Recently, I saw several of my friends on social media comforted by a news article that reported that the Catholic Pope believes animals will go to heaven.
This is an issue that has been debated over the years among Christian churches, without reaching a clear consensus. However, although the Bible is for the most part silent on this matter, latter-day revelation and modern prophets have made it clear that animals will be in heaven and that all living things will be saved by Jesus Christ. Simply put, God saves everything he creates!
contemplating the sky
There are many opinions about what heaven is and who belongs there, but the only way to know for sure is by revelation from God. As the Prophet Joseph Smith explained: “Men of the present testify of heaven and hell, and they have never seen it; and I will say that no one knows these things without revelation«(Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p.160).
On another occasion he taught: “If you could look at the sky for five minutes, you would know more than you would by reading everything that was ever written on the subject.” for those of the world» (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, page 324).
Fortunately for us, God’s prophets have had the privilege of looking into the sky and have shared with us what they saw. Through their eyes, we can also contemplate the sky. That is, as the Holy Spirit confirms to us the truth of his experience, it can be as if we were there to experience it personally. In this way we can know for ourselves what is in heaven.
One prophet who had the privilege of gazing into heaven was the New Testament apostle John, who recorded his sacred experience in the book of Revelation. Due to the symbolic nature of John’s writings, it can be difficult to interpret what he described seeing. However, with the inspired commentary of the Prophet Joseph Smith, who also had the privilege of contemplating heaven, John’s words can be clearly understood and can teach us many important truths about what we can expect to find in heaven.
John described his visit to heaven with these words: “…I looked, and behold, a door opened in heaven; and the first voice that I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, “Come up hither” (Revelation 4:1). With this invitation, John entered the gate of heaven. Upon entering, he described seeing God sitting on his throne surrounded by 24 elders who worshiped him. In addition to these exalted men, he also saw four beasts giving “glory and honor and praise to him who sits on the throne, to him who lives forever and ever” (Revelation 4:9). This scene concludes with this expression made to God: “Lord, you are worthy to receive glory and honor and power, because you created all things, and by your will they exist and were created.” (Revelation 4:11).
Animals in the sky
Although this vision appears to describe animals in heaven worshiping God, it is difficult to be sure due to John’s intense use of symbolism.
But, the Prophet Joseph Smith made clear what John saw when he explained clearly:
«John saw curious beasts in the sky; he saw all the creatures that were in the sky, all the beasts, birds and fish in the sky, actually there, giving glory to God.
How do you prove it? (Revelation 5:13) «And every living creature that is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and in the sea, and all that is in them, I heard saying, Him that sitteth on the throne, and the Lamb, “Be praise, and honor, and glory, and power, forever and ever.”
«I suppose that Juan saw beings of a thousand forms, that had been saved ten thousand times from ten thousand lands like this, strange beasts of which we have no idea: they can all be seen in the sky. The great secret was to show Juan what was in heaven. John learned that God glorified himself by saving everything that his hands had made, whether beasts, birds, fish or men; and He will be glorified with them.
“One says: ‘I cannot believe in the salvation of beasts.’ Any man who would tell you that this could not be would tell you that the Book of Revelation is not true. John heard the words of the beasts giving glory to God, and he understood them. God who made the beasts could understand every language spoken by them. The four beasts were four of the noblest animals that had filled the measure of their creation, and had been saved from other worlds, because they were perfect: they were like angels in their sphere. We are not told where they came from, but they were seen and heard by John praising and glorifying God” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pp. 291-292).
Joseph Smith’s own experience with seeing heaven led him to interpret John’s vision literally. The beasts that John saw simply represented animals in heaven. The purpose was simply “to show John what was in heaven,” including animals. Perhaps it was this simple approach to interpreting the book that caused Joseph to claim that “The book of Revelation is one of the clearest books God has ever written” (Teachings, p. 290).
Not only did John see animals in heaven, but, as the Prophet Joseph Smith explained, John heard and understood them. This indicates that animals in heaven can communicate with other saved beings in heaven and that they enjoy a level of intelligence and happiness.
As astonishing as that doctrine may sound to some, it is confirmed by the revelation of the last days.
Section 77 of the Doctrine and Covenants is a unique revelation consisting of an inspired question-and-answer session on the Book of Revelation.
In it, several important questions about the book are asked, followed by inspired answers and interpretations.
In response to questions about what these beasts represent and what we should understand about them, they tell us the following: “They are metaphorical expressions that John the Revealer uses to describe the heavens… the happiness of man, and that of animals.” and of the creeping things and of the birds of the air; the spiritual being like the temporal, and the temporal like the spiritual; the spirit of man in the likeness of his person, as well as the spirit of animals and every other creature that God has created… They are limited to four particular animals, shown to John to represent the glory of the classes of beings in their order or sphere of creation decreed, regarding the joy of his eternal happiness… His eyes are a representation of light and knowledge, that is, they are full of knowledge; and its wings represent the power to move, to act, etc. (D&C 77:2-4).
This revelation confirms that the animals will be in heaven and further reveals that they will have immortal bodies in the same likeness of their mortal bodies.
In other words, animals will be resurrected (see Alma 11:45 for a revealed definition of resurrection).
It also reveals that the mortal bodies of the beasts were created in the likeness of the “spirit of the animals” (D&C 77:2), indicating that the animals had a premortal spiritual existence just like man and did so with “every creature that God has created” (D&C 77:2).
Evidently, all living beings go through this pattern of first being created as spirits, then receiving mortal bodies, and finally being resurrected into immortal bodies.
Not only will the animals be resurrected in heaven, but this reveals that the animals will be smart enough to enjoy it. We are told that they are filled with “light and knowledge” and experience a heavenly level of bliss or “eternal bliss” (D&C 77:3-4).
To be clear, this does not mean that animals in heaven are as intelligent and exalted as men and women in heaven, because only we are created in the image of God and destined to be exalted like our Heavenly Father. But animals certainly have enough intelligence to recognize where they are and are inspired to worship the Creator and Savior they know made it possible.
The Salvation of Animals
Some might ask, what did animals do to deserve to be saved? Doesn’t salvation require faith in Christ, baptism or something like that? This is what causes many Christian churches to debate the issue, but thankfully we have the doctrine of the Book of Mormon and other latter-day revelations to clarify this point.
In the Book of Mormon we learn that “all things” were originally created in such a way that they were immortal and good enough to be in the presence of God (2 Nephi 2:22).
They “would have remained” in this condition “forever and would have had no end” had it not been for the Fall of Adam (2 Nephi 2:22). As the Bible Dictionary explains, “After Adam fell, the whole creation fell and became mortal” (see “Fall of Adam and Eve,” “LDS Bible Dictionary”).
This context of universal mortality and death for all created things gives added meaning to the statement in the Doctrine and Covenants that Jesus Christ “glorifies the Father and saves all the works of his hands” (D&C 76:43).
Clearly, Christ’s Atonement has the power to save all of God’s creations, not just humanity.
This means that all living things were originally created by God in a non-mortal condition where they would not die. Then, because of the Fall of Adam and Eve, all living beings fell into a mortal condition where they were all subject to death.
Finally, through the atonement of Christ, all living creatures will be redeemed from death “by the power of the resurrection” (2 Nephi 9:12).
This doctrine truly expands our understanding of Paul’s classic pronouncement: “For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:22).
Because faith in Christ, repentance, and baptism are for our own personal sins and not for Adam’s transgression (Article of Faith 2-4), these gospel principles only apply to those who are “responsible and capable of committing sin” (Moroni 8:10), not for animal creations. Like little children who “live in Christ” and are saved by his “pure mercies” (Moro 8:12, 19), animals are currently in a state of ignorance and are therefore universally saved by the Atonement of Christ.
Conclusion
The doctrine of the salvation of animals may seem like a purely theoretical or academic doctrine at first, but it can be of great comfort to some.
I remember teaching it once in a seminar class when a quiet young man raised his hand. He wasn’t the type of student who talked a lot in class. In fact, I think this might have been the first time for him to say anything.
He thanked me for teaching that the animals would be saved. I asked him why he was grateful for this truth and he told me: “I have no…