In order to answer the question, “Do animals have souls?” we have to define what a soul is, biblically. But, to give you a quick and easy answer upfront, no, animals do not have souls – not like humans do.
A soul is the essence of what a person is. It animates us and is our life. It is that ‘thing’ that is living in us. In this sense animals have a soul; that is, they have something that animates them and that is life. But, animals are not made in God’s image and do not have souls as we humans do. We participate in the communicable attributes of God. Animals do not. The communicable attributes of God are those characteristics that belong to God that we can participate in, like love, hate, reason, contemplation, fellowship, etc. God himself experiences these things in the Trinity, and because we’re made in His image (Genesis 1:26), we can experience them as well. We can love, hate, reason, contemplate, have fellowship, etc. But, nothing like that is said of animals. They do not have the communicable attributes.
Furthermore, we continue to live after our physical death when we die, and our souls separate from our bodies (2 Cor. 5:8; 12:2-4). But nothing like that is said of animals. So, no, animals do not have souls – not like humans do, and they cease to exist upon their death.
In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word for soul is נֶפֶשׁ, nephesh. It occurs 754 times. The NASB translates it into English as creature (Gen. 1:20, 24; 9:12), being (Gen. 2:19), life (Gen. 9:4; 1 Kings 1:12; Jer. 39:18), person (Gen. 17;14; 46:22; Lev. 4:2), soul (Gen. 27:4; Lev. 16:31; Job 6:4; Psalm 84:12), feelings (Exodus 23:9), man (Prov. 58:25), heart (Song 5:6), etc.
In the New Testament, the Greek word for soul is ψυχή, psuche. It occurs 102 times in the New Testament. The NASB translates it into English as life (Matthew 2:20; John 10:11; Acts 2: 27; 1 John 3:16), person (Rom. 13:1), soul (Matthew 12:18; Mark 8:36; John 12:27; Hebrews 4:12), etc.
So, though both words in the Old Testament and the New Testament are used in many different contexts and even (in the Old Testament) about animals, they do not possess a soul the same way we people do.
