Pets in Heaven

Dear Victorious,

I'm sure you've probably addressed this before, but do pets go to heaven? I'm having an argument with my sister-in-law about this and neither of us can find anything in Scripture that says one way or the other.

Nancy V. - Covington, KY

Dear Nancy,

I don't think you'll find this in Scripture directly. Often Scripture doesn't answer our specific questions directly. Rather we have to look at the context of God's truth ... which will cover all questions we may have in life.

The context to look for is to see who - or what - does get into heaven. The Bible gives no lists though. Rather it explains in Genesis that we are created in God's image --- as spiritual beings. And we are the only part of creation that was made this way. So the conclusion is that only spiritual beings get into heaven. And humans are the only spiritual beings that have been created. So because they are not spiritual beings, pets and other animals do not go to heaven.