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Doctrine changes · Claim record

In November 1967 The Watchtower stated that a person who accepts a transplanted human organ is 'living off the flesh of another human' and that this is 'cannibalistic', whether the flesh is 'chewed or in the form of whole organs or body parts'.

Claim ID claim-doctrine-transplants-1967-cannibalisticConcerns 15 November 1967Explicit statement
Explicit statement · 15 November 1967 Verified

In November 1967 The Watchtower stated that a person who accepts a transplanted human organ is 'living off the flesh of another human' and that this is 'cannibalistic', whether the flesh is 'chewed or in the form of whole organs or body parts'. The Watchtower, 15 November 1967

The organisation’s position or later explanation: The March 1980 answer describes the cannibalism view as something 'some Christians might feel' and makes the matter one of personal decision, without referring to the 1967 answer.

Show the evidence (1 source)
Primary JW publication Verified

The Watchtower, “Questions From Readers (donating one's body for research / accepting transplanted organs)”

15 November 1967 · pp.702-704 · p. 702 · Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society

“Those who submit to such operations are thus living off the flesh of another human. That is cannibalistic. However, in allowing man to eat animal flesh Jehovah God did not grant permission for humans to try to perpetuate their lives by cannibalistically taking into their bodies human flesh, whether chewed or in the form of whole organs or body parts taken from others.”

Reasoning from Genesis 9:3-4 that replacing a diseased organ with another human's organ is a 'shortcut' equivalent to eating human flesh.

Official source

Provenance and verification note

Confidence note. Opened on wol.jw.org; wording confirmed; the sentence sits after the p. 702 marker (some secondary sites cite p. 703).

Corroborated by. src-w-1980-0315-qfr-transplants-conscience

Accessed. 19 September 2026 · Source ID. src-w-1967-1115-qfr-transplants-cannibalistic

Claim page

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