n conclusions are largely, if not wholly, due to two
passages of Scripture, one of which is in the Psalms and the other in
Ecclesiastes. The one most often quoted, from the Psalms, runs in the
authorised version: "Nevertheless, man being in honor, abideth not; he
is like the beasts that perish." This verse is frequently quoted as
decisive of the whole question. The other passage, which is found in
Ecclesiastes, reads: "Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward,
and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?"

It is upon the authority of these two passages that we are supposed to
believe that when an animal dies, its life has gone forever, departed,
expired. In this new age of thought and discovery, we do not attempt to
explain a passage of Scripture, no matter how simple it may appear to
be, without referring to the original text, that we may see if the
translator has kept the true sense of the words and adequately expressed
their significance, remembering that words often change their meaning,
and that the original use of a word may have conveyed exactly the
opposite meaning to that which we at present attach to it.

But if we accept the passage just as it stands, with the literal meaning
of the words as is usually understood, there is but one
conclusion--animals have no future life. Death ends all for them. But,
on the other hand, if we are to take the literal interpretation of the
Bible only, we are forced to believe that man, as well as the animals,
has no life after death. Surely the book of Psalms is full of examples
to support this literal interpretation. For example, "In death there is
no remembrance of thee: in the grave, who shall give thee thanks?"
Again, "The dead praise not the Lord, neither any that go down into
silence." Or, "His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in
that very day his thoughts perish." These quotations could be greatly
added to, and if taken in their literal sense, we would reach but one
conclusion--death ends all for every living creature! Nothing in all the
literature of the earth could be more gloomy and discouraging than
these quotations with numerous others that contemplate death. Yet, vain
man takes one little passage that seemingly denies a future life to
animals from the same book that many times over denies a future life to
mankind; in fact, there are five times as many Scripture passages
claiming for man that all ends in death as there are for an