Will There Be Pets in Heaven? … I know everyone, this Hump Day devotion is probably as controversial as they come, but knowing that many, like us, have beloved pets and have had to let them go from this world, it is comforting to know that all God’s creation will be made new again. I cannot profess to know when or how or what will they or us will be, but I want to share something from Randy Alcorn that has always resonated with me from his book 5 Curious Questions About Heaven.

So, without judgment, let’s do a little exploring, and if your heart like mine and Al’s has been recently broken at the loss of a pet—ours was Inky, our incredible black lab, I hope this gives you some comfort in your heart and mind. Acorn writes:

“In a day when speculation about heaven runs rampant, I’ve found it both exciting and refreshing to carefully examine what Scripture says. When the topic is heaven, questions proliferate. The image of a new heaven and a new earth stimulates our imagination, piques our curiosity, spurs us to search the Scriptures, and makes us hunger all the more for that day when the Lord “will wipe every tear” from our eyes and “there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain.

And since I had unfettered access to a world-class biblical scholar like Scot McKnight, the journalist in me couldn’t resist exploring seven nettlesome questions about what lies beyond this world. With McKnight’s consent, I flipped my legal pad to a fresh page and, pen in hand, resumed our conversation in the comfortable lounge of a small suburban Chicago church. But I didn’t start with the most theologically significant issue or the most profound or even the most consequential. Instead, I began with the question that almost always comes up when talking to any audience, “Will There Be Pets in Heaven?”

For McKnight, it was a black Labrador named Sam. For me, it was a giant poodle named Nikki. Childhood pets are wonderful companions, but will we see them again in heaven? McKnight recalls: “Sam used to go on my paper route with me, but he had the instinct of a retriever so at first when I’d throw a paper, he’d run after it and bring it back to me. It made for double work in getting people’s papers on their front porches!”

No matter the critter, most families have an animal friend that endears itself to kids and parents alike. Our hearts say we’d love to see them again in eternity, but what do the biblical facts say? Is the title of the animated film All Dogs Go to Heaven a theologically correct assertion? McKnight answers this: “As far as animals in general, yes, I believe the new heaven and new earth will be populated by all sorts of wildlife,” McKnight told me. “Predators and prey will be at peace. Isaiah says that ‘the wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them.’ What God makes, God perfects. And what God has made for our world today, he will perfect in the world to come.” (CW–I don’t know about you, but I just love that!)

“But what about my dog and yours?” I asked him. “Will specific pets greet us in the final heaven?” McKnight’s response was a smile. “When the theologian Rich Mouw was a kid, he asked his mom whether pets will be in heaven, and when Mouw was a father, his son asked him the same question. In both cases, the answer was, ‘Well, dogs don’t have souls, you see. But anything is possible with God–he will do what is best for us. To that McKnight said, “I’m convinced that heaven will not be a duller place than this world, and I think the world would be duller without pets. While our focus in heaven won’t be on pets, I believe it would be just like God to have our dogs there for us.”

McKnight’s cautious optimism on the topic is the same assessment of many Christian thinkers. Asked about pets in heaven, philosopher Peter Kreeft playfully replied, “Why not?” He pointed to Psalm 36:6 [GW]

“Your righteousness is like the mountains of God,
your judgments like the deep ocean.
You save people and animals, O Lord.”

Kreeft then quoted: “We were meant from the beginning to have stewardship over the animals; we have not fulfilled that divine plan yet on earth; therefore it seems likely that the right relationship with animals will be part of heaven…and what better place to begin than with already petted pets? After all, it would be totally in keeping with God’s genuine character of extravagant grace after grace.”

I miss Inky, our whole family does and those who got to know him so well, and I do not believe it is coincidence that in every language, the word ‘dog’ spelled backwards is God.

Who but our loving Lord knows our incapacity for unconditional love and gives us a taste of his unconditional love through our loving canines and other fur-babies? Just saying…AMEN.