Eating blood

edited December 1969 in Random Issues
Hi,

Acts 15:20 states that Christians are not allowed to eat blood. Does this mean that the meat we eat should be slaughtered by halal/kosher methods (i.e. slitting the animal's throat)?

I used to just ensure my meat was "well-done" before eating it, but since that obviously doesn't remove the blood, do we have to eat food slaughtered in a particular way?

Thanks

Comments

  • we rent muslim or jewish :P lol sorry if that was rude... :-[
  • Wait, ordering it well done doesn't remove all the blood? And if so, why not?
  • [quote author=Christ4Life link=board=11;threadid=4385;start=0#msg60368 date=1157586000]
    Wait, ordering it well done doesn't remove all the blood? And if so, why not?


    I'm no scientist, but it seems to me that if you have a bloody piece of meat in a frying pan, the blood won't just magically disappear all together because the meat is no longer red on the inside.

    Correct me if I'm wrong.
  • I don't think we need to be pedantic about it. As far as I know, if you make sure your meat is well-done then that should be a good enough measure to take.

    There was a lecture by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III that I saw just a few days ago in which he recounted an incident where he was served rare-medium cooked meat at some foreign function. When his american host asked why he wasn't eating his meat, His Holiness referred to the blood inside. The host asked the cooks to make sure the meat is well-done, and that sufficed for His Holiness.
  • i agree with IQBAL

    cuz if you ordered ur meat WELL-DONE and make sure it is then you have notihng to worry about!

    and there is alawys chickens!! ;D
  • [quote author=Iqbal link=board=11;threadid=4385;start=0#msg60391 date=1157626102]
    The host asked the cooks to make sure the meat is well-done, and that sufficed for His Holiness.


    That suffices for me too then ;) Thanks.
  • AAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!

    i didnt know we arent allowed to eat blood in meat i dont like well done meat. I order my steaks med-rare, hmmmmm nice and juicy.

    I thought not eating blood referred to like wat vampires and gothics do, u know when they drink a cup of blood.

    since when did it refer to steaks.
  • Meat is the muscle tissue of animals.

    Blood is the fluid which conveys oxygen, carbon dioxide, nutrients and
    waste products from point to point within the body.

    Muscles process nutrients to expend energy, and use oxygen. You muscles
    get 'tired' when you use up the oxygen and start anerobic metabolism,
    which generates lactic acid as a byproduct. This lactic acid makes your
    muscles hurt after heavy use.

    How does oxygen transport in the body work? The oxygen is picked up by
    iron in the blood from the lungs. This 'heme' (=blood) iron is in the red
    blood cells in the form of hemoglobin, a protein-iron complex.

    The blood carries the oxygen to the muscles via the vascular system
    (arteries) of the body and returns it via the veins. The vascular system
    of the muscles themselves delivers the oxygen directly to individual
    muscle fibers.

    The fluid conveyed within the muscles is 'sarcoplasm'. It has to have iron
    in it to convey oxygen. This is in myoglobin and a smaller amount of
    hemoglobin. Hence the red color of muscles, and the red color of the
    liquid which oozes from meat.

    Strictly speaking, sarcoplasm is not blood, which is almost entirely
    drained from the body after slaughter to help hygiene. Sarcoplasm is,
    however, functionally similar to blood, even though it's a natural
    constituent of muscle. It's a type of cytoplasm, an intrinsic component of
    every living cell.


    http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/may2000/957733677.Bc.r.html

    The red stuff in meat is not actually blood...the blood is drained from the animal because it would cause it to spoil. From this I gather its ok to eat medium rare meat. I agree with drumaboy that it refers to drinking blood because that was a common practice of pagan worshippers during the time of the Jews.
  • This might be off topic but anyway.........
    We like to be peaceful and respectful people. We respect the creation of God.
    When we butcher animals (mainly in Egypt) we want it to be fast (its good to do the sign of the cross to show that Christ is our true sacrifice).
    We do not want God's creation to suffer.
    When we see blood in our food, it reminds us of the animal's life. We do not want to eat something and have its blood running down our faces.
    We eat the meat that is well cooked because we are using it to survive.
    All the creation is subject to our use. But we do not mistreat or misuse it.

    God bless you
    pray for me
  • hmmmmmm makes sense....well good thing i read this (i wasnt going to...cuz i thought it was as in drinking "blood"as in a cup of blood or something...which made me shiver...but i opened it anyways =)...i didnt know that we were'nt supposed to eat meat w/ blood...that helps =) ....how does everyone pick theses specific thigs outta da BIBLE....i probably passed over that w/o even noticing!!
  • Hi all,

    I want to resurrect this topic as I have just been in a discussion about this with a Romanian friend and do not want to start a new topic as people would just redirect me to this one.

    I was discussing Black pudding (A type of blood sausage) with this friend (A Romanian Orthodox Seminarian) and how we should no eat it. He said that he had been taught that Canons like that only apply to a cultural setting and if you are somewhere that they commonly eat blood sausages you do not have to obey this.

    From view, this was an appauling abuse of the situation and shruggled off the canons, but he insisted. Does anyone know any Church Fathers (Apart from Book of Acts and Councils) or quotes from Pope Shenouda that speak against eating blood, so that I can pass them on.
  • Abouna, that link is to the same thread as this.

    It only discusses how well cooked the meat is and not Blood puddings and other blood based foods like this.
  • Lol. I was pulling your leg.

    Lots of rejection of eating blood based foods in East and West until late. I am trying to find origins of black pudding in the UK.
  • Ah ok. I always find it hard to tell whether a priest is serious or joking, so I play it safe.

    Presumably in the Oriental Orthodox tradition we are not playing the hunting for loopholes games (As it appears my friend is) then? I know that in the west the Canon was abolished at Florence but according to this same friend it is a matter in Romania that the canon just became obsolete due to people ignoring it.

    I find that to be quite a shock, as generally I see keeping the canons as vital.
  • I dont eat black pudding now, which I enjoy, because the teaching seems quite consistently clear.
  • i stopped eating black pudding too, which is fine because i don't like the taste and only used to eat it to show how tough i am!
    i think, if i was in a missionary situation, i would eat meat with blood in it so not to cause offense. but i would avoid actually drinking blood.
  • I like black pudding a lot. But the consistent teaching of the Church seems quite clear, and so I abstain from it, just as I abstain from all New Zealand lamb.
  • so eating steak med well is a sin !! AAAAAAAAAAAAA ANOTHER TEMPTATION TO OVER COME !  :'(
  • [quote author=markmarcos link=topic=4385.msg157301#msg157301 date=1341268501]
    so eating steak med well is a sin !! AAAAAAAAAAAAA ANOTHER TEMPTATION TO OVER COME !  :'(


    don't worry about it until July 12  ;D
  • lol true  :P
  • In Medium cooked steak the blood red color is due to lots of oxygen holding cells in the muscle (myoglobin), not blood cells.
    You are in the clear there as there is no Hemoglobin, so it is not blood.
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