Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that the Bible prohibits ingesting blood and that Christians should not accept blood transfusions or donate or store their own blood for transfusion. The belief is based on an interpretation of scripture that differs from that of other Christian denominations. It is one of the doctrines for which Jehovah’s Witnesses are most well known.
Watch Tower Society publications teach that the Witnesses’ refusal of transfusions of whole blood or its four primary components—red cells, white cells, platelets and plasma—is a non-negotiable religious stand and that those who respect life as a gift from God do not try to sustain life by taking in blood, even in an emergency. Witnesses are taught that the use of fractions such as albumin, immunoglobulins and hemophiliac preparations are “not absolutely prohibited,” and are instead a matter of personal choice.
The doctrine was introduced in 1945, and has undergone some changes since then. Members of the religion who voluntarily accept a transfusion and are not deemed repentant are regarded as having disassociated themselves from the religion by abandoning its doctrines and are subsequently shunned by members of the organization. Although accepted by the majority of Jehovah’s Witnesses, a minority does not endorse this doctrine.
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Author: Wikipedia
Keywords: Eating blood, Vaccines, Charles Taze Russell, Russell, Charles Tazz Russell, JW, Jehovah, Jehovah's Witness, Jehovah witnesses, Jehovah's witnesses, Watchtower, Watchtower organization, Bible Student movement, Rutherford, Judge Rutherford, Watchtower society, blood transfusions, inoculations
Bible reference(s): Genesis 9:4, Leviticus 17:10, Acts 15:29
Source: This article uses material from the Wikipedia article “Jehovah’s Witnesses and blood transfusions,” which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.
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