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The Divine Life of Animals: One Man's Quest to Discover Whether the Souls of Animals Live On
A journey through 20,000 years of history and myth in search of the answer to a single Do animals have souls?
Anyone who has ever mourned the loss of a cherished pet has wondered about the animal soul. Do animals survive the death of the body, or are they doomed to disappear completely when they leave this world behind? Both scientists and religious authorities have long scoffed at the idea of animals in heaven. Yet the question endures. In this wise, immensely readable book, Ptolemy Tompkins embarks on a quest for the answer—taking us on a top-speed tour of the history of the animal soul.
Equally at home with mainstream and alternative spiritual philosophies, Tompkins takes us from the savannas of Africa to the earth’s first cities to the early days of the great faith traditions of both East and West. Along the way, he shows that, despite what many of us have been taught, the world’s various spiritual traditions all have profoundly meaningful things to say about the animal soul, if we simply know where to look. Rescuing these ancient insights and blending them with vivid stories about animals today—from a dwarf rabbit named Angus to a manatee named Moose to a black bear named Little Bit— The Divine Life of Animals paints a gloriously inclusive picture of the cosmos as a place made up of both matter and spirit, in which animals are every bit as important, spiritually speaking, as the humans with whom they share the world. Though it is startlingly original, The Divine Life of Animals also feels strangely and instantly familiar, for it reveals truths that many of us have held in our hearts already, waiting only for someone to give fresh voice to one of the oldest and most trustworthy intuitions we possess.
The Divine Life of Animals offers a compelling and timeless vision of the relationship between humans and animals that will have you looking at the animals in your life with new eyes.
Anyone who has ever mourned the loss of a cherished pet has wondered about the animal soul. Do animals survive the death of the body, or are they doomed to disappear completely when they leave this world behind? Both scientists and religious authorities have long scoffed at the idea of animals in heaven. Yet the question endures. In this wise, immensely readable book, Ptolemy Tompkins embarks on a quest for the answer—taking us on a top-speed tour of the history of the animal soul.
Equally at home with mainstream and alternative spiritual philosophies, Tompkins takes us from the savannas of Africa to the earth’s first cities to the early days of the great faith traditions of both East and West. Along the way, he shows that, despite what many of us have been taught, the world’s various spiritual traditions all have profoundly meaningful things to say about the animal soul, if we simply know where to look. Rescuing these ancient insights and blending them with vivid stories about animals today—from a dwarf rabbit named Angus to a manatee named Moose to a black bear named Little Bit— The Divine Life of Animals paints a gloriously inclusive picture of the cosmos as a place made up of both matter and spirit, in which animals are every bit as important, spiritually speaking, as the humans with whom they share the world. Though it is startlingly original, The Divine Life of Animals also feels strangely and instantly familiar, for it reveals truths that many of us have held in our hearts already, waiting only for someone to give fresh voice to one of the oldest and most trustworthy intuitions we possess.
The Divine Life of Animals offers a compelling and timeless vision of the relationship between humans and animals that will have you looking at the animals in your life with new eyes.
243 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
26 people are currently reading
150 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
January 21, 2014
I rarely write reviews but I have a lot to say about this book. Let me start with the fact that before I read this book I firmly believed in animals' souls. I did not need convincing. I realize this story is about one man's journey of discovery and maybe that is what bothered me. Many reviewers seemed to struggle with the subject matter of the first half of the book. I did not but the author's logic frequently escapes me. The author dismisses Eastern religion almost completely although it has quite a lot to say about animals. He makes a weak return to it in the last 10 pages. Tompkins also admits little connection to Christianity but finds several compelling arguments there. After a while, the book begins to smack of someone who already has the answer in his head and is just selectively picking people who agree with the conclusion he has already drawn. Tompkins goes off the deep end, diving into fringe and pseudo-science later in the book. When you cite the spiritualist beliefs of Arthur Conan Doyle, a great author but notorious victim of frauds, as evidence you have lost your credibility. Some of the animal anecdotes and crazy science did make for interesting reading. However if I was on the fence with the fate of animals this book would make me doubt more based on the flawed logic and (in some instances) ridiculous proof. I certainly believe if there is reincarnation or a heaven for us it applies to animals as well. This however is not the book to make a compelling argument. That type of book does exist. I have read at least one example of such and come upon enlightening passages in my other reading. My advice is to seek elsewhere and maintain the hope you already carry with you.
March 26, 2022
An interesting read, probably brings up more questions than answers. If like me, you're reading this because you recently lost an animal you probably won't find comfort in these pages. Then again, there's really no definitive answer to the question. I suppose we'll have to cross over before we really know the truth about animals and the afterlife.
June 10, 2012
"Wherever you are going, they are going too." -James Herriot
This book is part philosophy, part religion, part biology. Tompkins attempts to answer the question that any animal lover has asked themselves at one time or another: Do animals have souls?
He looks at this question through the lens of Greek philosophers, Judaism, modern Christianity and The Buddha, among others. He also explores humanity's relationship with animals from prehistoric times up to the present. The result is a fascinating look at man's obligation to all living creatures of this earth.
A quote from the final chapter:
"What are we called upon to do when we see a suffering animal that we can't help, or when we watch a beloved pet come to the end of its life before our eyes? Paradoxical as it may seem, what we are called on to do is simply to believe. Believe the voice within us that assures us that no matter what certain scientists or clergy people or whoever else might have to say to the contrary, the soul of that departing animal is real: every bit as real as our own soul, and different only in its specific character and capacity--the varied charms and faults and glories and limitations that go to making it specifically and unrepeatably itself and not another. The tug in our hearts when we feel compassion for an animal is actually the whole invisible hierarchical world pulling at us--pulling and urging us to remember that it is out there, whether we can see it or not, and that it holds a place within it for every living creature."
This book is part philosophy, part religion, part biology. Tompkins attempts to answer the question that any animal lover has asked themselves at one time or another: Do animals have souls?
He looks at this question through the lens of Greek philosophers, Judaism, modern Christianity and The Buddha, among others. He also explores humanity's relationship with animals from prehistoric times up to the present. The result is a fascinating look at man's obligation to all living creatures of this earth.
A quote from the final chapter:
"What are we called upon to do when we see a suffering animal that we can't help, or when we watch a beloved pet come to the end of its life before our eyes? Paradoxical as it may seem, what we are called on to do is simply to believe. Believe the voice within us that assures us that no matter what certain scientists or clergy people or whoever else might have to say to the contrary, the soul of that departing animal is real: every bit as real as our own soul, and different only in its specific character and capacity--the varied charms and faults and glories and limitations that go to making it specifically and unrepeatably itself and not another. The tug in our hearts when we feel compassion for an animal is actually the whole invisible hierarchical world pulling at us--pulling and urging us to remember that it is out there, whether we can see it or not, and that it holds a place within it for every living creature."
August 22, 2011
I confess that I only read the first half in it's entirety and just perused the rest. I just didn't like it. I'm not even sure why I bought the book other than I've read others by this author which I enjoyed and felt curious to see his take on animals. I mean regardless if an animal has a soul (which the author never seems to give his definition of what he "believes" the soul is) or is soul-less it does not diminish my admiration and love for them. This book was choppy, sloppy, a bit self centered and well,I can't think of anything positive to say so I'll stop!
November 3, 2010
The author's thesis is animals share in the divine,and the man in his role as steward leads animals across a bridge to the eternal. Tompkins borrows from many disciplines and from many religious traditions to support and develop his premise. Academic in style and tone, it maybe somewhat daunting for the average reader. The personal elements throughout the book will appeal to anyone who has loved an animal.
November 3, 2015
2.5 stars. I didn't like this one and was often bored (it took me a long time to read it!); that's remarkable given my love of animals and keen interest in philosophy and issues that are the focus of the book. The subtitle--"One Man's Quest to Discover Whether the Souls of Animals Live On"--is not really addressed, or at least not in any detailed or sustained manner.
April 23, 2020
Ptolemy Tompkins’s The Divine Life of Animals will captivate readers even if they don’t hold many of his beliefs. The author was on a quest to show that animals have souls and they like human beings will also be in heaven. What motivated Tompkins was his experience with pets. Penny a stray dog that he encountered as a child, Angus a dwarf rabbit that was referred to as a little man, the life of a manatee named Moose, and a friendly black bear named Little Bit.
At first the writer had problems finding literature to support his thesis. He therefore decided to examine the writings of primitive societies in order to understand the spirituality of the lives of ancient peoples and animals. So Tompkins looked at animism in cultures of Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America. He referred to the Egyptians at the time of the Pharos, the Greek and Roman’s beliefs, their understanding of humanity and animal behavior. His quest led him to examine the spirituality of the East and its belief in reincarnation, and the icons in the God-head represented by animals. These phenomena Tompkins compared with the teachings of Christianity by its Founding Fathers, and that of contemporary society.
The writer stated that it was only since the 1990’s that this topic began to gain public’s attention in the literature. As a writer at Guideposts – Christian magazine, he was able to do articles on animals having souls. Tompkins throughout his discussion stressed that all creatures are born with specific covers, they should be considered separate nations, and not because they don’t communicate like humans don’t mean that they don’t have languages of their own. While at Guideposts the author was surprised by the outpouring of letters he received from pet lovers and veterinarians, who subscribed to the premise that animals have souls, and that they would see their loved ones when the die in heaven.
At first the writer had problems finding literature to support his thesis. He therefore decided to examine the writings of primitive societies in order to understand the spirituality of the lives of ancient peoples and animals. So Tompkins looked at animism in cultures of Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America. He referred to the Egyptians at the time of the Pharos, the Greek and Roman’s beliefs, their understanding of humanity and animal behavior. His quest led him to examine the spirituality of the East and its belief in reincarnation, and the icons in the God-head represented by animals. These phenomena Tompkins compared with the teachings of Christianity by its Founding Fathers, and that of contemporary society.
The writer stated that it was only since the 1990’s that this topic began to gain public’s attention in the literature. As a writer at Guideposts – Christian magazine, he was able to do articles on animals having souls. Tompkins throughout his discussion stressed that all creatures are born with specific covers, they should be considered separate nations, and not because they don’t communicate like humans don’t mean that they don’t have languages of their own. While at Guideposts the author was surprised by the outpouring of letters he received from pet lovers and veterinarians, who subscribed to the premise that animals have souls, and that they would see their loved ones when the die in heaven.
November 22, 2023
Some engaging vignettes about pet animals, but filled with ungrounded metaphysical speculation. Author neither convinced me that animals survive death, nor that we do....just too much reasoning from analogy, which isn't, apparently, the way to convince me of anything!
October 7, 2010
It is always, always encouraging to know that there are people out there, like PT, in the world who feel similarly about 'animals' as I do, alienated as I feel in most respects from the way people around me view them. I came from a family which never understood my own affection for animals (dogs, at the time), and who, perhaps have just grown used to it, and chalked it up to just another of the ways in which I am 'strange.' I recently told a co-worker who asked me to sponsor her for a Breast Cancer run that I couldn't, in good conscience, do this because of the use of animals in cancer research. She looked at me as if I were completely off my rocker. PT writes with a sympathy that seems to stretch to include all of life, not just human life. It's nice to know that such people exist.
Despite the fact that his book mainly reflected Islamic/Christian/Judaic views on the after-life of animal life, and despite the fact that I believe him to be wrong about the ways in which he has understood Eastern religions' concepts about and regarding animals/souls/after-life/Absolute/personality, the book nevertheless offered a concise - and rather uplifting - historical, philosophical and religious overview of the animal-human-animal relationship, and speculations about what comes afterward.
The book made me think, made me cry, made me wonder, and made me want to research what Hinduism and Buddhism particularly have to say about the divine life of animals. I marked several passages for elaboration in my own journal. And I look forward to my own quest to discover how animals live on, outside of a 'soul' in an Islamic/Judeo/Christian sense.
December 3, 2012
When my son was little I took him to a pet blessing at a church with our dog. The priest made a point of telling everyone that pets don't go to heaven. Mind you, no one had asked! There were more than a few crushed kids. Since then I've been very interested in how others answer that question.
The first half of this book really took me awhile to get through. There was a lot of philosophy and history. The second half had many stories of individual animals, which I really enjoyed. On the whole I thought it was a really good look at the question of animals going to heaven.
The first half of this book really took me awhile to get through. There was a lot of philosophy and history. The second half had many stories of individual animals, which I really enjoyed. On the whole I thought it was a really good look at the question of animals going to heaven.
September 26, 2010
This was a good book because it relates to life and how man is similar to animals in many ways. This took me a while to read because i had to understand everything i was reading. Parts of the book really made me think about our life. Even though it has a dog on the cover it is not really about just dogs, it has many many animals. This is a book that if you wanted to know about how we are like animals or want some history then this is a good book for you.
March 14, 2013
This is the most comprehensive book about the history of animals across spiritual traditions from Stone Age humans to the present day, across cultures, religions, and the ages. It is immensely readable and enjoyable and is a fantastic guidebook to the shifting roles of animals in spiritual systems codified by humans.
August 17, 2013
The Divine Life of Animals speaks to our age old questions regarding what and why something seems off here in our earthly experience, and speaks to our longing to "get back into the garden". The author delves deeply into the experience we share here on earth with other creatures and the earth itself.
October 22, 2010
This is an excellent book on the souls of animals. There is a great deal of information included in an extremely readable form. The book explores the question of what happens to animals after death.
I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in animals and the after-life.
I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in animals and the after-life.
May 18, 2011
Not at all what I expected when I purchased the book. It was interesting, but was a little "deeper" than I had anticipated. And it ended up not being quite what I was looking for. However, it did give me a lot to think about, and perhaps I will reread it at a later date and get more into it.
Read
July 14, 2010I really needed to read this book after losing my beloved dog of almost 15 years.
January 23, 2011
Parts of this are very good, but other parts don't measure up. Some interesting observations about how in other cultures (especially "primitive" ones) animals are seen as fellow souls.
July 2, 2012
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March 11, 2015
Informative
Will have to read it again to fully digest the information and also make sure I didn't miss anything. Very good.
Will have to read it again to fully digest the information and also make sure I didn't miss anything. Very good.
March 1, 2020
Not at all what I expected...I second Joe Winn's review from 2014
January 13, 2015
A little too scientific for me
November 6, 2014
Could not finish the book!
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews