Do All Dogs (and Cats!) Go to Heaven?

Last month, my dear little cat, Brownie, reached the end of her life.  She was always a very friendly little girl, and in her old-lady-hood (she made it to 17 years old) sometimes was downright pushy in indulging her affectionate nature.  It was Brownie and her affections who primarily inspired the notion of "cat gravity" in my household.  (You can read my post on that topic here.)

Not real, but still amusing!

Needless to say, her absence has been very noticeable.  And since Brownie is the first pet I've lost since coming to faith in Jesus, I've been thinking about what has happened to her, now that she has died.  Is she simply gone from existence or is her cat-soul in some sort of "kitty heaven" awaiting the new heavens and the new earth at the end of the age?  In a quickie survey of the internet for the opinions of Christians on this question, I found two principal positions: 1) pets don't have souls (or don't have souls of the kind that need to be saved) and so clearly won't  go to heaven; and  2) maybe... it's hard to say based on what is attested in the Bible.

I don't know about you, but as a person who has loved a pet, I find both of those answers inadequate.  The love and affection we feel for our beloved pets makes position (1) feel cold and heartless.  The love and affection we feel for our beloved pets makes position (2) feel simply not a good enough answer.  But why?  Why are those answers so unsatisfactory to us?  Why do I hope I might be reunited with Brownie one day, but I don't care whether I'll ever see again the computer or car or refrigerator or furnace or water-heater that just "died"?

It comes down to relationship.  Human beings are creatures created in God's image in a way that makes us intrinsically different from everything else God created.  We are created for relationship.  Mostly we find those relationships with God and with other people, but our relational nature also draws us to our pets, and we create relationships with them.  And because there is positive, loving relationship, we desire that relationship to be eternal.  It's only natural for us to desire that "all pets go to heaven," so that we can continue the relationship.

But what about you?  What about your family members? What about your friends and colleagues?  Will they (and you!) be in heaven?  For people, at least, we know that they might go to heaven.  There is no question as to whether it is possible - when people die, they "go to sleep" until the final day of judgement, at which time they are judged and either live out eternity in the presence of God (Heaven), or separated from God (Hell)..  The only question is whether a particular person has confessed Jesus Christ as  their Savior - that is the only thing that determines whether a person goes to Heaven.

Despite my short-comings and sins, I am confident that I have confessed Jesus as Lord and will spend eternity in the presence of God.  If, while living in the awe and splendor of God's presence, I have any capacity left to remember and long for my lost pets, then I trust that God will have preserved them and will restore them to me.

It is, however, much more worrisome to think about certain friends or family members or even acquaintances who may be choosing to live eternity separated from God.  My remembrance and longing for their presence in Heaven will not restore them to me then.  God will not override a person's free choice to live separated from God.

God will do what is right for Brownie (and Terra and Rosie and Blackjack and Barney and Angus and Bear and Kojack and Missy and Mikey and Cindy and Bessie and King and Nellie all the other pets that any person has ever loved....).

You and I need to do what is right for the people in our lives: pray for those you know who may not be saved, let your words and deeds and lifestyle show forth as a model worthy of imitating, and talk to them about your faith when God gives you the chance.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him."  (John 3:16-17 ESV)