This ethical question came up recently and I wondered if anyone else has thought about it.
My family had a celebration that featured lamb. The recipe had us roasting it until it was medium rare. So we let it sit for several minutes and then the blood* from it visibly collected on the serving plate. The meat itself was still a bit bloody. I tried to drain mine a bit more but it still had quite a bit of juices in it.
I was speaking with another Christian and the impression I got is that they avoid rare meat because of the blood. I had also thought about the blood when sitting down to dinner. Now, I know eating blood was forbidden for Jews but is it forbidden for Christians and if it is why?
[*Now further research I did indicated that modern store bought meat has very little, if any, actual blood in it, that the red juices in meats is actually water and the protein myoglobin (I am pretty sure on this one, but if I am wrong please do post about it). Okay, that is good to know, but I think this question is still relevant because some food products (like blood sausage and blood pudding) are made with blood.]
There are two verses that seem to be relevant to this question:
18 And He said to them, “Are you so lacking in understanding also? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him, 19 because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and is eliminated?” (Thus He declared all foods clean.) (Mark 7:18-19, NASB, emphasis mine).
Well, that seems pretty clear. The Lord Jesus says all food is clean to eat, for it isn't food that defiles (and later in the passage He indicates its the heart that defiles), but in Acts James says...
19 Therefore it is my judgment that we do not trouble those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles, 20 but that we write to them that they abstain from things contaminated by idols and from fornication and from what is strangled and from blood. (Acts 15:19-20, NASB, emphasis mine).
Hmm, not really sure how to come to a judgement on this. The Lord was pretty clear that food doesn't defile (but rather the heart does), but James seems to indicate that Gentile Christians (and presumably all Christians) shouldn't eat food (doesn't actually mention food, but that seems to be the implication of the passage) that has come from an animal strangled or that has blood in it. So...
Is it a sin to eat food with blood in it or is it not a sin to eat food with blood in it? And in either case, how do we explain these passages?
My family had a celebration that featured lamb. The recipe had us roasting it until it was medium rare. So we let it sit for several minutes and then the blood* from it visibly collected on the serving plate. The meat itself was still a bit bloody. I tried to drain mine a bit more but it still had quite a bit of juices in it.
I was speaking with another Christian and the impression I got is that they avoid rare meat because of the blood. I had also thought about the blood when sitting down to dinner. Now, I know eating blood was forbidden for Jews but is it forbidden for Christians and if it is why?
[*Now further research I did indicated that modern store bought meat has very little, if any, actual blood in it, that the red juices in meats is actually water and the protein myoglobin (I am pretty sure on this one, but if I am wrong please do post about it). Okay, that is good to know, but I think this question is still relevant because some food products (like blood sausage and blood pudding) are made with blood.]
There are two verses that seem to be relevant to this question:
18 And He said to them, “Are you so lacking in understanding also? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him, 19 because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and is eliminated?” (Thus He declared all foods clean.) (Mark 7:18-19, NASB, emphasis mine).
Well, that seems pretty clear. The Lord Jesus says all food is clean to eat, for it isn't food that defiles (and later in the passage He indicates its the heart that defiles), but in Acts James says...
19 Therefore it is my judgment that we do not trouble those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles, 20 but that we write to them that they abstain from things contaminated by idols and from fornication and from what is strangled and from blood. (Acts 15:19-20, NASB, emphasis mine).
Hmm, not really sure how to come to a judgement on this. The Lord was pretty clear that food doesn't defile (but rather the heart does), but James seems to indicate that Gentile Christians (and presumably all Christians) shouldn't eat food (doesn't actually mention food, but that seems to be the implication of the passage) that has come from an animal strangled or that has blood in it. So...
Is it a sin to eat food with blood in it or is it not a sin to eat food with blood in it? And in either case, how do we explain these passages?
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