A Significant Problem With Watchtower’s Blood Policy Change (and Other Changes)

PIMO here! Of course, mostly everyone here by now for the most part knows about Watchtower’s recent change when it comes to the medical option for autologous (one’s own) blood as being a personal choice. Does Watchtower not realize how much this change (and other recent changes) compromise their doctrines, and confuse the average PIMI?

Focusing on the blood change, their reasoning for years has been this:

**such collecting, storing, and transfusing of blood directly contradicts what is said in Leviticus and Deuteronomy. Blood is not to be stored; it is to be poured out —returned to God, as it were. Granted, the Mosaic Law is not in force now. Nevertheless, Jehovah’s Witnesses respect the principles God included in it, and they are determined to ‘abstain from blood.’** (The Watchtower, October 15, 2000)

They’ve used Scriptures such as Leviticus 17:13 and Deuteronomy 12:24 as a basis for this conclusion. On what “principles” were they respecting? According to their view, it was that they were respecting that blood represents life, and that storing blood violated that principle.

Consider what Lösch stated in the Governing Body update:

1. He repeats the fact that, according to the Bible, Christians are not under the Law.

2. Therefore, Christians are not obligated to pour out the blood and cover it with dust.

3. The Bible does not comment on the use of one’s own blood in medical and surgical care.

Here is where the problem lies. First, Watchtower’s explanation that those passages about pouring blood because Christ ended the Law conflicts with their current understanding of refusing blood. How?

The Law placed those instructions on pouring out blood because the Israelites couldn’t consume the blood of animals in their diet. Other than for purposes of atonement, the blood has no other use, so on the basis of that same “principle” that JWs hold on to, out of respect for life, they “poured out” or discarded the blood.

For the GB to say that those instructions don’t apply, it cracks their doctrine of blood in general. If Christians aren’t required to “pour out” the blood, can they then consume it in their diet? Are they allowed to use blood for other purposes other than to be discarded? Since Christ is the end of the Law, does that mean that Christians aren’t required to abstain from blood?

This isn’t the first time Watchtower has done something like this. When the changes of toasting were first introduced, I remember many PIMIs questioning it, and some were excited because even they started wondering if this meant that birthdays and holidays would be allowed.

Maybe Watchtower is doing all this intentionally? Setting the members up to be ready for bigger changes, such as now allowing transfusions to be a personal choice, birthday celebrations and holidays as well? Who knows!

What is obvious is that this change is cracking the foundation of their doctrine, and they probably know it considering they still haven’t provided ANY DIRECTION to the congregations on how to proceed with these changes, no updated Blood cards, no updated publications to give them direction.

I didn’t know what to tag this post under lol.