Do All Dogs Go To Heaven?
Just A Great Movie or the Gospel Truth?
decide who has the best argument
Read & Vote Below!
Peter Sohn
Nicholasville Middle School Pastor
Part-Time Zoologist
The year is 1998. You’re driving down the street to your local Blockbuster. You stop in to grab a movie for the fam. The warm scent of buttery popcorn and endless possibilities overcomes you. As you’re perusing through the shelves, you come across the animated classic called “All Dogs Go To Heaven”. You purchase it, head home, pop it in the VHS player, and as it turns out – it’s AWESOME. But… a question arises – is it true? Do all dogs go to heaven?
Sadly, we don’t get our theology from Blockbuster. And, while it may not be a popular opinion, all dogs do not, in fact, go to heaven. Woof. But the question we’re really answering is “can you love dogs and believe they don’t go to heaven?” And the answer to that question is an emphatic YES. Let’s dive in.
What does it take for dogs to go to heaven? Well, according to Acts 2:28-29, John 14:6, and John 3:16, Jesus is the only way. Can dogs believe in the name of Jesus? Sadly, not. But can’t they give a bark-fession? More on that next.
If all dogs go to heaven, then all animals must go to heaven. And do we really want that? Every mosquito, and every spider, and every snake, and every CAT ever to be in heaven with us? I don’t know about you, but I’m thinking probably not. Humans are the only earthly creatures made in God’s image, made with a spirit (Gen 1:26-27). So we are the only animals meant to receive the Holy Spirit and inherit eternal life. Though other animals may have a heart, solely humans are made in the image of God, and so only humans are able to experience both the New Creation and the Old Creation we live in right now.
So are you saying my doggo isn’t a good dog? Why would God not want them in heaven? Does this mean he’s sending them to hell? No. Everything God created was good (Genesis 1), like really good. And rest assured, dogs WILL be in heaven. And they’ll be good dogs, like the best dogs. Dogs are mentioned the 9th most times of all the animals in the Bible, so I’m led to believe there will be a ton of them in heaven, too. Best I can tell, we’ll have a dog all-star team in heaven. Air Bud’s and Marley’s will be the norm! Bluey’s, Clifford’s, they’ll all be great doggos. And they’ll be friends with us, and we’ll be able to live out eternity with them!
So what can we do? Well, allow me to offer some hope. Here’s a soft-translation of Revelation 7:9-10 for you to take home. This is from the New Doggo Translation:
After this I saw a vast crowd [of dogs], too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language [and breed], standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes and held palm branches in their hands [and paws]. And they were [barking] with a great roar,
“Salvation [for dogs] comes from our God who sits on the throne
and from the Lamb!”
Bark on, dog lovers.
Casey Whitehead
Lexington Girls Student Pastor
Unlicensed Dog Whisperer
We all have those thoughts about what heaven will be like. Will there be streets of gold? What will I look like? Who will be there? And of course, will my dog be there? I often hear the argument that dogs don’t have souls, so they don’t go to heaven. While dogs don’t know the true salvation that comes from following Christ, I wouldn’t necessarily say that man’s best friend could never be in heaven. I’m not just basing my argument off of the 1989 animated classic All Dogs Go to Heaven, which gives a nearly spot-on portrayal of heaven. But also, when we look throughout scripture, God continually mentions different animals as a part of His perfect creation. So it begs the question: Why couldn’t dogs be in heaven?
We see animals in the garden before the fall.
Let's look back on what was happening before everything changed. In Genesis 3, we see a conversation between the serpent and the woman, which ultimately ends with sin entering the world (tough stuff). We see talking animals, and if we look back a little further, we see that it wasn’t just the serpent who was in the garden—lots of other animals were, too!
“Now the Lord God has formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals.” - Genesis 2:19-20 NIV
Before the fall—when everything was right and exactly as God had created it—there were animals! So if animals existed in God’s perfect creation, why wouldn’t they exist yet again in heaven?
And God said, “He’s a good boy.”
Okay, so that’s not exactly how it happened. But scripture does tell us that after He created all the things (animals included), “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.” Do you think your dog is a good boy? Well, so does God!
God talks about animals in the new heaven.
"In that day the wolf and the lamb will live together; the leopard will lie down with the baby goat. The calf and the yearling will be safe with the lion, and a little child will lead them all. The cow will graze near the bear. The cub and the calf will lie down together. The lion will eat hay like a cow. The baby will play safely near the hole of a cobra. Yes, a little child will put its hand in a nest of snakes without harm. Nothing will hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain, for as the waters fill the sea, so the earth will be filled with people who know the Lord." - Isaiah 11:6-9 NIV
Sounds like a lot of animals hanging out in heaven together.
“Then I saw heaven opened, and a white horse was standing there. Its rider was named Faithful and True, for he judges fairly and wages a righteous war." - Revelation 19:11 NIV
Jesus comes down from heaven, and who is He with? An animal!
So, if all these animals actually are in heaven, then I don’t see why dogs couldn’t be either. While we don’t know for sure what creatures and animals will actually be in heaven (or what heaven will even look like), we see enough scripture to know that the idea of dogs being in heaven is not this impossible idea that some people within the church have made it out to be.
If you don’t hate dogs, then you probably love the idea of seeing your childhood dog again! Ultimately, though, whenever the day does come when we stand before our Creator, I can’t picture any animal or person who could stand in comparison to or cause me to take my eyes off my God. So do I picture myself being concerned if I get to heaven and don’t see my favorite four-legged animal while I stand in the presence of the Lord? Probably not! But until that day, I choose to believe that there is a good chance my dogs are hanging in heaven, maybe even playing fetch with one of the disciples and wagging their tails at the pearly gates.