IS THE WHALE TILLY GUILTY?

HERE IN FLORIDA (NEAR ORLANDO) WE HAVE A LOT OF INTEREST IN THE KILLING BY THE ORCA (OR KILLER WHALE) OUT AT SEA WORLD.

Some people want the whale “put down” – others want to “Free Tilly”. This does not seem to be going anywhere, because no one wants a killer whale lurking off the Florida coast! Shades of Jaws!

Of course, neither of these groups think of whose money is being “put down” or “set free”!

Is there a biblical (albeit Old Testament) principle involved here? This is a “bull whale.” One of the sources of his value is that he is a stud. Does this passage from Exodus suggest any legal principle that should apply in this case?

If a man’s bull injures the bull of another and it dies, they are to sell the live one and divide both the money and the dead animal equally. However, if it was known that the bull had the habit of goring, yet the owner did not keep it penned up, the owner must pay, animal for animal, and the dead animal will be his. – Exodus 21:35-36

Of course, the trainer he killed was not a bull, but a living human woman.

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This particular orca has killed in the past. Does this make Sea World liable for manslaughter?

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I’d like to hear some of you legal eagles weigh in on this. I think it could be an interesting discussion.

—

Jerry

The Prodigal God: Book Review (2) – Redefining Lostness

Part 1 of this review covered the first 3 of Timothy Keller’s 7 chapters. In those he discussed “The people Around Jesus,” “The Two Lost Sons,” and “Redefining Sin.”

Briefly, he described the two groups around Jesus: tax collectors and sinners on the one hand, and Pharisees and teachers of the Law, on the other. The later were astonished that Jesus was so accepting of the former – and seemed to wonder why they were always coming to Him. The two sons in the parable represented those two groups. One was a “free spirit” who wanted nothing to do with his father – except his money. The other was a “buttoned down,” dutiful son who always obeyed the father

Labor Relations – Ephesians 6:5-9

5 Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. 6 Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart.  7 Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men,  8 because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free.

9 And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with Him. – Ephesians 6:5-9

In our culture, these instructions and teaching can apply to labor relations in general. More people today work for someone else than for themselves. Working for someone or employing others creates a special relationship. The Scripture has quite a bit to say about that relationship, from both sides.

Simply Christian by N T Wright – A Review

Many of you will have read C. S. Lewis’ book Mere Christianity. In it this former atheist attempts to make the case for what he called “Mere Christianity” – that is for Christianity itself, as opposed to one of the different “brands” of Christianity.

N. T. Wright, a bishop in the Church of England, attempts to do for the 21st century what C. S. Lewis did for the 20th century in SIMPLY CHRISTIAN: Why Christianity Makes Sense.

An email correspondent recently forwarded information to me about Veritas, a program that began on the campus of Harvard University as a response by a group of students, faculty, and ministers to an emptiness on campus, namely the lack of attention to such ultimate questions as, “What does it mean to be human? Why is there evil and suffering?” Veritas brings outstanding speakers to campuses throughout the USA and around the world.

One of the speakers there (c. a 50 minute lecture plus a part 2 with Questions/Answers) was N. T. Wright speaking about his book at Georgetown University in 2006. I found it very interesting and challenging. You can hear this author lecturing about his book here.

In Part I of this book he explores what he calls

Children & Parents – Ephesians 6:1-4

One of my favorite memories is riding with my granddaughter when she was about three years old. She was in a very talkative mood. Her mother became frustrated with her and asked her to give her voice a rest. She kept talking.

Then she called her by name and said, “Stop talking!” She kept talking.

Finally, I entered the conversation.

I WILL PASS OVER YOU

When I see the blood, I will pass over you. – Exodus 12:13

When the Lord punished Pharaoh’s intransigence with the tenth plague, Israel escaped the plague.

Earlier, after the first three plagues, Israel was not afflicted while Egypt suffered. God spared them with no action required on their part.

Now, God asks something of them before He will pass over them. He gave them a sacrifice of blood

The Prodigal God: Book Review (1)

The God Whose Gifts of Grace Are Prodigal

My daughter gave me several books from my “wish list” for my recent birthday. One of them is one of the most delightful little books I have read in quite a while. It is Timothy Keller’s THE PRODIGAL GOD: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith (New York: Dutton, a member of the Penguin Group, USA, copyright 2008), 139 pages inc. notes.

Keller points out that prodigal does not mean “wayward.” Instead, it means “recklessly extravagant” or “having spent everything.” While the younger son in Jesus Parable was certainly “recklessly extravagant” and “spent everything,” Keller’s focus is on God’s extravagant grace as revealed in the parable (Luke 15:11-32).

Mr. Keller prefers to call this parable,

Thank You!

The week just ended provided a couple of milestones for this blog. A week shy of eight months after beginning, the cumulative number of “hits” reached 10,000. (We reached 1,000 hits on October 12, 2009. In other words, it took almost as long to get to 1,000 as it took to go from 1 to 10 thousand.)

The other milestone was that last week was the first time we have averaged over 100 daily hits for a week. The previous high was an average of a little over 85 hits per day for a week back in December.

We have also increased our number of subscribers (who receive an email of each post). We are now at 8 subscribers, plus myself. (I subscribe to keep a check on the host site, to make sure they are doing what they say they will do.)

This was in spite of the wordpress site being “down” for 110 minutes one day last week. The tech people there are not sure what happened, but there was no lasting damage – just not being able to get on the million+ blogs hosted there during that time. If you tried and failed, that is why. Everything was up and running smoothly after the 110 minutes.

Thanks to all who have sent words of encouragement and who visit committedtotruth.wordpress.com on a regular basis. Share this site with your friends!

Yours in His Service

Jerry

Christ and the Church – Ephesians 5:22-33

Most Bibles have “Husbands and Wives” above Ephesians 5:22-31. It is a good text to discuss with husbands and wives – but Paul said at the end of it that he was talking about Christ and His bride, the church.

Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy,

What Does the Bible Say About Divorce?

Note: This question came to me via the Question Box on our congregation’s web-page where I answer the questions.

The words divorce, divorced, or divorces appear appear in 31 verses of the NIV Bible. In addition to that, I have been able to locate another 8 verses that have an equivalent of divorce expressed in different words. Of these 39 verses, 19 are in the Old Testament and 20 are in the New Testament.

HERE IS WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT DIVORCE.