A former Jesuit, he pursued religious studies at the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome, and the Hebrew University, Jerusalem. He holds a doctorate in Near Eastern languages from Harvard University. A 1989 Regents Lecturer at the University of California and a 1990 Guggenheim Fellow, he has served as president of the National Book Critics Circle, of which he is still a member. Miles freelances for a long list of national publications, including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Boston Globe, Commonweal, Tikkun, and others. He lives with his wife and daughter in southern California.
Some sects interpret the prohibition here as interdicting blood transfusions.
2 See also Martin Luther, who argues along the same lines in his commentary. Even the WTS, when writing in support of its vaccination ban, acknowledged that the Noachian covenant did not technically prohibit eating blood. Some may argue that blood is not used symbolically in verse four. To think that blood is used literally in verse four and as a metaphor in verse five does not seem plausible. Additionally, consider the dilemma that results if one insists on a literal interpretation.