion...shocking, I know. Fact is...I lean towards the "no, there are not." On the other hand, if there are animals in Heaven, then why cannot there be pets?

 

And just because two people "owned" them, I don't think this eliminates two people from enjoying them in Heaven. The Bible does answer this similar question regarding if more than one man had the same wife.

 

Mat 22:23-30:

 

The same day came to him the Sadducees, which say that there is no resurrection, and asked him,

 

Saying, Master, Moses said, If a man die, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother.

 

Now there were with us seven brethren: and the first, when he had married a wife, deceased, and, having no issue, left his wife unto his brother:

 

Likewise the second also, and the third, unto the seventh.

 

And last of all the woman died also.

 

Therefore in the resurrection whose wife shall she be of the seven? for they all had her.

 

Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God.

 

For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.

 

So, this can certainly apply to pets.

 

Does that mean they will be there?

 

The additional question is...would Christians care?

 

Will Rogers is famous for saying, “If the are no dogs in heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went." While this does seem extreme, it raises the point...as Moai did, will Christians miss their pets or family members who are not Christians?

 

 

Do all animals then go to Heaven or is there a Hell for them as well? I personally was not wondering if they make a moral choice to be in heaven, but will there be some in heaven. How they get there....by choice or by default...is unknown.

 

Will there be insects in Heaven? What about mosquitoes? Interesting comments from C. S. Lewis in his book, The Problem of Pain, regarding mosquitoes....Lewis discusses his belief on how he believes animals will be resurrected, and brings up the argument some people make, "Where would all the mosquitoes go?" He says that if necessary, creating a heaven for mosquitoes and a hell for man would be easy...since they would be the same place.

 

I don't know the answers, but I enjoy hearing the opinions of others.

[a4a]

AFAIK these unbaptized infants go to limbo, that was what I was taught in catholic school.

 

 

 

.

 

That was changed because of the third world countries with high infant mortality rates were rejecting the catholic religion because their dead babies were going to be in limbo if they "believed" in it.

 

So to recruit more they changed it.

 

As for dogs in heaven.... I don't believe in heaven. But what would a place be without the beings that you enjoy so much?

 

I would prefer to spend eternity with a rabid pitbull rather than many people I know that are heading to "heaven".

 

Perhaps we are in the "after life" right now........ this is it. Each of us is in our own little heaven or hell?

 

This is it!

[quankanne]

I never said that such a person is damned to hell. What I am saying is if you take an innocent child and beat the living hell out of it for about 18 years you there is a pretty good chance that you are going to end up with an adult that is messed up. When did that child fall out of grace then? How can that person be judged?

 

child never fell out of God's grace, despite the evidence of her abuse. I don't imagine God is judging her for someone else's actions, though it's easy to see how mankind would ...

 

That was changed because of the third world countries with high infant mortality rates were rejecting the catholic religion because their dead babies were going to be in limbo if they "believed" in it.

 

you lost me, A ... I would reckon that folks in a third world country reject Catholicism (or some other "foreign" faith belief) because they didn't agree with certain points of theology – most pointedly the Eucharist and papal infallibility – rather than "where do dead babies go"!

[a4a]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,13509-2387589,00.html

 

perhaps that will explain it.

 

I didn't see how it could not be understood.

[MakeLemonade]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,13509-2387589,00.html

 

perhaps that will explain it.

 

I didn't see how it could not be understood.

 

This is exactly why I don't believe what org religion says to believe just because they say it. They change things at their discretion, as to what is popular, what will bring the most followers.

 

God didn't come to the pope and say, hey, it's ok there really is no limbo, these babies will go to HEAVEN. So in essence is the pope admitting The CHURCH was wrong before, and if so - why should I believe anything else they or any other church have to say....you take it from there....

 

There are things that are unexplainable in our universe, many many things. Religion is one of the ways modern man came up with to explain them. It's very fuzzy in there, what is, isn't or could be divinely imparted to man. We won't know till we die. We really don't know anything, we can only know what people who lived before us put into books based on other books or on scientific research and theories.

 

I believe in God, I really do. But it isn't the way religion portrays it to be. I believe this, and I didn't used to. I would defend creation as the bible portrays it till I was blue in the face. Not anymore.

 

I know the dogs are there though, some form, somehow and once I am gone, I can only hope I take with me my experiences from here, recognize that energy of the pups who are still with me but will be long gone by then and bond with them in the afterlife as well. I know it sounds kinda out there, but it really makes a lot of sense to me and I feel more comfortable and at peace now with what I believe than I ever have before.

[a4a]

Dogs don't lie...... if they like you they let you know..... if they don't they bite you.

 

That in itself should qualify them to go to the highest possible place post death......

 

But I still don't believe in it.

 

and you can put down dogs for licking their own butts...... but man, people will lick eachother.... and I know people would lick themselves if they could reach! - they would just lie about the fact that they do it.

[Storyrider]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,13509-2387589,00.html

 

perhaps that will explain it.

 

I didn't see how it could not be understood.

 

Thanks for posting that article, a4a. At the end it says St. Augustine was a big proponent of Limbo for unbaptized infants. Augustine is no slouch in Church theological tradition, so his beliefs would hold a lot of authority.

 

I wonder how the Church justifies the necessity of infant baptism now that they say children automatically go to heaven?

 

This is exactly why I don't believe what org religion says to believe just because they say it. They change things at their discretion, as to what is popular, what will bring the most followers.

 

God didn't come to the pope and say, hey, it's ok there really is no limbo, these babies will go to HEAVEN. So in essence is the pope admitting The CHURCH was wrong before, and if so - why should I believe anything else they or any other church have to say....you take it from there....

 

I share your skepticism, but one thing to keep in mind is that in the eyes of the Church, no doctrine, such as Limbo, is considered infallible except what the Pope explicitly and formally deems infallible. So the doctrine before was subject to individual interpretation, while now that he has infallibly declared Limbo isn't real, Catholics are bound to believe that.

[dropdeadlegs]

No, dogs don't go to Heaven.

[quankanne]

I wonder how the Church justifies the necessity of infant baptism now that they say children automatically go to heaven?

 

well, baptism in the Church is still about "baptism into the death and the resurrection of Christ," and it's part of a rite that links you (despite your age) to a particular community of believers in a universe of believers.

[NoIDidn't]

I haven't read the entire thread, but my answer is yes. Yes, dogs go to heaven.

 

While not a JW, I like their view of heaven being like the "New Earth" - where the lamb AND the lion both lie down and eat straw together.

 

There are *spiritual* animals in Heaven. Why not the ones that are physical?

 

Again, as I haven't really read the thread yet, why wouldn't dogs go to Heaven for those that actually believe it exists? What would be the reasoning for denying an animal entrance into Heaven? Its not like we will get to eat them. LOL.

[HokeyReligions]

Interesting thread. Every single church I've ever gone to I ask the minister one question: Do you believe animals go to Heaven? Their answer tells me if I'm ever going to step foot in their church again. And what is so interesting to me, is that even within the same sect, I'll get different answers and most are based on the same passages in the Bible.

 

For me, yes I do believe that animal's go to Heaven. God created them too and they were not given the same choices we have, or the same will. They are instinct and have their own social structures. But their life force is God given and capable of love and devotion from God, not from our domesticating them. Their behavior is not subject to the same governing rules that we have, because they were not given the same free will or ability to choose.

 

In Heaven they are merely another part of God and we may or may not recognize them as the animals we knew here, but as a familiar part of God.

 

I always said that if there were no dogs in Heaven I don't want to go!

[kchiapet95]

You got it! When I was religious, I always felt the need to speak up and correct misperceptions of my religion...I guess old habits die hard!

 

I could tell you knew a lot more than most. You'd be surprised how many people asked, "You don't believe in God/Jesus, right?"

[Love Hurts]

John 14:13

And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

 

On that verse : *If you pray for your pet to go to heaven, so be it.

Its faith.

[shadowofman]

So if I pray for 40 subordinate sluts to satisfy my every sexual want, then I will get what I ask. I'm totally going to church from now on. You saved my faith in heaven. I thought it was going to be boring there.

[lovelorcet]

John 14:13

And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

 

On that verse : *If you pray for your pet to go to heaven, so be it.

Its faith.

 

The power of prayer has been statistically proven to have... no power...

[Lovelybird]

one of good qualities about dogs are that they are faithful, but I am not sure my dog, he is friendly to everyone, that is the only thing I worry about him, there are dog stealers around here

 

how many people you know are that faithful?

Edited February 15, 2008 by Lovelybird

[lovelorcet]

one of good qualities about dogs are that they are faithful, but I am not sure my dog, he is friendly to everyone, that is the only thing I worry about him, there are dog stealers around here

 

how many people you know are that faithful?

 

 

Dogs are cool like that, they are always happy to see you and to just be with you. I think it is pretty close to an "unconditional love."

 

What really sucks about them though is that damn things die, it like losing a family member.

[Lovelybird]

Dogs are cool like that, they are always happy to see you and to just be with you. I think it is pretty close to an "unconditional love."

 

What really sucks about them though is that damn things die, it like losing a family member.

so true, they never 'cheat' on you, and never make you feel less a woman or less a man

 

Unconditional love is great !

[Walk]

When I was 10 I stopped going to church completely because the pastor said dogs wouldn't go to heaven. I decided right then that if the bigger power up there wasn't going to let my little beagel into heaven, then I wasn't going either!

 

Now.. I think the only living things that deserve heaven are animals.

[a4a]

No, dogs don't go to Heaven.

 

Perhaps they go to limbo and feed on the unbaptized babies?

[witabix]

If dogs go to heaven, where do the Postal Workers go? Nextdoor if I know them!

 

Pope B decides there no such place as limbo? Has he ever been to Canada?

[a4a]

If dogs go to heaven, where do the Postal Workers go? Nextdoor if I know them!

 

Pope B decides there no such place as limbo? Has he ever been to Canada?

 

Don't you think limbo should have been voted on? And the dog/heaven issue as well?

 

Dog farts....... should be banned in the after life.

[witabix]

Don't you think limbo should have been voted on? And the dog/heaven issue as well?

 

Dog farts....... should be banned in the after life.

 

Yes, totally agree. One bark for yes two for no, simple really. As for limbo....I am in two minds, maybe instead of removing it, he could have renamed it. Something along the lines of Bimbo perhaps. Wouldn't sound so bad to spend eternity in a Bimbo.