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NASB | Ecclesiastes 3:21 Who knows that the breath of man ascends upward and the breath of the beast descends downward to the earth? |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Ecclesiastes 3:21 Who knows if the spirit of man ascends upward and the spirit of the animal descends downward to the earth? |
Bible Question:
I'm hearing that animals have souls. This is a topic that I've never really given much thought. I would say right off that they do not, but since I haven't studied this topic, I could be wrong. Is there any Biblical proof that animals have souls? Thanking you in advance, WalkingTalkingBible |
Bible Answer: Upon looking I noticed there's a tremendouw wealth of discussion on this topic. It seems to me that the Bible clearly shows a strong negative response to this question. Whereas those in favor have a rather weak set of sciptures in support. I'll offer a couple rather brief verses from God's Word and then draw a conclusion. First of all, we all know from Genesis 1, that the one and only being in all of God's Creation in whom He made in His Image was the man and woman, Adam and Eve. We also know from Genesis that He gave the rest of the world to mankind to be used as we see fit. Next, we see from the Book of Leviticus a very elaborate system of animal sacrifices directed and commanded by God. In direct contrast, God NEVER does actually condone or command the actual killing of a human being at the discretion of one person. The single instance where God did command Abraham to offer his son, Isaac as a sacrifice, God stopped Abraham from carrying through with the ritual. So, we see from all this that God did create in man His Image which did include our souls. In animals, he created those to be used by mankind like the rest of our world. It seems very clear that God did not create animals with a soul. Blessings to you. Country Girl |