John 2:1-12

1 . I s d r i n k i n g a l c o h o l i c b e v e r a g e s a s i n ?

2 . W h a t i s y o u r r e a s o n f o r y o u r a n s w e r t o q u e s t i o n 1 ?

3 . W h a t d o y o u t h i n k a b o u t t h o s e p e o p l e w h o d o o r d o n o t d r i n k a l c o h o l i c b e v e r a g e s ?

Prohibitionist : Maintain that Christians should universally avoid alcoholic beverages as unfit for human consumption, being specifically forbidden by Scripture.

Abstentionist : Maintains that although Scripture does not expressly forbid alcoholic beverages, alcohol consumption in our society today is nevertheless

imprudent and should not be condoned.

Moderationist : Maintains that alcoholic beverages are permitted to Christians if moderately consumed and in a circumspect manner

The Bible clearly condemns all alcohol abuse

Leviticus 10:8-11Job 12:25Psalms 74:9; 107:27Proverbs 4:17; 20:1; 23:20-21, 30, 32 29-30, 33; 31:4-5Isaiah 5:11-12; 22-23; 22:13; 28:1, 7, 8; 19:14; 56:12Jeremiah 13:13; 25:16, 27Lamentations 4:21-22Ezekiel 23:42, 28-33; 44:21Hosea 4:11; 7:6Joel 3:3Nahum 1:9-10Habakkuk 2:5, 15-16

Matthew 24:491 Corinthians 5:11; 6:10Romans 13:13Galatians 5:19, 21Ephesians 5:181 Timothy 3:2-3, 8Titus 2:3

Hebrew: ( ין ר ) ( yayin / י% כ8 ירוש ) ( shekar / ש: יס ) tiroch ) and / ת< ס< ( asis' / ע8

Greek: ( οἶνος / oinos ) and ( γλεῦκος / gleukos )

Hebrew: ( ין ( yayin / י%

He drank of the wine and became drunk and lay uncovered in his tent. – Genesis 9:21

The Old Testament and Alcohol

The Hebrew word for grape juice is (ב נ# ( enab /ע%Genesis 40:10-11; Leviticus 25:5; Numbers 6:3

When the says wine, it means WINE!

Genesis 19:32-35; 1 Samuel 25:36-37; Esther 1:10-11; Isaiah 28:1

Kings and priest are told to abstain from yayin while on the jobProverbs 31:4-5; Leviticus 10:8-10

The Old Testament and Alcohol

“And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.) And he blessed him and said, "Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!" And Abram gave him a tenth of everything” - Genesis 14:18-20

Yayin is used in celebration

Yayin is used in worship to God

Exodus 29:38, 40; Leviticus 23:13; Numbers 15:5, 7, 10; 28:24Yayin is considered a divine blessingDeuteronomy 14:26; 1 Chronicles 12:40; 2 Chronicles 31:5; Nehemiah 5:18; Ezekiel 27:18; Amos 9:13-15; Isaiah 25:6-9“You cause the grass to grow for the livestock and plants for man to cultivate, that he may bring forth food from the earth and wine to gladden the heart of man, oil to make his face shine and bread to strengthen man's heart.” – Psalm 104:14-15

Ecclesiastes 9:7; 10:19; Zechariah 10:7; Judges 9:13; Isaiah55:1 Jeremiah 40:12

The Old Testament and AlcoholThe word ( ר כ8 shekar ) occurs twenty-two times in the Old Testament and literally means / ש:"intoxicating drink, strong drink".

"With very few exceptions shekar and its derivatives are used in a highly unfavorable and negative context. - Theological workbook of the Old Testament

1 Samuel 1:13-15; Proverbs 20:1; Isaiah 5:11 "Its drink offering shall be a quarter of a hin for each lamb. In the Holy Place you shall pour out a drink offering of strong drink to the LORD." - Numbers 28:7“You shall tithe all the yield of your seed that comes from the field year by year. And before the Lord your God, in the place that he will choose, to make his name dwell there, you shall eat the tithe of your grain, of your wine, and of your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and flock, that you may learn to fear the Lord your God always. And if the way is too long for you, so that you are not able to carry the tithe, when the Lord your God blesses you, because the place is too far from you, which the Lord your God chooses, to set his name there, then you shall turn it into money and bind up the money in your hand and go to the place that the Lord your God chooses and spend the money for whatever you desire oxen or sheep or wine or strong drink, whatever your appetite craves. And you shall eat there before the Lord your God and rejoice, you and your household." Deuteronomy 14:22-26

The New Testament and AlcoholThe word ( οἶνος / oinos ) occurs thirty-three times in the New Testament and all translations consistently render it "wine".

"And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit," - Ephesians 5:18

"Deacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for dishonest gain." - 1 Timothy 3:8

"Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good," - Titus 2:3

At the wedding in Cana, both the wine that ran out and the wine that Jesus created are both called oinos

The word for 'must', or unfermented grape juice', is (trux / τρυξ)."

The New Testament and Alcohol

When the Bible says Wine, it means WINE!

“And no one after drinking old wine desires new, for he says, 'The old is good.” – Luke 5:39

New Wine?

Thinning the wine with water / Mixed wine ?

“I would lead you and bring you into the house of my mother-- she who used to teach me. I would give you spiced wine to drink, the juice of my pomegranate.” – Song of Solomon 8:2

“How the faithful city has become a whore, she who was full of justice! Righteousness lodged in her, but now murderers. Your silver has become dross, your best wine mixed with water.” – Isaiah 1:22

The New Testament and AlcoholJesus drank wine

“The Lord Jesus Christ lived in a culture that used wine as a common, everyday beverage.’’ - (Edersheim, Alfred, the Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, Book 4, Chapter 12)

“For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, 'He has a demon.’ The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, 'Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified by all her children." - Luke 7:33-35

“On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined." - Isaiah 25:6

The New Testament and AlcoholJesus drank wine

“I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.” – Matthew 26:29; Luke 22:18; Mark 14:25

Prohibitionist often point out that Jesus consistently speaks of "the cup" being filled with "the fruit of the vine" not oinos. (Matt 26:29; Mark 14:25; Luke 22:18). But "the fruit of the vine" is the functional equivalent of "wine". If taken literally, the phrase would lead to an absurdity: it would teach that the cup is filled with uncrushed whole grapes!

Dunlop Moore writes: "The fruit of the vine is literally the grape. But the Jews from time immemorial have used this phrase to designate the wine partaken of on sacred occasions, as at the Passover and on the evening of the Sabbath... the fruit of the vine is the consecrated expression for yayin...”

The American Heart Association : ”Analysis showed that compared with non-drinkers, people who drank ‘moderate’ amounts of alcohol every day – defined as two beers or wines or one mixed drink – had a 49 percent lower risk of a heart attack.”

Alcohol and Health

Dr. Vincent Figueredo, a San Francisco General Hospital cardiologist: “Moderate consumption after a heart attack cut cell death in half and almost doubled the recovery of muscle function in the heart.” Newsweek 1996 : “Compared with real wine-drinking countries, the United States is practically dry. That may be a reason, scientist say, that our rate of heart disease is higher”

In response to such overwhelming evidence, Stephen M. Reynolds expresses grave doubts. He says : “The medical authorities they seem to prefer may be subsidized by the liquor industry.”Gene Ford notes :“Not only is alcohol abundant in nature, but it is produced and eliminated regularly and naturally within every human body. Alcohol is a natural bodily fluid. Ethyl alcohol is not foreign to human physiology. Up to one ounce is produced daily in humans by bacterial breakdown of starches and sugars. Small amounts of alcohol are consumed in fruit juices and medicines.”

Alcohol and the Christian Witness In Scripture the Lord and his apostles partake of wine. And they do so despite sinful men indulging in it to their own hurt and degradation.Biblical truth must mold the character of the Christian witness. The truth is that the Bible does not condemn moderate consumption of alcohol. We detract from, not enhance, our witness if we promote a false morality, a morality presumably “higher” than the Bible, a morality in contradiction to Scripture.

A History of Alcohol in the Church

Martin Luther

- Martin Luther’s wife Katherine was a trained “brewstress” at the convent of Nimpstschen. She is reputed to have been very skilled.

- “My Lord Katie has brewed seven kegs in which she put thirty-two bushels of malt, hoping to gratify my palate. She trusts that the beer will be good, but you and the rest will find out by testing it…”

- “Beer is made by man, wine by god!”

John Calvin

- “The Geneva town council recognized the large number of guests he would be expected to entertain; thus he was given “the substantial annual salary of 250 gallons of wine”.

- Institutes of the Christian Religion - “We are nowhere forbidden to laugh, or to be satisfied with food.. or to be delighted with music, or to drink wine”

Early American Puritans

- In the hold of one ship the “Arabella” witch hit the seas for America in 1630 sloshed some 42 tons of beer, 10,000 gallons of wine and almost as an afterthought 14 tons of fresh water. (1 ton of beer is a wooden barrel like vessel that is about 252 gallons.) That is about 7,560 gallons minimum.

- The first permanent building in Plymouth after the pilgrims landed was a brewery.

John Wesley

- The father of the Methodist church was considered something of an ale expert, and many of the early Methodist preachers were paid with rum.

George Whitefield

- Perhaps the greatest evangelist in the history of the Christian church, and certainly the greatest to the English speaking world. He writes at the end of one of his letters “Give my thanks to that friendly brewer for the keg of rum he sent us.”

A History of Alcohol in the Church

– One of the intellectual giants of the 20th century and arguably the most influential Christian writer of his day says : “My happiest hours are often spent with three or four old friends in old clothes tramping together and putting up in small pubs – or else sitting up till the small hours in someone’s college rooms, talking nonsense, poetry, theology, metaphysics over beer, tea, and pipes. There is no sound I like better than adult male laughter.”

– Edwards enjoyed a long pipe, and alcohol as well.

Jonathan Edwards

Charles Spurgeon

- Pastor Charles Spergeon also drank wine and beer, and enjoyed smoking. Spergeon, the prince of preachers, used beer and ale at his meals. When he first came to London to preach the gospel, he was seen drinking beer, wine, and even brandy.

Johann Sebastian Bach

- Bach made keen spiritual application of his pipe, when he wrote of it (perhaps even with a glass of wine at his side). He writes “On land, on sea, at home, abroad, I smoke my pipe and worship God.”

C.S. Lewis

Loving Each other “I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean… But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin. ” – Romans 14:14, 23

As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables.” – Romans 14:1-2

“Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him.” Romans 14:3

“Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother.” Romans 14:13

People may have personal convictions that are, for them, Sin. but not sin for everyone.

Those who are bound by conscience to abstain are the “weak”, not the strong.

It is not sin to be weak, or strong. Therefore the weak and strong should not pass judgment on each other because their consciences are different.

“A ‘stumbling block’ is literally something against which one may strike one’s foot, causing that person to stumble or even fall. A n ‘obstacle’ presents the picture of a trap designed to ensnare a victim.” – Expositor’s Bible Commentary