DJ - I believe you missed Cofty's point entirely.
It had nothing to do with old light/new light, or making doctrinal mistakes; not really. only 1 day. They weren't taken outside the camp and stoned to death. It was a minor offense with a minor punishment - at least for the everyday regular Israelite, and not at all for a non-Israelite. (I don't know about the priest class; I can't remember).
Tammy (I think I got your point, Cofty, but I'm sorry if I missed it as well)
That is exactly right Tammy. DJ has repeatedly ignored the very unambiguous text at Lev11:38,39 at least 3 times now. It's easy to assert you have answered a question when you write copious amounts but we all know that is a common WT trick.
"If an animal that you are allowed to eat dies, anyone who touches its carcass will be unclean till evening. Anyone who eats some of its carcass must wash their clothes, and they will be unclean till evening. Anyone who picks up the carcass must wash their clothes, and they will be unclean till evening."
Once more then: When an Israelite farmer came across a dead sheep in his flock he had a choice. Bleeding a dead cold corpse is not possible.
A. He could bury it but that would make him unclean by touching the dead carcass and it meant a financial loss. He would have to bathe after he was finished, change his clothes and be in an unclean state for the rest of the day.
B. He could butcher it and invite all his extended family and friends round for a BBQ. All of them would then have to bathe, change their clothes and remain unclean for the rest of the day.
Being unclean was no big deal; there were a host of things that caused uncleanness. Having sex with your wife made you unclean for the rest of the day (No wonder religion causes sexual problems). It did mean that you could not go to the temple and share in communal worship and Moses was keen to encourage the people to avoid unnecessary causes of uncleanness. Just before he died he came up with option C for this particular dilemma - sell the corpse to a stranger. Genius. The Israelite didn't lose out financially and uncleanness was no problem for a gentile who was considered unclean anyway.
If eating the unbled flesh of an animal "already dead" was a serious crime, and not just a matter of uncleanness, it would be just as outrageous for an Israelite to incite a gentile to commit the offense as it would be for an Israelite to operate a brothel for gentiles. Remember the original law on blood was given to Noah not to Moses.
In addition to the laws that were binding on the whole nation there were further restrictions on the priesthood. For example a priest could not touch a dead body apart from that of a close relative. He could not marry a divorcee, cut his hair or do other things that caused uncleanness because his job was to be clean and carry out service at the temple. If he offered a sacrifice at the temple while in an unclean state he was to be cut off.
None of the additional regulations that were binding on the priest involved crimes. It went without saying that a priest could not murder or steal or commit adultery. The regulations spelled out in Levitcus 21&22 are all about matters of ceremonial cleanness. At Leviticus 22:8 it says,
"He must not eat anything found dead or torn by wild animals, and so become unclean through it. I am the LORD."
So listed among the minutiae of additional restriction on the priesthood was the command not to eat the unbled flesh of an animal found dead.
The difference between slaughtering an animal and eating it unbled which resulted in cutting off, and eating the flesh of an animal found dead which resulted in the need to wash and change clothes is really simple.
Blood is not intrinsically sacred.
Starting with Noah, who is given permission to take animal life for food, blood is used to symbolise a life that has been taken. By pouring out the blood of a slaughtered animal the person demonstrates respect to god the owner and giver of the life he has taken. Similarly blood was poured out at the altar so that the blood, and therefore the life of the animal could serve vicariously for the sinner.
On a similar point - and you have ignored this twice now - imagine an Israelite farmer bled a pint or two of blood from animals in his herd and brought the blood to the altar as a sacrifice. We all know his sacrifice would be of no value at all. As no life has been sacrificed the blood is of no value.
The implications for blood transfusions are painfully obvious and no wonder the society has hidden from Lev 11:38,39 for many years.
In this context the meaning of Acts 15 is simple. Your assertion that Jewish christians were not still practising their Jewish faith is one of the most ill-informed remarks I have ever read on this forum and that's quite an achievement. The burning issue was how gentiles could possibly be acceptable to god without adopting the Law. You can read the background in Galatians.
The solution was based on the OT requirements on alien residents in Israel. It went without saying that a temporary resident in Israel could not steal or murder. On the other hand they were not required to keep the Law; instead there was a workable compromise. The three things that a gentile might do in Israel without even realising they were causing offense was to engage in unacceptable sexual relations, worship their idols and eat their animals without bleeding them. As long as they observed these three things Israelites and gentiles could live in harmony in Israel.
In Acts 15 this is exactly the solution that is adopted. Jewish christians go on practising the Jewish faith and gentiles get to keep their foreskins as long as they are careful not to offend their Jewish christian brothers by avoiding idolatry, fornication and blood, "For the law of Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath."
It is my belief that any reasonable JW could be helped to realise that the restriction on blood transfusions is biblically wrong using this line of reasoning. (Of course unreasonable ones are a different matter)
