Monday, May 12, 2025

It is the 12th of May 2025. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

A very happy Monday to you- if it’s indeed Monday where you are. We head to the mailbag as is our custom- so many questions have poured in- keep them coming, I do try and get to as many as possible and we’ll probably have some extended mail shows or a few days of mailbags coming up soon.

Got a question from Julia- she is in Seattle now but is from Eagan Minnesota (all roads come back to Minnesota on this show it seems) and she said of Eagan- “oh, there’s not much” and I thought… if I know my quaint upper midwestern towns at all I bet there’s a heck of a water park there… they all have waterparks. And Eagan has Cascade Bay Water park- but they close if it’s under 62 degrees or it's raining so hard you can’t see the bottom of the pool. Huh…

Ok- she asks, “Do you have more insight about why the church decided it was ok to eat blood even though in Acts 21:25 the church decided Gentiles should abstain from it? I was told by someone that it was because the church was anti-Semitic and that Christians should continue to abstain from eating blood.”

So, Acts 21 reiterates the decision from Acts 15 and the council at Jerusalem that said Gentiles should: “abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality.”

So- the early church largely kept to these prohibitions, but not completely. The elements that could be seen as part of the “ceremonial” law- those laws that pointed to Christ (and in this case, His blood) weren’t binding but for the sake of peace it was decided it was better to abstain.

This is going to become a question once Christianity and Judaism make their split with the rise of Constantine. Christianity is no longer seen as a “jewish sect” (this was how Christians were saved from some persecution in the past). And as the two communities separated it was seen as no longer, or less of a stumbling block.

In 692, there is a council- the Quinisext Council in Constantinople, called by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian II- called “Quinisext because it was to supplement the 5th and 6th councils at Constantinople. Canon 67 calls for the excommunication of anyone who consumes blood! But the Western bishops and the Pope were not present and decided not to follow the stipulations of this council. SO, our Eastern Orthodox brothers and sisters still hold to this prohibition. By the Council of Florence in 1438, after the schism from the East, this Western council stated that the prohibitions were for a certain time, and Paul’s later calls for Christian freedom allow for the consumption of blood, such that Catholics and Protestants tend to eat freely.

A note, however… You probably don’t consume that much blood. If you are eating a medium rare steak it doesn’t have “blood”- that red color is water and myoglobin, a protein with iron that has the color of blood but isn’t blood. If you ate blood pudding- that’s blood. I don’t not because of the Bible but because it’s one of the few things I don’t enjoy.

You could get kosher or halal meat. The whole point of kosher and halal is that the meat is especially drained of the blood (like all meat, but more). For the halal, a special blessing is said before the animal is slaughtered (and so, you could argue this would be akin to eating meat sacrificed to other Gods), and kosher meat is specially salted and prepared to make sure it’s properly drained of the life-giving substance.

It’s a fascinating thing to read into because it takes us into looking at the injunction all the way back to Noah in Genesis. Why didn’t God want people consuming blood? Was it moral? Or was it, like so much of the law, pointing us to a deeper reality- that of the blood of Christ- which is for us live giving.

I don’t think it’s “anti-semitism” that led to Christians being lax with the old Testament injunction but rather as Christians and Jews became separate the concern about causing others to stumble who might have otherwise become Christian lessened. But, the Orthodox still follow- to some extent that Quinisext council which holds the injunction in place while most in the West follow Florence in 1438 which taught that it was an occasional ban- for that occasion but not for all and that we should generally follow Paul on Christian freedom without causing others to stumble.

Thanks, Julia, for the question- send me yours at Danv@1517.org. 

The Last word for today comes from the daily lectionary

I saw in heaven another great and marvelous sign: seven angels with the seven last plagues—last, because with them God’s wrath is completed. 2 And I saw what looked like a sea of glass glowing with fire and, standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast and its image and over the number of its name. They held harps given them by God 3 and sang the song of God’s servant Moses and of the Lamb:

“Great and marvelous are your deeds,
    Lord God Almighty.
Just and true are your ways,
    King of the nations.

4 

Who will not fear you, Lord,
    and bring glory to your name?
For you alone are holy.
All nations will come
    and worship before you,
for your righteous acts have been revealed.”

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 12th of May 2025, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man in Wisconsin, where Julia reminded me- it's the home of Culvers- not Minnesota… he can eat his own weight in Butterburgers- he is Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by man whose lack of patience often leads to the meat being slightly under… it’s just myoglobin, eat up- I’m Dan van Voorhis.

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.