Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Progressive Christian
Relationships and Religion
Do Dogs Go to Heaven? I Certainly Hope So!

Do Dogs Go to Heaven? I Certainly Hope So!

Last updated on: November 25, 2025 at 6:04 pm by Ginny Baxter

0 Comments

Do Dogs Go to Heaven? I Certainly Hope So! 2025-11-25T18:04:09-05:00 Ginny Baxter

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Do dogs go to heaven? I hope so! (Courtesy Pixaby)

Cinnamon’s tiny, limp body lay motionless in my arms. Her heart, which had been failing for several years, had finally stopped. She was gone at age 19, and my heart ached. As I held her, I wondered, Do dogs go to heaven?

For once in her life, Cinnamon sat still for a photo (Photo by Ginny Baxter)

I had loved and lost a number of dogs over the years: a beloved Chow named Chang; a cocker spaniel and a collie; several Chihuahuas and Australian Shepherds; quite a few Labrador Retrievers; a hound named Sherlock; and various mixed breeds that wandered into my yard and stayed. I loved all of them.

Dogs had been part of my life for longer than I could remember. And they brought me years of love, laughter and fun.

As I grieved over Cinnamon, my granddaughter gently took her from my arms. Chihuahuas aren’t working dogs in the sense that some breeds are. They don’t hunt rabbits, herd cattle or guard their owners. Their only jobs are to love you and provide companionship.

Cinnamon was attached to me as only a dog can be. She had been with me through two moves, several health scares, early retirement, the weddings of two grandchildren and the births of four great-grandchildren.

With Cinnamon’s death, I was without a dog for the first time in years.

Death, Dogs & Heaven

Several contributors to Patheos have shared their thoughts about death, dogs and heaven:

Author and theologian Dr. Lee Ann B. Marino offers her opinions in Find Comfort in Beliefs about Animals in Heaven.
James McGrath, the chair in New Testament language and literature at Butler University in Indianapolis, takes a different approach in his article Revelation 22:15: No Dogs Go to Heaven.
Author Alia Joy reflects on dogs and heaven in her post All Dogs Go to Heaven: A Reflection on Common Things.

Do Dogs Go to Heaven?

The Bible doesn’t provide the answer, although many biblical scholars say “no” or “no one knows.” They base their answers on centuries-old theological debates about the nature of souls.

Do souls come into existence at conception? Are they created earlier? What is their origin? Are there different types of souls? How are they different?

Debates over the nature of souls could go on and on. Some experts insist that animals don’t have souls, and therefore, don’t go to heaven. Others argue that they have souls, but their souls are not made in the image of God as humans are. Yet, many species of animals have something that makes them special.

Catholics and Orthodox Christians define the image of God as the rational soul. Some point to Isaiah 65, which talks about the new heaven and new earth where “the wolf and the lamb shall graze together.”

Isaiah 65 gives me hope that there is a place for animals in heaven.

The Importance of Animals in the Bible

Bruce Hillman, a religious scholar and former Lutheran pastor, points out the importance of animals in Scripture. They are, after all, mentioned in numerous Bible stories….

Animals were important to God when he instructed Noah to build an ark. As the story goes, Noah and his family were the only people who survived a great flood in ancient times, and surviving with them were pairs of various animal species.
Sheep were sacrificed in the Passover/10 plagues of Egypt story. God told the Israelites to smear sheep’s blood on their door posts as a sign for the angel of death to pass over the homes and spare their first born. Other people – including the Egyptian pharaoh – were not forewarned, and the first-born in those houses died.
The Bible says ravens fed the prophet Elijah when he went into hiding after warning the king of Israel about a coming drought. God told Elijah to flee the angry king and then provided the prophet with water from a stream, as well as meat and bread delivered by ravens twice a day.
The story of Jonah tells the tale of a man who tried to flee from God rather than preach to non-believers in Ninevah, as God commanded. Subsequently, Jonah was swallowed a large fish and remained in its belly for three days. The fish then spit him out, and Jonah went to Ninevah in obedience to God.
A young shepherd named David was tending his father’s sheep when God chose him to become the king of Israel.
Jesus triumphantly entered Jerusalem on the back of a donkey only days before his death and resurrection.

A Path to Heaven

Do any of these examples indicate that dogs go to heaven? No. But the Bible does say God loves us and cared enough about the animals in Noah’s time to ensure their survival.

My hope is that heaven is filled with animals, though I would rather do without snakes, lizards, rats and other vermin.

Several years ago, Patheos contributor Jim Coppoc asked whether dogs go to heaven. He began with the assumption that all dogs go to heaven because of their good and loyal nature. But when he was asked to reassure someone who had recently lost a beloved pet, he had no answer.

Several years later, he wrote an article for Patheos in which he gave the answer he wished he had given the grieving dog lover. He explained that the New Testament offers “a dizzying array of options for what Heaven might look like,” ranging from Jerusalem to a celestial sphere… a large house to a shining city or an entire kingdom.

“The fact that there is no settled ‘Christian’ view on what and where Heaven is, let alone what the human experience will be there, means that ancillary questions like the matter of dogs are equally arguable,” Coppoc wrote.

“The Book of Revelation sets dogs outside the gates of Heaven with the unrighteous (Rev. 22:15), but that passage can easily be read as referring to the ritually unclean (cf. v.21:17).”

He also pointed out that theologians such as C.S. Lewis said that domesticated animals, at the very least, should have a path of heaven.

“It is impossible to say with any certainty whether anyone – human or canine – will pass the pearly gates, or even if the pearly gates exist as such,” Coppoc concluded.

It Will Be Perfect, Wise and Good

Bruce Hillman, a religious scholar and former Lutheran pastor in New Jersey, came to a similar conclusion. “As the owner of a beloved German Shepherd myself, Winston, I know the deep love we can have for our animal companions,” he wrote in an article for the non-profit Christian website 1517.

Hillman expressed hope that God will allow our pets to join us in heaven. “If anything, we can rest on two certain truths,” he added. “Whatever heaven is like, and whatever God has decided on this or any issue, it will be perfect, wise, good and without error…. Secondly, God loves animals and uses them to tell his story of salvation….

“Because they mean a lot to God and because he has shared their joy with us, even making us caretakers of them, there are grounds to hope that God will do what our hearts ask, and raise them in the hereafter,” Hillman said.

I hope he’s right. It would be heavenly.

Relationships and Religion

Home and Religion

All dogs go to heaven

do dogs go to heaven

dogs and heaven

dogs in the afterlife

mankind's best friend

Previous Post

November 19, 2025

Suppose You Lost Your Religious Freedom… What Would You Do?

Next Post

March 2, 2026 'Living Faith Out Loud': How Jesse Jackson Changed America

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

"I'm not here to defend President Trump, but the Pope has said some stupid things ..."

Rev. Dr. Gary Shahinian

A Pope, A President and A ..."

"Hilarious. https://uploads.disquscdn.c..."

Digger

A Pope, A President and A ..."

"Of course it's partisan. It's a blog in which Patheos writers give their opinions. In ..."

Ginny Baxter

A Pope, A President and A ..."

"It's not that I don't like your article. I don't like your article because it ..."

Digger

A Pope, A President and A ..."

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 8 points of Progressive Christianity Advent All dogs go to heaven Alvin York Amazing Grace heart health American violence Angels anti-semitism Beloved hymns Bible Trivia Quiz Biblical family conflicts Biblical family conflicts Bill Moyers death Black churches in America Black Music Month Buddhism Calming Bible verses Carter and Christian faith Carter and faith Carter Center Changes in Christianity Changing Christianity in U.S. Christ Christian aid to Ukraine Christian belief Christian beliefs Christian extremism Christian flag Christian help Christian martyrs Christian media campaign Christian nationalism Christian nationalism Christian Olympians Christian outreach Christian pastors Christian prayer room Christianity Christians and Donald Trump Christians and U.S. immigration Christians behaving badly Christmas Christmas holidays and depression church and state church attendance church membership church tax exemption Classical Christian music conservatives Creation Creationism and Science Crisis in the Clergy Early Christian women Easter lamb Easter preparations Easter worldwide Education and Religion evangelicals Faith and families Faith and Mental Health Faith and miracles Faith and Super Bowl Faith and winter blues faith healers faith leaders false leaders False Prophets family Father's Day feeding 5000 flags in churches Football and Christianity freedom of religion friends Genesis Ghosts God Golden Rule Good Friday Good Samaritan Gospel of Thomas grief grieving Halloween hate hatred hatred of Jews He Gets Us He Gets Us campaign Hinduism Holocaust how are Abrahamic religions similar How to read the Bible Hubble Islam James Webb Telescope Jesse Jackson's legacy Jesus Jesus' brothers and sisters Jewish holy days and hate Jews Judaism judging others July 4th & Religion Kamala Harris's faith Lent Liberal Christianity liberal Christians Liberal Theology liberals Lindsey Graham's legacy Lord's prayer losing church members loss loss of church members loss of husband loss of spouse love love thy neighbor marketing Christ Mary Magdalene Methodist's split National Day of Prayer National Day of Prayer New United Methodist leader Pat Robertson Pope and President Pope Francis compassion Portals for demons post-evangelicals pray prayer prayer survey praying Preserving religious freedom President Jimmy Carter Presidents' Day Project 2025 Putin's faith Racism and radicalized Christianity racism in America religion Religion and Entertainment Religion and football Religious coercion religious tyranny in U.S. Remembering Jimmy Carter resurrection Revelation Rewriting black history Riley Leonard's faith risen lord Rosalynn Carter Rusty Golden death science Scientology Sen. Joe Leiberman dies Sex abuse and Christianity Sex abuse in churches South Africa Southern Baptist Convention spirituality St. Paddy's Day St. Patrick St. Patrick myths St. Patrick's Day St. Paul suicide and religion Susanna Wesley taxes and religion Televangelists television evangelists the Philippines The Trinity Trump's faith adviser U.S. Ukraine Uncategorized Underground churches universe women and happiness Women church leaders women in the pulpit Yoga and Christianity Yule Zimbabwe

Select a Month July 2026 June 2026 April 2026 March 2026 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What Christian holiday celebrates the visit of the Magi to the baby Jesus?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Advent Trinity Sunday Pentecost Epiphany