Bestiary
Sir: 'The New Testament itself says no- thing either for or against' the idea that animals cannot go to heaven, wrote Celia Haddon (Letters, 19 November).
But in Acts x, 11, Peter saw a great sheet comes down from heaven 'wherein were all manner of fourfooted beasts of the earth and wild beasts and creeping things and fowls of the air'.
As for St John the Divine in the Apo- calypse: 'in the midst of the throne and round about the throne were four beasts full of eyes before and behind' (Revela- tions iv, 6). These four beasts were much loved by stained glass and other artists from mediaeval days, right down to John Piper and Evie Hone in our own day.
But we must also remember that it is not our favourite pet, but the presence of God Himself that makes heaven heavenly.
Methuen Clarke
la Kingsley Road, Northampton
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