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Ok, I've heard this before that animals do not have souls (according to Christianity anyway). But why is this?
Does sentience have anything to do with it?
Sometimes it feels like a dog really is man's best friend when they come lick your face after you've had a rough day. They do seem to react to moods and also it seems like they have the ability to "sense" bad people. Or am I reading too much into it?
My understanding is that God breathed life into the nostrils of Adam and Eve, and they became living souls. Man was above the animals, and was given dominion of the Earth.
Man often believes that animals can't have a soul because they are not as intelligent as man. Besides man had to make an excuse to justify killing in order to be able to eat meat so therefore he came with the solution that animals cannot have a soul, otherwise all people who eat meat are evil for taking the lives of sentient beings.
Gen 1:20
And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.
KJV interpreting "life" as soul.
Gen 1:30
Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life,I have given every green herb for food”; and it was so.
Again, KJV notes that "life" means a living soul.
Gen 1:20
And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.
KJV interpreting "life" as soul.
Gen 1:30
Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life,I have given every green herb for food”; and it was so.
Again, KJV notes that "life" means a living soul.
So animals do have a soul.
You need to be looking at the original Hebrew text. The KJV is not a reliable translation in all cases.
You need to be looking at the original Hebrew text. The KJV is not a reliable translation in all cases.
Very true.
If memory serves me correctly, the word translated "soul" there is the exact same word as "breath" in Hebrew. But verify that before you believe it. It's been a while since I studied that.
If memory serves me correctly, the word translated "soul" there is the exact same word as "breath" in Hebrew. But verify that before you believe it. It's been a while since I studied that.
And doesn't 'breath' in Hebrew mean spirit, which would equal to having a soul? In my eyes people with no conscience simply have no soul, since they do not regret their actions against other sentient beings.
In my eyes people with no conscience simply have no soul, since they do not regret their actions against other sentient beings.
You're talking about people with anti-social personality disorder (according to modern psychology). And they can't help not feeling what they don't feel.
Why don't they get to have a soul (in your eyes)?
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Besides man had to make an excuse to justify killing in order to be able to eat meat so therefore he came with the solution that animals cannot have a soul, otherwise all people who eat meat are evil for taking the lives of sentient beings.
Having a conscience or intelligence?
