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Blood doctrine · Claim record

The organisation published readers’ responses to the series in Awake! of 22 October and 8 December 1994, including a seventeen-year-old in Germany who wrote that ‘Dying doesn’t scare me, but the thought of disregarding Jehovah’s laws does’ and an eighteen-year-old in Nigeria who ‘could not stop crying when I came to see that these faithful children died’.

Claim ID claim-blood-1994-readers-publishedConcerns 8 December 1994Explicit statement
Explicit statement · 8 December 1994 Verified

The organisation published readers’ responses to the series in Awake! of 22 October and 8 December 1994, including a seventeen-year-old in Germany who wrote that ‘Dying doesn’t scare me, but the thought of disregarding Jehovah’s laws does’ and an eighteen-year-old in Nigeria who ‘could not stop crying when I came to see that these faithful children died’. Awake!, 8 December 1994Awake!, 22 October 1994

The organisation’s position or later explanation: The letters were selected and printed by the magazine, and are the organisation’s own record of how it intended and understood the series to be read.

Show the evidence (2 sources)
Primary JW publication Verified

Awake!, “From Our Readers”

8 December 1994 · p.30 · pars. 2-15 (‘Faithful Youths’) · Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc.

“I am 18 years old. I was thrilled and shaken when I read the articles yesterday. I could not stop crying when I came to see that these faithful children died. Their faith has made me ask myself whether I could, under such conditions, keep my integrity.”

Seven reader letters printed under the heading ‘Faithful Youths’, from the United States, Germany (two), Austria, Nigeria, Italy and Japan. Another, from a 17-year-old in Germany, reads: ‘I am 17 years old and have been afraid of finding myself in such a situation one day. Dying doesn’t scare me, but the thought of disregarding Jehovah’s laws does. It would be awful to give in under pressure. The article gave me much strength.’ A third says the writer afterwards read the booklet How Can Blood Save Your Life? and ‘now know[s] how to behave should I ever be in a similar situation’.

Official source

Provenance and verification note

Confidence note. Opened on the Watchtower Online Library on 19 September 2026 and the wording, page marker and paragraph confirmed against the article text.

Corroborated by. src-g94d-readers-1994-1022

Notes. These are letters the organisation itself selected and published, and are evidence of how the series was received and of the use to which it was put.

Accessed. 19 September 2026 · Source ID. src-g94d-readers-1994-1208

Primary JW publication Verified

Awake!, “From Our Readers”

22 October 1994 · p.30 · par. 13 (letter under the running head ‘Youths Resist Blood Transfusions’); signature at par. 14 · Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc.

“I am 12 years old, and I have just read the series “Youths Who Put God First.” (May 22, 1994) I was very impressed by the courage that these young Christian brothers and sisters showed, facing death with such confidence in Jehovah and in the resurrection. Their courage and faith in Jehovah made me weep with joy.”

The first published reader response to the series, signed ‘B. C. R., Spain’, printed under the heading ‘Youths Resist Blood Transfusions’ five months after the issue.

Official source

Provenance and verification note

Confidence note. Opened on the Watchtower Online Library on 19 September 2026 and the wording, page marker and paragraph confirmed against the article text.

Corroborated by. src-g94d-readers-1994-1208

Accessed. 19 September 2026 · Source ID. src-g94d-readers-1994-1022

Claim page

A direct link to this claim is https://jwtruth.org/evidence/claim-blood-1994-readers-published/. Every source above opens the original document or the best available copy. If you believe the wording, date or context is wrong, report an error.