Do dogs go to heaven?

 Shortly after my dog died my mom asked me if I thought Turner was in heaven.  I immediately said "yes".  I admit it was an emotional response rather than a theological one and I have since given it a lot of thought.  If you google "Do dogs go to heaven?" you will find a fair amount out there.  It breaks down into two main thoughts.  

The first is the traditional Catholic view which says "no" at least not on their own accord.  This is because heaven is for mankind.  Mankind has the capacity for greater understanding of God and freewill so therefore has the capacity to either be closer to God [heaven] or farther away [hell] than animals when they die.  Animals, by acting in their nature, praise God automatically and therefore lack the capacity to be closer or father away.  One of my heroes, St Thomas Aquinas, was a big proponent of this in the Summa.  

The second view says "yes" dogs will be in heaven.  The thought here is if we are in paradise of course our dogs will be there; otherwise it wouldn't be paradise.  For people very close to their dogs [ like me] this makes sense and is actually not at odds with the traditional catholic view.  The dog is not there on its own accord, it is there to make us happy.  I think this is what Pope Paul VI meant when he told a little boy that we would see our animals in heaven.  [ Pope Francis is often mis quoted as saying this.]

The bible is pretty silent on this question. We know for humans heaven is suppose to be awesome, hell is suppose to be bad and that the lion and the lamb will lay down together.  Not much to go on.  

So after a week of meditating on the subject here are my thoughts:

When we die we are invited to be closer to God and to praise Him like never before.  If we accept that is heaven and sounds awesome.  If we decline then God grants our desire and moves us far away from His presence. [ hell]  Now if I am that close to God will I need Turner there?  Maybe not, but I think it would be nice.  At the resurrection we will raise bodily so should be able to talk to people and animals. 

But I am not sure Turner would need me there to be in heaven.  If God is all loving and he created Turner, why would he not allow Turner some form of heaven when he died?  If I would do that how much more would a God that knows "when a sparrow falls from the sky."    

So to answer my question, "Yes I am confident dogs go to heaven."  I just can't see how a loving God would not allow animals who have done His will to not continue to experience His love when they die. And my buddy Aquinas before he died said of the Summa, " Burn it, it is straw."  He was referring to the Summa as compared to a personal relationship with God. For theology, like everything else in this world should lead us to God. And I am confident a loving God would love Turner at least as much if not 100 times more than I do.  

Pax

 

Joe