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Is eating blood forbidden to Christians?

Direct

A clear verse states this directly, and no higher-or-equal-authority text overturns it.

Yes, eating blood is forbidden to believers from the nations, stated directly by God before Sinai, repeated in the Mosaic law for Israel and resident foreigners, and explicitly carried forward to Gentile believers by the Jerusalem council in Acts 15. No text at any tier explicitly revokes it.

God's direct command in Genesis 9:4 ("flesh with its life, that is, its blood, you shall not eat") predates the Mosaic law and is addressed to all of Noah's descendants. Leviticus 17:10-12 repeats it as a Tier 1 command covering both Israel and the resident foreigner. The Jerusalem council in Acts 15:20, 29 explicitly requires Gentile believers to "abstain from blood", using the same Greek word (haima) as the LXX prohibition, and no higher-tier text revokes this ruling.

Key texts:
Genesis 9:4Tier 5 · Other
“But flesh with its life, that is, its blood, you shall not eat.”
Genesis 9:1-7Tier 5 · Other
“God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, and replenish the earth. The fear of you and the dread of you will be on every animal of the earth, and on every bird of the sk…”
Leviticus 17:10-12Tier 1 · God
““‘Any man of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who live as foreigners among them, who eats any kind of blood, I will set my face against that soul who eats blood, and will cut him off from amon…”

…and 12 more verses weighed in the full analysis.

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Original-language words behind this answer:
kolláō (Greek G2853)akáthartos (Greek G169)môwshâb (Hebrew H4186)raq (Hebrew H7535)yâṭab (Hebrew H3190)mâlêʼ (Hebrew H4390)châzaq (Hebrew H2388)

SAM answers from primary-source texts only, weighing each verse by its authority tier. Every quotation is verified word-for-word. How the method works →

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