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See https://avoidjw.org/magazines/
for older Jehovah's Witnesses' Watchtower, Awake, Consolation, and Golden Age magazines archived by year

Introduction - Science and The Bible
The Bible was not written to covey scientific information. However, one often comes across statements that make direct or indirect reference to certain scientific facts about our physical worlds and the universe which were not known to man at the time it was written. What is truly thought-provoking is that none of them contradict any scientific knowledge that came centuries later. In fact, many of them can only be understood in light of modern discoveries. For example, Job 26:7 says,

"He stretches out the north over empty space and hangs the earth on nothing.  (Job 26:7 NASB)

Thanks to incredibly powerful telescopes modern astronomers can see a solid mass of stars surrounding the earth - with one exception. The universe has a huge hole in it that dwarfs anything else of its kind.  This "gap" in the Northern Hemisphere, lying in the general direction of the constellation Bootes is nearly a billion light years across. The discovery caught astronomers by surprise - not only because a void exists, but because it is so huge.

The second half of Job 26:7 says He "hangs the earth on nothing". Job lived in an ancient culture that knew absolutely nothing of gravity, space or planets, and didn't have the slightest clue that the earth was suspended in space. Yet, the prophet confidently asserted that God hung the earth on nothing - that the earth free floats in space. Something that would not be fully understood until centuries in the future. See More on the Earth and Universe in Scientific Facts in the Bible

Isaiah 40:22 mentions the "circle of the earth." The prophet Isaiah lived almost 3,000 years ago which means he could not possibly have understood what he was writing. In reference to His second coming Jesus said a particular event would occur at night AND in the day time (Luke 17:34-35) - an impossibility if He hadn't known that half the earth was in darkness while the other half was lighted and,depending on where they live, people are either up and about or in bed.

 Medical Knowledge in Ancient Times
It was not until the 20th century that medical science fully understood that most diseases are caused by microscopic organisms - germs and bacteria to you and me. Sterilization, sanitation, and quarantines were virtually unheard of.  In the 1840s, puerperal or childbirth fever, was taking the lives of up to 30% of women who gave birth in hospitals. Women who gave birth at home remained relatively unaffected.

When a Hungarian obstetrician ordered medical students to wash their hands with chlorinated lime before examining patients the maternal death rate was reduced from 12% to 1% in 2 years. After Louis Pasteur developed the germ theory of disease thus offering a theoretical explanation for Semmelweis' findings, he managed to convince most of Europe it was true.

 Yet, obeying God's instructions, these core principles of sanitation were being practiced by the Israelites thousands of years earlier. 

Quarantine:
There are very strict commands in the Bible about how to deal with leprosy (Note: Some claim that the Hebrew word tsâra'ath was used for various diseases affecting the skin, not just leprosy). In fact, these laws include quarantining the patient (Leviticus 13) something that was unheard of at the time.

"As for the leper who has the infection, his clothes shall be torn, and the hair of his head shall be uncovered, and he shall cover his mustache and cry, 'Unclean! Unclean!' "He shall remain unclean all the days during which he has the infection; he is unclean. He shall live alone; his dwelling shall be outside the camp. (Leviticus 13:45-46 NASB)

See Medical Knowledge in Ancient Times

And there is more - much, much more. If you read Scientific Facts in the Bible (link above) you will be able to compare the scientific knowledge displayed in the Bible with the ...

Medical Misinformation and Quackery in The Golden Age, Consolation etc.
Clayton J. Woodworth was the co-author of The Finished Mystery published in 1919 that was often advertised as the posthumous work of Charles Taze Russel. [01]. In 1919 Woodworth became editor of a magazine called The Golden Age - the name changed to Consolation in 1937, then Awake! from 1946 on. 

The Golden Age was primarily a news and information magazine although it dealt with Biblical interpretation and theology to a lesser extent. It usually featured numerous articles on health and medicine, rarely publishing anything favorable to orthodox or scientific medicine. One article in 1931 actually stated that medicine originated in demonology...

We do well to bear in mind that among the drugs, serums, vaccines, surgical operations, etc., of the medical profession, there is nothing of value save an occasional surgical procedure. Their so-called "science" grew out of Egyptian black magic and has not lost its demonological character ... Readers of The Golden Age know the unpleasant truth about the clergy; they should also know the truth about the medical profession, which sprang from the same demon worshipping shamans (doctor priests) as did the 'doctors of divinity'... Hippocrates was the grandson of Apollo. [02]

Readers were treated to a steady stream of health advice. On the one hand, the magazine articles were right about a few things such as the constant warnings against white flour and sugar and the advocacy of vegetables, fruit and whole grains (advice people would be wise to heed even today). Also there is more than a core of truth in the following statement

Health is maintained by what we eat, drink and breathe; not by poisons or serums injected, which pollute the blood stream, or by the taking of drugs secured from a drug store. July 8, 1931. [03]

Apart from this, anyone interested in researching early "alternative" medicine and downright quackery will find old copies of The Golden Age to be an interesting and, at times, a very entertaining source.

The point is this -Joseph Franklin Rutherford became the second president of the incorporated Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania in 1917. He played a primary role in the organization and doctrinal development of  the organization and even changed the group's name to Jehovah's Witnesses in 1931 to emphasize its members belief that Jehovah, or Yahweh, is the true God and that the Witnesses were his specially chosen followers.

If the Jehovah's Witnesses were God's especially chosen followers one has to question whether He would have allowed them to print articles on health that were one more outlandish than the next. In fact, let us not forget that it is a very real possibility that the charlatans whose writings were published and endorsed contributed to the ill health, if not the actual death, of a good many people.

It is a pity that the authors of the first two erroneous opinions below (germs and quarantine) did not appear to have read Leviticus 15:13 and 13:45-46. See Sanitary Practices in Moses' Time  www.inplainsite.org/html/scientific_facts_in_the_bible_.html#SCIFAC2-Medical (Scroll down slightly)

All Emphasis Has Been Added in The Following Quotations

Health and Medicine

Germs: " It has never been proven that a single disease is due to germs. What has been definitely established is "germs alone can no more produce disease than gas alone can produce fire". Germs (if they are a real factor in disease production) they must come into contact with 'suitable soil' in the organism." [04]

To be noted however, is that some seven years later the magazine contradicted itself.

In the light of two above-cited cases and the millions of others like them, each of which is proof that germs cause pus and suffering, and how are the germ-eating doctors, whose brains cannot be infected with such scientific proof going to protect themselves from the accusation that their new unproven "benevolent scavenger theory" of the germ us in fact the modern superstition. [05]

And did so again in 1933

Elephantiasis is caused by a germ in the ground, in all tropical countries. [06]

Quarantine:
"We submit to quarantine, not for the good of others, but because superstition brought down to use from remote antiquity, tells us that there are contagious diseases that we can "catch" from each other".  [07]

Yet, four years later in 1935, with no indication that it ever belittled the idea of quarantine the magazine reported that

"The influenza patient should be kept by himself as much as possible and should stay at  home until he recovers. He should have his own set of dishes, his own drinking glass, knife, fork etc. Paper napkins should be used instead of handkerchiefs, and children should be kept away from him. So says a health bulletin." [08]

And there was more - much more

Vaccination:
"It is a frightful thing to taint the blood of a great nation with the putrid matter extracted from laboratory animals specially diseased to the purpose. We fell it is our duty to expose and protest against these medically enforced diseases.." [09]

Smallpox Preferable:
One father wrote that he "preferred his son to catch smallpox rather then be vaccinated because "vaccinations are more deadly than smallpox...  In this country deaths from vaccination are covered up under reports of "tetanus", "septicemia," etc.... Disappearance of former ravages of smallpox has been falsely credited to vaccination, when in fact it should be credited to modern sanitation"  [10]

Meningitis And Infantile Paralysis from Vaccinations:
In response to a letter sent by the department of Health in New York to new mothers advising vaccinating their children against diphtheria and smallpox, one of New York's dental surgeons, who said in his note of enclosure, 'Could you write some comment on this. It is a horrible crime to let these medical doctors impose and advertise their poisons with public money. Children are getting meningitis and infantile paralysis from these supposedly harmless injections. Vaccination is a humbug. It does not protect." [11]

Demonism:
"Quite likely there is some connection between the violation of human blood [vaccines] and the spread of demonism"... [12]

Inoculations Can Lead To Crime:
"At Los Angeles a youth of 20 years was caught in the act of choking a woman of 75. Arrested, and suspected of three murders, he claims the urge to kill came as a result of serum inoculations given him in a CCC camp." [13]

Vaccination Induced Illness Cured By Manipulation:
"The Pasadena (California), Independent relates that Joan Gadow, two years ago a healthy, normal girl, came home saying that she had been given a shot of anti-diphtheritic serum. For two years thereafter she had not a well day; her joints swelled and became rigid; her temperature soared; in four days she lost half her weight. She was treated by 35 doctors, all in vain. When death seemed certain she was cured by manipulations that worked the poison out of her system; whether osteopath or chiropractic methods were used was not stated". [14]

An Onion a Day Keeps Measles Away.
"At a Bradford (England) school measles broke out. A bunch of onions was hung up in each schoolroom, with the surprising result that not another case developed". [15]

 Tuberculosis:
"Tuberculosis is brought on by wrong eating habits". [16]

Syphilis:
In 1923 vaccinations were blamed for various diseases including syphilis

"It is shown beyond doubt that vaccination is not infrequently the cause of death, syphilis, cancer, consumption, eczema, leprosy, and other diseases. It is shown that if vaccination has any tendency to prevent an attack · of smallpox, the remedy is worse than the disease. [17]

Yet, a few years later in 1931, The Golden Age denied there was any such thing as syphilis

"Mr West (A.J. West of Denmark) mentions so-called "syphilis". Why does he not prove there is such a diseases. He simply adopts the existence of the protean monster on faith"...  We do well to bear in mind that among the drugs, serums, vaccines, surgical operations, etc., of the medical profession, there is nothing of value save an occasional surgical procedure.  Their whole so-called 'science' grew out of Egyptian black magic and has not lost its demonological character." [17]

More of what the Golden Age had to say about vaccinations can be read here at
 https://archive.org/stream/1930-1934TheGoldenAgeMagazine/1930-1934_Golden_Age_djvu.txt

Rabies:
"But the dog-rabies-vaccine imposition is the latest.... Rabies! When it has been shown conclusively that there is no such thing as rabies!" [19]

Cancer Is Curable Without Operations, X-Ray, Or Radium: 
"In the summer of 1929, Norman Baker of Muscatino, Iowa, publisher of TNT magazine appointed a committee to investigate a claim that cancer is curable without operations, X-ray, or radium. The results were so gratifying that they opened a hospital for cancer patients... but the American Medical Association started a persistent campaign of persecution against him."  [20]

No One Cured by Insulin:
"Marcel Labbe, MD., of Paris, in an article in the Medical Journal and Record declares that not a single cure for diabetes, through the use of insulin, has been found. The doctor, who has made a specialty of diabetes cases, goes on to say that of his first twenty-four cases thus treated twelve died within three years and not a single authentic cure has been recorded. This is the end of insulin." [21]

Aspirin
"Aspirin does more than kill pain. It kills the nerves themselves. It cause the face to swell, the throat to choke, eruptions of the skin, a sensation of sand in the eyes, and difficult breathing. In many cases it has been known to cause bleeding of the stomach and or gastric hemorrhage. [22]

"Flu" Deaths Caused by Aspirin: "The death of so many soldiers during WWI was also attributed to the daily dose of "5 tablets of aspirin" that they were given... "a terrible indictment against the orthodox medics in charge of the soldiers" [23]

Aspirin - The Science That Kills: "Aspirin pulls down the flag, and makes people think everything is all right, till too often it is too late to make it right. It conceals the symptoms; it waves aside the sore throat, the headache as a thing of no consequence and allow the disease to work under cover till it gets a grip no medical skill can break... Investigation proves conclusively that the medical profession is acquainted with the deadly poisonous effects of aspirin... May the good Lord deliver us from the science that kills." [24]

Vitamins:
"One hears much these days of "vitamins". No vitamin has ever been seen, examined or chemically isolated. The medical profession in general, certain dietetic cults, and an amazing number of manufacturers of devitalized, demineralized and demoralized "foods" all stress the vitamin theory. They have even named them, vitamin "A", "B", "C" and on down the alphabet to the latest one "discovered" when the packing-houses needed a market for its liver, vitamin "F". [25]

Curative Properties Of Milk
Milk is the greatest curative food known. [26]

Cain and Abel drank milk to their mother's delight, and most little folks from that time to this have followed their example. Somebody made the discovery that cows' milk, goats' milk, ewes' milk, asses' milk and mares' milk are good to drink. Abraham served milk, probably cows' milk, to his guests at the plains of Mamre. His descendants were promised that they should come into a land "flowing with milk" [27]

Note: I wonder how exactly the author knew that Cain and Abel drank milk and that this delighted Eve.

And Olive Oil.
"How many people know, I wonder, of the curative properties of olive oil. The word "cured" is a strong term, hut when one is lifted up to strength and usefulness for several years, that one is, in common parlance, cured. . I personally know of more than one being relieved of liver trouble, and even cured of gall stones, by the use of olive oil, when given up by the MD.s, not even an operation being held out as a hope. A friend who for years has suffered pain in the region of the appendix was entirely relieved by the oil treatments". [28]

Tea and Coffee:
"The tannin in tea hardens the lining of the stomach and bowels, inducing serious disorders. Tea hardens the food eaten, delays and diminishes the digestion of gummy substances". [29]

The 2.5 grains of caffeine in the usual cup of coffee produces hardening of the arteries, damages the liver, kidneys and digestion, and causes nervous headaches. [30 ]

"That tannin is most deleterious is shown by the prevalence of cancer of the gullet in Australia, where the habit was to stew tea in a 'billy' or kettle for hours, and to drink it all day long. The result of this was the tanning of the lining membrane of the gullet, whose leathery consistence opposed the free passage of food, and the consequent chronic irritation resulted in the frequency of cancer in this situation... Two or three cups of coffee three times a day produce muscular tremors, nervousness, anxiety, apprehension, palpitation of the heart, vertigo, heartburn, dyspepsia, constipation, insomnia, and emaciation. Victims of the habit, if deprived of it, suffer from languor, prostration, restlessness and craving". [31].

Organ Transplants:
Organ transplants were condemned "cannibalistic" (32]

Heart Disease
Joy is all right, but too much joy is like too much sorrow; excessive emotion wears the heart out....

Endocarditis, inflammation of the inner lining of the heart, is common north of the Mason and Dixon's line and unknown south of it. It is thought that difference in atmospheric pressure has something to do with this. More likely, the southerners get more fresh air.  [33]

Athlete's Foot:
The same issue of Golden Age also speaks of people getting a

"smarting sensation between the toes" accompanied at time "by a sort of blister" and "cracks between the toes". "For want of a better name (and to impress people with their wisdom) they call it "athlete's foot". The author claimed to have substituted cotton socks for rayon and three days later all "smarting" had disappeared. [34]

Aluminum
The Watchtower Society also carried on an irrational campaign against aluminum cookware that was believed to cause all manner of ailments and disease from athlete's foot to cancer. This campaign was also carried on decades after aluminum cookware was shown to be harmless for the general population. The Golden Age often printed letters from readers who related how they and/or their family had been healed from various diseases by heeding TGA warnings about aluminum cookware. For example, one letter entitled From the Jaws of Death By Mrs. John Stucki of Missouri said that

after using aluminum utensils, she became weaker and weaker. Her heart troubled her, and she suffered agonizing stomach pain. Her daughter was nervous, had sleepless night and vomiting spells. Once they did away with aluminum cookware their troubles vanished. [35]

A Mrs. E. Maercker of Kansas wrote that after she was admitted into hospital for a fractured hip, she "began bloating. The longer I stayed, the worse I became, until the gas was so bad around my left lung and my heart, and the pain so great, I almost died." She and her husband were "quite sure aluminum poisoning was causing the trouble". When her food was prepared in enamel vessels she got better but was "so full of the poison" that it took about three weeks. [36]

Over at Elkton, South Dakota, on February 20, 1931, about five hundred persons ate meat sandwiches. the beef and pork had been cooked in a large because the meat had been cooked the previous day in a aluminum kettle and the gravy stored in the same utensil and reheated the following morning and poured over the meats, people began dropping "like dead flies soon after eating this poison". [37]

Note: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reports the amount of aluminum that leaches into food from this cookware is much less than the amount naturally present in foods and other consumer products. But because aluminum is a known toxin to the body, the safety of dietary aluminum and this cookware is still a controversial issue with consumers. [38]

General

Toothpaste:
"The Indians of Mexico never brush their teeth, but sometimes wash them with water, using the forefinger. As they live on fruits and vegetables, their teeth are perfect and beautiful, and able to crack almost all kinds of nuts. The fruit juices, especially of grapefruit, are natural cleansers. There is no evidence that tooth pastes are of any value in the care of teeth. [39]

Avoid Chewing gum. It "wastes the valuable salivary juice." [40]

Breakfast: "
There is no food that is right food for the morning meal. At breakfast is no time to break a fast. Keep up the daily fast until the noon hour. The stomach needs the rest... When the stomach is at rest and the assimilation of food has been taken care of, then something remarkable takes place in the human body. The wastes and poisons which are in the fibers of the flesh are more readily dislodged and thrown into the circulatory system and carried to the alimentary canal for elimination under those ideal conditions of stomach-rest and assimilation-rest. 'When the stomach is secreting gastric juices for the digestion of food, and the body is assimilating the food digested, there is very little elimination of the wastes and poisons from the deep-seated cells of the body. 'Why not cooperate with nature and keep well!" [41]

 Drink Water Before Bathing:
"Do not take a bath until two hours after eating a meal, nor closer than one hour before eating. Drink a full glass of water both before and after the bath.” [42]

Lemons and Kerosene
A subscriber.... " finds a drop or two of kerosene excellent for quickly cleaning sinks and bathtubs; it cuts the dirt immediately and leaves no odor; and when applied to cuts the cuts heal sooner. Try it." [43]

Position In Which To Sleep:
"Sleep on the right side with the head to the north. Let the left wrist rest in the right hand, with the right elbow on the mattress. This will permit great anatomical freedom for all organs. The reason for sleeping with the head to the north is that the earth's magnetic currents may parallel the great nerves instead of crossing them, thus soothing the nerves and tending towards restful slumber". [44]

Sun Bathing:
"The proper time for sun-bathing is in the early morning. It is then that we get more light and less heat, and it gives a more beneficial effect than an overexposure to the infra-red rays of the sun, which are in many cases too heating and stimulating. The earlier in the forenoon you take the sun bath, the greater will be the beneficial effect, because you get more of the ultra-violet rays, which are healing". [45]

Origin of The Black Race: " It is generally believed that the curse which Noah pronounced upon Canaan was the origin of the Black race. Certain it is that when Noah said, "Cursed by Canaan, a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren," he pictured the futore of the Colored race. They have been and are a race of servants... There is no servant in the world as good as a good Colored servant, and the joy that he gets from rendering faithful service is one of the purest joys there is in the world." [46]

And lets not forget...   "The hair of the Negro contains an excess of air bubbles". [47]

Then there is this gem

Why God Destroyed the Earth in Noah's time
"The most sacred thing on earth in the sight of God is human blood, "for in the image of God made he man." (See Genesis 9:6) God destroyed the entire human race, except Noah and his family, at the time of the flood, because of unnatural pollution of human blood. He then entered into a covenant with Noah that involved every living creature that lived upon the earth. That covenant was based almost entirely upon the sacredness of the blood of man in the sight of his Maker". [48]

Finally a few

Assorted Oddities

The Great Pyramid of Egypt,
The great Pyramid of Egypt standing as a silent and inanimate witness of the Lord, is a messenger; and its testimony speaks with great eloquence concerning the divine plan. (Isaiah 19:19) [49]

Alcyone
God governs the universe from a star called Alcyone [50]

The Leviathan
Leviathan is a transliterated Hebrew word (livyathan), meaning "twisted," "coiled."  Mentioned in the books of Job, Amos, Isaiah and the Psalms, it is commonly understood to be some sort of sea creature probably because of the 'fishhook'. The Bible says

 "Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook? Or press down his tongue with a cord?  (2) "Can you put a rope in his nose Or pierce his jaw with a hook? (3) "Will he make many supplications to you, Or will he speak to you soft words? (4) "Will he make a covenant with you? Will you take him for a servant forever? (Job 41:1-4 NASB)

However, The Finished Mystery published in 1919 and often advertised as the posthumous work of Charles Taze Russel claims that The Leviathan of the Bible is the steam locomotive

"Thou wilt lengthen out leviathan (the locomotive) with a hook (automatic coupler) or with a snare (coupling-pin) which thou wilt cause his tongue (coupling-link) to drop down. Wilt thou not place a ring (piston) in his nostrils (cylinders) or pierce through his cheeks (piston-ends) with a staff (piston-rod)? "Will he make repeated supplication unto thee (to get off the track)? Or will he utter 'soft tones unto thee (when he screeches with the whistle) .Will he make a covenant with thee, that thou mayest take him for a servant forever (without repairs)? [51]

Finally - The Heart
The following quote is from The Watchtower that had proclaimed itself to be  "the one and only channel which the Lord has used in dispensing his truth" and that " No man's opinion is expressed" in The Watchtower". See Chapter on False Prophecy

Most psychiatrists and psychologists tend to overcategorize the mind and allow for little if any influence from the fleshly heart, looking upon the word "heart" merely as a figure of speech apart from its use in identifying the organ that pumps our blood.

The heart, nevertheless, is intricately connected with the brain by the nervous system and is well supplied with sensory nerve endings.  The sensations of the heart are recorded on the brain. It is here that the heart brings to bear on the mind its desires and its affections in arriving at conclusions having to do with motivations. In reverse flow, the mind feeds the heart with interpretations of the impulses from the senses and with conclusions reached that are based on the knowledge it has received, either at the moment or from the memory.

"There is a close interrelationship between the heart and the mind, but they are two different faculties, centering in different locations.  The heart...more significantly (has) our emotional and motivating capacities...built within it. Love, hate, desire (good and bad), preference for one thing over another, ambition, fear--in effect, all that serves to motivate us in relationship to our affections and desires springs from the heart....

"It is significant that heart-transplant patients, where the nerves connecting the heart and brain are severed, have serious emotional problems after the operation...the new heart in turn registers few, if any, clear factors of motivation on the brain.  To what extent the nerve endings of the body and the new heart are able to make some connections in time is not clear, but this cannot be ruled out as one of the several factors causing the serious mental aberrations and disorientation that doctors report are observed in heart-transplant patients.

These patients have donor-supplied pumps for their blood, but do they now have all the factors needed to say they have a 'heart'?  One thing is sure, in losing their own hearts, they have had taken away from them the capacities of 'heart' built up in them over the years and which contributed to making them who they were as to personality." [52]

Blood Transfusions
We cannot live without blood that transports nutrients and hormones, regulates body temperature and clots at the site of an injury. White blood cells protect the body from pathogens and red blood cells transport oxygen from the lungs to the cells of the body and removes carbon dioxide. Therefore when a person loses a lot of blood in an accident or surgery or has a medical condition like sickle cell disease, hemophilia, thalassaemia, blood cancer etc. blood transfusions are required to save their life.

However, the Jehovah's Witnesses say

both the Old and New Testaments clearly command us to abstain from blood. (Genesis 9:4; Leviticus 17:10; Deuteronomy 12:23; Acts 15:28, 29) Also, God views blood as representing life. (Leviticus 17:14) So we avoid taking blood not only in obedience to God but also out of respect for him as the Giver of life". [53].

These are the Scriptures quoted

• 1. Every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you; I give all to you, as I gave the green plant. "Only you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood." (Genesis 9:3-4)
• 2. And any man from the house of Israel, or from the aliens who sojourn among them, who eats any blood, I will set My face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from among his people. 'For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement.' (Leviticus 17:10-11 NASB)
• 3. Only be sure not to eat the blood, for the blood is the life, and you shall not eat the life with the flesh. (Deuteronomy 12:23 NASB)
• 4. Therefore it is my judgment that we do not trouble those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles, 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)  (Also See Vs. 28-29)

Yet, somehow the Golden Age magazine managed to turn these commands against eating blood into a denunciation of vaccines. See How Vaccines are Made below

All reasonable minds must conclude that it was not the eating of the blood that God objected to, but it was the bringing the blood of the beast in contact with the blood of man. Not only has man shed the blood of his fellow man unlawfully but he has taken the body of the beast and unlawfully polluted its' blood with poison and afterwards taken this blood injected it directly into contact with blood of the man, in the name of vaccine and antitoxin. To my mind, this is a violation of the law of God, in the most degrading manner possible to conceive of.  [55]

In any case, unless they buy kosher meat (See Footnote I), I am not sure how Jehovah's Witnesses completely avoid consuming any blood whatsoever. A small amount will remain even after it has been cooked. Just because the blood changes color does not mean it does not exists. It simply looks different.

Additionally when one accepts a blood transfusion one is not killing the donor and using his or her life force to prolong ones own life. The blood is donated by a living person who continues living after the donation. It is a gift of life itself.

An Ever Changing Policy
Besides which, the JW blood policy has changed over the years. At one time albumin was strictly forbidden as shown by the following published statement:

 "While this physician argues for the use of certain blood fractions, particularly albumin, such also come under the Scriptural ban." - Awake! 09/08/1956 p. 20

The WTS quietly reversed its position on albumin in 1981 in an article written by a Jehovah's Witness physician, Lowell Dixon, in the Journal of the American Medical Association. No notification regarding the change was announced to members of the organization for over a year.

"... Witnesses religious understanding does not absolutely prohibit the use of components such as albumin, immune globulins, and hemophiliac preparations; each Witness must decide individually if he can accept these." -Awake 06/22/1982 p. 25 (italics ours)  [56]

So has the stance on other blood components or 'fractions'. In 1998 the Watch Tower said the following,

Richard Bailey and Tomonori Ariga who, writing in an official capacity in 1998, explained Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society policy to the medical community: "Jehovah's Witnesses do not accept whole blood, or major components of blood, namely, red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets and plasma. Also they do not accept hemoglobin which is a major part of red blood cells ... According to these principles then, Jehovah's Witnesses do not accept a blood substitute which uses hemoglobin taken from a human or animal source."

Just two years later the US National Library of Medicine

Recently, however, there has been an important but subtle change in Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society policy. Whereas the Society had previously permitted Jehovah's Witnesses to accept fractions of blood plasma, it appears that they may now accept fractions of all "primary" components. The Society defines primary components as red cells, white cells, platelets and plasma.  [57]

In other words, the organization permits 100% of blood as long as it is fractionated or divided into its component parts. The

the equivalent of saying to someone, "see those bags of groceries over there?  You can take the food from the bags, but I will report you to the police if you actually take the groceries with the bags." [58]

Here is a time line of the ever evolving policy http://ajwrb.org/the-historical-perspective/blood-policy-timeline

Footnote I - How Are Vaccines Made?
Live virus vaccines use the weakened (attenuated) form of the virus. The measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine and the varicella (chickenpox) vaccine are examples. Killed (inactivated) vaccines are made from a protein or other small pieces taken from a virus or bacteria.

Live attenuated vaccines" contain viruses that have been modified so that they are no longer harmful to humans. They are grown in a cell culture then once they complete their life cycle in the host cell, they are purified by separating them from the host cells and growth media, which are discarded. This is often done using several types of filters; the viruses are small and can pass through holes in the filter that trap larger host cells and cell debris.

Inactivated viruses are killed, typically via heat treatment or use of a chemical such as formaldehyde, which modifies the virus's proteins and nucleic acids and renders the virus unable to replicate. Inactivated vaccines include Hepatitis A, the injected polio virus, and the flu shot. [59]

Bovine Derived Materials
In answer to the question of what bovine derived materials are used in vaccine manufacture, the FDA says

Microorganisms for vaccine manufacture are grown under controlled conditions in media which provide the nutrients necessary for growth. Cow components are often used simply because cows are very large animals, commonly used for food, and thus much material is available. Animal-derived products used in vaccine manufacture can include amino acids, glycerol, detergents, gelatin, enzymes and blood. Cow milk is a source of amino acids, and sugars such as galactose. Cow tallow derivatives used in vaccine manufacture include glycerol. Gelatin and some amino acids come from cow bones. Cow skeletal muscle is used to prepare broths used in certain complex media. Many difficult to grow microorganisms and the cells that are used to propagate viruses require the addition of serum from blood to the growth media. [Bovine Derived Materials Used in Vaccine Manufacturing Questions and Answers. [60]

Before Vaccines, Doctors 'Borrowed'Antibodies from Recovered Patients to Save Lives
In 1934, a doctor at a private boy's school in Pennsylvania tried a unique method to stave off a potentially deadly measles outbreak. Dr. J. Roswell Gallagher extracted blood serum from a student who had recently recovered from a serious measles infection and began injecting the plasma into 62 other boys who were at high risk of catching the disease. Only three students ended up contracting measles and all were mild cases. [61]

Footnote II - 'Koshered' Meat
In conformity with the Old Testament pre-Mosaic dietary laws orthodox Jews not only bleed an animal after it has been slaughtered but are then supposed to soak and salt the meat. When salt is sprinkled over meat and allowed to sit for a short while juices are drawn to the surface and can be rinsed off. Only after this process is the meat considered properly "koshered" and fit to eat. [62]

End Notes

[01] Acts of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Modern Times - Part 1 — United States of America -'The Finished Mystery'
https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/301975002?q=Pastor+Russell%27s+writings&p=par

[02] The Golden Age. August 5th 1931. Pg 712. https://faithleaks.org/wiki/documents/7/7d/G_E_19310000.pdf

[03] The Golden Age. July 8, 1931 https://faithleaks.org/wiki/documents/7/7d/G_E_19310000.pdf

[04] The Golden Age, Jan. 16, 1924, p. 250. https://archive.org/stream/1924TheGoldenAgeMagazine/1924_Golden_Age_djvu.txt

[05] The Golden Age. October 14, 1931. https://faithleaks.org/wiki/documents/7/7d/G_E_19310000.pdf

[06] The Golden Age, July 5, 1933 https://faithleaks.org/wiki/documents/f/fb/G_E_19330000.pdf

[07] The Golden Age. August 5th 1931. https://faithleaks.org/wiki/documents/7/7d/G_E_19310000.pdf

[08] The Golden Age. February 27, 1935. https://faithleaks.org/wiki/documents/f/f9/G_E_19350000.pdf

[09]

[10] The Golden Age. November 27, 1929.  https://faithleaks.org/wiki/documents/b/b5/G_E_19290000.pdf

[11] The Golden Age. May 29, 1929. https://faithleaks.org/wiki/documents/b/b5/G_E_19290000.pdf

[12] The Golden Age, Feb. 4, 1931, https://faithleaks.org/wiki/documents/7/7d/G_E_19310000.pdf

[13] Consolation, Dec. 1, 1937, https://faithleaks.org/wiki/documents/7/78/G_E_19370000.pdf

[14] Consolation, Blood-Pollution Is "Legal". Dec. 1, 1937, https://faithleaks.org/wiki/documents/7/78/G_E_19370000.pdf

[15] Consolation, Dec. 1, 1937, https://faithleaks.org/wiki/documents/7/78/G_E_19370000.pdf

[16] The Golden Age. August 5th 1931. https://faithleaks.org/wiki/documents/7/7d/G_E_19310000.pdf

[17] The Golden Age. August 19, 1923. The Vaccination Fraud. https://faithleaks.org/wiki/documents/0/07/G_E_19230000.pdf

[18]"The Golden Age," Aug.5, 1931, Pg.727. https://faithleaks.org/wiki/documents/7/7d/G_E_19310000.pdf

[19] The Golden Age, Jan. 1, 1923, p. 214. https://faithleaks.org/wiki/documents/0/07/G_E_19230000.pdf

[20] The Golden Age, Aug. 5, 1931 https://faithleaks.org/wiki/documents/7/7d/G_E_19310000.pdf

[21] The Golden Age. June 12, 1929. https://faithleaks.org/wiki/documents/b/b5/G_E_19290000.pdf

[22] The Golden Age. August 5th 1931. https://faithleaks.org/wiki/documents/7/7d/G_E_19310000.pdf

[23] The Golden Age. Poisoning by Aspirin. February 27, 1935 . Pg. 343

[24] The Golden Age. Poisoning by Aspirin. February 27, 1935 . Pg. 343

[25] The Golden Age. April 17, 1929 . https://faithleaks.org/wiki/documents/b/b5/G_E_19290000.pdf

[26] The Golden Age, July 5 1933, https://faithleaks.org/wiki/documents/f/fb/G_E_19330000.pdf

[27] The Golden Age, January 3, 1934 https://faithleaks.org/wiki/documents/5/53/G_E_19340000.pdf

[28] The Golden Age, July 5, 1933, https://faithleaks.org/wiki/documents/f/fb/G_E_19330000.pdf

[29] The Golden Age. January 3, 1934.  Pg. 199- 202. https://faithleaks.org/wiki/documents/5/53/G_E_19340000.pdf

[30] ibid

[31] ibid

[32] Watchtower Magazine, Nov 15, 1967, https://faithleaks.org/wiki/documents/7/75/W_E_19671115.pdf

[33] The Golden Age. The Engine That Never Stops.  January 2, 1935. Page 196. https://faithleaks.org/wiki/documents/f/f9/G_E_19350000.pdf

[34] The Golden Age. February 27 1935. https://faithleaks.org/wiki/documents/f/f9/G_E_19350000.pdf

[35] The Golden Age. September 30, 1931. https://faithleaks.org/wiki/documents/7/7d/G_E_19310000.pdf

[36] The Golden Age. January 7, 1931. https://faithleaks.org/wiki/documents/7/7d/G_E_19310000.pdf

[37] The Golden Age. July 8, 1931. https://faithleaks.org/wiki/documents/7/7d/G_E_19310000.pdf

[38] Maggie. Poisons From Aluminum Cookware https://healthfully.com/poisons-from-aluminum-cookware-5082008.html.

[39] The Golden Age. November 11, 1931. https://faithleaks.org/wiki/documents/7/7d/G_E_19310000.pdf

[40] The Golden Age, April 17, 1929. https://faithleaks.org/wiki/documents/b/b5/G_E_19290000.pdf

[41] The Golden Age, September 9, 1925. https://faithleaks.org/wiki/documents/6/63/G_E_19250000.pdf

[42] Golden Age, Sept. 9, 1925, pp. 784-785) https://faithleaks.org/wiki/documents/6/63/G_E_19250000.pdf

[43] The Golden Age, Dec. 1, 1937, https://faithleaks.org/wiki/documents/7/78/G_E_19370000.pdf

[44] The Golden Age, November 13, 1929 https://faithleaks.org/wiki/documents/b/b5/G_E_19290000.pdf

[45] The Golden Age, Sept. 13, 1933, https://faithleaks.org/wiki/documents/f/fb/G_E_19330000.pdf

[46] The Golden Age. July 24, 1929 Pg. 702. https://faithleaks.org/wiki/documents/b/b5/G_E_19290000.pdf

[47] The Golden Age. January 16, 1935. https://faithleaks.org/wiki/documents/f/f9/G_E_19350000.pdf

[48] The Sacredness of Human Blood By A. Pattillo (Va.) The Golden Age, February 4, 1931. https://faithleaks.org/wiki/documents/7/7d/G_E_19310000.pdf

[49] The Watchtower. May 15, 1925. https://faithleaks.org/wiki/documents/a/a8/W_E_19250000.pdf

[50] Charles Russell. Thy Kingdom Come, (aka. Millennial Dawn Volume III) 1903 Edition, Pg 326. https://archive.org/details/ThyKingdomComeByCharlesTazeRussell/page/n325/mode/2up?q=Alcyone OR 1911 edition
https://faithleaks.org/wiki/documents/d/dd/1911_sis3-E.pdf

[51] The Finished Mystery, Pgs. 84-86. https://faithleaks.org/wiki/documents/0/07/1917_1923_The_Finished_Mystery.pdf

[52] The Watchtower, How Is Your Heart? March 1, 1971, https://faithleaks.org/wiki/documents/c/c9/W_E_19710301.pdf

[53] Why Don't Jehovah's Witnesses Accept Blood Transfusions?
https://www.jw.org/en/jehovahs-witnesses/faq/jehovahs-witnesses-why-no-blood-transfusions/

[54] https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1992768

[55] The Sacredness of Human Blood By A. Pattillo (Va.) The Golden Age, February 4, 1931.
https://faithleaks.org/wiki/documents/7/7d/G_E_19310000.pdf

[56] A.J.W.R.B. Associated Jehovah's Witnesses For Reform on Blood.  http://www.watchtower-blood.org/albumin.shtml

[57] D. John Doyle. Jehovah's Witnesses and artificial blood. National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC80440/#r1-6

[58] http://www.watchtower-blood.org/forbidden.shtml

[59] Tara Smith. How Are Vaccines Made? February 14, 2018. (Updated: March 16, 2020)  https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/529892/how-are-vaccines-made

[60] FDA. Bovine Derived Materials Used in Vaccine Manufacturing Questions and Answers
https://www.fda.gov/vaccines-blood-biologics/questions-about-vaccines/bovine-derived-materials-used-vaccine-manufacturing-questions-and-answers

[61] https://www.history.com/news/blood-plasma-covid-19-measles-spanish-flu

[62] https://www.chabad.org/kids/article_cdo/aid/8835/jewish/Negative-Commandment-184.html