Question
Dear Gramps.
Here is a question that came to my mind during the past couple of weeks. I have been taught that all living beings on the Earth have spirits. Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother are the parents of all of our spirits. Who are the parents, if any, of the various animals on the Earth…Are there heavenly horse parents or cow parents or ant parents? If not where do the animals spirit come from?
George
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George,
We don’t know if there is an exalted prototypical cow that is the Father of all cow spirits. Joseph Smith did teach that animals have spirits and will be exalted in their own sphere. He used the example of the four beasts in Revelation, as well as the praise coming from all animal creation as evidence that animals will be glorified and found in heaven. From Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith (291-2):
John saw curious looking beasts in heaven; he saw every creature that was in heaven,–all the beasts, fowls and fish in heaven,–actually there, giving glory to God. How do you prove it? (See Rev. 5:13.) “And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.”
I suppose John saw beings there of a thousand forms, that had been saved from ten thousand times ten thousand earths like this,–strange beasts of which we have no conception: all might be seen in heaven. The grand secret was to show John what there was in heaven. 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.
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.
