This is not an exhaustive list of things to abstain from (murder being obvious omission) so why was this unusual list given. It was to prevent stumbling Jewish brothers. This was explained in the Watch Tower 1909 April 15 pp. 116-117 and is the common Christian understanding. The New Catholic Encyclopaedia states;
“These four prohibitions were imposed for the sake of charity and union. As they forbade practices which were held in special abhorrence by all the Jews, their observance was necessary to avoid shocking the Jewish brethren and to make free intercourse between the two classes of Christians possible….
With the disappearance of the Jewish-Christian community of Jerusalem at the time of the rebellion (A.D. 67-70), the question about circumcision and the observance of the Law ceased to be of any importance in the Church, and soon became a dead issue.” (The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume VIII Copyright © 1910 by Robert Appleton Company Online Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. Knight as displayed at http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08537a.htm 17/09/2005)
How do both scholars and Russell reach this conclusion? Firstly, as the Mosaic Law had ceased to apply it does not make sense for Christians to be required to retain only this portion of it. Particularly is this so when considering that these four things are not the only Mosaic rules that a Christian must follow, nor are they the most important ones.
James explained why the four things mentioned at Acts 15:20 were specifically chosen in the very next verse.
Acts 15:19-21
” 1 Hence my decision is not to trouble those from the nations who are turning to God, 20 but to write them to abstain from things polluted by idols and from fornication and from what is strangled and from blood. 21 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. ”
The words of Moses that were read in Synagogues every Sabbath is the passage from Lev 17:1 to 18:27. Leviticus 17 and 18 has the same four requirements, listed in the exact order as that given in Acts 15. These were the compulsory rules for both Israelites and foreigners living in ancient Israel. This is why these four items meant so much to the Judaizers. Hence the Apostles felt abstinence was necessary in order to prevent stumbling within the surrounding Jewish congregations.
Paul specifically states that there is nothing wrong with eating food sacrificed to idols. Paul explains that this prohibition was in order to not stumble others. This was an issue in congregations that were having trouble between Judaizers and Gentiles. The same principal can apply to blood.
Even though the decree at Acts 15 says to abstain from eating food sacrificed to idols Paul makes clear that there is nothing wrong with this practice. He said it was only wrong when it stumbled the brothers, in this case the Judaizers. Acts 15 included food sacrificed to idols, blood and animals strangled because they caused stumbling in the mixed congregations due to their being read “in the Synagogue on every Sabbath”, not because they are offensive to God. This became less of an issue after the destruction of the temple in 70 A.D. and holds no relevance in our era.
Abstaining from blood is never mentioned in any other context in the New Testament. It is never discussed as a reason to shun a brother. Paul does not mention eating blood at 1 Corinthians 5 as a reason to ‘quit mixing’ with a brother, neither does John mention it. In Revelation 21:8 and 1 Corinthians 6 blood is not said to be a reason for not inheriting God’s Kingdom. If avoiding blood was a key requirement of God it would be mentioned alongside sins such as fornication, murder and idolatry that are repeatedly condemned in the New Testament.
