Animal Immortality?

One question that intrigues me after reading the chapter on animal suffering in The Problem of Pain, is that of animal immortality. It is a question that I know I can't answer out of my own power or reasoning. It is however, an interesting thing to think about...

I was curious as to see what the Bible said about the importance of animals, so I did a little research. As we talked about in class, it is obvious that animals, as a part of His creation, are very important to God. In Genesis 9:9-10, animals are included in God's covenant with Noah saying that He would never again wipe out all life on the earth. I don't think that I have ever really thought about the importance of the covenant to animals before this. The Bible also tells us that God cares about animals enough to provide for them. He "provides food for the raven when its young cry out..." (Job 38:41). Also, Psalm 104:21 says that "the lions roar for their prey and seek their food from God." The Bible also includes passages that emphasize the proper treatment of animals. So, I think that it seems like there is enough evidence to say that God cares about animals...but does His caring about them mean that they go to heaven?

The only verse that I found pertaining to the "afterlife" for animals was in Ecclesiastes 3:21 which says, "For who can prove that...the spirit of animals goes down into the earth?" This implies that there is a general assumption that the spirit of animals does not go to heaven, but it also leaves room for the acknowledgement that that assumption may not be right.

Lewis claims that immortality has no meaning for a creature without consciousness. I believe that animals have a higher degree of consciousness than he gives them credit for having. From having a dog as a pet, I know that animals can learn, that they seem to have a personality, and that they even dream (my dog often runs in her sleep). Lewis would probably say that this "personality" that animals seem to have comes from the people who raised them. Part of me wonders though, why shouldn't animals have personalities? God is certainly not limited to giving personalities only to man. Lewis also says that because the "self" of an animal is in its master, animals have immortality in their masters. I can't say that I really understand this statement. It is hard for me to imagine something other than animals going or not going to heaven. Regardless, I have to hope that God will in some way honor the lives of the creatures he so clearly cares for.