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Do Animals Have Souls?


Lil Red

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nikkan_hanil

[quote name='Paladin D' date='Jul 21 2004, 12:51 PM'] [b]Jack Van Impe[/b] will disagree [url="http://www.eternalanimals.com/"]http://www.eternalanimals.com/[/url] (he endores the book). [/quote]
Oh man, this guy's a Prot, right?

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JMJ
7/23 - St. Apollinarius of Ravenna

So, to play devil's advocate philosophically...


Are the souls of animals immortal? It would seem that they are - to paraphrase an old beer commercial, "A soul is a soul is a soul is a soul...." What is it [i]in them[/i] that prevents their being eternal, if they are not eternal.

I've got an answer from Aquinas (I don't know if it's a good one), but it works. ;)

BTW, stay away from the "image and likeness of God" thing - though it's true, it's profoundly unphilosophical.

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[quote name='nikkan_hanil' date='Jul 21 2004, 09:56 PM'] Oh man, this guy's a Prot, right? [/quote]
Yeah.

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God Conquers

However, very Theological.

I agree Image and Likeness may not work on an atheist, but it should on a Christian.

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[quote name='God Conquers' date='Jul 21 2004, 11:41 AM'] All Created things have souls:

Plants have vegetative souls, animals have animal souls, humans have immortal human souls.

As humans and as Image and Likeness of God our souls are different from the other created things, but they still have souls. [/quote]
Aristotle/Augustine. :)

Anima!

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Don John of Austria

[QUOTE]
[QUOTE]
Plants have vegetative souls, animals have animal souls, humans have immortal human souls.
[/QUOTE]

Straight Aristotle and in keeping with the teachings of the Church, Exactly what I ws going to say actually, very nice God Counquers.

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JMJ
7/23 - St. Apollinarius of Ravenna

[quote]I agree Image and Likeness may not work on an atheist, but it should on a Christian.[/quote]

Yeah, but most people who hold that animals have eternal souls (or that our souls are mutable) aren't Christian. :P

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Don John of Austria

Yeah but jack van impe LOVES the Pope, and tell evangelicals that they need to lay of Catholics because we believe in the 5 "fundementals ( which we do) so we are technicly Fundementalist. So I tend to cut him some slack in the weird department.

Still animals die there dead thats it, thats why I am sadder when my pets die than when a person dies, I'll seethe person agian and they are getting exsactly what they deserve, but an animal is Gone, thats just how it is.

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[quote name='Don John of Austria' date='Jul 23 2004, 04:27 PM'] Yeah but jack van impe LOVES the Pope, and tell evangelicals that they need to lay of Catholics because we believe in the 5 "fundementals ( which we do) so we are technicly Fundementalist. So I tend to cut him some slack in the weird department. [/quote]
I agree.

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Animals are entities, just as plants and people are entities. They have purpose are alive and just as able to understand as humans. They also experience death. I would say any matter that fits this criteria contains a soul.

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[quote name='Paladin D' date='Jul 21 2004, 11:51 AM'][b]Jack Van Impe[/b] will disagree [url="http://www.eternalanimals.com/"]http://www.eternalanimals.com/[/url] (he endores the book).[/quote]
I like how he says "[i]Do pets go to heaven? This book is about the afterlife of animals
from a Christian perspective. According to the Bible, all animals go to heaven! This [b]well-researched [/b] book is a comfort for those who have lost a pet."[/i]

I'd love to know how you research heaven. :P

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catholicguy

OK I have heard from most people that there are souls in living creatures, yet they are different (veg., animal, rational), which is supposedly from Aristotle. I have never, though, heard of any Church teaching either way. Does anyone know if the Church has spoken about this subject either for or against living beings having souls (other than humans). Thanks. God bless.

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catholicguy

[quote name='Madonna' date='Jul 28 2004, 10:07 AM'] I like how he says "[i]Do pets go to heaven? This book is about the afterlife of animals
from a Christian perspective. According to the Bible, all animals go to heaven! This [b]well-researched [/b] book is a comfort for those who have lost a pet."[/i]

I'd love to know how you research heaven. :P [/quote]
So does he think if you kill an ant/fly/termite/roach/etc, they go to Heaven, too?

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God Conquers

Augustine speaks of the nature of the soul, as do many of the scholastics, several of whom are Saints... i.e. Their writings would not be contrary to the faith.

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Church Fathers and saints are not infallible. I can think of a Church Father or two that evenutally became schismatic.

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