Conservative Christianity purports that animals have no eternal spirits. Joseph Smith, never unwilling to defy convention, preached by sermon and revelation the contrary. Eternal existence is not limited to humanity. We have from him, two revelations and one sermon that lay out the simple doctrine. The ramifications of that doctrine, rarely considered, are tremendous for our fundamental beliefs.
In March 1832, while querying the Lord on the interpretation of John’s Apocalypse, Joseph received a revolutionary response:
Q. What are we to understand by the four beasts, spoken of in [chapter 4, verse 6]?
A. They are figurative expressions, used by the Revelator, John, in describing heaven, the paradise of God, the happiness of man, and of beasts, and of creeping things, and of the fowls of the air; that which is spiritual being in the likeness of that which is temporal; and that which is temporal in the likeness of that which is spiritual; the spirit of man in the likeness of his person, as also the spirit of the beast, and every other creature which God has created.
At the end of that year, Joseph received a revelation on the resurrection and eternal law. In this, the Lord revealed the fate of the earth:
25 And again, verily I say unto you, the earth abideth the law of a celestial kingdom, for it filleth the measure of its creation, and transgresseth not the law–
26 Wherefore, it shall be sanctified; yea, notwithstanding it shall die, it shall be quickened again, and shall abide the power by which it is quickened, and the righteous shall inherit it.
It is not particularly evident what these verses actually mean. It is quite certain that these verses, coupled with the personification of the earth in Enoch’s revelation, have stoked the literalist speculation that this planet is a living soul in need of salvific ordinances (1). They do, however and assuredly, extend the resurrection beyond humanity.
It is not until ten years later that we have mention again of animals in the eternities. At the April 1843 general conference, Joseph turns to the Revelator and couples him to the language of Section 88:
John learned that God glorified Himself by saving all that His hands had made, whether beasts, fowls, fishes or men; and He will glorify Himself with them. Says one, “I cannot believe in the salvation of beasts.” Any man who would tell you that this could not be, would tell you that the revelations are not true. John heard the words of the beasts giving glory to God, and understood them. God who made the beasts could understand every language spoken by them. The four beasts were four of the most noble 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, and I do not know; but they were seen and heard by John praising and glorifying God. (2)
Joseph lived for a little over a year after that discourse. During this short time, Joseph revealed the fullness of the temple ordinances and doctrines, and gave his most advanced teachings on the eternal nature of spirits and their destinies. It is in light of these teachings that the spiritual nature of animals moves from nice doctrinal incidental to profound theological phenomenon.
Joseph Smith revealed two concepts, among many, that color our eternal perceptions: the eternality of our souls and the existence of a female counterpart to God the Father. In Joseph’s lifetime, the former received precious little public discourse, while the latter received none. It was Brigham’s innovative (and no longer accepted) ideas that truly popularized the concept of mother in heaven.
There is no question that before mortality we entered into a parent-child relationship with God. Some assert that there is a physical procreative union between the celestial partners which results in spiritual conception. Literalist speculation was something of a 19th century sport. For example Parley Pratt wrote:
This organized spirit we call a body, because, although composed of the spiritual elements, it possesses every organ after the pattern, and in the likeness or similitude of the outward or fleshly tabernacle it is destined eventually to inhabit. Its organs of thought, speech, sight, hearing, tasting, smelling, feeling, etc., all exist in their order as in the physical body; the one being the exact similitude of the other. This individual, spiritual body, was begotten by the Heavenly Father, in his own likeness and image, and by the laws of procreation. (3)
If this is how human spirits are created, then how are the spirits of animals created? Orson Pratt espoused a concept of spiritual atomism that was ultimately denounced by Brigham Young’s First Presidency (though somewhat adopted by such authorities as Joseph F. Smith). In his theory our spirits are made of independent spirit particles and these same particles are the substance of all things spiritual:
Now can it be supposed that these particles were inactive and dormant from all eternity until the received their organization in the form of the infant spirit?…If they were once organized in the vegetable kingdom, and then disorganized by becoming food of celestial animal, and then again re-organized in the form of the spirits of animals, which is a higher sphere or being, then, is it unreasonable to suppose that the particles have, from all eternity, being passed through an endless chain of unions and disunions, organizations and disorganizations, until at length they are permitted to enter into the highest and most exalted sphere of organization in the image and likeness of God? (4)
More explicitly, he states that “the spirits of both vegetables and animals are the offspring of male and female parents which have been raised from the dead.” (5)
While such authorities as Heber C. Kimball believed that celestial procreation extended beyond humans (6), I imagine that most Mormons would reject the doctrine of Heavenly parents for all forms of life. Those that do accept a physical spiritual conception, I imagine, believe that God made the spirits of animals and plants in a non-procreative fashion. In fact, a First Presidency statement in the 1909 Improvement Era states formally that God organized the spirits of animals (7). It is, however, arguable whether belief in a human spiritual procreation and animal non-procreation is a consistent theology.
Another option is to reject procreative spirit creation. Joseph Smith, himself, taught the doctrinal basis for such a position in the last general conference of his life:
Is it logic to say that a spirit is immortal and yet have a beginning because if a spirit have a beginning it will have an end – good logic – illustrated by his ring. All the fools learned & wise men that comes and tells that man has a beginning proves that he must have an end and if that doctrine is true then the doctrine of annihilation is true. But if I am right then I might be bold to say that God never did have power to create the spirit of man at all. He could not create himself – Intelligence exists upon a selfexistent principle – is a spirit from age to age & no creation about it (8)
While perhaps iconoclastic to common belief, the doctrine of eternal and uncreated spirits is much easier to reconcile to concepts of free agency, predetermination (i.e., doesn’t support it like created spirits) and evolution. There is also a significant body of teachings that the parent child relationship with God need not be physically procreative.
We believe by revelation that animals will be resurrected and exist in heaven. They are resurrected by the power of Jesus Christ and the effects of the fall are remediated. Beyond that simple belief many interesting speculations have been proposed. Parley Pratt suggested:
If the question be asked for what Christ died? The answer is, first, He died for all of Adam’s race. Secondly, for all the animal and vegetable productions of the earth, as far as they were affected by the fall of man. The lion, the wolf, the leopard and the bear, and even the serpent, will finally feel and enjoy the effects of this great restoration, precisely in the same degree in which they were affected by the fall. Thirdly, Christ died for the earth itself, to redeem it from all the effects of the fall, that it might be cleansed from sin and have eternal life. (9)
While it is hard to square with Joseph’s original teaching that non human spirits fulfill their measure of creation and are exalted, Joseph Fielding Smith conjectured that there would be plants and animals in every kingdom of glory (10):
We are to understand that there will be beasts of various kinds, after the resurrection, in each of the kingdoms, telestial, terrestrial and celestial. It would be a very strange thing for any of the kingdoms to be devoid of animal and plant life. These kingdoms will be very beautiful in their immortal state. Even the telestial will surpass the comprehension of mortal man. They are the creations of the Almighty and therefore they will be perfect in their own sphere, for the Lord creates no imperfections and it is his purpose, according to the divine plan, to make all of his creatures as happy as it is possible for them to be under the conditions of their immortal states. (11)
Beyond the conjectures of authorities, there are pragmatic questions that evolve from animal and plant resurrection. The total biomass of bacteria that has lived on this planet is astronomical. If it is all resurrected, there will be a lot of slimy stuff in heaven. Additionally, some animals change sex in their lifetimes — in what form are they resurrected?
Beyond the technicalities and bizarre speculation, the eternal nature of all life is a beautiful testament to our faith. While progressive Christianity tries to wrestle the spirits of animals from their conservative faith, we have, by revelation of God, a witness to their reality.
- E.g., see Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation edited by Bruce R. McConkie. vol. 2 pg. 320-321.
- History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. vol. 5, pg. 343-344.
- Parley P. Pratt, Key to the Science of Theology/A Voice of Warning. pg. 58-59.
- Orson Pratt, The Seer. pg. 102.
- ibid. pg. 38
- JD 5:172; JD 6:36
- Editor’s Table. (1909) Improvement Era vol. 13, no. 1 pg. 81.
- Joseph Smith, The Words of Joseph Smith: The Contemporary Accounts of the Nauvoo Discourses of the Prophet Joseph. pg. 361.
- Pratt, P. P. (1883) Contributor vol. 4, no. 4, pg. 130.
- This is also odd in contrast to JFS’s own beliefs regarding the fate of non-celestial humans:
In both of these kingdoms [i.e., the terrestrial and telestial] there will be changes in the bodies and limitations. They will not have the power of increase, neither the power or nature to live as husbands and wives, for this will be denied them and they cannot increase. Those who receive the exaltation in the celestial kingdom will have the “continuation of the seeds forever.” They will live in the family relationship. In the terrestrial and in the telestial kingdoms there will be no marriage. Those who enter there will remain “separately and singly” forever. Some of the functions in the celestial body will not appear in the terrestrial body, neither in the telestial body, and the power of procreation will be removed. I take it that men and women will, in these kingdoms, be just what the so-called Christian world expects us all to be – neither man nor woman, merely immortal beings having received the resurrection.
(Doctrines of Salvation. vol. 2, pg. 287-288.)
- Joseph Fielding Smith, Church History and Modern Revelation. vol. 2, pg. 68; see also JFS’s more metered statement in Answers to Gospel Questions vol.2, pg. 51:
As to where the beasts, birds, and fish, and all other creatures will go after the resurrection we can only express an opinion. John saw many of them in heaven in the presence of God. It is very probable that they, like mankind, will be distributed in the various kingdoms, celestial, terrestrial, and telestial. We may well believe that in each of these kingdoms such creatures will be assigned.