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Univeral prohibition on eating blood Paul Monday, August 31, 2015

Question:

The forbidding of the eating of blood was not simply Mosaic law (Lv 17:14), but went all the way back to the universal Noahic covenant (Gn 9:4) with mankind.

When was this universal law rescinded? Some would say it was Peter's dream in Acts 10, but it seems there are three reasons why that's not so:

1) the council of Jerusalem upheld the forbidding of eating blood in Acts 15 which was after Peter's dream in Acts 10.
2) the dream spoke of unclean animals, not of blood.
3) the Holy Spirit was already sent when the Church officially upheld the law.

Therefore, please tell me when the universal ban on eating animal blood was rescinded.
Question Answered by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OMSM(r), LTh, DD

Paul:

The prohibition not to eat blood was a discipline, not a doctrine. When Jesus came all the disicplines of the Old Testament were no longer necessary.

Unlike the permanent, divine laws given on Mount Sinai (The 10 Commandments), the disciplinary laws of the Old Testament were temporary in nature, awaiting their fulfillment through the revelation of Christ. Having in view the New Covenant of Jesus’ Blood, these old disciplines were designed by God to prepare Israel for the New Covenant (Gal. 3:26-29). This prohibition was a disciplinary law abolished by Christ when He initiated the new and everlasting covenant in His Blood. (The Biblical Prohibitgion of Eating Blood)

The best detailed explanation and discussion of all this is found on the Catholics United for the Faith website, in an article entited "The Biblical Prohibition of Eating Blood".

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary