ARE BLOOD TRANSFUSIONS FORBIDEN
BY GOD?
"But flesh with
the life thereof, which Is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat."—Ge 9:4
THIS and other similar texts of Scripture are being
used by some In an effort to prove that donating blood to save another’s life, or
receiving a transfusion of blood, Is forbidden by God and a sin So gross as to result In
eternal death. Are we justified In placing such an interpretation upon the divine
injunction against eating or drinking the blood
of lower animals?
The science of transferring blood
from one human being to another in order to save life was not known in ancient times.
Obviously, then, there is no direct reference to it in the Word of God; So our conclusions
as to whether or not it can properly be placed in the same category, from God’s
standpoint, as the assimilation of the blood of beasts through the digestive organs must
be based wholly upon the principles Involved rather than direct statements of the Bible.
What common factors are Involved in drinking the
blood of lower animals and the medical science of blood transfusion? So far as we are able
to see, there is only one, which is the word blood. Apart from this, the two practices
have nothing whatsoever in common.
God forbade his ancient people to drink the
blood of lower animals. It Is human blood that is used In the science of blood
transfusion.
Drinking the blood of lower animals necessitates
their death. Blood transfusions do not require the death of those who donate their blood.
The life- sustaining vitamins derived from
drinking blood reach the system through the digestive organs, the remaining elements being
eliminated from the body as waste; thus the blood, as such, is destroyed.
In transfusions the blood of the donor is
channeled directly into the bloodstream of the patient.
Thus we see that there is no similarity at all
between the ancient custom of drinking blood, which was forbidden by the Lord, and the
modern science of blood transfusion. Therefore, only by being definitely misapplied can
the Scriptures be construed to forbid deriving benefit from this very humane application
of medical science. No one should permit such a flagrant misapplic ation of God’s
commands to deter him from receiving the benefits of blood transfusion through fear of
disobeying God and of being 8entenced to the "second death."
THE BLOOD OF ATONEMENT
In Leviticus 17:10,11 we read: "And
whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among
you, that eateth any manner of blood; I will even set my face against that soul that
eateth blood, and will cut him off from among his people. For the life of the flesh is in
the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls:
for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul." The expression, "any
manner of blood," cannot be construed to include human blood, for human blood was not
offered on altars by Israel.
The "atonement" made by the blood of
animals was of a typical nature only and pointed forward to the atonement which would be
made for Adam and his race by Jesus’ blood. "Almost all things are by the Law
purged by blood," we read, "and without shedding of blood is no remission, It
was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with
these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than
these."—Heb 9:22,23 The "blood of bulls and goats" did not actually
take away the sins of the Israelites, but God used those sacrifices to point forward to
the shedding of Jesus’ blood; So he attached a great sacredness to animal blood, and
for this reason did not want the Israelites to consider It common, or as ordinary food.
This viewpoint of the typical blood is used by Paul to teach a lesson. Speaking of those
who, having come to a knowledge of the truth and accepted the provisions of God’s
grace through Christ, and willfully turn against the Lord, the apostle said, "Of how
much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot
the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified,
an unholy thing?"—Heb 10:29
Since Jehovah wants his people to consider the
blood of Jesus as sacred and holy, It Is understandable why he limited the use of animal
blood to picture the real blood of atonement. With the Israelites it was part of a school
of experience designed to lead them to Christ. But this could not be construed in the
remotest sense to be related to the modern medical science of blood transfusion.
Symbolically speaking, It is essential to
"drink" the blood which was prefigured by those typical sacrifices, the blood,
that Is, of Jesus. Jesus said, "Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink
his blood, ye have no life in you." (John 6:53) In non symbolic language this simply
means that in order to have everlasting life, either by faith now, or actually In the age
to come, it is essential to accept Christ and his sacrificial work on our behalf—to
recognize that he died for our sins and for all mankind, including Adam. But this
acceptance of Christ Is wholly unrelated to blood transfusion as now practiced In the
medical world.
HEATHEN CUSTOMS BANNED
A problem was presented to Jewish Christians In
the Early Church when Gentile converts began to associate with them. These Gentiles were
sincere In their acceptance of Christ, but seemingly In many cases their Christian faIth
was merely superimposed upon their forms of heathen worship, many of which were repugnant
to Jewish believers, and some even licentious. Certain Jewish teachers in the church
thought to discipline their Gentile brethren by insisting that they obey the ordinances of
the Law, such as circumcision The apostles, and others more mature in the faith, met in
conference at Jerusalem to decide what should be done about this problem. In view of the
circumstances, they agreed on a minimum requirement of Gentile converts—they were to
"abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and
from fornication." (Acts 15:29) Fornication Is unequivocally condemned In the
Scriptures.
The idolatrous worship of the heathen of that
day included feasting on the meats which had been offered to Idols, and fornication.
Partaking of blood could easily have been associated with these revelries. The immature
Gentile Christian would see no wrong in these things, but to bring them into the church
would have been disastrous; So the apostles wisely insisted that they abstain from them.
However, these instructions to Gentile believers in the Early Church have no bearing
whatever on the present- day medical science of blood transfusion.
The Watchtower, endeavors to prove that the
divine injunction against drinking blood includes human blood. They cite the case of
David, who refused to drink the water secured for him by three men at the risk of their
lives. David said, "My God forbid it me, that I should do this thing: shall I drink
the blood of these men that have put their lives in jeopardy?
For with the jeopardy of their lives they.
brought it."—1Ch 11:17- 19
Here David is speaking symbolically. Instead of
drinking the water secured at the risk of life, he poured It "out to the Lord."
As David reasoned It, the water represented the blood of his benefactors, and this, he
thought, should be offered to the Lord rather than to accept the sacrifice on his own
behalf. There is no relationship here whatever to God’s command not to drink the
blood of lower animals, and certainly It Is wholly unrelated to blood transfusion.
If you have an opportunity to donate your blood
to save the life of a relative or friend, or a brother In Christ, do not hesitate thus to
serve. Or If your doctor says that blood transfusion will save your life, or the life of
your Child by all means take advantage of this modern blessing.
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