Posted by Cygnus [Cygnus] on November 08, 1999 at 15:53:27 {Nq8EnQ8RVAJlXzGERuiML4bdfUTIaI}:
In Reply to: Vacillating posted by Noggin on November 08, 1999 at 13:37:04:
God's alleged command to Noah is unclearly worded, and could probably be referring to eating the flesh of animals not yet dead.
The Mosaic law ostensibly died with Christ.
The so-called decree in Acts was a reactionary measure and not a formal declaration of doctrine. It mirrored the requirements set forth in Leviticus 17+18 regarding alien residents, and therefore applied to Gentile believers only as a matter of establishing peace amongst a violatile religious community.
To be frank, blood is merely one organ that keeps us alive. The ancients viewed it with extremely high regard as a mystical, life-sustaining substance. Today, we know that blood isn't anything special that doesn't serve a biological purpose. Sure, it's an amazingly complicated fluid that performs so many functions to make life possible, but the concept that God forbids its medical use from one healthy donor to a needful patient is not only extrabiblical, it is inhumane.