Bruce Wrenn October 2021
Our beloved Golden Retriever, Ella, died early in the morning of September 11. She died from the same cancer that took our other beloved Golden, Cooper, on March 9 this year. Those of you reading this who have mourned the loss of a pet can immediately relate to just how profoundly sad it is to come home to a house empty of the special love a pet provides. We have been blessed by having seven Goldens over the 43 years we have lived in our house, and every one of them was a gift from God. Because we see God’s hand in bringing each dog into our lives as a member of our family, we hold onto the hope that we will be reunited with them when Jesus comes back to take us to be with Him in Heaven. God does not give gifts of Love only to take them back.
From Jan and my conversations with other pet lovers, we see that we are not alone in this hope of spending eternity with those with whom we have had such a profound love relationship. Christian pet lovers treasure such hope, but is that hope supported by Scripture? I have researched this question by conferring with theologians, studying what the Bible and Bible Commentaries has to say about this, and reading what other pet lovers have concluded from their study of Scripture. I don’t claim what you are about to read is a definitive study of the subject, but I have found my conclusions to be able to satisfy my soul and give me peace about this and wanted to share them with you in the hope that you too will find peace from its findings.
Methodology
I’m approaching this investigation from a somewhat unique approach for this question:
Will God bring our beloved pets we had on earth to be with us in our home in heaven?
A common approach used in scientific research is to establish, and then test, hypotheses related to the research question being investigated. I will follow this approach to our subject here. Typically, the research study is set up by positing a null hypothesis, and then testing it to see if the evidence supports or refutes the hypothesis. Here is ours:
H0: Our pets will not be in heaven with us.
Our alternative hypothesis, which will be accepted if the null hypothesis is refuted by the research findings is :
HA: Our pets will be with us in heaven.
This hypothesis has a set of secondary hypotheses that collectively will allow us to conclude whether the primary hypothesis is supported or refuted:
HO.1: God did not create animals to be objects of affection. HO.2: There will not be animals in heaven.
HO.3: If there are animals in heaven they will be created in Heaven, not having lived on this earth.
HO.4: Animals were not kept as pets during Biblical times, and hence, as a convention introduced in the post- Biblical period, they were never intended to occupy the place of affection as they do in contemporary homes.
Of course we will not collect empirical data and subject the data to statistical tests to determine whether these hypotheses are supported or not, but we will use them to guide our search for the answer to our research question: Will God bring our beloved pets we had on earth to be with us in our home in heaven? We will now explore each secondary hypothesis to determine if the findings tend to support or reject the hypothesis. A resource that will be used extensively, but not exclusively, in this investigation will be the eBook version of : Alcorn, Randy, Heaven, Carol Stream, IL, Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 2004, using this reference:
Randy Alcorn. “Heaven.” Apple Books. https://books.apple.com/us/book/heaven/id487918496
HO.1: God did not create animals to be objects of affection.
“Scripture says a great deal about animals, portraying them as Earth’s second most important inhabitants. God entrusted animals to us, and our relationships with animals are a significant part of our lives.”
“Like humans, animals were formed from the ground. “Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air” (Genesis 2:19). When God breathed a spirit into Adam’s body, made from the earth, Adam became nephesh, a “living being” or “soul” (Genesis 2:7). Remarkably, the same Hebrew word, nephesh, is used for animals and for people. We are specifically told that not only people, but animals have “the breath of life” in them (Genesis 1:30; 2:7; 6:17; 7:15, 22). God hand-made animals, linking them both to the earth and humanity.” Am I suggesting animals have souls? Certainly they do not have human souls. Animals aren’t created in God’s image, and they aren’t equal to humans in any sense. Nonetheless, there’s a strong biblical case for animals having non-human souls. I didn’t take this seriously until I studied the usage of the Hebrew and Greek words nephesh and psyche, often translated “soul” when referring to humans. (Nephesh is translated psyche in the Septuagint.) The fact that these words are often used of animals is compelling evidence they have non-human souls. That’s what most Christians in the past believed. In their book Beyond Death, Gary Habermas and J. P. Moreland point out, “It wasn’t until the advent of seventeenth-century Enlightenment . . . that the existence of animal souls was even questioned in Western civilization. Throughout the history of the church, the classic understanding of living things has included the doctrine that animals, as well as humans, have souls.”(Gary R. Habermas and J. P. Moreland, Beyond Death: Exploring the Evidence for Immortality (Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway, 1998))
Alcorn, p.421
It is worth noting that Adam’s first companions in Eden were the animals (All Bible verses are NIV unless otherwise indicated) :
20 And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.”
21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
22 God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.”
23 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.
24 And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so.
25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:20-25)
19 Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name.
20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals. But for Adam no suitable helper was found.
21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh.
22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. (Genesis 2:19-22)
Alcorn, in his book Heaven, makes these points:
“In the Genesis account of creation, God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him” (Genesis 2:18). God then brought animals and birds to the man. Only afterward did God create the woman as a more suitable helper.
God placed animals under the man’s benevolent care: “Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground” (Genesis 1:28). This relationship is celebrated: “You made [mankind] ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet: all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas” (Psalm 8:6-8). God created us to be stewards of animals. He holds us accountable for how we treat them. “The godly are concerned for the welfare of their animals” (Proverbs 12:10, NLT). We are caretakers for the animals, but they belong to God, not us: “For all the animals of the forest are mine, and I own the cattle on a thousand hills Every bird of the mountains and all the animals of the field belong to me” (Psalm 50:10-11, NLT).”
Alcorn, p.425
“God’s care for animals appears even in the Ten Commandments: “Six days a week are set apart for your daily duties and regular work, but the seventh day is a day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God. On that day no one in your household may do any kind of work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your livestock, and any foreigners living among you” (Exodus 20:9-10, NLT). Animals also need rest. God carved into stone his care for them.”
Alcorn, p.424
How does God feel about the animals He created? As highlighted above in the Genesis account of creation, God saw that His creation of the animals was good. Passages in both the New and Old Testaments reveal God’s concern for and love of the animals He created:
Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. (Matthew 10:29)
“Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” (Matthew 6:26)
11 And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?”(Jonah 4:11)
"Whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast, but the mercy of the wicked is cruel." (Proverbs 12:10)
“You shall not muzzle an ox when it is treading out the grain.”(Deuteronomy 25:4)
“And he said to them, “Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?” (Luke 14:5)
10 for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills.
11 I know every bird in the mountains, and the insects in the fields are mine. (Psalm 50:10-11)
Like a shepherd He will tend His flock, In His arm He will gather the lambs And carry them in His bosom; He will gently lead the nursing ewes. (Isaiah 40:11)
32 The angel of the Lord asked him, “Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? I have come here to oppose you because your path is a reckless one before me.
33 The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If it had not turned away, I would certainly have killed you by now, but I would have spared it.” (Numbers 22:32-33)
6 If you come across a bird’s nest beside the road, either in a tree or on the ground, and the mother is sitting on the young or on the eggs, do not take the mother with the young. (Deuteronomy 22:6)
These and other verses clearly indicate that God has deep affection for animals, and that He expects us to be faithful stewards of His creation He has entrusted to our care.
Some might point to the sacrificial system instituted by God for the Israelites as evidence of the low regard for animals by God. However, this demonstrates the exact opposite:
“Some people accuse God of disrespect for animals because of the sacrificial system. But it was only because animals, created with the breath of life, are so loved by God and mankind that they qualify for the highest representative role imaginable: symbolizing God’s messianic Redeemer. It was because of their value that their sacrifice revealed sin’s horror and the exorbitant cost of redemption.”
Alcorn, p.424
Little Lamb who made thee
Dost thou know who made thee
Gave thee life & bid thee feed.
By the stream & o’er the mead;
Gave thee clothing of delight,
Softest clothing wooly bright;
Gave thee such a tender voice,
Making all the vales rejoice!
Little Lamb who made thee
Dost thou know who made thee
Little Lamb I’ll tell thee,
Little Lamb I’ll tell thee!
He is called by thy name,
For he calls himself a Lamb:
He is meek & he is mild,
He became a little child:
I a child & thou a lamb,
We are called by his name.
Little Lamb God bless thee.
Little Lamb God bless thee. William Blake
Jan with Cooper and Ella
Finding: H0.1 is rejected. God did create animals to be objects of affection, both for God and for us.
HO.2: There will not be animals in heaven.
HO.3: If there are animals in heaven they will be created in Heaven, not having lived on this earth.
There are numerous places in the Bible where animals are mentioned as being in Heaven. The theological question is when does this take place (i.e., during the Millennium or Earth Made New), and whether these animals are created then, or are brought from earth to be in Heaven.
“Isaiah 11:6-9 speaks of a coming glorious era on Earth when “the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper’s nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.”
“Some interpreters contend that this passage speaks only of the Millennium, but as we’ve seen, Isaiah anticipates an eternal Kingdom of God on Earth. Isaiah 65:17 and 66:22 specifically speak of the New Earth. Sandwiched between them is a reference very similar to that in Isaiah 11: “‘The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. . . . They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain,’ says the Lord” (65:25).”
“When will there be no more harm on the earth? Not on the old Earth or even in the Millennium, which will end in rebellion and warfare, but on the New Earth, where there will be no more sin, death, or suffering (Revelation 21:4). These descriptions of animals peacefully inhabiting the earth may have application to a millennial kingdom on the old Earth, but their primary reference appears to be to God’s eternal Kingdom, where mankind and animals will enjoy a redeemed Earth.
Alcorn, p.420
“We needn’t speculate how God might populate a perfect Earth. He populated Eden with animals, under the rule of people. God doesn’t make mistakes. There’s every reason to believe he’ll restore this self-proclaimed “very good” arrangement on the New Earth. We should expect the New Earth to be a place where we’ll fulfill our calling to be faithful rulers and stewards of animals.
God directed Adam to name the animals (Genesis 2:19-20). The process of naming involved a personal relationship with the name-bearer. Note that Adam wasn’t instructed to name the plants, only his wife and the animals, indicating their special relationship.
Eden was perfect. But without animals Eden wouldn’t be Eden. The New Earth is the new Eden—Paradise regained, with the curse of the first Adam reversed, transformed into the blessing of the last Adam (Romans 5:14-15). Would God take away from us in Heaven what he gave, for delight and companionship and help, to Adam and Eve in Eden? Would he revoke his decision to put animals with people, under their care? Since he’ll fashion the New Earth with renewed people, wouldn’t we expect him also to include renewed animals?”
Alcorn, p.425-426
Romans 8:19-20 provides insight into whether the animals in Heaven will be those who have lived on this earth:
19 For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are.
20 Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope,
21 the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay.
22 For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.
23 And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us. (NLT)
Albert Barnes’ commentary on these verses provides insight into what is meant by Paul’s use of the word “creation” in these verses:
Of the creature - τῆς κτίσεως [tēs ktiseōs]." Perhaps there is not a passage in the New Testament that has been deemed more difficult of interpretation than this Romans 8:19-23; and after all the labors bestowed on it by critics, still there is no explanation proposed which is perfectly satisfactory, or in which commentators concur... The opinion which is perhaps most generally adopted of this difficult passage, is what explains κτίσις [ktisis] of the whole irrational creation. According to this view, the apostle, having adverted to the glory that awaited the Christian, as a ground of joy and comfort under present sufferings, exalts our idea of it still higher by representing the external world as participating in, and waiting for it.
“This interpretation is suitable to the design of the apostle. Paul's object is not to confirm the certainty of a future state, but to produce a strong impression of its glorious character. Nothing could be better adapted to this object, than the grand and beautiful figure of the whole creation waiting and longing for the glorious revelation of the Son of God, and the consummation of his kingdom." Hodge. In the original it is the same word that is rendered alternately "creature" and "creation.
“And the meaning of the passage depends, in great measure, on the sense of this single word. Generally speaking, it signifies anything created. The particular kind of creation is determined by the context alone. Of course, whatever sense we may attach to it, must be continued throughout the whole passage, as we cannot suppose the apostle uses the same word in two different senses, in one place, without any intimation of the change. To what then does κτίσις [ktisis] refer? It is maintained by those who adopt the view noticed above, that it cannot refer to angels, either elect or fallen, since the former have never been subject to the bondage of corruption, and the latter are not waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God; that it cannot allude to wicked people, for neither do they anxiously look out for this manifestation; that it can no more refer to saints or renewed people, since these are expressly distinguished as a separate class in Romans The created world itself can hardly wait for what’s coming next. Everything in creation is being more or less held back. God reins it in until both creation and all the ready and can be released at the same moment into the glorious times ahead. Meanwhile, the joyful anticipation deepens. Romans 8:23; and that, therefore, it must be understood of the whole...human and irrational creation.
It is further argued, that every part of the context may be explained consistently with this view. The passage is supposed to present a very bold and beautiful instance of the figure called prosopopoeia, by which things inanimate are invested with life and feeling, a figure which is indeed very common in Scripture, and which we need not be surprised to find in this place, amid so much that is grand and elevating; Joel 1:10, Joel 1:20; Jeremiah 12:4; Isaiah 24:4, Isaiah 24:7. According to this interpretation of κτίσις [ktisis] then, the general sense of the apostle may be thus given. The whole irrational creation is interested in the future glory of the sons of God, and is anxiously waiting for it. For then the curse will be removed from the very ground, and the lower animals relieved from oppression and cruelty.
While no consensus exits among theologians about the interpretation of the use of the term “creation” (or “creature” in some Bible versions) to include animals and all inanimate objects, there are many who believe it refers to, as Barnes states in the passage above, the “lower animals” (i.e., below humans, as described in Genesis 1:20-25 and Genesis 2:19-22).
Alcorn has this to say about these verses in Romans:
“Christ proclaims from his throne on the New Earth: “Behold, I am making all things new” (Revelation 21:5, ESV). It’s not just people who will be renewed but also the earth and “all things” in it. Do “all things” include animals? Yes. Horses, cats, dogs, deer, dolphins, and squirrels—as well as the inanimate creation—will be beneficiaries of Christ’s death and resurrection.
Christ’s emphasis isn’t on making new things but on making old things new. It’s not about inventing the unfamiliar but about restoring and enhancing the familiar. Jesus seems to be saying, “I’ll take all I made the first time, including people and nature and animals and the earth itself, and bring it back as new, fresh, and indestructible.”
“Did Christ die for animals? Certainly not in the way he died for mankind. People are made in God’s image, animals aren’t. People sinned, animals didn’t. Because animals didn’t sin, they don’t need a redeemer in the same way.
But in another sense, Christ died for animals indirectly because his death for humanity purchased redemption for what was brought down by humanity’s sin, including animals. Romans 8 is explicit on this point: “The creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth. . . . We ourselves . . . groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for . . . the redemption of our bodies” (Romans 8:21- 23).”
“This is a clear statement that our resurrection, the redemption of our bodies, will bring deliverance not only to us but also to the rest of creation, which has been groaning in its suffering. This seems to indicate that on the New Earth, after mankind’s resurrection, animals who once suffered on the old Earth will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay.
If God created a new race of humans on the New Earth—rather than raising the people who had lived on the old Earth—would it fulfill the promise in Romans 8 of redemption, deliverance, and resurrection? No. Why? To have meaning, the people who are redeemed and resurrected into the new world must be the same people who suffered in the old world. Otherwise, their longing for redemption would go unmet. As goes mankind, so go the animals. If we take to its logical conclusions the parallel Paul makes between humans’ and animals’ groaning, then at least some of those animals who suffered on the old Earth must be made whole on the New Earth.
“It’s not some abstract “animalkind” that cries out. The creatures that groan and cry out for their resurrection are specific suffering people and specific animals. They cry out for their deliverance, not another’s. I believe this suggests that God may remake certain animals that lived on the old Earth.
Many passages indicate that God will bring judgment on “men and animals” or “man and beast” because of mankind’s sin (Exodus 9:22-25; Jeremiah 7:20; 21:6; Ezekiel 14:12-13, 17). God’s blessings on the righteous include blessings not only on their children but also on the offspring of their animals (Deuteronomy 7:13-14; 28:1-4).
This fits the words anticipating Christ’s coming: “And all flesh will see the salvation of God” (Luke 3:6, NASB). The Greek word translated “flesh” is sarx. Some Bible versions translate this as “all people” or “all mankind,” but the word is more inclusive. “All flesh” includes animals. They too will behold and benefit from Christ’s redemptive work.”
“Psalm 104 demonstrates God’s intimate involvement with the lives of his animals and his purposes for them. The psalm speaks of birds, cattle, wild donkeys, rock badgers, and lions, saying “the earth is full of your creatures” (v. 24). It speaks of “the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number—living things both large and small” (v. 25). It says, “These all look to you” (v. 27). Then the psalm writer adds, “When you take away their breath, they die and return to the dust” (v. 29). But then we’re told something amazing: “When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the earth” (v. 30). The “they” seems to refer to the animals who’ve died and returned to the dust. What does God mean that he sends his Spirit and creates them? It appears that he’s talking about re-creating animals after they’ve died. Why? To “renew the face of the earth.” The same “they” who die are the “they” who are created or re- created as part of the earth’s renewal (Matthew 19:28).”
Alcorn, p.430-432
“We know animals will be on the New Earth, which is a redeemed and renewed old Earth, in which animals had a prominent role. People will be resurrected to inhabit this world. As we saw, Romans 8:21-23 assumes animals as part of a suffering creation eagerly awaiting deliverance through humanity’s resurrection. This seems to require that some animals who lived, suffered, and died on the old Earth must be made whole on the New Earth. Wouldn’t some of those likely be our pets?”
Something better remains after death for these poor creatures . . . that these, likewise, shall one day be delivered from this bondage of corruption, and shall then receive an ample amends for all their present sufferings. John Wesley
Alcorn, p.433-434
“Adam, Noah, and Jesus are the three heads of the three Earths. When Adam was created, God surrounded him with animals. When Noah was delivered from the Flood, God surrounded him with animals. When Jesus was born, God surrounded him with animals. When Jesus establishes the renewed Earth, with renewed men and women, don’t you think he’ll surround himself with renewed animals?”
Alcorn, p.429
The information above leads to this conclusion:
Finding: H0.2 and H0.3 are rejected. God will bring animals He created to populate this earth into Heaven along with His redeemed people.
HO.4: Animals were not kept as pets during Biblical times, and hence, as a convention introduced in the post-Biblical period, they were never intended to occupy the place of affection as they do in contemporary homes.
The history of dogs being in human domiciles goes back thousands of years has been reported in many archeological studies https://pages.vassar.edu/realarchaeology/
Scripture does not tell us much about the keeping of pets during Biblical times, however there are two places, one in the Old testament and one in the New, that suggest having animals in homes was not unusual.
In the New Testament we find this story of evidence of people keeping pets in their homes:
26 He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”
27 “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”
28 Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment. (Matthew 15:26-28)
This recount of Jesus’ interactions with the Syrian-Phoenician (Mark (7:26) or Canaanite woman (Matthew 15:22) leading up to the healing of her daughter indicates that dogs were kept in homes as domestic pets at the time these Gospel stories were written. A dog would have to have been allowed access to inside a house to be able to eat scraps of food under the master’s table.
The following well known account of pets being kept in homes is from the Old Testament:
12 The Lord sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, “There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, 3 but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.
4 “Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.”
5 David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this must die! 6 He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.” (2 Samuel 12:1-6)
Notably, David did not find Nathan’s story to be a preposterous depiction of someone having a beloved lamb as a household pet. In fact, David found this story so believable that he was enraged that someone would be so heartless to the man and his pet ewe. David thought justice demanded the pitiless man pay for the despicable deed with his life! Perhaps David himself had beloved pets and reacted empathically to the poor man’s plight.
What do we learn from this story? One, Jews in Biblical times must have kept pets in their homes, believing that God would condone and even bless this behavior. Two, we are told (Acts 13:22) that “After removing Saul, he made David their king. God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’” If this story gives us insight into the heart of God via David’s attitude and behavior, He must have great affection, even profound love, for the animals He created.
We have seen in the test of Hypothesis H0.1 that God does have a strong affection for the animals He created. This story about the pet lamb and David would suggest that affection is very deep, and God is pleased when we act on the love He places in our heart for our pets, and the love He places in the pet’s heart for us. Those who have experience loving and being loved in return by a pet know exactly how real and profound this reciprocal love relationship can be.
Lest some skeptics dismiss a pet’s love for us as merely instrumental, as a means of acquiring food or other sustenance, consider the true story of Greyfriars Bobby.
The best-known version of the story is that Bobby belonged to John Gray, who worked for the Edinburgh City Police as a nightwatchman. When John Gray died he was buried in Greyfriars Kirkyard, the kirkyard surrounding Greyfriars Kirk in the Old Town of Edinburgh. Bobby then became known locally, spending the rest of his life sitting on his master's grave,
Bobby is said to have sat by the grave for 14 years. He died in 1872 and a necropsy by Prof Thomas Walley of the Edinburgh Veterinary College concluded he had died from cancer of the jaw.
He was buried just inside the gate of Greyfriars Kirkyard, not far from John Gray's grave. A year later, the English philanthropist Lady Burdett-Coutts was charmed by the story and had a drinking fountain topped with Bobby's statue (commissioned from the sculptor William Brodie) erected at the junction of George IV Bridge and Candlemaker Row (opposite the entrance to the churchyard) to commemorate him. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greyfriars_Bobby
When our first Golden Retriever, Jason, was two years old we brought home another Golden, Ginger, to be a companion for him and us. When Ginger was 4 years old she had a diseased kidney that threatened her life. She had a kidney transplant at Michigan State University vet school (the first they had ever done for a client’s pet) and was given a drug to prevent her body from rejecting the new organ. She lived a happy life for six months before dying suddenly as her body finally rejected the new kidney. Jason would wake every morning, see she was gone, and begin a pitiful moan. We would put him in bed with us and try to comfort him through our own tears. There are many more stories of how animals exhibit deep love for their human and other animal companions, including giving up their own life to save their loved ones.
Smithsonian Magazine, reporting on research on brain waves of dogs and humans discovered
this:
The relationship [between dogs and humans] has become so close that even our brains are in sync. Witness a study showing that dogs hijack the human brain’s maternal bonding system. When humans and dogs gaze lovingly into one another’s eyes, each of their brains secretes oxytocin, a hormone linked to maternal bonding and trust. Other mammal relationships, including those between mom and child, or between mates, feature oxytocin, bonding, but the human/dog example is the only case in which it has been observed at work between two different species.The intimacy of this relationship means that, by studying dogs, we may also learn much about human cognition. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/how- wolves-really-became-dogs-180970014/
Clearly, there is strong evidence that animals were kept as pets from Scripture, and that God, like David, had a heart for pets, leading to this conclusion for H0.4:
Finding: H0.4 is rejected: The Bible provides evidence that animals were kept in Jewish homes, and were loved in the same way that pets are loved in our homes.
Conclusion of tests for the Null Hypothesis based on findings falsifying secondary hypotheses H0.1, H0.2, H0.3 and H0.4:
The Null Hypothesis “H0: Our pets will not be in heaven with us” is rejected and the Alternative Hypothesis “HA: Our pets will be with us in heaven” is supported.
Discussion
Jerry Jeff Walker’s well known pop song of the 1960’s, Mr. Bojangles, about an itinerate street performer, included this verse:
He danced for those at minstrel shows and county fairs Throughout the south
He spoke through tears of 15 years how his dog and him Traveled about The dog up and died, he up and died After 20 years he still grieves (Mr. Bojangles, Jerry Jeff Walker)
I, and some of you reading this, can personally relate to the veracity of this verse. This last week I dreamed about one of Golden Retrievers, Bailey. Bailey died 14 years ago.
Randy Alcorn wrote this paragraph under the heading “Will Our Pets Be Restored on the New Earth?”:
“Humorist Will Rogers said, “If there are no dogs in heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.” This statement was, of course, based on sentiment, not theology. However, it reflects something biblical: a God-given affection for animals. I’ve often thanked God for my golden retriever, who, when I was a boy, crawled into my sleeping bag as I lay in my backyard gazing up at the stars. Although I didn’t know God then, he touched my life through that dog. Nanci and I have experienced many hours of laughter and joy in animals.”
Alcorn, p.433
Pet lovers, like Jan and me, desperately want this question to be answered in the affirmative, but having been trained in a doctoral program at Northwestern University to seek truth through scientific research methodology, I am duty bound to retain a skeptical view of research findings until they stand up to careful scrutiny. As Thomas Huxley said: “Skepticism is the highest of duties; blind faith the one unpardonable sin.”
I was privileged to serve on the editorial review board of several scholarly journals including the Journal of Business Research where the acceptance rate of submitted articles was around 5% because many submissions failed to provide adequate evidence of careful methodology and a convincing rationale for the study’s conclusions. Obviously, this investigation of our research question falls well short of the kind of rigorous hypothesis testing demanded from scholarly journals. Nevertheless, I have tried to provide something more than unsubstantiated anecdotal observations as evidence to arrive at the conclusion that it is rational and reasonable to conclude that our pets will be with us in Heaven.
What I have not included in the hypothesis testing is my own personal experience and understanding of scripture that causes me to have confidence that my hope is not in vain. As Paul said “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.”(Romans 15:4)
Those readers familiar with some of my previous writings might remember in my essay “An Eyewitness to God’s Goodness” how I documented a number of experiences I have had in the past decade that spoke to my growing revelation of God’s love and goodness to his children. It was through seeing His goodness through adversity that my eyes were open to see God’s boundless love for us. In my concluding statement in this essay I described my experience this way:
What I want most of all for you to understand from this chronicling of my journey through this affliction is that we are loved by our creator more deeply than we will ever comprehend. I don’t think eternity will be sufficient time to completely reveal the full extent of the Divine affection present in the Trinity for us. Although I did my best to describe how God’s goodness was able to keep the promise of Romans 8:28 coming true time after time, I fear my words failed to convey the full measure of how that immutable promise lifted my spirits and strengthened my faith.
In another essay, “How to be at Peace in the Midst of Adversity” I wrote about God’s love by quoting from Paul’s famous discourse on love in 1 Corinthians 13:
Paul, in the twelfth chapter of his first letter to the Corinthians talks about spiritual gifts God gives to us and compares the human body to the church, the body of Christ. Then, in chapter 13, his famous discourse on love, he continues the theme of relating the Divine to humanity by talking about the nature of Divine love. Thus, our love for one another should be like God’s love for us: “patient, kind, protective, trustworthy, persevering and unfailing” (1 Corinthians 13:4-8). These are not what Paul only wished love could be, they are what he knew love to be as God loved him. Tender, gentle, unbounded, timeless love. Being loved like this leads to gratitude, trust, and reciprocal love for the One who loves you.
I mention these personal insights here because I find that my understanding of the way God loves, as elementary as it is, increases my confidence in the findings of this question that our pets will be in Heaven.
Being renewed day by day (2 Cor 4:16) means we are being infused by the Spirit with those spiritual characteristics (Galatians 5:22-23) that are preparing us for eternal life in heaven with Christ. This is what Paul meant in 1 Corinthians 15 where he is talking about going to Heaven. Becoming like Christ is not of value in this life on earth only. It is preparing us for life with Him as we are resurrected and spend eternity with Him. So, when we respond to the Spirit’s prompting to love as Christ loved, which Paul described in 1 Corinthians 13, we are “practicing” for how we will love, with perfect love, when we get to Heaven.
God puts in our hearts a love for our pets that He has for animals, but more than this, they love us back with the kind of love that he puts in their hearts to respond to our love (see research in Smithsonian Magazine referenced here). That love, heavenly love experienced here on earth, has eternal consequences—an eternal “lifespan.” Love will reign supreme in Heaven, and I believe the God who is Love (1 John 4:8) will continue to bless the love relationships we have had on this earth into heaven among those whose citizenships are there, including our love relationships with the pets he brings into the compass of our lives.
But what makes Heaven heavenly is that Jesus is there, and that is enough. If those we love on this side of eternity do not make it to the other side, we trust God in His infinite mercy will keep the grief of their absence from our hearts and minds. His omnipotence makes all good things possible and His omniscience will ensure only that which is the ultimate expression of His Love will reign. I believe the evidence I have presented here supports the conclusion that our pets will be there with us, but I trust God to follow His perfect plan to make our Heavenly home far better than anything our finite minds could ever conceive. In any case, I believe optimism is the most rational and hopeful position to take away from this investigation, and I am imagining what that reunion will be like. But it will be far, far more wonderful than my reverie.
“In her excellent book about Heaven, Joni Eareckson Tada says, “If God brings our pets back to life, it wouldn’t surprise me. It would be just like Him. It would be totally in keeping with His generous character. . . . Exorbitant. Excessive. Extravagant in grace after grace. Of all the dazzling discoveries and ecstatic pleasures heaven will hold for us, the potential of seeing Scrappy would be pure whimsy—utterly, joyfully, surprisingly superfluous. . . . Heaven is going to be a place that will refract and reflect in as many ways as possible the goodness and joy of our great God, who delights in lavishing love on His children.” Joni Eareckson Tada, Holiness in Hidden Places (Nashville: J. Countryman, 1999), 133.
Alcorn, p.434-5
And I can’t wait to meet in Heaven Christ’s pet dog(s) He loved when growing up in Nazareth!
I close with this poem written by the theologian John Piper:
“And as I knelt beside the brook
To drink eternal life, I took
A glance across the golden grass,
And saw my dog, old Blackie, fast
As she could come. She leaped the stream— Almost—and what a happy gleam
Was in her eye. I knelt to drink,
And knew that I was on the brink
Of endless joy. And everywhere
I turned I saw a wonder there.”
John Piper, Future Grace (Sisters, Ore.: Multnomah, 1995), 381.
You, Lord, preserve both people and animals.
How priceless is your unfailing love, O God! Psalm 36:6-7
Addendum
I am adding this addendum to this paper in order to share with you how I have been processing the grief I am experiencing from the loss of Ella and Cooper. This present loss has also revived the grief from the loss of our other dogs. I don’t think it is healthy to try not to grieve, because grief is a natural emotion that needs to be acknowledged as a way of honoring the memory of the joy the deceased brought into our lives. However, after researching this topic, I have mitigated my grief by imagining what it will be like to live with all our dogs in heaven. Every dog will have lived with another dog during their life in our home, and will rejoice to see their brother or sister again, but when they realize that the Wrenn pack now has been enlarged to 7 dogs they will rejoice all the morel Visualizing this reunion and discovery provides solace to my grief. I don’t think of this as some kind of psychological defense mechanism. Rather, it is an exercise in imagining a soon coming reality grounded in the faith arising out of the careful investigation described in this paper. My guess is that you too know the grief of losing a loved one, and perhaps might gain some measure of consolation from thinking about what it will be like in heaven to be reunited with that beloved pet. I think of specific details such as sleeping arrangements for two people and 7 dogs, playtime, going on walks with no leashes, etc., to make the future reality presently real. I pray that you, like me, will believe the findings of this paper provide a convincing foundation for the “well-reasoned hope” that you will experience the unalloyed joy of spending eternity with those who you have loved, and been well loved by, on this side of eternity. And, by the way, after Ella’s death, we thought we were too old to get another dog, so we gave away all the dog food, toys, beds, etc., and settled into a dogless lifestyle. That lasted about two months before we decided we had to have another Golden Retriever (no surprise there for the dog lovers reading this). We got a rescue dog, Blue, and have a joyful home once again. So, the Wrenn heavenly pack now will have 8 dogs: 4 males, 4 females. Perfect!
