Question from Nigeria about Eating Blood and Blood Transfusions

Question

I will be delivering a lesson on eating blood and blood transfusion this Sunday and will like you to shed more lights on this.

Answer

1. The Bible never forbids “ingesting” blood.
2. The Bible does forbid eating blood.
   1. Law of Patriarchs – Genesis 9:3-4
   2. Law of Moses – Leviticus 3:17; 7:26-27; 17:10-14; 19:26; Deuteronomy 12:15-16,23-25; 15:23;1 Samuel 14:31-34
   3. Law of Christ – Acts 15:19-20,28-29; 21:25
3. Is blood transfusion eating blood?
   1. If one eats blood, the blood cells die.
   2. If blood is transfused into one, the blood cells continue to live.
4. Should Blood That Leaves the Body Be Disposed Of? – Leviticus 17:13; Deuteronomy
   12:15-16, 23-24
   1. This is animal blood, not human.
   2. This is a dead creature; thus its life (soul) left with its blood. – Leviticus 17:13-14
   3. It is the Law of Moses. – Galatians 5:1-4
5. The Watchtower (organization that controls Jehovah’s Witnesses) Has Changed Its Position on Blood Transfusions.
   1. The Watchtower formerly forbid all use of blood removed from the body. “Witnesses believe that blood removed from the body should be disposed of, so they do not accept autotransfusion of predeposited blood. Techniques for intraoperative collection or hemodilution that involve blood storage are objectionable to them” (How Can Blood Save Your Life? [1990] 27).
   2. Now they allow some use of blood removed from the body. “… the Center for Bloodless Surgery utilizes alternatives to blood transfusions, including the reinfusion of a patient’s own blood—a technique that some Witnesses may find unobjectionable under certain circumstances” (“The Watchtower,” August 1, 1995. 30)
   3. Has the Word of God changed since 1990? – 1 Peter 1:22-25
6. Does “abstain from … blood” Mean It Is Wrong to Have a Blood Transfusion? – Acts 15:19-20, 28-29
   1. To “abstain from … what is strangled” is not to eat meat from a strangled animal. – cf. Leviticus 19:26
   2. It is wrong to eat meat from a strangled animal because the blood is still in the meat. – Ibid
7. Is Sacrifice the Only Approved Use of Blood? The Bible says NOTHING about the use of human blood.
   1. Old Testament sacrifices were of animal blood. – Hebrews 9:13-14
   2. The New Testament sacrifice is the blood of Christ. -Ibid
   3. Human blood is not equal to animal blood or the blood of Christ.
   4. Jesus authorizes saving life by any unforbidden means. – Mark 3:1-5