Do Animals Have Souls?

[inquiringmind]

I was just rereading this.

Are Animals Aware of Death?

by Gary Kowalski

excerpted from The Souls of Animals with the publisher's permission

Do other animals feel grief? People in my congregation have come to me many times for counseling when their animal companions die. The loss of a beloved dog or cat can be very upsetting and naturally makes us sad. But I was stunned the first time I heard about Koko, the gorilla who grieved for her pet kitten. Koko's story convinced me that animals, like people, also have strong feelings about the end of life.

Koko is a female lowland gorilla who for more than two decades has been the focus of the world's longest ongoing ape language study. Instead of using spoken words, Koko communicates in Ameslan, or American Sign Language. Her teacher, Dr. Francine Penny Patterson of the California Gorilla Foundation, has helped the ape master a vocabulary of more than five hundred words. That's how Koko told Penny she wanted a cat for her birthday. She signs the word cat by drawing two fingers across her cheeks to indicate whiskers.

One day a litter of kittens was brought to the rural compound in Woodside, California, where Koko lives. The kittens had been abandoned at birth. Their foster mother was a terrier, who suckled them through the first month of life. Handling them with the gentle behavior typical of gorillas, Koko chose her pet, a tailless kitten with grey fur. She named her young friend All Ball.

Koko enjoyed her new kitten, sniffing it and stroking it tenderly. She carried All Ball tucked against her upper leg and attempted to nurse it as if it were a baby gorilla. Koko was surprised to learn that kittens bite. When All Ball bit her on the finger, she made the signs for dirty and toilet, her usual expressions of disapproval. It wasn't long, though, before Koko was signing the cat to tickle her - one of the gorilla's favorite games. Koko seems to think that cats can do most things that she can do, said Penny.

Soft/good/cat, said Koko.

One night All Ball escaped from the Gorilla Foundation and was accidentally killed by a car. When Koko was told about the accident, she at first acted as if she didn't hear or understand. Then a few minutes later she started to cry with high-pitched sobs. Sad/frown and Sleep/cat were her responses when the kitten was mentioned later. For nearly a week after the loss, Koko cried whenever the subject of cats came up.

The gorilla clearly missed her feline companion, but how much did she understand about what had happened? Fortunately, it was possible to ask Koko directly. Maureen Sheehan, a staff member at the Gorilla Foundation, interviewed Koko about her thoughts on death.

Where do gorillas go when they die? Maureen asked.

Koko replied, Comfortable/hole/bye [the sign for kissing a person good-bye].

When do gorillas die? she asked.

Koko replied with the signs Trouble/old.

How do gorillas feel when they die: happy, sad, afraid?

Sleep, answered Koko.

Gorillas not only mourn. Like human beings, they seem able to reflect on their own demise and struggle with the same sorts of questions that haunt us when a loved one dies.

The above is an excerpt from the book The Souls of Animals, Copyright 1999, 1991 by Gary A. Kowalski. It is reprinted here with the permission of the publisher, New World Library, Novato, CA, 1-800-972-6657 ext. 52. Gary Kowalski is a Unitarian Universalist minister in Burlington, VT. He holds degrees from Harvard College and Harvard Divinity School. A native of Oklahoma, he served churches in Memphis and Seattle before moving to Burlington. He is the author of several books, including Goodbye Friend: Healing Wisdom for Anyone Who Has Ever Lost a Pet, also published by New World Library

http://www.kajama.co...08A2E-0F28-42CA882B-8B4818CFB53E&PageNum=1

So what does latter day revelation have to say about this?

Do animals have souls?

Edited August 4, 2012 by inquiringmind

[Maidservant]

A soul is a body and a spirit, by the definition Joseph Smith offered.

It is generally accepted by LDS that of course an animal has both a body and a spirit.

[Calm]

Q. What are we to understand by the four beasts, spoken of in thesame verse?

A. They are figurative expressions, used by the Revelator, John, in describing heaven, the paradise of God, the happiness of man, and of beasts, and of creeping things, and of the fowls of the air; that which is spiritual being in the likeness of that which is temporal; and that which is temporal in the likeness of that which is spiritual; the spirit of man in the likeness of his person, as also the spirit of the beast, and every other creature which God has created.

http://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/77.3?lang=eng#2

[TAO]

Calmoriah got it!

[swfarnsworth]

Latter-day Saints believe that animals, like humans, have spirits, in the form of their bodies (D&C 77:2). Like humans and plants, animals were created first as spirits in heaven and then physically on the earth (Moses 3:5). Mortal and subject to death, animals will be saved through the Atonement of Christ (TPJS, pp. 291-92). Humans and animals will eventually live in peace on this earth (Isa. 11:6-9; 2 Ne. 30:12-15; D&C 101:24-26). The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that animals will be found in heaven, in myriad forms, from myriad worlds, enjoying eternal felicity, and praising God in languages God understands (TPJS, pp. 291-92).

http://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Animals

That covers it.

[thesometimesaint]

I still wouldn't want to meet a live T-Rex.

[Garden Girl]

I still wouldn't want to meet a live T-Rex.

But TSS... he will love you... there will be no discord in Heaven. He won't eat you...

GG

[rodheadlee]

Just a short anecdote:

We had moved to the cold country from So Cal. We lived on a farm in an old house with no heat. It got very cold at night in the winter. I was out of town on a business trip and one night my wife had a dream that all of our dead animals were packed around her on the bed keeping her warm. Not the live ones that we had at the time but all of our previous dogs and cats. They were keeping her from freezing to death, she was sure she was going to freeze to death and they all came and just packed around her and warmed her up.

[JAHS]

"And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew. For I, the Lord God, created all things, of which I have spoken, spiritually, before they were naturally upon the face of the earth." (Moses 3).

According to Joseph Fielding Smith:

"As to where the beasts, birds, and fish, and all other creatures will go after the resurrection we can only express an opinion. John saw many of them in heaven in the presence of God (Rev. 5:13). It is very probable that they, like mankind, will be distributed in the various kingdoms, celestial, terrestrial, and telestial. We may well believe that in each of these kingdoms such creatures will be assigned." (Answers to Gospel Questions, vol. 2)

So if plants were spiritually created too, does this mean that they now have spirits like humans do? What about bacteria and viruses? Will they all be resurrected along with people and animals? If not where is the cut-off point between micro-organisms, plants, and animals?

Edited August 3, 2012 by JAHS

[Ahab]

"And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew. For I, the Lord God, created all things, of which I have spoken, spiritually, before they were naturally upon the face of the earth." (Moses 3).

According to Joseph Fielding Smith:

"As to where the beasts, birds, and fish, and all other creatures will go after the resurrection we can only express an opinion. John saw many of them in heaven in the presence of God (Rev. 5:13). It is very probable that they, like mankind, will be distributed in the various kingdoms, celestial, terrestrial, and telestial. We may well believe that in each of these kingdoms such creatures will be assigned." (Answers to Gospel Questions, vol. 2)

So if plants were spiritually created too, does this mean that they now have spirits like humans do?

Yes they have spirits, but their spirits aren't like ours. They have plant spirits. They look like plants.

What about bacteria and viruses? Will they all be resurrected along with people and animals?

Yes, bacteria and viruses will be assigned to the Telestial kingdom, along with the ugly weeds and bad smelling things.

If not where is the cut-off point between micro-organisms, plants, and animals?

The best stuff goes to the Celestial kingdom, and the worst to the Telestial kingdom. The Terrestrial is for those in the middle.

[KevinG]

I own a cat for whom I have grace doubts about the existence of a soul.

[mfbukowski]

Calmoriah got it!

Yup.

Remember all, that the beasts were commanded to "fill the measure of their creation and have joy therein", but I won't tell you where that is said.

Edited August 4, 2012 by mfbukowski

[TAO]

I own a cat for whom I have grace doubts about the existence of a soul.

=0. But....!

;-).

[ANACO]

Millipedes have soles. But they wear out really fast.

[Buzzard]

I'm hoping all the resurrected mosquitoes get sent to torment the sons of perdition, and sincerely hope my wiener dog is part of my eternal family.