I think that just about anyone who has had a pet they dearly loved has asked this question. My first inclination has always been, no, they don’t have an eternal soul. However, C.S. Lewis gave me some things to ponder that I had not thought of. I admit that his perspective was difficult at first, but as I pondered his perspective, I do find it intriguing to consider; perhaps because deep down I hope that I do have the opportunity in heaven to see all my beloved animal friends that I have cared for over the years.
I’ve been reading a book off and on lately by C.S. Lewis called “The Problem of Pain.” In it, he has an entire chapter devoted to animal pain. At first, I thought this would be simply about whether animals feel pain or not and my instinct is to say, yes, that’s why all my cats have cried out or hissed at me with an unexpected heavy foot on their tail or paw. What I didn’t quite expect was to be challenged with a unique perspective about animals and their place in this world, in our lives—and perhaps in heaven. While the Bible simply does not say whether our beloved pets go to heaven where we will see them again, what follows here are some of the things I’ve pondered thanks to C.S. Lewis.
Animal Nature
In Genesis 1, we see that God created all that we see and know, including the animals which existed before man. (If the New Jerusalem is a parallel of the Garden of Eden—a whole other article necessary here—then it seems to be logical that there will be animals with us in eternity as well.) In Genesis 1:28, Adam was told to do two things: 3) be fruitful and multiply, and 2) have dominion/rule over all the animals (the fish in the sea, birds in the sky, and every living creature that moves on the ground). God eventually brought each animal to Adam for their names (Genesis 2:19-20) and it is interesting to note that God brought all the livestock, birds, and wild animals to Adam and yet there is not recorded any sense of fear or hesitancy about the wild animals that we may naturally be afraid of today – lions, alligators, cape buffalo, etc. Perhaps since this was before the fall, they did not have that same “wild” nature that we experience now after the fall of man?
This idea of the “wild” versus the “tame” animal is what was to be my first challenge from Lewis. What we may call a tame animal, or a pet, Lewis refers to as the “natural” animal that is living as God designed. It is the one that is living in relationship with man—perhaps as it would have been in the perfect Garden of Eden with Adam. The “wild” animal then, is the one that is not living fully according to its purpose and in a relationship with man:
“Man was appointed by God to have dominion over the beasts, and everything a man does to an animal is either a lawful exercise, or a sacrilegious abuse, of an authority by Divine right. The tame animal is therefore, in the deepest sense, the only ‘natural’ animal—the only one we see occupying the place it was made to occupy, and it is on the tame animal that we must base all our doctrine of beasts. Now it will be seen that, in so far as the tame animal has a real self or personality, it owes this almost entirely to its master. If a good sheepdog seems ‘almost human’ that is because a good shepherd has made it so.” (pg. 634)
If you’ve ever seen a sheepdog at work in the field, it’s an amazing relationship between the shepherd and the sheepdog. The sheepdog lives in such a way with its master that it knows what the master desires, it desires to please the master, and obeys the commands it is given. A whistle here or a command there and the sheepdog immediately carries out the will and instructions of its master. The master, in turn, reinforces this relationship with praise and love and it’s a beautiful relationship between man and dog. The man knows his dog and the dog knows his master. Lewis would say this sheepdog is living as it was designed by God from the beginning. It is living its true nature. Perhaps if mankind had been living as we were meant to with the animals around us, we would all have creatures like lions, alligators and cape buffalo living in relationship with us.
Immortality of Animals
Our cats have always had unique and quirky personalities that my husband and I have joked about them gaining simply by being our pets. Perhaps there is more truth to this than I first realized. The second thing that challenged me was Lewis’s suggestion that, as Christ is in us, man is in the (tamed) beasts. In other words, as we live and strive to follow our master (God) and carry out what He desires of us, so too our animals live seeking to interact with us in a similar manner. Philippians 2 1-11 talks about becoming more like our master—Jesus Christ. As His followers, we desire to do as He did and to be as He was. We might say that we are living into our true nature when we live a life that desires to be what Christ wants us to be. So too, Lewis suggests, that the tamed animal gains its real self as it lives and learns from its master—the one who cares for them and instructs them on how to live rightly in their household.
I know that these ideas open up all kinds of theological questions, but it is an interesting concept to consider. If Christ lives in me and the result is that I choose to follow Him, to seek to do what He asks of me and to acknowledge his authority over my life, could it be that this same relationship exists with the animals in my care? I know without a shadow of a doubt that our kitties desire to be with us, to be held and caressed, and to enjoy playing with us. They wait on us to care for them when they are sick, hungry, or thirsty. They also seem to know when they are up to no good. Can we see ourselves with Christ in the example of the way our animals live with us?
While we can’t know for certain whether we will see our animals in heaven or not, Lewis comes to this conclusion: “…it seems to me possible that certain animals may have an immortality, not in themselves, but in the immortality of their masters.” (pg. 635) The Bible may be silent, but this mind of mine will continue to be curious on this matter—and I hope that C.S. Lewis may just be right.