Dog

I've heard many people say that animals do not have souls. Others have admitted that they do, but that they are not as advanced as ours. This just simply cannot be true. Allow me to explain my reasoning.

In Genesis, The International Version, it says after God created Man:

28 God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."

29 Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food." And it was so.

I can understand that. We need the animals and plants to survive. What it doesn't address is that the animals and plants do not need us. As George Carlin said, "The planet will shake us off like a bad case of fleas. A surface nuisance." Of course, he's talking about the entire planet and the ridiculously egocentric opinion that we, as a species, will kill it. Personally, I believe that we will kill ourselves long before we are able to destroy Earth. 100 years after humans are gone, there will be little evidence that we ever existed.

So let me get back to the reason for this post in the first place. My brother drove me and my dog Xena to the vet today. Xena was old, tired, and worn, and I decided to let her go today. To comfort me, my brother said that he believes that dogs have souls and that their souls return to God. He also said that a dogs soul was more primitive than ours. I've been thinking about this.

We can teach dogs to sit, speak, shake and other stupid little tricks. But really, in the great scheme of things, what are we truly able to offer them. Nothing. God didn't place the animals here so that we could raise their spirits to Him. He put them here to raise ours! The years I was blessed with Xena taught me love, compassion, worship, humility, trust and more. I was able to see examples of those lessons from God through Xena. I was able to teach her to sit, speak, lay down and shake hands for a treat. Big deal!

Her presence in my life brought me closer to God. How could I possibly believe that her soul is in any way less important or more primitive than mine?