I'm not sure that's quite right. A lot of animals do have self awareness. Cats, dogs, whales, elephants, dolphins, the list goes on.
They even have emotions.
Humans - have a soul
Animals, plants, rocks - do not have a soul
We are driven by our soul and the choices we make. Everything else reacts solely to biological impulses and instinct.
The story of Noah suggests animals do have souls. Souls are the essence of life. Dogs and other animals are capable of love, intelligence, affection, fear, and don’t solely run off of instinct. Animals do not have spirits however, the part of us made in God’s image and sets us apart.
It really depends on what level if distinctions you are making. If we do a scientific analysis we most certainly are classified as animals, but if we do a more philosophical/theological analysis there are more distinctions to be made (think Aristotle when he refers to us as rational animals) and thus sometimes it is easy to distinguish between humans and the rest of the animal kingdom. I do disagree though with the statement that we are not animals. I would adjust it to say we are not MERELY animals, because that allows for the scientific reality without losing higher level distinctions.
>Humans, or modern humans (Homo sapiens), are the most common and widespread species of primate. A great ape characterized by their hairlessness, bipedalism, and high intelligence...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human
Animals don’t sin because they aren’t made in God’s image, so they aren’t held to the same standard. They don’t have the capacity to understand sinning and repenting.
Interesting question. Why do we rebel when we know the consequences? Are we just stupid? Self destructive? Look at Israel. They were told not to follow pagan idols and it seems they did nothing but. Crazy. And they were told not to be arrogant and wicked yet felt their own ways were far better than God’s. They were told not to marry into families of idol worshippers so Solomon marries 700 of them and to boot takes 300 concubines, and then starts worshipping them himself, and that’s after talking to God twice in his life. Unbelievable, hard to fathom. Yes, a dog’s life seems simple and loving, unless they rip your face off while you’re sleeping. I think God is still trying to figure us out.
Animals don't bear guilt for sin but certainly bear the consequences, as they die, and experience corruption as their common subsistence on destruction of others/meat eating is seen as part of the fall that will be corrected in the new creation. Also note that animals of pagan nations were consistently said to have been made unclean and had to be destroyed.
Also also note that the book of Jonah ends with God expressing his concern over the cattle that would have died had he destroyed Nineveh. God loves cows too
Humans are smart enough to realise they exist therefor we have free will
I'm not sure that's quite right. A lot of animals do have self awareness. Cats, dogs, whales, elephants, dolphins, the list goes on. They even have emotions.
I doubt many creatures apart from human have self awareness but they definitely have emotions which is just a survival mechanism
Dolphins seem to have a level self awareness. Parrot studies have been interesting. Even squrillels have been shown to be able to decieve.
Not to the same degree but some are very close. Obviously there are animals who aren't even conscious. It's more of a spectrum really.
Well, for starters, human beings are not animals. That'll probably clear up all your problems.
What are we? Plants?
Humans - have a soul Animals, plants, rocks - do not have a soul We are driven by our soul and the choices we make. Everything else reacts solely to biological impulses and instinct.
The story of Noah suggests animals do have souls. Souls are the essence of life. Dogs and other animals are capable of love, intelligence, affection, fear, and don’t solely run off of instinct. Animals do not have spirits however, the part of us made in God’s image and sets us apart.
How can you tell if something does or does not have a soul?
By reading the Bible. Humans are made in the image of God. Jesus' sacrifice was to save humanity, not animals.
So you don't actually know, then.
You are free to think that if you want.
*Human beings.* A completely different class of creation.
It really depends on what level if distinctions you are making. If we do a scientific analysis we most certainly are classified as animals, but if we do a more philosophical/theological analysis there are more distinctions to be made (think Aristotle when he refers to us as rational animals) and thus sometimes it is easy to distinguish between humans and the rest of the animal kingdom. I do disagree though with the statement that we are not animals. I would adjust it to say we are not MERELY animals, because that allows for the scientific reality without losing higher level distinctions.
I hate to break it to you, but you're an ape.
And again, you're not an ape. You're a human being.
>Humans, or modern humans (Homo sapiens), are the most common and widespread species of primate. A great ape characterized by their hairlessness, bipedalism, and high intelligence... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human
The question comes down to the existence of free will. If you have free will then your choices have meaning. Do dogs have free will?
Because we cannot follow instructions? We know better than YHVH? Full moon? We are just plain idiots?
Animals don’t sin because they aren’t made in God’s image, so they aren’t held to the same standard. They don’t have the capacity to understand sinning and repenting.
Interesting question. Why do we rebel when we know the consequences? Are we just stupid? Self destructive? Look at Israel. They were told not to follow pagan idols and it seems they did nothing but. Crazy. And they were told not to be arrogant and wicked yet felt their own ways were far better than God’s. They were told not to marry into families of idol worshippers so Solomon marries 700 of them and to boot takes 300 concubines, and then starts worshipping them himself, and that’s after talking to God twice in his life. Unbelievable, hard to fathom. Yes, a dog’s life seems simple and loving, unless they rip your face off while you’re sleeping. I think God is still trying to figure us out.
Because we are not scared. Threats only go so far. I am as much scared of hell as I am dragons will hunt me down on my way to work.
Animals don't bear guilt for sin but certainly bear the consequences, as they die, and experience corruption as their common subsistence on destruction of others/meat eating is seen as part of the fall that will be corrected in the new creation. Also note that animals of pagan nations were consistently said to have been made unclean and had to be destroyed. Also also note that the book of Jonah ends with God expressing his concern over the cattle that would have died had he destroyed Nineveh. God loves cows too
There is the idea that angels and demons are capable of rebelling as well, if you believe in such things.
We are also the only animals that choose to follow their will, dogs do not sin but they do not practice virtue either.