Alcoho l and the Bible
Feb 24, 2016
Alcohol and the
Bible
29 Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaining? Who has wounds
without cause? Who has redness of eyes? 30 Those who linger long over wine, Those who go to taste mixed
wine. Proverbs 23:29–30 (NAS)
Alcohol and the Bible
31 Do not look on the wine when it is red, When it
sparkles in the cup, When it goes down smoothly; 32 At
the last it bites like a serpent And stings like a viper.
Proverbs 23:31–32 (NAS)
Alcohol and the Bible
15 For thus the LORD, the God of Israel, says to me, “Take this cup
of the wine of wrath from My hand and cause all the nations to
whom I send you to drink it. Jeremiah 25:15 (NAS)
Alcohol and the Bible
18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is
dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit,
Ephesians 5:18 (NAS)
Alcohol and the Bible
Alcohol and the Bible Wine – the original
terms translated “wine” in our English Bibles can mean either fermented or non-fermented
The only way to determine the meaning is by examining the context
21 He drank of the wine and became drunk, and
uncovered himself inside his tent.
Genesis 9:21 (NAS)
Alcohol and the Bible
32 “Come, let us make our father drink wine, and let
us lie with him that we may preserve our family
through our father.” Genesis 19:32 (NAS)
Alcohol and the Bible
39 “You shall plant and cultivate vineyards, but you will neither drink of the wine nor gather the
grapes, for the worm will devour them.
Deuteronomy 28:39 (NAS)
Alcohol and the Bible
33 “So gladness and joy are taken away From the fruitful field, even
from the land of Moab. And I have made the wine to cease from the wine presses; No one will tread
them with shouting, The shouting will not be shouts of joy.
Jeremiah 48:33 (NAS)
Alcohol and the Bible
17 “Nor do people put new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the
wineskins burst, and the wine pours out and the wineskins are
ruined; but they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are
preserved.” Matthew 9:17 (NAS)
Alcohol and the Bible
18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is
dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit,
Ephesians 5:18 (NAS)
Alcohol and the Bible
Could the ancients preserve juice?
“For here was laid up corn in large quantities, and such as would subsist men for a long time. There was also wine
and oil in abundance with all kinds of dates and pulse
heaped up together. These fruits were also fresh and full and ripe, and no way inferior to such fruits newly laid in.” (Josephus, Wars of the Jews)
Could the ancients preserve juice?
Juice cannot ferment inside the grape itself
Could the ancients preserve juice?
“Now Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand; so I took the grapes and squeezed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and I
put the cup into Pharaoh’s hand.”
Genesis 40:11 (NAS)
Could the ancients preserve juice?
Juice cannot ferment inside the grape itself
Boiling the juice down to a thick syrup prevents fermentation indefinitely
Lowering the temperature of the juice below 45 degrees allows the juice to keep for as long as one year
23 Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach’s sake and thine often infirmities.
1 Timothy 5:23 (KJV 1900)
Specific positive authority
Quantity specified “a little”
Purpose specified “frequent ailments”
23 Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach’s sake and thine often infirmities.
1 Timothy 5:23 (KJV 1900)
Specific positive authority
This phrase is seen as elliptical by most scholars
9 When the headwaiter tasted the water which had become wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter
called the bridegroom, 10 and said to him, “Every man serves the good
wine first, and when the people have drunk freely, then he serves the
poorer wine; but you have kept the good wine until now.”
John 2:9–10 (NAS)
Does scripture authorize drinking?
The wedding feast was seen as a religious festival
For Jesus to aid in a drunken festival contradicts the very tenor of Scripture
The headwaiter was sober enough to judge the quality of the wine
13 Let us behave properly as in the day, not in
carousing and drunkenness, not in
sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife
and jealousy. Romans 13:13 (NAS)
Does scripture authorize drinking?
This passage, and those similar leave room for lawful use
To prohibit much does not authorize little
A little promiscuity, a little sensuality, a little strife?
20 Therefore when you meet together, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper, 21 for in your eating each one takes his
own supper first; and one is hungry and another is
drunk. 1 Corinthians 11:20–21
(NAS)
This passage is a rebuke and condemnation
The terms contrasted are “hungry” and “drunk”
Does scripture authorize drinking?
20 Therefore when you meet together, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper, 21 for in your eating each one takes his
own supper first; and one is hungry and another is
drunk. 1 Corinthians 11:20–21
(NAS)
“hungry” – to suffer want to be needy (Strong’s)
“The word methuei does not necessarily denote drunkenness. The word may denote abundance without excess” Archbishop Newcome, on John 2:10 and 1Cor 11:21 (Patton, pg. 101)
Does scripture authorize drinking?
3 For the time already past is sufficient for you to have
carried out the desire of the Gentiles, having pursued a course of sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, carousing,
drinking parties and abominable idolatries.
1 Peter 4:3 (NAS)
Does scripture authorize drinking?
3 For the time already past is sufficient for you to have
carried out the desire of the Gentiles, having pursued a course of sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, carousing,
drinking parties and abominable idolatries.
1 Peter 4:3 (NAS)
oinophlugia - It is the excessive, insatiate
desire for drink, from which comes the use of
the word for the indulgence of the desire
— debauch (Vincent’s Word Studies)
Does scripture authorize drinking?
3 For the time already past is sufficient for you to have
carried out the desire of the Gentiles, having pursued a course of sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, carousing,
drinking parties and abominable idolatries.
1 Peter 4:3 (NAS)
komos - The word originally signifies
merely a merry-making; most
probably a village festival
(Vincent)
Does scripture authorize drinking?
3 For the time already past is sufficient for you to have
carried out the desire of the Gentiles, having pursued a course of sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, carousing,
drinking parties and abominable idolatries.
1 Peter 4:3 (NAS)
potos – drinking carousal from pino, to drink
(Robertson)
“the drinking bout…not of necessity excessive”
(Trench)
“a drinking, a drinking together…” (Green)
Does scripture authorize drinking?
18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation,
but be filled with the Spirit,
Ephesians 5:18 (NAS)
Does scripture authorize drinking?
The passage contrast being full with wine and being filled with the Holy Spirit
How can one be filled with the perfecting influence of the Holy Spirit when influenced in any way by the corrupting influence of intoxicating beverages?