“Almost a
million Australians can be classified as alcohol-dependent
and of these, almost one-third have a mental disorder,
according to a national survey.
A special
analysis of the statistics prepared by the University of NSW’s
National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre also reveals that alcohol
abuse is particularly prevalent among young people with up to 15
per cent of 18- to 24-year-olds classified as alcoholic… of all
people with alcohol disorders, young people were also the most
likely group to have one other of the three main types of mental
health problems - anxiety, affective or drug use disorder.
The study defined
alcohol abuse or dependence by a series of indicators, including the
existence of withdrawal symptoms when use is reduced or stopped and
persistent desires or unsuccessful efforts to stop drinking.”
(The Sydney
Morning Herald, 13/10/99)
The fact is
that there are few, if any, more evil, more destructive and more
addictive forces in our society today than booze. I will prove
conclusively by the evidence of Scripture, science, and social
impact that spiritual Christians must take a stand for total
abstinence from alcohol.
I.
The Evidence of Scripture
There are 552
references to drinking, drunkenness, wine or strong drink in the
Bible. Obviously the Lord is not silent on the subject! Let us break
up our study into several sub-headings:
a) Sorcery,
drug use, and alcohol
The sin of
sorcery is mentioned several times in the Bible. For example,
Revelation
9:21 “Neither repented they
of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their
fornication, nor of their thefts.”
Revelation
21:8 “But the fearful, and
unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers,
and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their
part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the
second death.”
Revelation
22:15 “For without are
dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and
idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.”
The word sorcery
in the Bible has several different meanings:
Sorcery
- Greek: pharmakeus - from pharmakon - druggist, drug
user, poisoner, magician, sorcerer.
Therefore, God
places sorcery, including using drugs, on the same wicked
plane as murder, fornication, lying, immorality, and idolatry. So,
if alcohol is a drug, then it is a sin to take alcohol. What is the
definition of a drug? Does alcohol qualify to be defined as a drug?
Consider these
definitions:
Drug
- “An often illegal and sometimes addictive substance that
causes changes in behaviour and is taken for the effects.”
(Encarta 2000) “A narcotic substance, especially one which
induces addiction, such as opium.” (New Webster’s Dictionary)
Narcotic
- “something that soothes, induces sleep, relieves pain or
stress, or causes a sensation of mental numbness.”
(Encarta 2000) “A drug which dulls sensibility, relieves
pain, and induces sleepiness.” (New Webster’s Dictionary)
Alcohol is
addictive; it causes changes in behaviour; it soothes, induces
sleep, relieves pain or stress; it causes a sensation of mental
numbness. It can safely be concluded that alcohol is a drug,
and so drinking alcohol is taking drugs, and is sin.
b)
Drunkenness
Even most
liberals agree that it is a sin to be drunk. For example, consider
these plain Scriptures that denounce drunkenness:
Romans 13:13
“Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and
drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and
envying.”
1 Corinthians
5:11 “But now I have
written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a
brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer,
or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to
eat.”
Galatians 5:21
“Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like:
of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time
past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom
of God.”
Ephesians 5:18
“And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled
with the Spirit;”
Consider these
questions: What is the definition of drunk? Is there such a thing as
“responsible drinking,” or “drinking in moderation?”
Alcohol
-“intoxicating drinks containing alcohol” (Encarta 2000); “a
colourless, volatile, intoxicating, inflammable liquid” (New
Webster’s Dictionary)
Drunk - “intoxicated by alcohol” (New Webster’s
Dictionary)
- Greek - methuo -
“intoxicated, tipsy, drunk”
Intoxicated
- “to cause to lose mental or physical control” (New Webster’s
Dictionary)
The definition of
drunkenness would then be “to lose mental or physical control due to
the effects of alcohol.” How does the drinker know when they are
“under the influence?” Can science tell us when a person is
influenced or not? Is there a certain blood-alcohol level under
which a person is not intoxicated? Let us consider the dilemma of
authorities trying to determine the safe blood-alcohol level for
someone driving a motor vehicle. Is there a standard limit around
the world, or at least around the country? NO! Blood-alcohol limits
range from 0% to 0.1% depending upon the state and national laws.
Provisional license holders in NSW are not allowed to have any trace
of alcohol in their blood stream when driving. Why? Because no
one can determine the “safe” level of alcohol use. Note the
following article:
“In recent years
the offence of driving under the influence of alcohol or illegal
drugs has been taken increasingly seriously, as the number of
accidents caused by drunken driving have emerged. The difficulty
of proving that a driver was appreciably affected by drink led
in the 1960s and 1970s to the introduction of tests using
breath-testing machines to determine the level of alcohol in the
blood. An offence arises if the level exceeds a certain limit. In
certain countries, notably Scandinavia, it is an offence to drive
with any amount of alcohol in the bloodstream. …”
(Microsoft®
Encarta® Encyclopedia 2000. © 1993-1999 Microsoft Corporation. All
rights reserved.)
It is not
possible for someone to know if they are affected by alcohol or not,
or for them to decide a “moderate” level of drinking. A person
cannot really know when they are intoxicated, or drunken, by the
true definition of the word. The question we must ask is not, “Am I
intoxicated?” but rather, “How intoxicated am I?” because alcohol
is, by it’s very definition, intoxicating. Therefore, the only
safe and spiritual position for a Christian to take is one of
complete abstinence from the use of alcohol. If drunkenness is
such a serious sin, and the Bible says it is, then the only way to
be sure of staying free of the sin of intoxication is to remain free
of alcohol.
c) Wine in
the Bible
What does the
word “wine” refer to in the Bible?
There are two
Hebrew words frequently used in the Old Testament for wine:
Yayin
- wine; as a common drink; as a drink offering; intoxicating;
figuratively.
Tirosh
- fresh or sweet wine.
The two Greek
words used in the New Testament for wine are:
Oinos
- wine, either fermented or unfermented.
Gleukos
- must, new, sweet wine; or, grape juice (Acts 2:13 only).
Wine has been
manufactured from earliest times and is first mentioned in the Bible
in connection with the drunkenness of Noah (Gen. 9:21), which in
turn led to the sin of his son, Ham. The vineyard provided one of
man's first sources of both the sugar so necessary for his health
and the alcohol so harmful to his health.
The “pure blood
of the grape” (Deut. 32:14) is, in itself, not only harmless but
sweet and healthful. It is only after the grape sugar, through the
fermentation process caused by the yeast bacteria that collect on
the grape skins, is broken down into alcohol and carbon dioxide,
that the wine becomes harmful. Fermentation is essentially a decay
process, in which the complex sugar molecules are caused to break
down into the simpler molecules of alcohol. At body temperature,
sugar taken into the system is inhibited from this type of decay and
instead is a prime source of energy for the body's activities.
Alcohol, on the other hand, is itself a cause of bodily decay,
entering the blood stream undigested and thence attacking the
nervous system and the entire bodily structure, causing damage
everywhere it goes and, eventually, if enough is ingested, death.
Oinos
may refer either to alcoholic wine or unfermented grape juice. A
parallel usage in modern English would be our use of the word
“cider” to refer either to sweet cider or to hard (alcoholic) cider,
as the context may indicate. There is an abundance of both ancient
Hebrew and Greek secular literature available to verify that both
fermented and unfermented “wines” were in common use by the people
of that day. Some claim that there was no way of preserving grape
juice without it fermenting, and thus concluding that only alcoholic
wine was drunk at the time of Christ. However, this is not supported
by the historical facts. Means for preserving grape juice were well
known: Cato, De Agri Cultura CXX has this recipe: “If you wish to
have must (grape juice) all year, put grape juice in an amphora and
seal the cork with pitch; sink it in a fish pond. After 30 days
take it out. It will be grape juice for a whole year.” At the Last
Supper Jesus spoke of “the fruit of the vine” (Matt. 26:29), as in
the Passover liturgy; it may be a studied avoidance of the term
wine, indicating that the drink was unfermented, as the bread was
unleavened.
Some have
supposed that Acts 2:13 proves that the early Christians drank
alcoholic wine:
Acts 2:13
“Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine.”
But, the Greek
word translated as “wine” in the text is gleukos, which
refers to unfermented grape juice. Several Greek lexicons and
scholars acknowledge that gleukos designates exclusively
unfermented grape juice. For example, Horace Bumstead… offers this
clear and conclusive explanation: “… with the Greeks the product of
the wine-press could be sweet in three different senses: first, as
gleukos (corresponding to the Latin mustum), when it
was sweet from the lack of vinous fermentation; second, as oinos
gleukos, when it was fermented, but sweet from the presence
of considerable untransformed sugar; and third, as oinos hedus,
when it was sweet from the absence of acetous fermentation, or
souring.” What this means is that when Gleukos occurs by
itself, as in Acts 2:13, it refers specifically to unfermented
grape juice.
The only way
of accurately knowing whether the wine (Oinos) referred to is
fermented (corrupted) wine or pure grape juice is from the context
of the Scripture, and by comparing Scripture with Scripture.
d) Bible
verses which reprove drinking and drunkenness
The Bible
contains many Scriptures that denounce drinking and drunkenness.
Here are a few examples:
* We are not to
be around those who drink alcohol and those who are gluttonous:
Proverbs
23:20-21 “Be not among
winebibbers [drunkards; wine drinkers]; among riotous eaters of
flesh: For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and
drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.”
* We are not to
even look at wine, in case we would indulge in it and so end up
drunken.
Proverbs
23:29-35 “Who hath woe? who
hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath
wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes? They that tarry long
at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine. Look not thou upon
the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup,
when it moveth itself aright. At the last it biteth like a
serpent, and stingeth like an adder. Thine eyes shall behold
strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things.
Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or
as he that lieth upon the top of a mast. They have stricken me,
shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt
it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.”
* Those in
authority are not to drink.
Proverbs
31:4-5 “It is not for
kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for
princes strong drink: Lest they drink, and forget the law,
and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted.”
* We are not to
drink alcohol because a brother who is weak may fall back into sin
because of our actions.
Romans
14:21-23 “It is good
neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby
thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak.
Hast thou faith? have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that
condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth. And he that
doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for
whatsoever is not of faith is sin.”
* It is a sin to
give an alcoholic drink to our neighbour.
Habakkuk 2:15
“Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink, that puttest
thy bottle to him, and makest him drunken also, that thou mayest
look on their nakedness!”
* There is a
curse placed on those who would drink booze all day.
Isaiah 5:11,
22 “Woe unto them that rise
up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink;
that continue until night, till wine inflame them! Woe unto
them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to
mingle strong drink:”
* Alcohol will
make you to fall, to make mistakes, and to travel the wrong path of
life.
Isaiah 28:1
“Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim,
whose glorious beauty is a fading flower, which are on the head of
the fat valleys of them that are overcome with wine!”
Isaiah 28:7-8
“But they also have erred through wine, and through strong
drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have
erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine,
they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in
vision, they stumble in judgment. For all tables are full of vomit
and filthiness, so that there is no place clean.”
* God commands
the drunkards and drinkers of wine to humble themselves.
Joel 1:5
“Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl,
all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine; for it is cut
off from your mouth.”
* The drunkard’s
main problem is pride.
Habakkuk 2:5
“Yea also, because he transgresseth by wine, he is a proud
man, neither keepeth at home, who enlargeth his desire as hell, and
is as death, and cannot be satisfied, but gathereth unto him all
nations, and heapeth unto him all people:”
* We are always
to be sober, to be in complete control of our senses, and to be
serious.
1 Peter 5:8
“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as
a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:”
* There are
ten references to drink in the book of wisdom, Proverbs.
The first four references make no judgment on wine or grape juice,
but the last six references are strongly against alcohol:
“Wine is a
mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is
not wise.” (30:1)
“He that loveth
pleasure shall be a poor man: he that loveth wine and oil shall not
be rich.” (21:17)
“For the drunkard
and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a
man with rags.” (23:21)
“They that tarry
long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.” (23:30)
“Look not thou
upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup,
when it moveth itself aright.” (23:31)
“As a thorn goeth
up into the hand of a drunkard, so is a parable in the mouth of
fools.” (26:9)
e) Some men
in the Bible who were hurt by drink
As a result of
drinking, Noah caused his son to sin by his nakedness:
Genesis 9:21
“And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered
within his tent.”
As a result of
drinking, Lot committed incest:
Genesis 19:33
“And they made their father drink wine that night: and the firstborn
went in, and lay with her father; and he perceived not when she lay
down, nor when she arose.”
As a result of
drinking, Amnon was killed:
2 Samuel
13:28 “Now Absalom had
commanded his servants, saying, Mark ye now when Amnon’s heart is
merry with wine, and when I say unto you, Smite Amnon; then kill
him, fear not: have not I commanded you? be courageous, and be
valiant.”
As a result of
drinking, King Elah was murdered:
1 Kings 16:9
“And his servant Zimri, captain of half his chariots, conspired
against him, as he was in Tirzah, drinking himself drunk in the
house of Arza steward of his house in Tirzah.”
f) “Under the
influence”
The apostle Paul,
under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, made the following
statement:
1 Corinthians
6:12 “All things are lawful
unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for
me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.”
What he is saying
is that it is wrong for him to be controlled by any power outside
himself. The only person or thing that should control his thoughts
or actions is the Holy Spirit. He must remain able to make sensible,
wise, spiritual decisions, free from any power that would bring his
will into bondage. That means that is wrong for Paul, and for any
Christian, to be addicted to any substance or activity. We are not
to lose control of our mind or bodies. Possible addictions include
gambling, pornography, and alcoholism. If we are to avoid these, and
other, addictions, then what is the safest strategy? Abstain from
any involvement in the activity that may become addictive. There
is no alcoholic in this world that did not begin with his first
social drink, his first taste of liquor. If we would surely avoid
the sin of addiction to liquor, we must abstain from the use of
alcohol.
Why is it so
wrong to be under the influence of alcohol?
Consider the command:
Ephesians 5:18
“And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with
the Spirit;”
If a person
allows his actions to be controlled in any degree by wine or by
drugs, or by money, or by pride, or by anything else, then of course
they are not controlled by the Holy Spirit, and he is therefore not
filled with the Spirit. A very literal translation of this passage
would be: “And do not even begin to be drunk with wine,
wherein is debauchery, but rather be continually being filled with
the Spirit.” The context of this verse is very important. Leading
up to it, evidently because these are prerequisites to a truly
Spirit-controlled life, are admonitions to “walk circumspectly”
(5:15), to “redeem the time” (5:16), and to “understand what the
will of the Lord is” (5:17). That is, one can hardly expect to have
a Spirit-controlled life unless he is really concerned to order all
his behaviour and to use all his time in a way that conforms to
God's will. He must allow nothing else, of which wine is the
typical example, to gain any control over his life.
g) The
appearance of evil
1
Thessalonians 5:21-23
“Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all
appearance of evil.
And the very
God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit
and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of
our Lord Jesus Christ.”
The Word of God
commands us to not only abstain from that which is evil and sinful,
but to even be careful to avoid the appearance of evil. Why? For the
sake of a clean, blameless testimony. If it were true that
social drinking were not wrong, we should not be seen drinking
alcohol in case others might assume that we were getting drunk. If
we are in a pub and drinking one middie of beer with our “friends”
whom are getting drunk, would not the casual observer conclude that
we are there to become intoxicated? That would then mean that we
have assumed the appearance of evil, and are guilty of sin. Also,
Proverbs 23:20 (quoted earlier) commands us to refrain from the
company of those consuming booze, so we are twice guilty for being
in the wrong place with the wrong people.
h) Historical
Confirmation
“In his epistles,
Peter, who acts as the spokesman of the Jerusalem Church in the
first twelve chapters of Acts, alludes to the practice of abstinence
in the apostolic church. Later historical confirmation of this
practice is provided by the testimony of Hegesippus, a church
historian who, as Eusebius tells us, “lived immediately after the
apostles.” Writing regarding “James, the brother of the Lord, [who]
succeeded to the government of the Church in conjunction with the
apostles,” Hegesippus says: “He was holy from his mother's womb; and
he drank no wine nor strong drink, nor did he eat flesh.” We can
assume that the strict abstinent life-style of James, who for a time
served as the presiding officer of the Jerusalem Church, served as
an example for Apostolic Christians to follow.”
(Wine in the
Apostolic Church)
i)
Deciding Questionable Things for the Christian
Dr. Curtis
Hutson gives us eleven Bible principles for deciding whether or not
to indulge in a practice that is questionable. Perhaps you may not
yet be fully convinced that drinking is wrong. Some say, “Well, I’m
not under the law; I’m under grace. I have the liberty to do
whatever I think is good and right.” What does the Bible say?
* We are not to
use the covenant of grace (Romans 6) as an excuse to sin and live
selfishly.
Romans 6:15 “What
then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under
grace? God forbid.”
Galatians 5:13
“For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not
liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one
another.”
If you are
unsure about the sin of social drinking, take this eleven point test
to see if the Lord would have you drink alcohol:
1.
Are you willing to
do what is right once you know God’s will? John 7:17.
2.
Does it agree with
all that Scripture has to say on the subject? 2 Peter 1:20; 2
Timothy 3:16,17.
3.
Have you prayed
about it? Philippians 4:6,7.
4.
Do you have the
leading of the Holy Spirit? Romans 8:14.
5.
Does it please God?
1 John 3:22.
6.
Can you do it in the
name of the Lord Jesus? Colossians 3:17.
7.
Can you give God
thanks for it? Colossians 3:17.
8.
Does it bring glory
to God? 1 Corinthians 10:31.
9.
Does it offend other
Christians? 1 Corinthians 8:13.
10.
Am I fully persuaded
that it is right? Romans 14:5, 23.
11.
Do the best
Christians I know agree that it is right? Proverbs 12:15, 24:6
You might be
saying, “Well, I just feel like drinking in moderation is okay. In
my heart I think it’s not a sin. I know it might be wrong,
but I don’t think it’s a big deal.” Let the Word of God judge such
an attitude:
“The way of a
fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth
unto counsel is wise.” (Proverbs 12:15)
“The
backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways...”
(Proverbs 14:14a)
“… for whatsoever
is not of faith is sin.” (Romans 14:23b)
j) Some Bible
passages that are wrongly used to justify drinking
In an attempt to
justify their “liberty,” Christians use a few vague passages to
prove that the Word of God sanctions “drinking in moderation”.
However, a diligent study of the passages in question soon puts
their arguments to rest.
A vital principle
of hermeneutics, or Bible interpretation, is the synthesis
principle. This principle says that Scripture interprets
Scripture. Obscure passages in the Bible may be understood in the
light of clearer ones. One should never build a doctrine on a single
obscure or unclear text:
2 Peter 1:20
“Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any
private interpretation.”
Those who use the
following passages, and others, to justify their drinking habit,
usually violate this principle.
Let us examine
three of the common passages that are misused by drinkers:
Firstly:
1 Timothy 3:3
“Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre;
but patient, not a brawler, not covetous;”
1 Timothy 3:8
“Likewise must the deacons be grave, not double-tongued, not given
to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre;”
Answer:
Some conclude
from these two verses that we can drink in moderation, but we must
not give ourself to wine, or overindulge in it. Consider the Greek
words used for “given” in the two verses above:
Paroinos
- 1 Timothy 3:3 - staying near wine.
Prosecho
- 1 Timothy 3:8 - pay attention to, apply oneself to, be given to,
have regard to, be attached to, to give one self up to, to be
addicted to.
In the case of
verse 3, the bishop must not even stay near wine. That certainly
must imply complete abstinence from alcohol.
In the case of
verse 8, the deacon must not become addicted to or attached to
drinking much wine. Wine here cannot be alcoholic wine, because only
one case of drinking much fermented wine would be sin. Other
believers would have to break fellowship with the man in such a case
(1 Corinthians 5:11). Most of these were converts from idolatry and
were previously used to a life of voluptuousness and sensuality. The
dissipated and voluptuous preferred the wine whose strength
(potency) had been broken by filter, because it enabled them to
drink much without becoming intoxicated. They used various methods
to promote thirst. They would continue at times all night at their
feasts. Excessive drinking, even of non-alcoholic drinks, was a
vice prevalent in the days of Paul, also common - the excessive use
of food, but not of an intoxicating kind. Paul is merely guarding
the deacons against a vice of the day. Such devotion to any kind of
wine would show sensuality unseemly in one holding office in the
church. This verse therefore would be admonishing the deacon to
guard himself against overindulging in the appetites of the flesh,
specifically grape juice. It would be like commanding him to
refrain from gluttony.
Secondly:
John 2:3-11
“And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They
have no wine. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with
thee? mine hour is not yet come. His mother saith unto the servants,
Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews,
containing two or three firkins apiece. Jesus saith unto them, Fill
the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. And
he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the
feast. And they bare it. When the ruler of the feast had tasted the
water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the
servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast
called the bridegroom, And saith unto him, Every man at the
beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk,
then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until
now. This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and
manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.”
Answer:
Christians claim
that Jesus Christ here served as the brewer and bartender for a
group of drunken guests at a wedding, creating and serving to them
about 500 litres of alcoholic wine. How ridiculous! How
blasphemous! The question is, was this wine fermented, or was it
just pure grape juice? Scripture will clarify this for us. Consider
Habbakkuk 2:15:
“Woe unto him
that giveth his neighbour drink, that puttest thy bottle to him,
and makest him drunken also, that thou mayest look on their
nakedness!”
Here God places a
curse on the one who gives an alcoholic drink to his neighbour (take
note, bottle shop and pub owners). So, if the wine in John 2 were
fermented, God would punish the Lord Jesus for His sin!
It is
significant that, in establishing the Lord's Supper, Jesus was
always careful to use the phrase “fruit of the vine,” instead of
“wine,” lest He be misunderstood. Alcohol, the product of
putrefaction and decay and thus the perfect symbol of death, could
certainly not represent the life-giving quality of the blood of the
Lord Jesus symbolised in the cup at His table. Furthermore, He
frequently warned against drunkenness (note Luke 21:34; 12:45,
etc.). Thus it is extremely unlikely that He would create a
substance at a wedding feast which would cause drunkenness! The
guests had already exhausted the copious supplies of intoxicating
wine on hand and were probably already drunk. He transformed
approximately 500 litres of water into that many gallons of "good
wine" (John 2:6, 10), and if this was intoxicating wine, it would
certainly have turned the wedding celebration, with the guests
already inebriated and demanding more wine, into a drunken brawl!
The wine that He
made was, in fact, new wine, freshly created. It was not old,
decayed wine, as it would have to be if it were intoxicating. There
was no time for the fermentation process to break down the structure
of its energy-giving sugars into disintegrative alcohols.
Therefore, the wine in John chapter 2 must refer to pure,
unfermented grape juice - not alcoholic wine.
It is interesting
to note that men at the time of Christ not only preserved their
grape juices unfermented, but “called them wines, and regarded them
as of a higher flavour and finer quality than ferment wine. Such
evidence is to be found in almost any classical authority. So say
Plato, Columella, Pliny, Aristotle, Horace, Homer, Plutarch, and
others. Many of these gave in detail the very processes of boiling,
filtering, and sulphurisation by which the wine were preserved from
fermentation. There were, therefore, two kinds of wine in ancient
use. The one was sweet, pleasant, refreshing and unfermented; the
other was exciting, inflaming, and intoxicating. Each was called
wine.” (William Patton)
Thirdly,
1 Timothy 5:23
“Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach’s sake
and thine often infirmities.”
Answer:
The argument
given here is if it’s good to take a little wine for medicinal
purposes, then it must be okay for Christians to drink in
moderation. There are two serious flaws in this argument:
i) The wine here may speak of pure,
non-alcoholic grape juice; there is nothing that says it is
fermented. Grape juice is known to be good for the stomach and
intestines. Athenaeus says, “Let him take sweet wine (gleukos),
either mixed with water or warmed, especially that called
protropos, as being very good for stomach.”
ii) If it is okay to use medicines
that contain a small amount of alcohol, then why does that justify
drinking alcoholic beverages for pleasure? When I was in the
hospital a few years ago, I was on a strong pain killer called
pethidine. Pethidine is related to morphine, and causes some quite
unusual side effects, such as drowsiness, loss of memory,
double-vision, etc. By the logic of some, I should be free to
indulge in such drugs for pleasure. How foolish. Let us not be
guilty of putting thoughts into Scripture that God did not put
there.
Ask yourself the
question: Should you lie “in moderation?” Should you commit adultery
“in moderation?” Should you steal “in moderation?” Of course not.
Then how can it be right to be drunk “in moderation?” The Bible
is clear that drinking alcohol is not only dangerous and unwise, it
is sin.
II.
The Evidence of Science
Science
teaches us that, without exception, alcohol is a dangerous,
unhealthy, deceptive and poisonous drug.
Dr. Charles H.
Mayo, founder of the world-famous Mayo Clinic, made the following
statement:
"You can get
along with a wooden leg, but you can't get along with a wooden head,
The physical value of man is not so much. Man, as analyzed in our
laboratories, is worth about ninety-eight cents; seven bars of soap,
lime enough to whitewash a chicken coop, phosphorous enough to cover
the heads of a thousand matches. This is not very much you see. It
is the brain that counts. But in order that your brain may be
kept clear you must keep your body fit and well. That cannot be
done if one drinks liquor. A man who has to drag around a habit
that is a danger and a menace to society ought to go off to the
woods and live alone. We do not tolerate the obvious use of
morphine or cocaine or opium and we should not tolerate
intoxicating liquor because I tell you these things are what
break down the command of the individual over his own life and his
own destiny. Through alcohol a man loses his coordination. That is
why liquor is no advantage to the brain. You hear people tell how
they had their wits quickened for the first half-hour by liquor, but
they don't tell you how later their bodies could not act in
coordination with their brain."
“Alcohol is
nowhere to be found in any product of nature, never created by God,
but is essentially an artificial thing prepared by man through the
destructive process of fermentation.” (Dr. Monroe) The manufacture
of alcohol is wholly man’s device. The assertion that alcohol is in
sugar and in all unfermented saccharine substances that are
nutritious is contradicted by medical science.
Dr. William F
Boos, toxicologist, states:
“Alcohol is a
poison, classed among the narcotic drugs along with chloral,
ethyl, chloride, chloroform, ether, toluol and benzol. It acts as
poison acts.”
“Alcohol is, in
fact, treated by the human system not as food but as an intruder
and as a poison.” (Dr. James Edmunds).
What exactly is a
poison?
Poison
- “anything having a pernicious [destructive, injurious] effect on
the mind or character of an individual” (New Webster’s Dictionary);
“something that exercises a powerful destructive or corrupting
force, especially in an insidious way” (Encarta 2000)
Brain and nervous
system cells are the first to be affected by alcohol. After their
destruction by alcohol, they are lost forever. Unlike most other
body cells, they cannot be regenerated. The demonic killer is daily
at work destroying the minds and bodies of millions of people who
boast that they drink moderately but have never been drunk.
“What is
alcohol? The answer is a poison. It is so regarded by the
best writers and teachers on toxicology who class it with arsenic,
corrosive sublimate and prussic acid. Like these poisons, when
introduced into the system, it is capable of destroying life
without acting mechanically.” (William Patton).
What does God say
about such destruction of the human body by booze?
1 Corinthians
6:19-20 “What? know ye not
that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you,
which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought
with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your
spirit, which are God’s.”
Alcoholism,
the sad state of many social drinkers who develop a dependence upon
alcohol, is a plague that is tearing apart lives and families in
Australia today. Approximately one in 19 Australians are affected by
this awful condition. What are the scientific facts concerning this
epidemic?
“Alcoholism is a
chronic and usually progressive illness involving the excessive
inappropriate ingestion of ethyl alcohol, whether in the form of
familiar alcoholic beverages or as a constituent of other
substances.….It is characterized by an emotional and often physical
dependence on alcohol, and it frequently leads to brain damage or
early death.…Alcoholism usually develops over a period of
years. Early and subtle symptoms include placing excessive
importance on the availability of alcohol. Ensuring this
availability strongly influences the person's choice of associates
or activities. Alcohol comes to be used more as a mood-changing drug
than as a foodstuff or beverage served as a part of social custom or
religious ritual.
Initially, the
alcoholic may demonstrate a high tolerance to alcohol, consuming
more and showing fewer adverse effects than others. Subsequently,
however, the person begins to drink against his or her own best
interests, as alcohol comes to assume more importance than
personal relationships, work, reputation, or even physical health.
The person commonly loses control over drinking and is
increasingly unable to predict how much alcohol will be consumed on
a given occasion or, if the person is currently abstaining, when
the drinking will resume again. Physical addiction to the drug
may occur, sometimes eventually leading to drinking around the
clock to avoid withdrawal symptoms.
Alcohol has
direct toxic as well as sedative effects on the body,
and failure to take care of nutritional and other physical needs
during prolonged periods of excessive drinking may further
complicate matters. Advanced cases often require hospitalization.
The effects on major organ systems are cumulative and include
a wide range of digestive-system disorders such as ulcers,
inflammation of the pancreas, and cirrhosis of the liver. The
central and peripheral nervous systems can be permanently damaged.
Blackouts, hallucinations, and extreme tremors may occur.
The latter symptoms are involved in the most serious alcohol
withdrawal syndrome, delirium tremens, which can prove fatal despite
prompt treatment. This is in contrast to withdrawal from opiate
drugs such as heroin, which, although distressing, rarely results in
death. Recent evidence has shown that heavy and even moderate
drinking during pregnancy can cause serious damage to the unborn
child: physical or mental retardation, or both; a rare
but severe expression of this damage is known as foetal alcohol
syndrome.
… estimates of
the annual number of deaths related to excessive drinking exceed
97,000 in the United States alone. The incidence of alcohol
dependence in the Russian Federation, based on hospital admission
data, is approximately 12 per 100,000 individuals. The European
Alcohol Action Plan of the World Health Organization (WHO) is
dedicated to reducing alcohol consumption by 25 per cent between
1980 and 2000, with particular emphasis on supporting the former
USSR.”
(Microsoft®
Encarta® Encyclopedia 2000. © 1993-1999 Microsoft Corporation. All
rights reserved.)
“But,” you say,
“I’m not a drunk. I just drink in moderation.” Consider these
chilling facts:
“Contrary to
common belief, most people with alcohol problems are moderate to
light drinkers - ie., they consume 2-13 drinks per week. The
most serious and immediate effects are on the brain, for after
even one or two drinks of alcohol, the frontal lobes are
affected, and people are less able to understand the potential
dangers and costs of a particular action. Many tests have shown
that their judgement is impaired, peripheral vision is decreased,
and thinking is confused. The potential for disaster is compounded
by depressed inhibitions, altered moods and impaired coordination.
But the damage
does not stop there.
Alcohol increases the risk of cancer. It is believed to influence
practically every known step of the carcinogenic process. There is
consistent evidence that alcohol intake increases cancer of the
mouth, throat, liver, pancreas, rectum and breast. It also
depresses appetite, provides empty calories, damages the liver and
kidneys, and increases the risk of stroke and heart attack.”
(Dr. Christina
Naylor)
The scientific
facts are very clear: alcohol is a dangerous, lethal, and deceptive
drug.
III. The Evidence of Social Impact
Philippians
2:4 “Look not every man on
his own things, but every man also on the things of others.”
Romans 15:2
“Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to
edification.”
We may think that
a little drink now and then will not hurt us. But what about the
impact of booze upon society? What kind of industry are we
supporting when we buy alcohol? Is alcohol hurting our neighbours,
our city, and our country?
The National
Committee for Defence Against Alcoholism speaks for the highest
levels of French medicine. They state: "Alcoholism is caused by a
slow and unperceived impregnation of the organism with alcohol.
Hundreds of thousands are alcoholics who have never been drunk, for
alcoholism is a permanent state, due to repeated consumption of
small amounts of alcoholic drink. Alcoholism is more disastrous
to the offspring of the alcoholic than to the alcoholic himself.
Apart from bad example and alcoholic poverty, the alcoholic
bequeaths to his children many different deficiencies. Fifty to 90%
of degenerates are children of alcoholics .... Degenerates and
children of degenerates, they often crumble into maniacs. From
the pitiful flock of sons and daughters of drunkards are recruited
social rebels, misfits, the vicious, prostitutes and criminals in a
proportion of 75 percent."
We talk much
about delinquency today. We have plans and educational programs,
social organisations and entertainment committees, various
organisations working to try to curb the delinquency on every hand.
Some juvenile authorities insist that 80% of juvenile criminals are
victims of the alcoholism of their parents. Curb alcoholism and
you will curb the majority of the cases of delinquency.
Doctors who have
made a study of alcoholism compiled the following questions and
answers. Listen carefully:
-
Can a girl drink and still remain
virtuous? NO.
-
Do more people drink today than 20
years ago? YES.
-
Is moderate drinking dangerous? YES.
-
Can drinking lead to sexual
promiscuity? YES.
-
Can alcoholism lead to crimes of
violence? YES.
-
What percentage of alcohol in the
blood may cause death? Less than 1.1%.
-
Can drinking cause permanent
insanity? YES.
-
What is regarded as the greatest
single cause of insanity in the U.S.? Alcohol.
What are the
social impacts of drinking booze?
-
Drink driving fills our
cemeteries with thousands of innocent victims.
-
Young people lose their
purity while their inhibitions and conscience are dulled by drink.
-
Many a father wastes his
income and deprives his family of the necessities of life so that he
can drink his fill and drown his sorrows.
-
Men spend time with
their “mates” at the pub while their families sit at home alone,
deprived of their husband and father.
-
One million
Australian men or women who only intended to have “a drink or two”
are now slaves to the bottle.
-
About 300,000
Australian alcoholics are brain-damaged by booze.
-
Social drinkers pour
God’s money into a vile industry that lowers the morals and dulls
the judgment.
-
Women and children are
beaten and violated by drunken fathers who are decent men when not
overcome by the demon of liquor.
-
Unwise and regrettable
decisions are made while under the influence of alcohol.
-
Irresponsible acts of
violence are committed by otherwise law-abiding citizens while their
judgment and conscience are clouded by drink.
What do some of
the great minds of the past have to say about drinking?
Shakespeare:
“Alcohol is a poison men take into the mouth to steal away the
brain.”
Gladstone:
“Strong drink is more destructive than war, pestilence and famine.”
Sir Wilfred
Lawson: “The devil in
solution.”
Abraham
Lincoln: “A cancer in human
society, eating out its vitals and threatening its destruction.”
Robert Hall:
“Distilled damnation.”
Lord
Chesterfield: “An artist in
human slaughter.”
Ruskin:
“The most criminal and artistic method of assassination ever
invented by the bravos of any age or nation.”
General
Pershing: “Drunkenness has
killed more men than all of history's wars.”
General Robert
E. Lee: “My experience thru
life has convinced me that abstinence from spiritous liquors is the
best safeguard to morals and health.”
How serious is
alcohol as a drug problem in Australia?
“Alcohol
remains Australia’s major drug problem. Heroin may get the
publicity but alcohol does even more damage. About 7,000 people die
each year from alcohol-related illnesses whereas the figure for
heroin is about 500. This does not include those killed in auto
accidents where drink driving was involved. The total cost of drug
abuse in Australia is about $4.5 billion per year, of which $3.5
billion is due to alcohol.”
(Allan Smith, EIG
Ansvar Insurance)
The facts
prove conclusively that the destructive social impact of the
multi-billion-dollar alcohol industry is enough to stop any decent
citizen, particularly a loving Christian, from indulging in the
poisonous brew. Alcohol is tearing our homes and our society apart.
Conclusion
In closing, let
me give a word of personal testimony. When saved at the age of 17, I
was, as most teenagers, already intimately familiar with the abuse
of alcohol. When I got saved in 1985, I was still drinking booze
quite regularly, and occasionally getting very drunk. Upon getting
involved in a strong Bible-preaching church, I began to think about
the subject of alcohol. As I was not sure if drinking were wrong, I
stopped drinking altogether for a short time. Unfortunately, I began
to drink “in moderation” soon after because of the influence of
worldly Christian friends at the University of Sydney. It was
several years until my pastor and godly friends finally convinced me
that abstinence is the only option for the spiritual Christian.
Several months later I went to Bible college in Crown Point,
Indiana. While a student there I became involved with the bus
ministry of the First Baptist Church of Hammond, Indiana, where we
picked up children, teenagers and adults from Chicago and bussed
them to church. As I began to work with the people of Chicago, I
learned to hate the filthy liquor traffic. I watched homes crumble
as fathers drank their lives away. I saw children go without decent
clothes or food because the paycheck went to the local tavern. I
tried my best to give hope to youths that were disillusioned with
life and were heading down the same destructive path as their
drunkard parents. In every broken home that I can remember, booze
was the common denominator of ruin. You ask me if I can take a
drink today? When I remember the wrecked homes of Chicago, and when
I consider the damage done to Australia by liquor, I want to smash
every bottle of beer, wine and spirits I see. I want to see the pub
and bottle shop owners put behind bars where they belong. The liquor
trade is built on the foundation of the crumbled lives of those who
have fallen into the devilish clutches of alcohol.
It is not
enough, Christian, to just abstain from booze. If our country would
be salvaged, let us win every soul to Jesus Christ that we can, and
let us proclaim to them the good news that our Saviour can deliver
men from every vice and evil - including the sin of social drinking.
