.
• Gen 1:27a . . God created man in His own image, in the image of God
He created him;
Man is the only creature on Earth that God made in His own image. No other
critter in the animal kingdom shares that distinction.
Man came into existence as a conscionable being, whereas the animal
kingdom came into existence with no feelings about right and wrong and/or
good and evil, viz: animals are sentient beings but they aren't moral beings.
So then, why does God require the death penalty for an animal when it kills
a human seeing as how animals haven't a clue they've done anything wrong?
Well obviously for safety reasons, for example:
• Ex 21:28-29 . . If an ox gore a man or a woman, that they die: then the ox
shall be surely stoned, and his flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the
ox shall be quit.
. . . But if the ox were wont to push with his horn in time past, and it hath
been testified to his owner, and he hath not kept him in, but that he hath
killed a man or a woman; the ox shall be stoned, and his owner also shall be
put to death.
Murder is a moral issue only because of humanity's image of God. Were it
not for that, people could hunt each other like game animals and mount
their heads as trophies. In other words; murder is only wrong because it's a
sacrilege. James says cursing is wrong for the same reason. (Jas 3:9)
* I don't know if it's possible to convict an animal of sacrilege but to my
knowledge nobody thus far has tried.
_