Blood transfusion

[Enoch365]

According to The Church of Ethiopia (Tewahdo Faith) of the Holy Covenant, Our human body that constitutes the physical and the mental, i.e., the flesh and the soul together with the spirit that is of the Holy Spirit, are all made by and emanated from God respectively. As such, they are the property of God Himself, and are His Gifts to the individual person. God brought them to this world, gave them the potential to live and finally takes them back out of this world. No one, even our individual self, has the sole right on our individual self, late alone the monopoly, to dispose of even one of these components or part thereof of his/her own being except the Divine Creator, the Life-Giver and the Ultimate Appropriator Himself.

So, based on the foregoing premise, for the Ethiopian Faithful Believer to involve himself/herself in blood donation or transfusion, i.e., to give one's blood or to receive another's is just like implicating oneself in a commission of suicide, which act is regarded as a grave sin because of the belief that provides that the individual has no right to dispose of any part of his/her physical body or life.

It is only The Incarnate God, Jesus Christ, Who gave His Flesh in the sign of the Bread to be eaten, and His Blood in the symbol of the Wine to be drunk, by the human believers for the absolution of their sin, for the purification of their soul and for the invigoration of their everlasting life. As a result, transfusion is not acceptable in our Ethiopian Faith.

However, such stance of our Faith does not and should not jeopardize the conviction of sacrificing oneself to the extent of not only donating one's blood for transfusion, but also laying down one's life for the salvation and sake of the cause of his/her Faith of the Holy Covenant and/or of the sacred human cause.

Although transfusion is publicly accepted and carried out officially in Ethiopia, especially after the establishment of Ethiopian Red Cross, a branch of the International Red Cross.

Do you support that or not?

[YoungLink]

John 15:13 says Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
So I see no problem with giving blood.

[Duane Morse]

No, I do not.
Because Jesus said:
John 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

If a man can give his life (basically all of his blood and every bone and organ) to save another, then a man can also give a little of his blood to do the same. Or an organ, for that matter.

The Church of Ethiopia has a man-made doctrine that is not based on anything Biblical.
(I did notice that no scriptures were provided to support this doctrine/premise)

If you have some scripture to support it, now would be a good time to present it.

[Bethany67]

I'm a regular blood donor and proud to be so; it's an act of love and in no way contrary to scripture, despite what groups like the Ethiopian church or the JWs say.

[Realist1981]

According to The Church of Ethiopia (Tewahdo Faith) of the Holy Covenant, Our human body that constitutes the physical and the mental, i.e., the flesh and the soul together with the spirit that is of the Holy Spirit, are all made by and emanated from God respectively. As such, they are the property of God Himself, and are His Gifts to the individual person. God brought them to this world, gave them the potential to live and finally takes them back out of this world. No one, even our individual self, has the sole right on our individual self, late alone the monopoly, to dispose of even one of these components or part thereof of his/her own being except the Divine Creator, the Life-Giver and the Ultimate Appropriator Himself.
So, based on the foregoing premise, for the Ethiopian Faithful Believer to involve himself/herself in blood donation or transfusion, i.e., to give one's blood or to receive another's is just like implicating oneself in a commission of suicide, which act is regarded as a grave sin because of the belief that provides that the individual has no right to dispose of any part of his/her physical body or life.
It is only The Incarnate God, Jesus Christ, Who gave His Flesh in the sign of the Bread to be eaten, and His Blood in the symbol of the Wine to be drunk, by the human believers for the absolution of their sin, for the purification of their soul and for the invigoration of their everlasting life. As a result, transfusion is not acceptable in our Ethiopian Faith.
However, such stance of our Faith does not and should not jeopardize the conviction of sacrificing oneself to the extent of not only donating one's blood for transfusion, but also laying down one's life for the salvation and sake of the cause of his/her Faith of the Holy Covenant and/or of the sacred human cause.
Although transfusion is publicly accepted and carried out officially in Ethiopia, especially after the establishment of Ethiopian Red Cross, a branch of the International Red Cross.

Do you support that or not?

Is it Lawful to heal on the sabbath?


Matt 12:
9Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, 10and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, they asked him, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?" 11He said to them, "If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? 12How much more valuable is a man than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath."


The Church of Ethopia of the Holy Covenant needs to get away from Pharisaic doctrine because that's what it boils down to. It's either that or someone has a serious phobia of needles and wanted to invent rules and stipulations that say you don't have to give blood (JK , I hate needles so I dread when I have to give blood)

[Yattara]

I don't agree with the OP either.

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'There is no commandment greater than these." Mark 12:30-31

Giving blood or plasma, as I do these days, is for me a way to show my love for my neighbours, especially since I don't have any say in who receives it.

[HisLeast]

So, based on the foregoing premise, for the Ethiopian Faithful Believer to involve himself/herself in blood donation or transfusion, i.e., to give one's blood or to receive another's is just like implicating oneself in a commission of suicide, which act is regarded as a grave sin because of the belief that provides that the individual has no right to dispose of any part of his/her physical body or life.

JUST like suicide... except neither party dies.
JUST like suicide... except the action saves the life of another, instead of taking the life of one.
JUST like suicide... except not selfish.
JUST like suicide... except not an escape.

If you can dispose of NO part of your body on your own, then what do you do with your finger and toenail clippings? Are these not gifts "made by and emanated from God respectively"? What about the skin cells you shed daily. What about spitting or drooling? Does not the saliva belong to the Lord as well? What about mucous buildup in your nose and ears? Is it also a sin to give our hair to provide wigs for cancer survivors?

How much of my soul do I lose from a bad cut?
Do hemophiliacs have a substandard soul?
Does sickle-cell anemia make it harder to attain salvation?

[Richard H]

Scripture defines “blood” in terms of guilt and innocence. It is a symbol of such which is unmistakable.

Scripture uses symbolism to illustrate the intent.
Jesus said:
And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.

And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
Mat 5:28,29
(Don’t try this at home)

He certainly was speaking in metaphor, but one can understand that righteousness is more important members of one’s own body.

Then said Jesus unto them, I will ask you one thing; Is it lawful on the sabbath days to do good, or to do evil? to save life, or to destroy it?
Luke 6:9

It is ALWAYS good to do good.

Here's some things to concider:
The average adult has about five liters of blood living inside of their body
Blood cells are made in the bone marrow, the soft, spongy material in the center of the bones that produces about 95 percent of the body's blood cells.


Blood carries to the body the following:

• nourishment
• electrolytes
• hormones
• vitamins
• antibodies
• heat
• oxygen

Blood carries away from the body the following:

• waste matter
• carbon dioxide

Blood is cleaned by the kidneys to remove the toxins collected from throughout the body.

The lymph nodes, spleen, and liver help regulate the production, destruction, and differentiation (developing a specific function) of cells.

Excess blood is also removed by salivary glands (saliva and mucus)

Red blood cells have a life span of about 4 months.
Everyday new ones are created as old ones are eliminated.


Donating blood is doing good by helping to save a human life.

[Enoch365]

Suicide is against God. It's because you don't own your body. The flesh and the soul together with the spirit that is of the Holy Spirit, are all made by and emanated from God respectively. As such, they are the property of God Himself, and are His Gifts to the individual person. God brought them to this world, gave them the potential to live and finally takes them back out of this world. No one, even our individual self, has the sole right on our individual self, late alone the monopoly, to dispose of even one of these components or part thereof of his/her own being except the Divine Creator, the Life-Giver and the Ultimate Appropriator Himself.

[HisLeast]

Suicide is against God. It's because you don't own your body. The flesh and the soul together with the spirit that is of the Holy Spirit, are all made by and emanated from God respectively. As such, they are the property of God Himself, and are His Gifts to the individual person. God brought them to this world, gave them the potential to live and finally takes them back out of this world. No one, even our individual self, has the sole right on our individual self, late alone the monopoly, to dispose of even one of these components or part thereof of his/her own being except the Divine Creator, the Life-Giver and the Ultimate Appropriator Himself.

If you can dispose of NO part of your body on your own, then what do you do with your finger and toenail clippings? Are these not gifts "made by and emanated from God respectively"? What about the skin cells you shed daily. What about spitting or drooling? Does not the saliva belong to the Lord as well? What about mucous buildup in your nose and ears? Is it also a sin to give our hair to provide wigs for cancer survivors?

How much of my soul do I lose from a bad cut?
Do hemophiliacs have a substandard soul?
Does sickle-cell anemia make it harder to attain salvation?

[Richard H]

Suicide is against God. It's because you don't own your body. The flesh and the soul together with the spirit that is of the Holy Spirit, are all made by and emanated from God respectively. As such, they are the property of God Himself, and are His Gifts to the individual person. God brought them to this world, gave them the potential to live and finally takes them back out of this world. No one, even our individual self, has the sole right on our individual self, late alone the monopoly, to dispose of even one of these components or part thereof of his/her own being except the Divine Creator, the Life-Giver and the Ultimate Appropriator Himself.

So... judging from the replies, you didn't get the confirmation you were looking for.

(Romans 14)
'Something for everyone to consider.

[cdo]

I see nothing wrong with blood transfusions as to save lives or because they simply need blood. Blood is the life !!
I had a blood transfusion in'87. with out it I would have died, I had less than 2 pints in my body.The blood was gushing out as fast as I was taking it in. I was 7 months pregnant and lost my child. he had lost all his blood.We couldn't save my baby.But, God worked miracles on me.Glory !!!
So if anyone needs life through the blood, I pray they will take this as a blessing of our Great God

[IPet2_9]

While I can see the possible controversy in "the life is in the blood", as in the Old Testament, I also see "Love your neighbor as yourself", also in the OT. And "love your neighbor" is pretty clear, whereas what to do with the blod thing is not. And also, Jesus said that all the commandments boil down to "Love God" and "Love your neighbor". So if I ever make out a commandment somehow to mean to NOT love my neighbor, chances are that I'm wrong. So "love your neighbor" has to trump it, in my opinion.

...speaking of which, I'm due time to practice what I preach. Maybe they'll call me soon.

[Yattara]

But donating blood is not equivalent to comitting suicide. Our bodies are God-given, and ultimately we do not have any real authority over them since they are still His property. That doesn't mean we can't do our utmost best to take care of them. With an attitude that giving blood is a sin, we can't help other people maintain their own bodies. For me, that goes against loving my neighbour, and I'd rather answer for donating blood than for not loving my neighbour.

[Richard H]

But donating blood is not equivalent to comitting suicide. Our bodies are God-given, and ultimately we do not have any real authority over them since they are still His property. That doesn't mean we can't do our utmost best to take care of them. With an attitude that giving blood is a sin, we can't help other people maintain their own bodies. For me, that goes against loving my neighbour, and I'd rather answer for donating blood than for not loving my neighbour.

You are right, Yattara.
That's the core of the issue.
It's called giving of oneself.

That was the attitude Christ had when He gave His blood for us.
(something else to think about)

That is why He was born and that is why He died.

Certainly, we can not do likewise (we are not Christ and He has already done it), but we can help save a precious life in the here and now, so that it might be saved by God for eternity.

Richard