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(Acts 15:28-29) 28 For the holy spirit and we ourselves have favored adding no further burden to YOU, except these necessary things, 29 to keep abstaining from things sacrificed to idols and from blood and from things strangled and from fornication. If YOU carefully keep yourselves from these things, YOU will prosper. Good health to YOU!”

Do you feel that this Scripture says Blood Transfusions are wrong? Or does it refer primarily to not eating Blood of Animals along with the meat? Would like to hear your thoughts on this.

Warm Christian Love
Bangalore

In full scriptural context, it would seem to be the latter! Ok consider the can of worms well and truly open!!

Agape!

I think Acts 15:28-29 is telling Christians to abstain from eating blood. Taking a blood transfusion is not the same as eating blood.

Deleted.

I believe the Society is way off base with interpreting this verse to mean blood transfusions.

RR

Seeing that Blood Transfusions didn't exist in the first century, I will have to say it's talking about eating blood. :thumbsup:

I doubt anyone disputes that Acts 15:28-29 was understood by the early Christians to mean that they were to keep abstaining from  eating the blood of animals killed for food. However, if taking a blood transfusion was equivalent to eating blood then Acts 15:28-29 would prohibit blood transfusions for Christians. But there is not a shread of evidence to support the notion that taking a blood transfusion is equivalent to eating blood.

The argument by some JW's is that Jehovah is ALL KNOWING, so he knew 2,000 years in advance blood transfusions would be popular. Too bad he didn't use his foreknowledge to see the JW's.

RR

No doubt Jehovah did foresee that blood transfusions would be popular in our day but unless taking a blood transfusion is equivalent to eating blood there is no scriptural basis to forbid them.

Again, the same sad problem; everyone wants the square peg to fit into the round hole...

I guess "abstain" has a different meaning to all arguing against the COMMAND of Holy Spirit! It reinforced the principle that for some unknown (to us) reason, blood is Sacred to the Almighty, and He TELLS us to abstain from it.

Too bad He didn't add another 20 volumes to spell everything out in Elementary School terms! (Now boys & girls- centuries later their will be something called "blood transfusions".........)

Everyone wants to save lives, however, True Christians know that they may have to sacrifice theirs to take a stand for truth.
I was saved by a blood transfusion before coming to know Christ & his Father- I would GLADLY lose my life to stand by what the Spirit says about blood, now!

Mad

Aaaaaaaah, so that explains it.:whistle:

It really does-unless you're looking for the Hidden Bible verses! :P

Mad

Howdy Mad

Re:  "...blood is Sacred to the Almighty,.."

Is this true?  Is not the life that is sacred and the blood represents the life, therefore the stipulation to drain the blood from an animal so as to demonstrate respect for and sacredness of life?

This scripture indicate this...yes?

Leviticus 17:14...

"For the soul of every sort of flesh is its blood by the soul in it. Consequently I said to the sons of Israel: “YOU must not eat the blood of any sort of flesh, because the soul of every sort of flesh is its blood. Anyone eating it will be cut off.”  As for any soul that eats a body [already] dead or something torn by a wild beast, whether a native or an alien resident, he must in that case wash his garments and bathe in water and be unclean until the evening; and he must be clean.  But if he will not wash them and will not bathe his flesh, he must then answer for his error.’”

One of Jehovah's servants could eat blood, as long as the appropriate 'cleansing' took place.

The repeated law in the Greek scripures also applies to this same principle, does it not...namely the pouring out of blood of slaughtered animals?

Christian love,

gogh

What did I MISS- there was NOTHING in that reference that said one could eat blood under ANY circumstance!

"The SOUL of the flesh is in the blood"; the detailed meaning is probably more than just life, since blood alone will not enable one to live. And nothing indicates it's just symbolic of life- you know the other references!
And when the Holy Spirit said to ABSTAIN from blood- you just CAN"T get any plainer without saying: "Don't eat it, don't drink it, don't mix it in with the sauce, and don't take transfusions in the future!"
Mad

Mike, I'm not going to try to "out-cute" you; but I've read about all there is to read on the subject and the watchtower is wrong on the subject of blood transfusions. The way they're jumping around with their hair on fire concerning blood-fractions rules indicates to me that they know they're wrong and are attempting to avoid litigation. Essentially, you can transfuse almost any fraction of blood in any combination except "whole" blood and you're fine. But transfuse all the parts combined and you're going to hell in a handbasket. Jehovah is not an arbitrary God.

The Bible is talking about eating blood. It's the watchtower who's written 20 volumes to defend its turf on blood. To me, it's obvious.

gus