Then Jesus said to them, "I ask you, is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather than to destroy it?
We miss you, Terry. Another great thought-provoking thread. Thanks for the bump, Cameo.
Let's revisit the BLOOD POLICY and see if JESUS refutes JW teaching, Okay?
by Terry 21 Replies latest watchtower medical
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BabaYaga
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cameo-d
To those who believe the blood libel to be true, it is a matter of indifference that Jews are enjoined by their
religion not to commit murder, not to consume blood (Leviticus 3:17, 7:26, 17:10-14; Deuteronomy 12:15-16,
20-24), and to regard child sacrifice with horror (Leviticus 20:2-5; Kings 21:6; Jeremiah 7:31). Blood is not
sacred to Jews. The prohibition in Jewish law against consuming blood is not an affirmation of its magical
properties. Blood sustains life, of course. But the shedding of blood brings no benefit to the slaughterer; it does
not give him access to the divine. The Jews were prohibited from consuming blood precisely to teach them
these truths.
This prohibition amounts not to a sacralisation, but a desacralisation, of blood. It is a repudiation of the pagan
illusion that power is to be secured in the violation of living energy. The sacrificial rituals prescribed by Jewish
law, writes the scholar L.E. Goodman, are extreme only in the chastity of their symbolism, thereby reducing the
frisson of violation to a minimum, taking it out of private hands, limiting its venue and occasions, and thus
weaning Israel away from the notion of propitiation. (4) More broadly, Jewish law puts many obstacles in the
way of Jews who might otherwise be inclined to adopt superstitions regarding the efficacy of blood –
superstitions that were widespread in ancient and medieval times (blood was thought to cure leprosy and
inflammations of the throat, menstrual blood was thought to alleviate gout, etc.).