Biblical argument for and against organ donation

[Elizabeth]

This is a question I struggle with.

The biggest part of me thinks we should accept our limits and death so to speak. It just seems fundamental to how G-d has set this life up for us to be humbled enough to seek Him. That part of me also thinks that when I die, all of me should die and I wouldn't accept an organ donation. Then I think if what that means for people I care about and I start questioning myself.

Here's what I'm thinking. If you consider where science has gone, there is a larger spiritual issue underlying this question at play. I think we can see it play out negatively in how science has overstepped its bounds in terms of what it can do with a human body.

I wonder how much of that stems back to organ donation. They've tried animal parts in people and now it's like they think they can remake a person or design someone. Yet, there's a small part of me that thinks from dust to dust, so don't make such a big deal of it.

I'm looking for Biblically based arguments for and against. I even question blood donations. We're not supposed to consume blood of animals because life is in the blood. I'm not sure then if blood donations are consistent with G-d's regard for individual people and how exactly He sees blood. Yet, this is such a given in our society and literally saves lives that I then question the extreme I'm going to. If I'm honest, I would want the people I care about to get the blood donation to save them.

Bottom line for me I think is that I'm struggling with how much do we really accept our life is in G-D's hands, and at what point does that become not preserving life. I go back and forth with this issuez. I always seem to find my way to we have went too far on interfering with the limits and truths G-d has put in place, and we have somehow undermined individual dignity and sanctity in all of this.

[alon]

Philippians 2:3-4 (ESV) Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.  Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Many places in the Bible, OT & NT we are told to care for one another. Almost always this is in the context of caring for our brothers & sisters or our community. That’s easy when we think of them as fellow OT Jews, but what about today? Does this mean all our fellow Americans? All believers? Or just all Messianics? The verse above was said in the context of love for one another in the community of believers in Phillipi, yet soon afterward he exhorts them to be a light to the world. All that to say scripture is not really clear on this subject, either explicitly or in principle. Not surprising, since no biblical author would ever have even considered such a thing possible!

Leviticus 17:10-11 (ESV) “If any one of the house of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn among them 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 for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life.

You’ll probably see this used as being against both transfusions and organ transplants. And it could certainly be taken that way. “For the life of the flesh is in the blood.” It could also be said you are giving the gift of life and/or health with both transfusions and with organs. This is the example Yeshua set for us both at His last Pesach and His death on the tree:

Luke 22:19 (ESV) And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

There are many arguments for and against, most hinging on personal convictions and the subsequent interpretation of scripture. There are a few “logical” arguments commonly given, again hanging more on personal conviction than on real logic.

I’ve thought about this a lot myself, and still have no clear answer. I can tell you I was saved by a transfusion. But that was long before I became Messianic. Maybe because of that I tend to think of it as a selfless donation to help others and against such things I see no proscription in scripture. That doesn’t address the blood issue, but it is not being consumed as food, rather given to save a life. So I hesitantly endorse it but want to clearly say that is my opinion.


Bottom line, this will come down to personal conviction. If there is a real question in your mind or a catch in your spirit, I’d say don’t do it. But then you could not in good conscience allow it for yourself.

There is also a silly argument that I guarantee we’ve all thought of that our bodies won’t be complete at the resurrection:

1 Corinthians 15:35-37a,40,42b-44a,47-49 (ESV) But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. And what you sow is not the body that is to be, … There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another. … What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. … The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.

Clearly we will not need those organs in the next life. I horrified my Rabbi when I told him I have a cremation plan in place. But me, I want to make sure the Almighty has to start completely over! And think about those buried at sea or lost in the wilderness. Nature is very good at converting us to mulch. Probably most bodies and skeletons not interred somewhere are completely destroyed by animal predation, wind and water erosion, decomposition and other factors. Were that not the case, we’d be knee deep in bones most everywhere. So will those people escape the resurrection? I see no such escape clause in scripture. The idea a burned or otherwise destroyed skeleton means we cannot be resurrected is an old Catholic one. I’m not even sure they still believe it, as it was purely superstition based.

I do agree that science has been taken way too far in some cases. And there are alternatives to a transfusion, up to a point. I've had them hanging saline solution on me like they were trying to flush out my veins! it worked, but I suspect they were getting close to max on me. And like you say, in some cases they can use animal parts- usually pig. That is the closest animal to us. 

There is also a way to specify who would get your organs (if a match). Like relatives or a friend. Normally donors don't know who will get their organs. But if you or more likely your closest relative specifies someone then if they know your wishes ahead of time they could make the appropriate decision. But that would vary from state to state.

I guess as far as I can see, bottom line is it's up to you where you draw the line.

Good to see you here again.

Dan   

[jimmie]

I Kings 13: 1Now king David was old and stricken in years; and they covered him with clothes, but he gat no heat. 2Wherefore his servants said unto him, Let there be sought for my lord the king a young virgin: and let her stand before the king, and let her cherish him, and let her lie in thy bosom, that my lord the king may get heat.
I Kings 17:21 And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, I pray thee, let this child's soul come into him again.
2 Kings 4: 34 And he went up, and lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands: and he stretched himself upon the child; and the flesh of the child waxed warm. 35 Then he returned, and walked in the house to and fro; and went up, and stretched himself upon him: and the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes.
John 9: 6When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay,
In the above scriptures something from one person is used in an attempt to revive/heal another person. We also have the natural example of mothers giving life giving milk to their children.
Exchanging blood can be deadly, if not properly matched. If a pregnant woman with Rh- blood is exposed to her child’s Rh+ blood, her body will form antibodies that will attack and kill the child. People who receive organs must be on antirejection (Immunosuppressants) the rest of their life or their body will attack and destroy the donated organ.

[Elizabeth]

Thank you for your responses. Hope you're all well. I tend to agree with blood donations. Still hesitant with organ donations.

I think we're up against science trying to be like God and I'm just trying to find at what point we went too far. Organ donation concerns me quite a bit because God created each of us so individually and with so much depth in His regard to us as individuals. I just don't see that regard for people in science and worried where it will go. I also have heard believers in societies that don't rely on medicine but look to God instead of doctors when they're ill see a lot more healings and miracles. Causes me to wonder about our approach.

I don't know, just wonder when we're getting out of bounds and then I start wondering about the limits we should make. We already know they are harvesting organs from living human beings like basically farming human beings in some countries, there's a black market for human organs, and science is paying for aborted babies. All this seems to point to a bigger spiritual issue at play in all this to me that I'm not sure how far to take it.