"At Jerusalem the delegates from Antioch met the brethren of the various churches, who had gathered for a general meeting, and to them they related the success that had attended their ministry among the Gentiles. They then gave a clear outline of the confusion that had resulted because certain converted Pharisees had gone to Antioch declaring that, in order to be saved, the Gentile converts must be circumcised and keep the law of Moses. AA 191.1"
"But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses."
Both passages describe the controversy caused by converted Pharisees insisting that Gentile converts must be circumcised and keep the law of Moses. The connection is direct and significant.
"This question was warmly discussed in the assembly. Intimately connected with the question of circumcision were several others demanding careful study. One was the problem as to what attitude should be taken toward the use of meats offered to idols. Many of the Gentile converts were living among ignorant and superstitious people who made frequent sacrifices and offerings to idols. The priests of this heathen worship carried on an extensive merchandise with the offerings brought to them, and the Jews feared that the Gentile converts would bring Christianity into disrepute by purchasing that which had been offered to idols, thereby sanctioning, in some measure, idolatrous customs. AA 191.2"
"But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood."
EGW's passage directly addresses the issue of eating meats offered to idols, which is explicitly mentioned as something the Gentiles should abstain from in Acts 15:20. EGW provides historical context and reasoning behind this decree.
"Now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth."
Both passages discuss the issue of food offered to idols and its implications for early Christians. EGW provides context and expands on the concerns surrounding this practice, aligning with the themes explored in 1 Corinthians 8:1.
"Again, the Gentiles were accustomed to eat the flesh of animals that had been strangled, while the Jews had been divinely instructed that when beasts were killed for food, particular care was to be taken that the blood should flow from the body; otherwise the meat would not be regarded as wholesome. God had given these injunctions to the Jews for the purpose of preserving their health. The Jews regarded it as sinful to use blood as an article of diet. They held that the blood was the life, and that the shedding of blood was in consequence of sin. AA 191.3"
"For it is the life of all flesh; the blood of it is for the life thereof: therefore I said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh: for the life of all flesh is the blood thereof: whosoever eateth it shall be cut off."
EGW's statement about the Jewish prohibition against eating blood and the reason behind it (blood = life) directly reflects the principle stated in Leviticus 17:14. EGW explains the context and rationale behind the biblical law.