are jehovas witnesses against blood transfusions and organ donations?

Question

or is it just a myth that they are?

Answer 1

The bible does discuss human use of blood, but it is silent on the matter of using organs.

Jehovah's Witnesses believe in getting the best medical care available for themselves and their families. Many individuals among Jehovah's Witnesses are themselves physicians and other health care professionals.

It is sad when those who have theological differences with the Witnesses actively work to spread misinformation about their beliefs. The fact is that Jehovah's Witnesses have hundreds of hospital liaison committees around the globe to help advance nonblood medical management technologies and awareness in the medical community.

Jehovah's Witnesses believe that the scriptures demonstrate a clear pattern indicating the sacredness with which Jehovah God (and thus god-fearing humankind) views all creature blood.


Predates Mosaic Law.
For example, over a thousand years before the birth of Moses, the pre-Israel, pre-Jewish, pre-Hebrew man Noah received what the scriptures record as only the second restrictive command on humans (after Garden of Eden's tree):

"Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you; and as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything. Only you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. For your lifeblood I will surely require a reckoning; of every beast I will require it [that is, lifeblood] and of man" (Genesis 9:3-5)


Jewish Law.
Later, God's feeling regarding blood was codified into the Mosaic Law. This part of the Law dealing with blood was unique in that it applied, not just to Israel, but also to non-Jewish foreigners among them. It's also interesting that besides forbidding the consumption of blood, the Law also mandated that it be 'poured out on the ground', not used for any purpose.

"No person among you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger who sojourns among you eat blood. Any man also of the people of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among them, who takes in hunting any beast or bird that may be eaten shall pour out its blood and cover it with dust." (Lev 17:12,13)

By comparison, it's significant that the Law also forbid the consumption of ceremonial animal fat, but that didn't apply to non-Jewish foreigners and it DID allow the fat to be used for other purposes.

"The LORD said to Moses, "Say to the people of Israel, You shall eat no fat, of ox, or sheep, or goat. The fat of an animal that dies of itself, and the fat of one that is torn by beasts, may be put to any other use" (Lev 7:22-24)


Early Christian era.
The Christian era ended the validity of the Mosaic Law, but remember that the restriction on eating blood preceded the Mosaic Law by over a thousand years. Still, does the New Testament indicate that Jehovah God changed his view of blood's sacredness?

"[God] freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses" (Eph 1:6,7)

"[God's] beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins... and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood" (Colossians 1:13-20)

"we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, but should write to them to abstain from the pollutions of idols and from unchastity and from what is strangled and from blood." (Acts 15:19,20)

"For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from unchastity." Acts 15:28,29


Modern times
Some will claim that the bible's command to "abstain" from blood only applies to eating it, and does not apply to the use of blood for other purpose. If that form of respect for blood were common among Christendom, one might wonder then why so many (who ostensibly follow the book of Acts) so happily eat their blood sausage and blood pudding if they truly respect blood according to some limited understanding of Acts 15:20,29. In fact, respect for blood and for Acts and for the Scriptures themselves is too rare among even supposedly god-fearing persons.

An honest review of the Scriptural pattern over the millenia from Noah to the Apostle Paul teaches humans that blood is to be used for a single purpose: acknowledging the Almighty. Otherwise, for centuries the instruction was to simply dispose of it; 'poor it upon the ground'. When Jehovah's Witnesses pursue non-blood medical management, they are working to honor and obey their Creator.


Learn more:
http://watchtower.org/e/hb/
http://watchtower.org/library/vcnb/article_01.htm

Answer 2

OK, obviously you are getting an influx of incorrect information.

As Jehovah's Witnesses, it is true that we abstain from blood transfusions and any combination of it's four main components: plasma, platelets, red blood cells and white blood cells.

However, we have been essential to the development and pioneering use and acceptance of several alternative methods to plasma, such as cauterization, cell saving machines, blood thinners and protein builders as well as fractions (protein derivatives that can be found in such instances as snake anti venom), which are all acceptable to us, depending on what we are comfortable with on a conscious level. Some may be comfortable with these techniques while others may not be.

That being said, we DO NOT AVOID MEDICAL TREATMENT! I have no idea where this myth originated, but it is absolutely false. Witnesses do not "sit around praying" for God to take away our disease, as another falsely asserted, nor do we refuse to get medical attention of any kind. We go to the doctor and hospital like everyone else does. I have the abdominal scars from an emergency surgery I received 2 years ago to attest to it, as do many I know, including my husband and mother.

Additionally, since we do not believe in a fiery hell, the above answer's assertion that a Witness father condemned people to hell is laughable at best. This kind of rumour and supposition is exactly why people think we have no respect for life.

As for organ donations, we do not abstain from them as we do from blood. It is up to the individual person to accept or deny a transplant, just as it is the person's decision to utilize alternative treatments.

I encourage you to visit our only official website at www.watchtower.org if you are interested in any of the medical alternatives that are available.

I would also like to mention that there are an increasing number of people around the globe who are utilizing blood transfusion alternatives due to statistics showing that people still die after transfusions, often from infections, and that the recovery time for bloodless patients is significantly lower than for those who receive blood.

:0) Thank you for your honest question.

Answer 3

Christians are commanded to 'abstain from blood'

Acts 15:28,29: ''The holy spirit and we ourselves have favored adding no further burden to you, except these necessary things, to keep abstaining from things sacrificed
to idols and from blood and from things strangled [or, killed without draining their blood] and from fornication. If you carefully keep yourselves from these things, you will prosper. Good health to you!'' ( There the eating of blood is equated with idolatry and fornication, things that we should not want to engage in.)

Is 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? (Acts15:29) 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?

Jehovah's Witnesses accept alternatives to blood transfusion. Over the past six years, Hospital Liaison Committees for Jehovah's Witnesses worldwide have distributed tens of thousands of copies of the video program Transfusion-Alternative strategies-Simple, safe, Effective in some 25 languages to those within the medical community.
The program shows world-renowned physicans discussing effective strategies currently used to treat patients without blood tranfusions. People are taking note. For example, after viewing the program in late 2001, the National Blood Service(NBS) in the United Kingdom sent a letter with a copy of this video to all blood-bank managers and consultant hematologists throughout the country. They were encouraged to watch the program because of increasing recognition that one of the aims of good clinical care is to avoid blood transfusion wherever possible. The letter acknowledged that the general message in the video is praiseworthy and is one the nbs strongly supports.

I'll have to get back with you on organ donations and do some futher research.

Answer 4

I was just going to let this slide by, until I read the answer from rotc909...which is a blatant lie. No, we do not receive blood transfusions, as for organs that depends, I think...but we certainly DO receive medical treatment! Because of our stance on blood, there have been many beneficial medical advances that not only benefit us, but all of mankind as well. We go to doctors, dentists, whatever we need. We also view life as precious and will do whatever we need to do to save one, unless it violates God's commands. Please, before anyone makes up whatever falsehood they choose, find out the real facts first. That is such an ugly thing to do, to spout lies as if they were true...and maybe if one learned the truth, they would benefit! You can go to our official website and research this info for yourselves, and please do this before you believe out right lies.

http://www.watchtower.org/library/hb/article_00.htm#_top_

http://www.watchtower.org/

and as for being a "real money maker" we give Bible studies for free, and publications for free, although I personally make donations for the literature to help offset the cost of publishing them and shipping them, but that is by choice. We will accept donations, but I have never asked anyone to pay for any literature that I have placed. For accurate information please visit our official website,( linked above) or find out from one of Jehovah's (active) Witnesses. You can call any Kingdom Hall worldwide, and get accurate information as well.

Answer 5

A true story from my days as an ambulance driver...

A child at a day-care center climbed onto the back of a chair and tumbled through a plate-glass window. My partner and I were eating lunch less that a block away and arrived on-scene in less than a minute. The child had severed a brachial artery in one arm and a femoral artery in the opposite leg. I used two tourniquets to stop the arterial bleeding and direct pressure for the rest and we raced for the hospital. The local police escorted us, leap-frogging ahead to totally block each intersection so we didn't even have to slow down. At the hospital, two surgeons were already set-up and immediately began emergency surgery. The child was typed and cross-matched for an immediate transfusion, pending parental permission.

When the father arrived he burst into the surgery and punched the doctor square in the face, for damning his child to an eternity in Hell. No transfusion had been given, but the hysterical father still set about destroying every piece of medical equipment he could get his hands on. When the police finally arrived, the doctor was backed into a corner, defending himself with a scapel while the father tried to batter him with a small oxygen cylinder. The cops arrested the Jehovah's Witness father who was completely obsessed with blood transfusions and refused to believe none had been given. "If you haven't given my daughter a transfusion, then why isn't she dead yet?" The first surgeon was too shaken to continue, so another was brought in. A Policeman was dispatched to race code-three across town to get a judge's signature on a document that would allow the doctors to proceed without the father's permission. By the time he radioed back that he had the required signature, the child was dead. ....murdered by her own father's ignorant Christian superstitions.

Answer 6

Jehovah's Witnesses don't take blood transfusions because the Bible says that we must abstain from blood.

"Only flesh with its soul—its blood—YOU must not eat." -- Genesis 9:4

"Hence my decision is not to trouble those from the nations who are turning to God, but to write them to abstain from things polluted by idols and from fornication and from what is strangled and from blood. For from ancient times Moses has had in city after city those who preach him, because he is read aloud in the synagogues on every sabbath." -- Acts 17:19-21

They do not feel that the Bible comments directly on organ transplants; hence, decisions regarding them must be made by the individual Witness. It's a conscious decision.


For more information go to:
http://www.watchtower.org/library/hb/article_01.htm
http://www.watchtower.org/library/hb/article_02.htm
http://www.watchtower.org/library/g/2000/1/8/article_02.htm
http://www.watchtower.org/library/g/2003/12/8/article_01.htm
http://www.watchtower.org/library/hb/article_03.htm
http://www.watchtower.org/library/hb/article_05.htm
http://www.watchtower.org/e/vcnb/article_01.htm
http://www.jw-media.org/edu_videos/vcae_e.htm

Answer 7

Yes against blood transfusions, But the organ part is tricky before it was prohibited and then I guess one of the higher ups needed a organ , so they changed it( how shocking). They can have them through this process I forgot what it is called where they claim no blood (What???)

Answer 8

people were vegetarian prior to Noah's flood
afterwards God gave them permission to eat animals but to 'not eat the blood of strangled animals'

JW interpret blood transfusions and organ transplants as eating blood and breaking this law

It is important to follow your concience and I do not believe they would interfere with someone else doing so...I think very very few Bible translators or theologians thru history would agree that this is the intent of that law and would not agree it is 'eating'
However following your concience is very important and I respect that.

the prohibition against eating blood in fact is an interesting one, it shows Jesus made himself a scandal in a sense, a stumbling block
"unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood you will have no life in you"

Answer 9

not a myth - I've worked with several Jehovah's Witnesses, and my sister's a nurse...

they believe that your blood/organs, because they give you life (which is from Jehovah), are sacred, but as soon as it's been removed from your body, and is no longer an active part of that life process, they are made profane (no longer sacred) and so it would be wrong in a very big way to re-introduce them to your body.

Answer 10

I know that they do not allow blood transfusions; but I don't know for certain if that prohibition extends to organ transplants. (it may, I just don't know for sure)

Answer 11

Its not a myth, they don't believe in blood transfusions or organ dontations.