{"product_id":"1806-alexander-pirie-lawfulness-of-eating-blood-jehovahs-witness-foundational-text","title":"1806 ALEXANDER PIRIE. Lawfulness of Eating Blood - Foundational Text of the Watchtower \u0026 Charles Taze Russell.","description":"\u003cp id=\"p-rc_a79d19677d22d539-65\"\u003eA very scarc work by Alexander Pirie (1737–1804), an eighteenth-century Scottish dissenting minister, theologian, and biblical scholar who argued for a rigorous adherence to textual restorationism, the belief that Christian practice should strictly reflect early apostolic tradition rather than later ecclesiastical compromises. \u003cspan class=\"citation-176\"\u003eHis tract, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan class=\"citation-176\"\u003eAn Inquiry into the Lawfulness of Eating Blood\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan class=\"citation-176\"\u003e, offered here,\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"citation-176 citation-end-176\"\u003e argued that the prohibition against consuming blood given in Genesis 9 to Noah, reiterated in the Mosaic Code, and upheld by the Apostles at the Council of Jerusalem in Acts 15 was an eternal, universal moral command obligatory for all humanity rather than a temporary Jewish ritual law.\u003csup class=\"superscript\"\u003e\u003c!----\u003e\u003c\/sup\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e \u003c!----\u003e\u003c!----\u003e\u003c!----\u003e\u003c!----\u003e\u003c!----\u003e\u003c!----\u003e\u003c!----\u003e\u003c!----\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp id=\"p-rc_a79d19677d22d539-67\"\u003eHis work holds a distinct historical relevance as one of the explicit theological precedents used by the Watchtower movement to justify their doctrine abstaining from blood. The Watchtower Society has cited Pirie's treatise in official literature, such as their brochure \u003ci\u003eHow Can Blood Save Your Life?\u003c\/i\u003e, quoting his defense that divine laws regarding blood apply universally across time and that what human reason deems minor can carry monumental importance in God’s view. \u003cspan class=\"citation-175 citation-end-175\"\u003eFor Jehovah's Witnesses, Pirie serves as historical proof that their strict prohibition, which they extend to modern blood transfusions, is not a twentieth-century novelty, but a continuation of an enduring Christian tradition supported by historical Protestant scholars.\u003csup class=\"superscript\"\u003e\u003c!----\u003e\u003c\/sup\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e \u003c!----\u003e\u003c!----\u003e\u003c!----\u003e\u003c!----\u003e\u003c!----\u003e\u003c!----\u003e\u003c!----\u003e\u003c!----\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp id=\"p-rc_a79d19677d22d539-68\"\u003ePirie's work on the continuity of the Old Testament, New Testament, and Apostolic ethics is significant among other Christian movements, particularly within restorationist, fundamentalist, and reformed sub-traditions that wrestle with the continuity of biblical law. \u003cspan class=\"citation-174 citation-end-174\"\u003eHis arguments resonate with groups like the Glassites and Sandemanians of his own era, Eastern Orthodoxy's ongoing adherence to the apostolic decree of Acts 15, and modern Christian Theonomists or Christian Hebraists who maintain that the Noahic covenant establishes perpetual moral obligations for Gentiles.\u003csup class=\"superscript\"\u003e\u003c!----\u003e\u003c\/sup\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e Pirie's essay remains a cornerstone reference in theological debates over whether the Acts 15 prohibitions were provisional measures to smooth relations between Jewish and Gentile converts or an absolute, perpetual law binding upon the global Church forever.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNo examples offered at auction and none in the trade at the time of cataloging. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePirie, Alexander. Minister of the Gospel at Fife. A Dissertation on Baptism, and Letters on the Sinai Covenant; Together with an Inquiry into the Lawfulness of Eating Blood. Being Volume V. of the Works of Alexander Pirie. Edinburgh. Printed by J. Pillans \u0026amp; Sons, Lawnmarket, for Ogle \u0026amp; Aikman. 1806. 279pp.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGood - to fair in original quarter calf, lacking marbling over boards; Lacking the blank flyleaf, beginning with general title. Textually complete, solid, and highly legible with handling and foxing as shown. The last 40 or so pages with a tide mark to the top half of the text block. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Specs Fine Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51212461178916,"sku":null,"price":850.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0093\/3910\/9435\/files\/08-06-2026SpecsFineBooks-3.jpg?v=1786067836","url":"https:\/\/specsfinebooks.com\/products\/1806-alexander-pirie-lawfulness-of-eating-blood-jehovahs-witness-foundational-text","provider":"Specs Fine Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}