Are Animals Resurrected?

by Cold Steel 15 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  Cold Steel

  The JWs visited me again today, and I have to admit I was surprised when I asked them if they thought animals would be resurrected.

  Now I ask this question from a lot of different religions. Most often I ask if people think they have spirits, but since JWs don't believe people have them, why bother asking about animals?

  But I did ask about resurrection, which is the next best thing...I guess.

  To my surprise they said NO! Only humans are resurrected, they say.

  Well, how about all those lions and zebras and such in all the Watchtowers and Awakes? Are they blessed with immortality while all our pet dogs and cats go down the tubes? I mean, I can understand them saying "I don't know," but to say either YES or NO is a bit presumptive if the Bible doesn't say. I asked them if they had any dogs or cats they had been fond of and both said yes, but neither believed these animals would be covered by the Atonement of Christ.

  I know the atheists here are going to deep six the idea right off the bat, so this question is for believers -- either JWs or others.

  What say ye?

  
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  JimmyPage
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  brotherdan

  The Bible doesn't specify. It does, however, say that animals have a soul...
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  Mythbuster

  So sayeth the GB:

  *** w55 9/1 p. 518 Animal Worship-Ancient and Modern ***

  God gave man dominion over the lower animals. Animals were to be for man's benefit, not man for the animals'. But neither was man to abuse his charges the way some vivisectionists do, nor to destroy them for sport as many modern Nimrods do. "A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast." While man was yet in Eden God provided him with animal skins for clothing and after the Flood he gave man animal flesh for food.-Prov. 12:10.
  The very organism of the lower animals, and especially their brains, is far inferior to those of man. Animals do not have understanding, they cannot reason, do not have a moral sense, are unable to worship Jehovah-all of which makes the worship of them by man appear all the more absurd. Only when man becomes degraded does he get down to the level of the brute. "Then I was stupid and knew nothing; a brute was I toward thee!" When King Nebuchadnezzar became insane he acted as a beast.-Ps. 73:22, AT.

  Unreasoning animals were not made to live forever but to die. That is why the wicked are likened to them: "But these men, like unreasoning animals born naturally to be caught and destroyed, will" suffer destruction. "Man that is in honour, and understandeth not, is like the beasts that perish." The Bible holds out no resurrection or heavenly hope for the brute creation.-2 Pet. 2:12, NW; Ps. 49:20.
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  brotherdan

  Brute creation? That sounds like me!!!!
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  Vachi 8 He Is

  Now see THAT I don't get. In your mind draw a line horizontally across the paper in the middle, let's call this line man number this line 5. Then at the highest point or top edge of paper place a dot, let's call this dot god (I know right, you've never seen a dot so ugly) now number that dot 1, close to that dot make another dot under it, let's call this one jesus, number it 2. Under the jesus dot place another dot and call this the angels, number it 3. Now, for the first time you make a dot under the "man" line, let's call this animals, number it 4. Even with all the animals inferiority they still got made before man. Up until the animals creation god was creating one less in their design, meaning there was god, then he created the son the beloved whom he sent forth and all that crap, then he (god) created angels, then after the angels he creates the animals THEN man? Doesn't this break pattern? Shouldn't he have created man BEFORE the animals?
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  Life is now

  Ecclesiastes 3:18 -22 NWT

  " I, even I, have said in my heart with regard to the sons of mankind that the [true] God is going to select them, that they may see that they themselves are beasts. 19 For there is an eventuality as respects the sons of mankind and an eventuality as respects the beast, and they have the same eventuality. As the one dies, so the other dies; and they all have but one spirit, so that there is no superiority of the man over the beast, for everything is vanity. 20 All are going to one place. They have all come to be from the dust, and they are all returning to the dust. 21 Who is there knowing the spirit of the sons of mankind, whether it is ascending upward; and the spirit of the beast, whether it is descending downward to the earth? 22 And I have seen that there is nothing better than that the man should rejoice in his works, for that is his portion; because who will bring him in to look on what is going to be after him?"
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  Life is now

  Have to post things separately as I am not very good at copy and paste.

  But how is this for confusing:

  Insight book references:

  page 1005 Soul

  So, too, the “spirit” (Heb., ru′ach; Gr., pneu′ma), or life-force, of man is not distinct from the life-force in animals, as is shown by Ecclesiastes 3:19-21, which states that “they all have but one spirit [u·ru′ach].”

  page 1025 Spirit

  God could ‘gather in,’ or could accept as entrusted to him, the spirit or life-force in a figurative sense, that is, without any literal transmission of vital force from earth. (Job 34:14; Lu 23:46) A person’s entrusting his spirit evidently means, then, that he places his hope in God for a future restoration of such life-force to himself through a resurrection.

  My comment: Notice the word 'evidently' as they can't say for sure.

  If the human and animals spirit (or as the Insight book states "the hope in God for a future restoration") is the same, then it would follow that the animal has that hope too.

  This whole explanation of the spirit at death doesn't make sense.
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  Deputy Dog

  Cold Steel

  I guess if you stretch this just a little you can get animals out of this.

  Romans 8:19

  For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creationitself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
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  ambersun

  I know the atheists here are going to deep six the idea right off the bat, so this question is for believers -- either JWs or others.

  Sorry, I know that as a naturalistic evolutionist who hangs on David Attenborough's every word, I have no right to comment on this topic but it really gets to me that believers who feel they are made in 'God's image', are so superior to animals that they really think they have a divine right to a resurrection when animals don't. There has been much injustice done to the animal world as a whole over the centuries due to this attitude. Anyone who has been close to animals will know that even rodents have personalities, can feel emotions such as affection and loyalty and even grief. There have been animals who have given their lives to save a human. Why should believers feel these animals should be denied a resurrection just because they are not human?

  Sorry again, rant over