I’m a 90s kid, so I grew up with the 1989 classic Don Bluth movie All Dogs Go to Heaven about Charlie, a mobster-type dog who’s been murdered but is able to go back to his old stomping grounds to make some changes in his past life. And, yes, it’s a children’s cartoon movie, so there are obviously liberties. But this movie was such a cultural staple for many kids in my generation, and it’s caused many to colloquially believe that, yes, as Angel says when Charlie finds himself in Heaven, “All dogs go to Heaven because, unlike people, dogs are naturally good and loyal and kind.” Yet even in the film, not all dogs go to Heaven; those who tamper with their life clocks aren’t allowed back in, and that’s a large part of what sets up the conflict in the movie. But (spoiler alert) Charlie does get let back in because he gives up his life to save a little girl–reminiscent of John 15:13.
Outside of nostalgic animated movies of anthropomorphized animals, do all dogs go to Heaven? What does the Bible teach about animals in paradise?
The short answer: we don’t know. The Bible doesn’t specifically say anything about animals who die on earth going to Heaven. But, of course, we’re not going to end the discussion there.
To first address this question, there are other questions that must be answered. What is Heaven? What does it mean to go there? What’s the purpose of Heaven? We know that people are allowed to go to Heaven, so what about animals? What difference is there?
So first off, what is Heaven?
What Is “Heaven” in the Bible?
As is often a running theme in these articles, it’s important to recall that the Bible is a text in translation, so sometimes the term we use in day-to-day English reading of the Bible may not be the original idea of what is conveyed in the writing of the text. Heaven, for example, is a word that is used to describe a few things. Strong’s Concordance lists the Hebrew word שָׁמַיִם (pronounced shamayim) and the Greek word οὐρανός (pronounced ouranos) as the words translated as heaven or heavens, and its definitions and usages include 1) “the vaulted expanse of the Sky with all the things visible in it,” that is, everything that is not earth or water, including the atmosphere directly above the earth and the universe too, as in Genesis 1:1, Judges 5:20, Jeremiah 8:7, Hebrews 1:10, 2 Peter 3:5, and Matthew 24:35; and 2) “the region above the sidereal heavens, the seat of an order of things eternal and consummately perfect, where God dwells and the other heavenly beings,” as in 1 Kings 8:30, 2 Kings 2:1, Isaiah 66:1, 2 Corinthians 12:2, Acts 7:49, and Matthew 5:34.
This latter definition is the one which our question relates to. Heaven is where angels live (Matthew 24:30); where the Holy Spirit was sent down from (1 Peter 1:12); and where Jesus descended from (John 6:38), ascended to (Mark 16:19), and will descend again (1 Thessalonians 4:16).
“Heaven is where angels live; where the Holy Spirit was sent down from; and where Jesus descended from, ascended to, and will descend again.”
If Heaven is where God, angels, the Spirit, and Jesus are, then who goes to Heaven?
Hebrews 12:23 says that an “assembly of the firstborn” is “enrolled in heaven,” along with angels, God, Jesus, and “the spirits of the righteous made perfect.” 2 Corinthians 5:1-10 (ESV) speaks of “a house not made with hands” built by God in Heaven when “our earthly home is destroyed,” saying “we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.” Matthew 5:12, Mark 10:21, Luke 6:23 all speak of treasures waiting for the righteous in Heaven; and Colossians 1:5, 1 Peter 1:4, and Luke 10:20 tell us that there are rewards waiting for believers in Heaven.
If Heaven is the place of eternal life, then it is those who obey God’s commands who go there, according to Matthew 25:34 and John 3:16, 3:36, 5:24, and 11:25-26. They join God and other divine beings who already live there and receive their reward: rest in the presence of God.
When Do Believers Go to Heaven?
There are two main answers as to when, both of which find backing in Scripture.
One is that the soul goes to Heaven, in the sense of God’s dwelling place, immediately after death. Ecclesiastes says that dust returns to dust and the spirit returns to God who gave it (12:7). Some argue that when Jesus spoke to the prisoner next to Him on the cross, saying, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise,” He was speaking about both of their impending deaths (Luke 23:43, ESV).
John 5:24 says that those who hear and believe God have eternal life, specifically saying, “He…has passed from death to life.” The juxtaposition in Romans 6:23 that says, “The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life,” may indicate eternal life right after death. Paul indicates that believers are “with the Lord” immediately after death (see 2 Corinthians 5:8).
Believing that we as individuals enter God’s presence at death doesn’t mean that history is over, however, as we still await Jesus’ second coming in the future. His coming will restore physical creation to what the Bible refers to as a “new heaven and new earth,” a renewed creation minus the fall into sin and decay (2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:1).
“His coming will restore physical creation to what the Bible refers to as a ‘new heaven and new earth,’ a renewed creation minus the fall into sin and decay.”
The second theory is that death is merely rest and that Heaven happens at the second coming of Jesus. There are several texts that describe death as falling asleep (Deuteronomy 31:16, 1 Kings 2:10, Job 7:21, Psalm 13:3, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14), and while this may just be a polite way of describing death, there are instances of the dead coming out of their sleep and back to life (Matthew 9:24 and 27:52, John 11:11).
Second Peter 3:10-13 (ESV) describes “the day of the Lord” when “the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved,” when people will be waiting for “new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.” Revelation 21 contains visions of this new Heaven and new Earth, in which “the dwelling place of God is with man” (3). Daniel 12 describes “the time of the end,” in which God’s people who “sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt” (1-2, ESV).
Either way, the reception of Heaven happens after death, whether it’s immediate or awaiting the second coming of Jesus.
What About Animals?
So, now that we have this basic understanding of Heaven, we can then turn our attention to animals. When animals die, do they meet God? Do they have the same promise of eternal life as humans do? Are they able to receive a reward in Heaven?
Though eternal life is promised several times to faithful people, nowhere in Scripture is eternal life promised to animals. Animals don’t sin (as far as we understand), so they don’t require salvation from sin. There’s also the argument that, even if animals have souls (which is disputed), they would not be souls capable of receiving salvation. Ecclesiastes 3:21 (ESV) says, “Who knows the breath of man ascends upward and the breath of beasts descends downward to the earth?” This certainly sounds like the possibility of people going to meet their Maker and animals simply returning to dust, though the language is ambiguous.
“This certainly sounds like the possibility of people going to meet their Maker and animals simply returning to dust, though the language is ambiguous.”
However, there are obvious indications that God cares deeply for animals. In Genesis, God saved the animals during the flood (6-8). God gave voice to Balaam’s donkey to stand up for the abuse she was receiving (Numbers 22:22-31). He expressed concern for the cattle of Ninevah (Jonah 4:12). And Jesus says in Matthew 10:29-31 that not a sparrow falls to the earth without God knowing–both referencing the care God has for animals but also His knowledge of their end of days.
Similarly Ecclesiastes 3:19 (ESV) says, “For what happens to the children of man and what happens to the beasts is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath.” This is more than likely describing the mortal end that awaits every living creature made by God. But it’s at least possible that the fate of what happens to beasts and man alike references the afterlife as well.
Another possibility is that, if animals don’t sin, then perhaps that means they are considered innocent, never separated from God by sin. They do not have a sense of moral right or wrong (though tell that to me when my cat is looking at me from on top of the kitchen counter) and thus are incapable of choosing righteousness. The same can be said of children (Isaiah 7:16, Jeremiah 2:34 and 19:4), and yet Scripture seems to support that children will be in Heaven (2 Samuel 12:23).
“There are obvious indications that God cares deeply for animals.”
Whether or not animals on earth go to Heaven after their death, the book of Revelation describes several animals in its heavenly visions. Chapter 4 describes creatures that look like lions, oxen, and eagles (verses 7-8). There are horses described in chapter 6 (verses 2, 4, 5, and 7) and chapter 19. There’s a description of a dragon in chapter 12, numerous beasts that have qualities of many animals in chapter 13 and 17, a serpent in 12:9, and a lamb in 14:1-5 and 19:6-10. Of course, many of these are symbolic; the serpent and lamb, for example, are explicitly said to be Satan and Jesus. But still, it seems significant that so many beings in heaven take animal form.
So, again, we don’t know. We are reminded in the book of Job that God is the one in control. As Job learns, what right do we have to question His authority and make assumptions in the matters of life, death, salvation, and eternal reward? According to Job 12:7-10a (ESV), the animals already know this; it’s we who need to listen:
“Ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you…and the fish of the sea will declare to you. Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In his hand is the life of every living thing.”
*For an exploration of whether dogs go to heaven, see David Young, “Do Dogs Go to Heaven? Reflections on the New Creation.” For an exploration of whether animals have souls, see Daniel McCoy, “Do Animals Have Souls?”
