Recently in Eschatology Category

My first child, a daughter, will be born in July. In a few years we will be faced with the inevitable situation that our cat Abigail will die. This may seem like a morbid and depressing thought, but it crosses my mind on occasion. I have buried a few animals in my lifetime and it is never a pleasant situation. We become attached, and it is sad to see them go. No doubt my daughter will become attached to Abby, as Angie and I have, and I will have to answer the question: "Did Abby go to heaven?" My answer to my little girl will be "Yes, of course." When she is older I will explain my thinking to her in more detail in the same way that I will explain it now.

Human beings are the crowning achievement of God's creation. Only after he made man did he see that his creation was "very good" (Gen. 1:31). He placed a unique value on man, making us in his image in order that we could participate in the life of the holy Trinity. Man therefore looks forward to his ultimate salvation—to behold God face to face in all his glory and to be in communion with him for eternity. In other words, man looks forward to heaven.

Animals, on the other hand, were not created in the image and likeness of God and were not endowed with souls and, as such, they will not be able to participate in the "beatific vision" of God that man will receive in heaven. However, God values animals (though he values them less than human life, as we also should) or he would not have created them in the first place. We can also assume that because we possess a care and affection for animals that God also does. Because we are made in the image of God, we would not care for our animal friends if God does not. God also takes great pride in the animals in his creation, as he explained to Job and his companions (Job 41). So, even though animals will never see God in the fullness of his glory, I see no reason why they must be excluded from the new heaven and new earth.

The scriptures do not specifically address the place of animals in heaven, nor has the Church ever made an official dogmatic pronouncement on the matter, so Christians are free to believe what they want about the subject (so long as it does not violate things the scriptures do address and/or other dogmas). The scriptures do hint at the subject, though. Isaiah writes that "The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them" (Is. 11:6, New International Version). I suppose that he means that creation will ultimately be restored and given balance, an opinion which is supported by St. Paul who had this to say:

The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God [Rom. 8:19–21, NIV].

So, God's creation waits for its redemption which will coincide with man's ultimate redemption. That there will be animals in the new heaven and earth seems to follow logically. I suppose the controversy is whether we will see our pets who have died. I see no reason why not, even though they will not see God in all his glory and their presence or absence will not affect man's infinite happiness in the presence of God. Ultimately, it is up to God whether we will see our pets in heaven. But a God with infinite power who created all that is, seen and unseen, and values all of his creation, certainly is capable of making room for our animals and pets in the world to come. I am reminded of the words of George Frances Alexander with which I shall now conclude:

All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful,
The Lord God made them all.

I was looking at Job 19:25–27 this morning which in the New International Version (NIV) says, "I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another." For Christians, this is typically seen as Job's anticipation of Jesus's second coming and the final resurrection at the end of time. The Douay-Rheims (DRB) which was based on Jerome's Latin translation (the Vulgate) is a little different: "For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and in the last day I shall rise out of the earth." God no longer stands upon the earth. Instead Job will rise out of the earth. Here are a few other translations to ponder: Young's Literal Translation (YLT) has "That—I have known my Redeemer, The Living and the Last, For the dust he doth rise." The New American Bible translates it thus: "But as for me, I know that my Vindicator lives, and that he will at last stand forth upon the dust." Finally, the good old King James Version (KJV): "For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth." To sum up... the KJV, NAB, and NIV all have God standing upon the earth at the end of time. YLT has God raising the dust and echoes the DRB in that Job will be raised from the earth/dust. All translations are consistent with the idea that Job will see God in his own flesh, with his own eyes.

The note in the NAB on this passage says that "The meaning of this passage is obscure because the original text has been poorly preserved and the ancient versions do not agree among themselves." This may be true, but the translations are remarkably similar. Each expresses that Job has hope of a resurrection after his death, and that he will see God face to face "in the last day." This similarity among varied translations suggests that though there have been errors when copying the biblical texts over the last two millennia, the errors have been relatively small and the central meaning of the text has been preserved.

Though Job's belief seems certain, we should not be terribly surprised to find dissimilar beliefs in the resurrection in the Old Testament. By the first century A.D. there were at least two schools of thought in Judaism on the resurrection of the dead—the Sadducees did not believe in it and the Pharisees did (Acts 23:6). Job was sure of the resurrection and would have been in agreement with the Pharisees. The Teacher, on the other hand, was not quite so sure about a bodily resurrection or even of a life after death: "Man's fate is like that of the animals.... As one dies, so dies the other.... Who knows if the spirit of man rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?" (Eccl. 3:19–21, NIV). (The teacher was not only unsure but also quite depressed.) As it turns out, though, Job and the Pharisees were right. Christ's resurrection gives us hope of a resurrection (1 Cor. 15:12ff). The resurrection is a truth that was revealed in Christ Jesus, passed on to us by the apostles, and confirmed in writing for us in the scriptures, the central meaning of which has been consistently preserved throughout the ages. That is enough for me.