By Padmananda Rama, CNN
"What happens to animals when they die?" author Ptolemy Tompkins wonders in his new book.
"I looked into that dog's eyes and knew there was something more," says Tompkins, a writer for the Christian magazine Guideposts.
At the age of 12, Tompkins named that dog - a hungry mutt with a "copper-colored spot on her shoulder" - Penny. Decades later, in his latest book, "The Divine Life of Animals," he briefly describes how he adopted Penny during a family vacation to Mexico.
"Penny and I had connected. I had looked into her face and seen something there," he writes. Later, he concludes, "Penny, then, must have had a soul."
This intuition leads the author on a far-reaching journey, exploring various faiths and philosophies, and searching for answers to explain the possibilities of our pets' afterlife.
During his time writing for Guideposts, Tompkins told CNN, he received numerous letters from animal lovers who had asked their parish ministers similar questions after the death of a pet and received less-than-satisfying responses.
"They're so heartbroken. They go to find out what happened to their poodle "¦ and they say, "˜Am I going to see my dog again in heaven?' and the pastor sort of scratches his head for a second and says, "˜No, you're not. There are only people in heaven.' "
Tompkins' book is written for animal lovers who are dissatisfied by this response - and who are willing to take a leap of faith along with Tompkins as he searches for clues to animals' divinity, piecing together spiritual arguments from primitive cultures as well as Christianity.
"If you look a little deeper in the Bible, you can find evidence that writers of the Bible actually did have a deeper respect for the spirituality of animal creation than appears to be on the surface," Tompkins says.
"There is a spiritual reality to animals," the author explains. In researching his book, which he described as "one man's quest to discover whether the souls of animals live on," Tompkins looks to Christian theories of the concept of the Resurrection.
"Nature is resurrected too ... so if you're a Christian and you're interested in this kind of thinking, there's plenty of argument that suggests that all of nature is included in the idea of redemption, which is central to Christianity."
This holiday season, as you're checking off your gift list, Tompkins' book may be a good option for pet lovers in your life who are ready to explore whether their favorite fluffy companion may also have a spiritual side.
You might also like "Paw Prints in Heaven?: Christians and Pet Loss" by James McClinton. It deals with pet loss and what the Bible has to say regarding pets in heaven.
All Amoeba are heavenly.
this obviously begs the question do ameoba divide purely for reproductive purposes or do they enjoy it.
Do the whiptail lizard go to heaven? They are all female and they like the girl-on-girl action. Are they doomed to go to hell? what does the bible say about the whiptail lizard!?
God is love. http://www.myspace.com/jimgiatas
Your source for food consumption is an un-named/unreferenced answer to a question... disgusting.
No book is necessary. The Bible has nothing to say about this issue. LOL! I thought the article was going to say how dog owners or the vet dispose of the carcass (no-they are not people). Enjoy them and let them go. If reality is too harsh to deal with, sure, make something up that makes you feel better. Like doggie angels.
Cats spend eternity basking on a sunlit windowsill overlooking fields of migrating mice. Dogs can go directly to hell,
I have heard of Danielle Mackinnon who actually communicates with pets and tell you what soul contracts you have with your pet. She is going to be speaking at the Conference in Toronto in March 2011 which will be addressing all aspects of the Soul's Journey- Continuum: Past, Present and Future. http://www.wisdomannex.com.
SG – Hi...how are you? Ok listen, like most vegans, your ignorance is offensive. you can eat whatever you want but don't look down your nose at me because I eat what God meant for me to eat...meat. If we never ate meat, we would still be monkeys. Meat allowed our brains to grow. So be still, be quiet, my plant eating friend – you Vegans are an affront to nature's design, to God's will.
MOST of the dinosaurs were plant eaters and look what happened to them....
Why am I not surprised that someone who believes in all the horse sht spewed in the bible also believes that there are people that can magically talk to pets? If only we could get him together with John Edwards to communicate with dead pets then we would know for sure if animals have a soul! Genius!@@
You tell em Vance!! If GOD didn't want us to eat animals then he wouldn't have made them out of food!! DUUHH!!!@!@!
Drats! I hoping when I die I'd be able to leave the whole life thing behind. It's been a dog's life. I just hope they segregate us from the cats. Eternity with fyling cats and whatnot? Where is pet hell?
Check out "Animals are Soul Too!" by Harold Klemp. Not only does this book discuss the nature of animals as soul, but the nature of soul and how we all fit into everday life, life beyond the death of the physical body of all beings, and god's love.
If it's printed in a book, it must be true amirite?!?!
Here's a hint.. It's OK to not know everything. In fact in the grand scheme of things human know next to nothing!! I know that's scary to think but it's true!! Humans don't even know what's at the bottom of our oceans, what makes you think we know everything about life, afterlife, the universe? Get real and stop filling in the gaps with stupid answers because WE DON'T KNOW. You people irritate me.
Well it depends – if the dog has accepted Jesus as his/her savior then he/she will go to heaven if not it is hell. Isn't that how it is suppose to work?
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