Robert Hunt - Is My Dog in Heaven?: The Biblical Answer

Is My Dog In
HEAVEN?

THE BIBLICAL ANSWER

ROBERT HUNT

Illustrations by Keil Alderson

Copyright 2017 Robert Hunt.

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The Authorized (King James) Version of the Bible (the KJV), the rights in which are vested in the Crown in the United Kingdom, is reproduced here by permission of the Crowns patentee, Cambridge University Press.

Scripture quotations marked (TLB) are taken from The Living Bible copyright 1971. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

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ISBN: 978-1-5127-7483-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-7482-5 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017901834

WestBow Press rev. date: 04/20/2017

To those who appreciate all of heavens treasures.

Contents

T he material in this study began as a Sunday evening Bible study for my parishioners. I am indebted to participants in that study for their encouragement to put it in this form. I am also grateful to Nancy L. Sanders for her editorial assistance and for her valuable suggestions, to Bonnie Annis for secretarial help, and to Keil Alderson for his illustrations to accompany the text. It is now offered to those who appreciate all of heavens treasures. Biblical quotations are from the Authorized Version, unless otherwise noted.

Francis of Assisi

I s my dog in heaven?

That was my question as a teenager when Brownie died. It sent me on the quest.

Brownie and I began life together as puppies and grew up companions. He walked me to school and faithfully waited for me in the afternoons until school let out. At about five years of age, I decided to run away from home for an adventure; Brownie ran with me, and he also rode home with me in the patrol car. We rarely separated.

Brownie was a playmate, friend, drier of childhood tears with a moist tongue, and personal guardian. I recall snuggling between his paws, pouring out sobs of self-pity to what I knew was his sympathetic ear. Brownie was my buddy. When he died, there seemed no question that we would have the same hope and the same reward at the end of our lives.

When Brownie died, my assumption was challenged. I heard: Animals do not have souls, They are just dumb beasts, Heaven is for people, and variations on those themes. I could not accept such pronouncements uncritically. To me, they didnt ring true for Brownie.

Animals had been a significant part of my growing up. My grandmother and a nearby cousin raised chickens, ducks, guineas, goats, cows, mules, and horses. I spent most of my childhood with these animal friends. Such an array of friends could not be lost forever.

I felt such a strong bonding with animals, and my memories of them remain fond and dearmemories of feelings shared and of personalities observed. Oscar the pig always ambling to his fence and calling me to come and chat with him. Maude the mule keeping a vigilant eye on me. Each time I appeared, she sauntered over to visit.

The chickens and I played games together. A favorite of mine was my version of Rock-a-bye Baby. Holding a chicken in the palms of both hands and gently rocking back and forth until the hen closed her eyes in sleep, I could place her head under her wing and cradle her like a baby. I discovered in this game that as you rock a chickens body, the head remains stationary. Those chickens were so trusting of me that I could visit even the nesting hens and they would be unperturbed.

I still remember those animals of my childhood by name and personality. They were special, and they were friends. They bent a sympathetic ear and listened patiently and eagerly to my fantasies and troubles. I think of Bossie, my grandmothers old heifer; when listening to one of my sad childhood tales of woe, I saw a tear roll from her big, sympathetic eye. Brownie wasnt the only one whose eternity I questioned. These animal friends simply could not be lost forever.

Apparently, I am not alone in this feeling. Over the years, when friends have lost pets who were like family to them, they invariably ask if those pets are in heaven. To these of us, it seems if we go to heaven, they go to heaven. In fact, if it is heaven, they must be there.

When I first saw a figure of Francis of Assisi holding a bird resting in his hand and glancing kindly toward it, I felt an affinity at once. Later, I discovered depictions of him with many different animals, such as dogs, lambs, and deer I felt a bond with this man from the thirteenth century.

When I read The Little Flowers of Saint Francis , a record of his life by members of his order, I confirmed the sense of kinship. His celebration of all Gods creation and his belief that God created every animal to reflect an element of the Creator and to teach us about Himself found a witness of truth in my spirit.

In the experiences of Francis, I felt support for my instinctive feeling about Brownie. I learned why Francis is always depicted with a bird. In The Little Flowers , there is a report of Francis on one of his journeys through the countryside. Upon viewing a field of thousands of birds of a variety of species, he felt compelled to preach to them.

The saint called on the birds to be grateful to God that they may fly so freely wherever they will, are clothed in coats of such beauty, have beautiful voices with which to sing, and are provided without sowing or toiling for their food. The report is that the birds gathered around him, listened intently as he spoke, and burst into beautiful song when he finished.

There are other reports of Francis and the birds. Once he rescued some doves from a boy taking them to be sold at market. He sent them on their way with instruction to be grateful to God for their rescue. On another occasion, he commanded the noisy swallows of Alviano to be quiet that he might speak to the crowd gathered in the square. They fell silent and listened intently to him as he preached.

The significant feature in these reports is that to Francis and to those who observed and reported these instances, the creatures seemed aware of and responsive to a message about their Creator. To these observers, it was not meaningless to preach to animals.

A report from the same time period explains how Anthony of Padua preached to the fish of Rimini. The report says that the fish gathered by thousands from the sea and the rivers mouth at Rimini to listen carefully to Anthonys sermon, responding with joy. Again, the minimal significance of these instances is that to the participants and those who recorded these events, there was considered appropriateness to preaching to the creatures. Here is evidence at least as far back as the thirteenth century of a tradition of the gospel for the creatures. Is there a firm foundation for such a tradition?