I need some feedback on how Christians should feel about blood transfusions.

According to Jehovah's Witnesses, if one accepts blood from another person, they lose their eternal life. There are even scriptures that they quote:

Genesis 9:4 "But flesh (meat) with...blood...ye shall not eat"
Leviticus 17:12-14 "...No soul of you shall eat blood...whosoever eateth it shall be cut off"
Acts 15:29 "That ye abstain...from blood..."
Acts 21:25 "...Gentiles...keep themselves from things offered to idols and from blood..."

The faith group once interpreted "eating" of blood in its most general form to include accepting "transfusion of whole blood, packed [red blood cells] RBCs, and plasma, as well as [white blood cells] WBC and platelet administration." L.C. Cotton, associate director of Jehovah's Witnesses hospital information services, said: "We feel that the Bible clearly indicates that blood is sacred and it is not to be used for human consumption. Though it doesn't discuss it in medical terms, Jehovah's Witnesses feel that would preclude the acceptance of it in a blood transfusion." 18 Essentially all other Christian and Jewish faith groups interpret these same passages as referring to dietary laws; i.e. to the actual eating of meat containing blood.

Witnesses are also urged to "discontinue their chemotherapy treatments when platelet transfusions are needed." 2 Because Witnesses believe that any blood that leaves the body must be destroyed, they do not approve of an individual storing his own blood for a later auto-transfusion. 3

There appears to be a significant movement within the medical community to minimize or eliminate blood transfusions during surgery. 8,9,10

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We are doing bioethics studies in a class and this is one of the topics that we have to write a paper on. I would like to know the Christian view of this.

Thanks Friends, and God Bless!!

I believe that the Jehovah's Witnesses are wrong on so many othter things that I don't pay that much attention to their interpretation of not eating blood = blood transfusions. I was taught that medical science is a gift from God; because the scripture says that by His stripes we were (are) healed & there are supposed to be a corresponding number of branches in the medical sciences as there were stripes on Jesus' back.

I will try & give a breif explination of some of my other problems with the Jehovah's Witness doctrine, then I will tell you my own interpretation of the blood transfusion rule.

Jehovah's Witnesses have a few doctrins that I do not agree with - the 1st is the fact that they call Jesus Christ - Micheal the Archangel; a created being & they also deny the deity of the Holy Spirit saying that it (not He) is God's "active force" - in effect giving the Holy Spirit as much will as lets say the wind.

It will take a while to look up all the passages that I use to refute that doctrine but suffice it to say that the scripture says in Isaiah that God created the universe by Himself & in John & Colossians the scripure says that Jesus Created everything that was created & without him was not anything made that was made - thus making him part & parcel of the Father because He was with Him in the creation while God was doing it by Himself. One of the best scriptures that say the Holy Spirit is God is in Acts chapter 5 - the story goes that when Annanias & his wife conspired to lie to the Apostles, saying that they were giving their all, but in truth they were'nt that Peter said that when they lied to the Holy Spirit that they lied to God.

Jehovah's Witnesses have this funny doctrine about how Jesus wasn't crucified on a cross (how do you suppose we get the word cross? Crux - crucifix - crucified - cross is all the same idea - an "x" or a "t") but rather a stake (with both hands fastened over him by a single nail) - but even in their own version (the New World Translatioin) doubting Thomas said "I won't believe untill I see the wounds in his hands (plural) that was made by the nails (plural)."

Jehovah's Witnesses also have a funny doctrine that says don't celebrate any holidays or birthdays but the scripture in Romans chapter 14 says that it is not the church's job to tell us what holidays to observe.

Now I am personnaly not very inclined to give a blood transfusion to someone else (don't get me wrong, I woulnd't even hesitate to give one if a family member needed it & I was compatable) because of a particular way I interpret a particular scripture - the one in Genesis that says that the life of the soul is in the blood & when anything dies the blood is the Lord's - & that He will require the blood at the hand of man. That tells me that my blood is important to God & he doesn't want me to waste it or try to profit from it because I am accountable to God for every drop of it that I have. Now if I happened to find out that someone needed or could use my blood in particular I would probably give it because Jesus while on the sabbath healed & said it is good to do good. But personally I don't think that going to the blood bank for extra money is an option; similar to my interpretation about working on the sabbath - if I have to do it I can't get paid, it has to be from the kindness of my heart - see what I mean? As far as Accepting a blood transfusion from someone else - I am not 100% convinced either way wether it is right or wrong I guess if & when I am faced with that situation I will pray about it but I would never deny my children from having one for religious reasons, although there is a small possibility that I may decide to deny my own.

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