The Jehovah's Witnesses forbid blood transfusion and quoted a scripture in Acts 15 to support their stance. I read that verse and it just mentioned "blood." Taking into context the entire Bible (esp. the OT), I would have thought that the "blood" refers to animal blood, of which the OT Israelites were commanded not to partake. What specific resources or verses would you provide in this situation?
Yes, the context certainly is the food laws of the OT, which separated the Israelites from the theology and immorality of the Canaanites. (The health benefits were secondary to the real, theological issue.) Some people are eager to look for ways they can be distinct from others. I believe that this is what the Witnesses have done. By superficial study of a passage, which has led to their stand that blood transfusions are sinful, and thus a number of needless deaths, the Witnesses are able to be "one up" on other religious groups.
One resource I would point you to is your own Bible concordance. Do a study of the word "blood," especially in Leviticus and the other legal sections of the O.T. This is the background against which the dispute of Acts 15:29 makes sense. In Lev 17:11, the blood in view is clearly animal blood. Nor is an intravenous transfusion a form of "eating" blood—not to mention the anachronistic insistence on treating this scripture as if it were intended as a modern medicinal principle.
As for Acts 15, the requirement to abstain from drinking blood (a Gentile practice) was advice to Gentile Christians intended to promote harmony with their Jewish-Christian brothers and sisters, who had been conditioned (through Torah) to detest this practice. These were issues of the early Jewish Christians; they are not our issues—unless we find a truly analogous situation and the principles map directly.
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