God Gives All Animals Both Soul and Spirit. By Dr Chapman Chen

For the last 2000 years, numerous anti-vegan theologians and clergy have claimed that according to the Bible, animals, unlike humans, do not have a soul, and so it is ok for humans to exploit them, use them to the core, and kill them for food, for labour, for transport, for entertainment, for experimentation, etc. Yet, it is stated clearly in the Hebrew Scripture that animals, just like humans, are given a living soul (nephesh) and a spirit (ruach).

1. Augustine & Aquinas

St. Augustine (On the Morals of the Manichaeans, Ch. 17, Section 59 https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1402.htm) and St. Thomas Aquinas (Summa Theologiae, First Part, Question 78 https://www.newadvent.org/summa/1078.htm ) posit a hierarchy of souls: plants have a nutritive soul, animals have a sensitive soul, and humans alone have a rational soul. The animal soul is "submerged" in matter and entirely dependent on the body for its existence, meaning it dissolves when the body dies. Without a rational soul capable of independent thought or moral agency, animals have neither an afterlife nor any rights (Augustine, On the Morals of the Manichaeans, Ch. 17, Section 59). In other words, “Thou shalt not kill” and “Love thy neigbbour as thyself” do not cover animals (Augustine, City of Gold, 1.20 https://www.gutenberg.org/files/45304/45304-h/45304-h.htm; Aquinas, Summa Theologiæ, Second Part of the Second Part, Question 25, Article 3. https://www.newadvent.org/summa/3025.htm#article3)

2. Descartes's Animal Machine Concept

René Descartes's "animal machine" concept argues that non-human animals are unconscious automata without a soul or mind, without reason or thought, similar to a clockwork mechanism. Descartes identified consciousness with the immortal soul, and claimed that only human beings have a soul. Animals do not have immortal souls and therefore do not have consciousness either (Descartes 1637, Discourse on Method, vol. 5; see also his letter to Henry More, Feb. 5, 1649). Descartes’s theory allowed experimenters to cut up innocent creatures of God alive, without anesthetics and without any unease or sense of guilt. Descartes himself dissected living animals in order to advance his knowledge of anatomy. Gary Francione, in Introduction to Animal Rights, reveals that Descartes and his students would dissect and tortured animals alive and that he would dismiss whimpers and yelps as mere signs that a machine was functioning improperly.

3. No Immortal Soul, No Rights

Francis J. Connell in his Outlines of Moral Theology (1953) writes, “An animal can have no rights because it has no spiritual soul, no immortal destiny, no freedom of will… God has explicitly given man the right to use animals… [so] vivisection… is permissible.” Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) §1703 reads, “Endowed with a spiritual and immortal soul, the human person is the only creature on earth that God has willed for its own sake.”  “God entrusted animals to the stewardship of those whom he created in his own image. Hence it is legitimate to use them for food and clothing.” (CCC §2417).    

4. Rational Soul as a Fabrication

The Bible, however, never says that humans have a different kind of soul, or that animals have a lesser soul, or that human souls are immortal while animal souls perish. Those concepts appear NOWHERE in the Scriptures.

5. Nephesh (Soul)

In reality, the Biblical Hebrew word, נֶ֫פֶשׁ‎ nephesh (soul) is mistranslated "life" or "creature" in most English versions of the Bible when applied to animals, e.g., Genesis 1:20, 1:21, 1:24, 1:30, 9:4 KJV. Gen. 1:30 (KJV): “And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is LIFE [הַֽחַיָּ֣ה living נֶ֣פֶשׁ  soul], I have given every green herb for meat.” Whereas it is usually translated accurately when applied to humans, e.g., Gen. 2:7 (KJV): “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath [nephesh, soul] of life [chay, life]; and man became a living soul (cf. Antipas 2014).

6. Ruach (Spirit)

The same applies to רוּחַ‎ ruach (spirit), e.g., "For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts... they have all one breath [ר֫וּחַ  ruach (spirit)]; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast" (Ecclesiastes 3:19 KJV). The significance of animals having a soul and a spirit lies in its implication that humans and animals are equal before the Creator, that animals are our neighbors; and we are supposed to follow Jesus' commandment and love them (Matthew 22:39), instead of abusing and murdering them. 

7. Conclusion

Given that God gave all animals a soul and made a covenant with them (Gen. 9:9–17; Hosea 2:18), we and the animals are co-creatures and co-covenant partners. We are therefore called to follow Jesus’ commandment, “Love thy neighbour as thyself” (Matt. 22:39), and to love and respect the animals — or, at the very least, to leave them in peace.

Full Text: https://www.vegantheology.net/post/god-gives-all-animals-both-soul-and-spirit-by-dr-chapman-chen