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Blood Transfusions, Are They Wrong?

http://reasoningwithjws.blogspot.com/200...-that.html

The Watchtower Society’s requirement that Jehovah’s Witnesses must refuse to accept blood transfusions dates back to 1945. Misinterpreting the Old Testament prohibition against eating animal blood as a routine food item, the Watchtower Society began teaching that receiving a blood transfusion was “eating human blood”. The Watchtower teaches Jehovah’s Witnesses to believe that receiving an infusion of human blood into their body’s circulatory system is the exact same thing as eating or ingesting blood into their body’s digestive system. Please notice the following statements.

The Watchtower, July 1, 1951 p-414 said, “A patient in the hospital maybe fed through the mouth, through the nose, or through the veins. When sugar solutions are given intravenously it is called intravenous feeding. So the hospital’s own terminology recognizes as feeding the process of putting nutrition into one’s system via the veins. Hence the attendant administering the transfusion is feeding the patient through the veins, and the patient receiving it is eating through his veins.”

Reasoning from the Scriptures P.73 Par.1 asks and answers, “Is a transfusion really the same as eating blood? In a hospital, when a patient cannot eat through his mouth, he is fed intravenously. Now, would a person who never put blood into his mouth but who accepted blood by transfusion really be obeying the command to “keep abstaining from . . . blood”? (Acts 15:29) To use a comparison, consider a man who is told by the doctor that he must abstain from alcohol. Would he be obedient if he quit drinking alcohol but had it put directly into his veins?”

At first glance this may sound reasonable, yet this is a faulty analogy. Just stop and think for a moment. What happens when alcohol gets into the stomach? While it is digested, it is not digested the same as food as some may think. Alcohol is first absorbed directly through the stomach and intestinal linings into the blood stream. Then the liver gradually digests it by breaking it down into fatty acids and water.

What happens when blood gets into the stomach? If blood is eaten, the ingested blood enters the body’s digestive system, where the blood would be treated by the body exactly the same as it would treat any food. Just as the food you eat, ingested blood would be completely digested and broken down into proteins, carbohydrates, fats, and waste, which are then either assimilated or excreted by the body.

Now, to deal with the Watchtower's analogy, what happens when alcohol is put directly into the blood stream intravenously? Again, the liver breaks down the alcohol into fatty acids and water. However, what happens to donor blood when it is put directly into your blood stream intravenously? The blood performs its normal functions. It stays in the blood stream and functions as blood! So is the blood digested? NO! Is it broken down and consumed by the body for nourishment? Absolutely Not! This makes it perfectly clear that taking a blood transfusion is not, and cannot be a form of eating the blood because the fact is the blood isn't even digested.

This helps us to see that taking alcohol through the veins or the mouth has the same result. Namely, the alcohol is broken down and digested by the liver. Yet when human blood is transfused into a body’s circulatory system, the transfused human blood remains to be human blood and continues to function as human blood. Therefore the blood's function is actually that of a vital organ like a liver, heart, etc.

The Watchtower uses scriptures that speak about the blood of slaughtered animals to teach Jehovah’s Witnesses that blood is “sacred” because blood is the “symbol of life”. Then, they turn around and require Jehovah’s Witnesses to sacrifice their own “life” to maintain the alleged “sacredness” of a “symbol” of the very thing they are sacrificing — their life.

In other words, Jehovah’s Witnesses refuse to acknowledge that the Watchtower doctrine on blood places a higher value on the SYMBOL (which is blood) than it does on the THING SYMBOLIZED (life). In fact, the Old Testament scriptures permitted the eating of un-bled animal meat which the Bible treats exactly the same as eating animal blood itself. In isolated occasions, when humans needed to eat un-bled meat in order to sustain their own human life, the Mosaic Law permitted such, but then required the eaters to fulfill the requirements of being “unclean” for a few days. (Lev 17:13-16) Thus, the Bible teaches that the sustaining of human life was more “sacred” than maintaining the sacredness of animal blood. To do otherwise would be doing exactly what the Watchtower Society does. It would make the SYMBOL (Blood) more SACRED than the THING SYMBOLIZED (Life).

The Watchtower organization is leading Jehovah’s Witnesses to disobey God and violate the Holy Scriptures in one of the most serious ways possible. Because humans were created in God’s image, (Gen 1:26) God considers human life sacred (Gen 3:8-16, Ex 20:13). A Jehovah’s Witness who sacrifices their SACRED LIFE in order to maintain the sacredness of a SYMBOL of that SACRED LIFE varies little from those who profane life by committing suicide.

Jehovah’s Witness Elders who teach and police this doctrine have unknowingly become accessories to murder for the sake of remaining loyal to an organization. The Bible is clear about how God views murder, and how He deals with murderers. (Ex 21:22-24) This twisting of scripture has lead to the pointless deaths of numerous Jehovah’s Witnesses in the past, and it will continue to lead to the pointless deaths of many more Jehovah’s Witnesses in the future.

Warm Christian Love
Bangalore

I agree with your analysis.

Their analogy breaks down in another way as well.

The bible condemns drunkenness, but when life is at stake it makes an exception.

Do not be deceived: no sexually immoral people, idolaters… [nor] drunkards… will inherit God’s kingdom” (1 Corinthians 6:9-10).

Pro 31:6 Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, And wine unto the bitter in soul

So the WT article says:

"To use a comparison, consider a man who is told by the doctor that he must abstain from alcohol. Would he be obedient if he quit drinking alcohol but had it put directly into his veins?”"

They ignore life and death cases where alcohol might be useful the point of drunkenness in saving lives. In other words all the laws in the bible are in order to preserver life not destroy it just as you rightly recognize Bangalore.

Marvin Shilmer pointed out the ridiculousness of the WT alcohol argument. Alcohol is used to save life where some have drunk the wrong kind of alcohol which is poisoning their systems.


Quote:Standard medical therapy for ethyl glycol (“anti-freeze”) poisoning is, as you point out, intravenous application of alcohol. The reason this medical therapy contradicts Watchtower teaching is because it remains the therapy of choice even in cases of alcoholic patients.

Hence, contrary to Watchtower teaching, a doctor who tells his alcoholic patient that he or she should ‘abstain from alcohol’ is not suggesting that medical intravenous application of alcohol should be avoided when necessary to prevent death. This context blows to smithereens one of the common refrains heard from the typical Jehovah’s Witness Watchtower parrot.

Marvin Shilmer

The Scripture that comes to mind in support of this basic Bible principle is > Matthew 23:16 "Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple is obligated.' 17 You fools and blind men! Which is more important, the gold or the temple that sanctified the gold?"

And this, because God never asked for the sacrifice of human lives in the upholding of His divine Laws > Jeremiah 7:31 "They have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command, and it did not come into My mind.

:2cents:

I've said it before and I'll say it again, in Judaism, where the law is followed to the letter, all but three laws - Idolitary, adultary and murder - are allowed to be broken if the result is to save a life.

We're people who freak out if we eat from a plate a goy might have used, or cut the "wrong" food with the "wrong" knife, who place massive emphisis on being clean and unclean - for goodness sake, Every female member of my family is unclean during her period and for a week afterwards and can't be touched by her husband and is barred from various things during this time.

Yet for all this rule keeping, we still know that saving a life would come first.

Keeping the law (and that's even assuming that one can consider the no-blood rule "law") at the expense of another's life, is, it itself, sin.

What makes you think the goyim have learned to eat off plates and use knives?

Now if a woman has a seven day period, followed by another seven days of being unclean, then the most fertile time of day 12 to 14 has been missed for the sexy bits. Why have the orthodox Jews not died out?

Reminds me of the Shakers, the movement had interesting beliefs, but they died out........ because they did not believe in sex.

Love you Malkah.......your goy sister, who even uses an unclean piggy avatar

vicky

Ah now, think about it.

A woman with a 28 day cycle, 5 days of bleeding, 7 days of being unclean, returns to her husband on day 12 and, after being celebate for 12 days, they, ahem, make up for it just at the time of peak fertility. Works pretty much the same if you consider a woman is at her most fertile 14 days before the first day of her next period no matter whether she has a 25 day, 30 day or 35 day cycle.

It actually works out that there are more babies amongst my more ultra-orthodox relatives. It only doesn't work with a woman who maybe has a shorter cycle, but from what I know, a shorter cycle usually means a shorter period anyway (although not always)

And yes, I'm sure if there were problems the Rabbi would end up sanctioning a shorter time of being "unclean" for the sake of creating life.

In fact, I did know someone, a cousin, who wanted another baby and her husband wasn't so keen, so she decided to become suddenly ultra-pious and make her husaband wait. Her husband was wise to those few fertile days and was being a bit awkward. But when he was denied her for 12 days each month, well, lets just say his urges overrode his desire for no further children. 12 months later she had her new baby.

Love you too piglet. Remember, there is no jew and gentile in messiah, so I would happily eat off your plates since you are a woman of God. (providing you put tasty food on them of course.....)

Here are some of Marvin Shilmer's articles regarding the blood issue.

http://marvinshilmer.blogspot.com/2010/0...-noah.html

http://marvinshilmer.blogspot.com/2010/0...istic.html

http://marvinshilmer.blogspot.com/2010/0...crile.html

http://marvinshilmer.blogspot.com/2010/0...facts.html

Warm Christian Love
Bangalore

First of all the bible only makes the blood the symbol for your life when your life has ended. If you are alive and cut yourself the blood only means you've been hurt.

BUT we can suffer for others....

Digging

Although you make an interesting point it doesn't hold up to what the bible say's and in the context that it is written.

Acts 15: (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!”)

Firstly i asked myself a simple question!

What is it that the holy spirit instructs us to do?????

True Christians would not want to risk sinning or disobeying what the holy spirit tells us to do so plainly in the bible - Matthew 12:31,32

So if someone said to you or me commit fornication with that girl. Or bow down to that false god or else i will kill you would we in gods eyes be alright to do that to save our own life.

It is up to you how you answer that but my answer would be that i would give up my life.

Matthew 16:25 - For whoever wants to save his soul will lose it; but whoever loses his soul for my sake will find it. 26 For what benefit will it be to a man if he gains the whole world but forfeits his soul? or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 27 For the Son of man is destined to come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then he will recompense each one according to his behavior.

You see if you believe 100% what the bible says then if we give up our soul to adhere to laws and commands we have been given then we will be recompensed according to our behaviour when jesus arrives.

To Jehovah Blood is sacred. That is why jehovahs witnesses view it that way. If they have got it wrong which not one person can conclusively prove at least they showed that gods principals came first before there own lives. Why would someone knock a fellow Christian for doing that.

Here is a little bit of information on blood transfusions can get you loads more:-

Effective and Safe

The introduction of the Time article featured the experience of Henry Jackson, who suffered massive internal hemorrhaging that drained 90 percent of his blood and dropped his hemoglobin level to a life-threatening 1.7 grams per deciliter. Jackson was taken to the Englewood Hospital from another New Jersey hospital, which would not provide him treatment without using blood transfusions.

At the Englewood facility, under the care of Dr. Aryeh Shander, Jackson was given "high-potency formulations of iron supplements and vitamins, plus 'industrial doses' of a blood building drug, synthetic erythropoietin, that stimulates the bone marrow to produce red blood cells. Finally, intravenous fluids were administered to goad what little circulation he had left."

Time reported that a few days later, "the first hospital called to ask whether Jackson was dead. With undisguised satisfaction, Shander told them, 'He's not only not dead, but he's well and ready for discharge, and he'll soon be about his usual business.'"

In a television interview on November 28, 1997, Dr. Edwin Deitch, medical director for the bloodless program at University Hospital, Newark, New Jersey, explained how research into bloodless surgery developed: "Jehovah's Witnesses . . . went to a lot of effort to try to find people who would operate without blood. Some of the results of those studies found that they did better than was expected, [than] people who got blood."

Dr. Deitch added: "Blood can turn down the immune system and cause problems with postoperative infection; it can increase the risk of someone having recurring cancer, so blood, although it was good in certain circumstances, turns out to have a bad side." Of bloodless surgery, Dr. Deitch concluded: "It clearly improves patient outcome with less complications, and [it] costs less. And, therefore, it really is a winner in all circumstances."

Thus, as Time said, "more and more patients are clamoring for safer and more effective options than transfusions." The magazine also reported: "According to some estimates, 25% of U.S. transfusions are unnecessary. There are also indications that patients cannot tolerate levels of hemoglobin as high as previously thought and that young people especially have a built-in reserve of blood. . . . [Shander] is convinced that withholding blood is a viable and preferable choice for most patients."

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John 17: 3 This means everlasting life, their taking in knowledge of you, the only true God, and of the one whom you sent forth, Jesus Christ.

"Abstaining" in this context means not to eat or drink blood. Thats all.

Blood is no more sacred then any other part of our bodies. Human life is sacred, not blood. If blood itself was sacred, it would be OK for us to venerate it, making it an idol. The Pagans in Antioch and Syria Acts 15:23, were doing just that in their temple houses. And that included killing and drinking animal blood. The Christians in Antioch were warned not to go there for food or entertainment, as was the custom. vs. 29.

:thumbup:

Yes, because as the scripture says --- Jehovah's prefers sacrifice.....not mercy. :confused:

[/quote]

The problem with many Christians Trying, and welcome to the board by the way, is that a great amount of anti-love is justified by this use of logic. Of course the same could be said of all faiths however we have Jesus that firmly placed the love of others and God on equal footing by saying that such informed the whole law and the prophets.

Mat 22:36 "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?"
Mat 22:37 Jesus said to him, "'You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.'
Mat 22:38 This is the greatest and most important commandment.
Mat 22:39 The second is like it: 'You must love your neighbor as yourself.'
Mat 22:40 All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commandments."

Notice how both commandments placed on an equal level concern the love not of oneself but of others other than ourself first and foremost. With this in mind it is better to ask your question this way:

`So if someone said to you or me commit fornication with that girl. Or bow down to that false god or else i will kill you would we in gods eyes be alright to do that to save someone else's life.`

Now that's not so easy to answer.

Now read these verses and see the reason why blood was not to be eaten and why that no longer applies now and didn't even back in Jewish times under certain circumstances.

Lev 17:11 Life is in the blood, and I have given you the blood of animals to sacrifice in place of your own.
Lev 17:12 That's also why I have forbidden you to eat blood.
Lev 17:13 Even if you should hunt and kill a bird or an animal, you must drain out the blood and cover it with soil.
Lev 17:14 The life of every living creature is in its blood. That's why I have forbidden you to eat blood and why I have warned you that anyone who does will no longer belong to my people.
Lev 17:15 If you happen to find a dead animal and eat it, you must take a bath and wash your clothes, but you are still unclean until evening.
Lev 17:16 If you don't take a bath, you will suffer for what you did wrong.

Thank you for your comment Made me do some cool thinking.

There are many alternatives to blood transfusions that are safer, healthier, cheaper and not too complicated to do. If you would like to research them i would encourage you to do it. You will probably have to look at watchtower publicized stuff though.

Acts 15:29b - ''If YOU carefully keep yourselves from these things, YOU will prosper. Good health to YOU!”

As you can see from these three verses
Mat 22:36 "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?"
Mat 22:37 Jesus said to him, "'You must love Jehovah your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.'
Mat 22:38 This is the greatest and most important commandment.

Jesus Taught The greatest and most important commandment is to love Jehovah and make sure you please him and follow his ways.

So if you were to ask me that question?

`So if someone said to you or me commit fornication with that girl. Or bow down to that false god or else i will kill you would we in gods eyes be alright to do that to save someone else's life.?

I would still have to refrain from commiting fornication even if it meant my brother dying. My brother would understand that i could not break Jehovahs Law. Although i would be severely gutted for being in that position thankfully we all have the hope of the resurrection.

All of those Leviticus scriptures are telling you to not consume blood through the mouth which was the only way to ingest something. With the invention of syringes another way became available to consume blood that was not available back then. To say this does not count is like saying blood that goes in our mouth is not as sacred when it goes in our veins.

It is only because people on this board have there own opinion about what consuming blood means so that it fits there view. I'm afraid that
Jehovahs Witnesses dont interpret there own theory on it they just obey what the bible says. I have noticed that JWs get ridiculed for changing things to fit there beliefs sometimes but you will find it is because people really don't want them to be right about anything.

Lev 17:14 The life of every living creature is in its blood. That's why I have forbidden you to eat blood and why I have warned you that anyone who does will no longer belong to my people. - Although this is from the mosaic covenant the command in Acts 15 carries it on to Christians.

Lev 17 :15 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. 16 But if he will not wash them and will not bathe his flesh, he must then answer for his error.- This is to do with unclean meat



`

Hi TryingtToBuildYouUp

Re: "I'm afraid that Jehovahs Witnesses dont interpret there own theory on it they just obey what the bible says."

Is it not true that Jehovah's Witnesses put complete trust in the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses to determine what are and what are not matters of conscience?

:coffeeread:

gogh