Eating blood and strangled animals

[ferdie]

gomer tree:

You must not be:

1. From Wisconsin, and
2. 50+ years old.

I satisfy the first, but not the second. How those old people swallowed that stuff I’ll never know!

When I said that we eat blood, i didn’t mean raw. We cook the blood with vinigar and withpork or beef. It’s like a beef stew without the tomatoes and potatoes.

 

[Todd_Easton]

Findnmway:

Matt 16 18,
Read on…Verse 28 “…But God has shown me I must not consider any person ritually unclean or defiled.” This tells me he was talking about the vision he has just had. The vision was not about food, but about people.
My brother and sister (both fallen away Catholics) interpret the bible for themselves and this is their argument. I sure hope someone can help on this one. Although eating pork is no big issue for me, I would really like to know what the Church teaches concerning this verse.
Thanks All!

In Romans 14:17, St. Paul says, “the kingdom of God is not food and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit”

In Mark 7:14-22, the Gospel writer says, "And he [Jesus] called the people to him again, and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand: there is nothing outside a man which by going into him can defile him; but the things which come out of a man are what defile him.” And when he had entered the house, and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a man from outside cannot defile him, since it enters, not his heart but his stomach, and so passes on?”** (Thus he declared all foods clean.)** And he said, “What comes out of a man is what defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, fornication, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a man.”

 

[itsjustdave1988]

While the Council of Florence addressed this disciplinary practice, it seems to have already been loosed in St. Augustine’s day, Observe,

St. Augustine:

For, allowing that the apostles did on that occasion require Christians to abstain from the blood of animals, and not to eat of things strangled, they seem to me to have consulted the time in choosing an easy observance that could not be burdensome to any one, and which the Gentiles might have in common with the Israelities, for the sake of the Corner-stone, who makes both one in Himself; while at the same time they would be reminded how the Church of all nations was prefigured by the ark of Noah, when God gave this command,–a type which began to be fulfilled in the time of the apostles by the accession of the Gentiles to the faith. But since the close of that period during which the two walls of the circumcision and the uncircumcision, although united in the Corner-stone, still retained some distinctive peculiarities, and now that the Church has become so entirely Gentile that none who are Outwardly Israelites are to be found in it, no Christian feels bound to abstain from thrushes or small birds because their blood has not been poured out, or from hares because they are killed by a stroke on the neck without shedding their blood. (Reply to Faustus the Manichaean, Bk XXXII, 13)

 

[boppysbud]

Ferdie, are you talking about chocolate meat here?

I would not pay any attention at all to Manolo and his “Iglesia Ni Christo”, they are a non-Christian cult (just like the SDAs and JWs) who denies the existence of the Holy Trinity and think that Jesus Christ was an ordinary human being

Hello Joao, it is nice seeing you here. SDA debate on BeleifNet really gets me down some times.

 

[st_julie]

As Christians we follow Jesus and He said to drink His blood. To follow only the diciplinary mandates of the Acts 15:29 we would have to call ourselves Actors!

st julie

 

[pathurr19]

I am a Filipino catholic and having a hard time explaining the words of the apostles concerning the eating of blood, or of strangled animals ( Acts 15:29). In the Philippines Catholics are allowed to blood. It is a poor country and the poor will eat almost anything just to get by. But according to Iglesia Ni Cristo (Church of Christ founded by Manalo) It is forbidden in the Old testament and also in the New testament. I know that this is a dietary law. But how do I answer that charge? What do they mean by strangled animals? Were these animals eaten or offered to idols?

I was poorly educated about my catholic faith and in my youth, I wondered to Iglesia Ni Cristo, Southern Liberty Baptist, Evangelical Fundamental Church and then back to Catholic Church. One thing that is common about these churches, they love bashing the catholic church, which intrigued me at that time and gave mo the opportunity to study my own church. The books and catholic tracts of Kreeft were very helpful of my return to the catholic church. Pardon my English grammar but I hope you understand my question and I hope that you will answer it too.

I am a Pinoy too. First and foremost, you shouldn’t mingle with INC, jw etc because, well, they are unreal. There have been many wrong things they claim and they, as you said, like to attack RCC. The eating of blood (dinuguan) is wrong as the bible says. But you should always remember that not all RCCs eat blood, not all INCs, JWs, etc stay away from eating them. I have once questioned my faith and inclined to the cheap inc bec my bff is one but found out it’s fake.Read about our faith here at catholic.com to help you.

 

[read_me]

During the time of Noah after the great deluge, what also did God give to Noah and his descendants as food and what did he prohibited them to eat?

Lets read Gen. 9: 1-4 that says,

“Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. The fear and dread of you will fall upon all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air, upon every creature that moves along the ground, and upon all the fish of the sea; they are given into your hands. Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything. But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it.”

God clearly stated to Noah and his descendants which things might be eaten and which should not be eaten. As the creator of all things and the source of what man needs in order to live, God decides which food for man and which is not. In Noah’s time, not only did God give them the herbs or plants as food, but also the animals, the birds, and the fish, or in other words, flesh meat. But again, there was the prohibition of God. He forbade them to eat the blood. And god was so strict on this prohibition that even the meat with blood still in it should not be eaten. And this prohibition continued during the time of the Israelites, Lets read Lev. 7:26-27 that says,

“And wherever you live, you must not eat the blood of any bird or animal. If anyone eats blood, that person must be cut off from his people.’ "”

The Israelites were also prohibited to eat the blood of birds and animals. Anyone among them who would break this law would no longer be considered as among God’s people. Thus, when it comes to food, there are certain kinds that people may consider right, and even good to eat, but to God, it is not. One of them is the animal’s blood.

Why god prohibits the eating of blood
God did not just prohibit his people the eating of blood of animals. He gave the reason for such prohibition, Lets read Deut. 12:22-23 that says,

“Eat them as you would gazelle or deer. Both the ceremonially unclean and the clean may eat. But be sure you do not eat the blood, because the blood is the life, and you must not eat the life with the meat.”

The reason given was that blood is life and therefore, it should not be eaten. No wonder, if someone loses so much blood or runs out of blood, that person dies. God clearly did not give and intend blood to be eaten. As far as God’s decree is concerned, this is not supposed to be consumed as food. If God did not intend blood to be eaten, what then did god reserve blood for? The bible explains for what purpose blood was among God’s chosen people, in this case the Israelites, Lets read Lev. 17:11 that says,

“For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life.”

The purpose for which God intended blood to be used is sacred or holy and not for food.

Lets read also Heb. 9:13-14 that says,

“The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!”

Through the shed blood of our Lord Jesus Christ offered as a sacrifice on the cross, the members of the true church (Acts 20:28) are cleansed and forgiven of their sins and receive the right and privilege to serve god. Thus the blood of animals, since the time of the early people of god, is used for such sacred purpose and should not be eaten. For anyone not to violate God’s prohibition of eating blood, he gives this instruction whenever his people would slaughter animals for food, lets read Lev. 17:12-13 that says,

“Therefore I say to the Israelites, “None of you may eat blood, nor may an alien living among you eat blood.” 'Any Israelite or any alien living among you who hunts any animal or bird that may be eaten must drain out the blood and cover it with earth,”

God’s command is clear that the blood of the animals slaughtered for food should be poured out and be covered with dust. And this is for good measure, because if the blood is poured out on the ground and covered with dust, there is no way one can eat that anymore.

Why should God’s people carefully and strictly observe the prohibition on eating blood? What evil does a person commit when he heats blood? Lets read Lev. 17: 10 that says,

“If any one of the house of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn among them eats any blood, I will set my face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from among his people.”

God is against any person who would violate his prohibition on eating blood. As punishment, anyone among his people who would be found guilty of violating this prohibition will be cut off or will be removed from God’s nation. If one is separated from God’s nation, he is no longer considered as among his people and could no longer hope to receive his promised blessings, including salvation. And this prohibition of eating blood is not only for God’s early people but also, and still is, enforced in the Christian era, lets read Acts 21:25 that says,

“As for the Gentile believers, we have written to them our decision that they should abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality.”

God’s prohibition on eating blood continues in the Christian era. And his prohibition is not only confined to the eating to the eating of blood but includes the eating of strangled animals, whose blood has not been poured out. As pointed out earlier, God said clearly that his servants should not eat the blood, or the life, with the meat. Moreover, included among what God prohibits us to eat are the foods that have been offered to idols. That’s why members of the true church of Christ do not eat blood or any food mixed with blood. We do not also eat foods that have been offered to idols, in much the same way that we do not participate in any feasts or festivals being celebrated in honor of the so called saints or idols.

Concerning these prohibitions on food in the Christian Era, the apostles are not the only ones who prohibit the eating of blood or strangled animals or food that are offered to idols. This is upon instance and inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Lets read Acts 15: 28-29 that says,

“For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements: that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell."”