So after about 2-3 hours of looking into this I have come to the conclusion that it will take far too long for me to find out if the Bible says anything "meaty"("substantial") about this at-hand. Due to a variety of reasons; ranging from that I would have to weigh carefully how God relates to animals in different situations (to try to read into if God's decisions etc seem to weigh in 'animal sentience' or if God's decisions etc seem to be in accordance with animals not being sentient), to going to Hebrew and Greek "language-roots" for linguistic accuracy etc, to this that and the other.
Well one thing I found out was that the word 'Soul' is seemingly not the right one to use here ("Spirit" is). According to definitions I found - two of them quoted here below:
1:
The word “spirit” in both the Hebrew (ruwach and neshamah) and the Greek (pneuma) literally means “wind.”
Soul in the Hebrew (nephesh) and the Greek (psuche) literally means a breathing creature, or in other words life.
2:
Soul
The Hebrew and Greek words that are translated as ‘soul’ in our Bibles are also translated many times as ‘life’ or ‘person’ or ‘anyone’ or ‘creature’. The word that is used depends very much on the Bible translation. For example, in
Leviticus 4:2
, the KJV has ’If a soul sin through ignorance against any of the commandments of the LORD …’, while the ESV has ‘If anyone sins unintentionally in any of the LORD’s commandments …’.
In Hebreew, the word is
nephesh and means a living being. It can also apply to animals. See, for example,
Genesis 1:24;
2:19;
Lev 11:46.
Sometimes the word ‘soul’ might appear to refer to our inner feelings. For example, in
Deuteronomy 6:5, ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.’ However, it is likely that we are reading the idea into the text because of our modern understanding of the English word “soul”. More likely, the Hebrew meant to love God with “mind, body and strength”. (In ancient Hebrew, the heart was the place of thinking.)
Interestingly, the term ‘immortal soul’ does not occur anywhere in the Bible. In fact it says in
Ezekiel 18:4 that the soul is mortal — ‘The soul who sins shall die’. Nor does the Bible ever suggest that we have a soul that can exist apart from the body.
Spirit
The words that are translated as ‘spirit’ are also translated many times (in the Old Testament) as breath or wind. For example in
Genesis 6:3, the LORD says, ‘My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh’, and in verse 17, ’I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life.’ The same Hebrew word is translated spirit in one case and breath in the other.
And so the word 'Spirit' or 'Wind' ('Ruwach'/'Neshamah') is then the right word, and not 'Soul'.
And another point I found was this following quote, which I find worthy of mention:
"17th-century Catholic philosopher René Descartes argued that animals were just like machines, and they could not feel pain because they did not have a spiritual mind (an idea that later became widely accepted)"
So I shall probably look into what René Descartes wrote about it all. However it is my firm belief that animals can't possibly be "
just like machines"(-mainly due to animals fundamentally being living and machines "dead"), -and I believe Descartes were of the same mind. But now we're drifting.. What is meant is probably and hopefully that René Descartes 'made a case for' animals not possessing sentience, - which of course is the question that this thread is all about.
- So I just wanted to share that quote in case anyone might become interested and stuff, -and also to inform that I will probably return on a later occasion to give a review on René's writings referred to above here.
Lastly, after giving this a little consideration, I like to share how 'if animals doesn't have sentience' would dispel "a great contradiction between God's Loving Nature and His creation"; if I may:
So. There is seemingly a looooooot of **** going on for animals, or rather, 'in' animals: Greaaaaat sufferings here and there, immeeeeense pain, hooooorrible terrors and fear, and just, a lot and lot and lot and looot of suffering and fear taking place -
a lot (seemingly). Anyone who disagrees clearly isn't well-acquainted with
just how nasty and horrible it can get in nature. Excruciating pain for hours or days, slooow deaths, extreme fear or even terror, - and that's only some aspects of the dread.
Basically: Unarguably a loooot of ****. - And don't get me wrong; I don't hold the typical western view that animal life is almost solely a fight for survival and a life of hardship and stuff; -I'm quite the opposite,,, but nevertheless; there is still aaaa loooooooot of suffering and **** going on -seemingly.
- And how can such an immense degree of pain and suffering coincide with God's Great Benevolant and Loving Nature? Doesn't add up. Why have all that horrible suffering and pain? I mean, humans we have pain and stuff because humans chose and are choosing to sin and stuff you know,,, but,,,,, Animals? Why do
They get to seemingly suffer to such a 'worthy-of-a-billion-tears' extent? It's a hard one... But there are actually one or two, maybe three (to me atm), answers to that dilemma - and 'animals having no sentience' is one of the "possible realities" which would dispel 'That Great Contradiction'. (Another one being that the principle "As Above So Below" being real, and God deeming it right for all bad to exist because it includes/enables it's counter-opposite good etc etc etc.. - but that's highly off-topic and irrelevant to this topic.).
Over. Thank You.
- heavy stuff u know. idno.. cheers.
