Do Animals Have Souls?

[wyguy]

Satan didn't just happen to become evil. He was created for the purpose.

Are you saying God created the devil to be evil???

[nebula]

I'd still like to know what the rest of you consider constitutes "life" and what happens to that "life" after the body dies?

[Bold Believer]

Satan didn't just happen to become evil. He was created for the purpose.

Are you saying God created the devil to be evil???

I believe Satan was created for the purpose of being just what his name implies: The Adversary. Evil was a mere principle until Satan tapped into it. God created the principle of evil because Scripture clearly states that all things were created by God. Evil deeds are a different matter. God permitted the Adversary to tap into the principle of evil for His (God's) purpose. The very idea of the Adversary implies that he was meant to thwart the plans of God within certain limits (placed by God). Why? That one, you will have to take up with God.

[Bold Believer]

I'd still like to know what the rest of you consider constitutes "life" and what happens to that "life" after the body dies?

There is bios or biological life and then there is zoe or vitality. Jesus states that zoe only comes from God through Him in John 10:10. Bios comes at birth, zoe from new birth.

When a Believer dies, his bios ends, but his zoe remains, because zoe is found in the born again spirit, having been implanted there by the Holy Spirit through Christ. A born again person's spirit goes to be with God until the resurrection.

An unbeliever has no zoe in the sense of vitality received from Christ. When their bios ends, their spirit goes into Hades, the abode of the unbelieving dead to await the Judgment Day.

Both the Believer's and Unbeliever's body goes into the ground, one to be resurrected (because the incorruptible seed of Christ is in the body of the Believer), the other to be brought back to life to face the Second Death.

Animals have bios, imparted at creation. Whatever zoe they may have had is not evident because of the presence of sin in the world. Apparently the animals had some sort of zoe before the entrance of sin into the cosmos. Once the curse came on creation, that zoe went, replaced by fear of men. When an animal dies, its body goes into the ground and awaits the restoration at the Last Day.

[JIME]

I'd still like to know what the rest of you consider constitutes "life" and what happens to that "life" after the body dies?

Well, in Genesis, God breathed life into Adam. Life is the breath of God!!! Which I beleive is the soul. When the body dies the soul goes where it belongs, some to Hell and others to Heaven.

[Guest shiloh357]

To the resurrection topic, unless a change occurs, it's not a resurrection. Paul's words make the clear in I Cor 15. Lazarus was revived, reanimated, brought back to life, but NOT resurrected, because he came back in the SAME BODY which he inhabited at death. Jesus was resurrected. His body underwent a change.

I would like to see you actually use Scripture to prove this assertion. What I mean is I would like to see you find any person in the New Testament that Scripture says was "re-animated." Ressurection and reanimation are synonmous terms in the English language. Other synonyms include: reactivate, reawaken, recondition, recover, refresh, rejuvenate, rekindle, relieve, renew, renovate, repair, restore, resuscitate, revitalize, revivify, jsut to name a few. You can find that list on www.thesaurus.com.

I would like to see where the Bible refers to any person brought back to life during Jesus' earthly ministry or the ministry of any of the aposltes as something other than resurrection

To resurrect means to bring back to life. You are adding to the concept by saying that resurrection includes a change in substance of the person being resurrected, but that is simply something you are making up. It is an arbitrary attempt to change what the word means in order to make it fit into your view. You are misrepresenting the concept of resurrection to mean something it doesn't mean.

As for animals merely being 'dead', death is an enemy to be defeated. It is therefore impossible for ANYTHING to be 'stone cold dead', because death itself will be defeated into non-existence.

You are operating from a preconceived notion and are interpreting Scripture to fit that notion. The Bible does not EVER include any kind of resurrection for the animal world. It just insn't there.

The lack of REAL Scripture corroboration on your side should tell you something. The fact that you cannot produce any Scripture that definitively supports your position is very telling. You are operating off of your own idea of logic and what makes sense to you, not on any actual teaching of Scripture.

[exrockstar]

The serpent was possessed by Satan, apparently willingly.

an angel has the ability to possess an animal?

oh my....

Absolutely. Remember that the demons possessed pigs when Jesus commanded them to leave 2 demoniacs (Mt 8:30-onward). Demons are rebellious angels, but they're STILL angels. Do holy angels possess animals. No. There is no recorded instance of holy angels possessing animals. IF the situation called for it, I suspect that they would enter a 'clean' animal though, based on the demons choosing to ask to go into pigs.

demons are spirits. they have no body.

angels do have bodies.

they are not the same thing.

Romans 8:38

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,

Paul seperated the two in this verse.

Let's get back to the original topic.

[wyguy]

The serpent was possessed by Satan, apparently willingly.

an angel has the ability to possess an animal?

oh my....

Absolutely. Remember that the demons possessed pigs when Jesus commanded them to leave 2 demoniacs (Mt 8:30-onward). Demons are rebellious angels, but they're STILL angels. Do holy angels possess animals. No. There is no recorded instance of holy angels possessing animals. IF the situation called for it, I suspect that they would enter a 'clean' animal though, based on the demons choosing to ask to go into pigs.

demons are spirits. they have no body.

angels do have bodies.

they are not the same thing.

Romans 8:38

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,

Paul seperated the two in this verse.

"Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?" Hebrews 1:14

Angels can take on the appearance of a human body, but, as the Scripture says above, they are spirits.

[exrockstar]

"Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?" Hebrews 1:14

Angels can take on the appearance of a human body, but, as the Scripture says above, they are spirits.

the ball is in your court to prove that angels are also called demons. or to prove that fallen angels are called demons.

[EricH]

Eric Burden and the Animals had soul