A Wisdom Case for Total Abstinence from Alcohol in Modern Times

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In my view, the Bible is just ambiguous enough on the topic of beverage alcohol to put the question in the category of matters of conscience. But matters of conscience are not matters to “leave alone;” they’re not excluded from the call to “consider one another in order to stir up love and good works” (Heb. 10:24).

These issues call for respectful challenging of one another’s assumptions — and for pondering the path of our feet (Prov. 4:26).

So, I offer here a few thoughts, mainly with two groups of people in mind: those who are trying to decide what sort of stand they ought to make in their own lives, and those who are looking for ways to communicate a no-drinking position to others they care about.

I’m aware that most of the moderate-consumption advocates I know won’t find this at all persuasive, so in that sense, it’s not an entry in “the debate.” But in another sense, it is: some of the undecided and open minded may find something here that bears fruit later on.

Some framing

A strong wisdom case begins by pointing out a few facts and dismissing some distractions. For brevity’s sake here, just the facts.

  • Relative to today, people in Bible times had fewer beverage options; it was harder (maybe impossible) to avoid fermented beverages entirely, even if you wanted to.
  • In ancient times, wine was not normally fortified with alcohol as it often is today (more on this practice at winespectator.om, and winecoolerdirect.com, eater.com and of course Wikipedia).
  • If not before, certainly after the rise of Greek culture, wine was routinely diluted with water (NY Times, Wikipedia), often to the point that the mix was more water than wine (winespectator.com, “Wine and Rome.”)

Along with these background facts, a few logically obvious points are often lost in the fray in discussions on this topic.

  • Not everyone who ever got drunk started out with the intention of getting drunk.
  • Nobody ever got drunk without a first drink.
  • Nobody ever got chemically addicted to alcohol with the intention of getting addicted to alcohol.
  • More than 10,000 people were killed in drunk driving crashes in the U.S. in 2016 (“It’s Not an ‘Accident,’ It’s a Crime.” Sheriff & Deputy, March/April 2018). Nobody who ever drove drunk and killed someone had their first drink that night with a DUI crash fatality as their goal.

I could go on like this for some time, talking about cheating lovers, domestic violence, and all sorts of other alcohol induced or aggravated crimes. To many of us, these facts alone point to some obvious conclusions. But they’re just background lighting for a biblical wisdom case against beverage alcohol.

The argument from wisdom

For various reasons, a “wisdom case” against beverage alcohol consumption tries to avoid the argument that Scripture directly forbids beverage alcohol or that Jesus and the apostles drank only non-alcoholic wine.

The wisdom case I’ve taught in various venues goes like this:

1 Believers must be wise stewards.

A few passages help bring well-known principle into fresh focus.

Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. (ESV, Matthew 10:16)

Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful. (1 Cor. 4:2)

The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight. (Prov. 4:7)

So then each of us will give an account of himself to God. (Rom. 14:12)

The “so what” of this principle is that if a course of action is dumb, we shouldn’t do it. If there’s a smarter option, we should do that instead. It’s good stewardship.

2 We are called to keep our minds sharp.

But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine. 2 Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, (Titus 2:1-2)

For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. 6 So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober … (1 Thess. 5:5–8)

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. (1 Pet. 5:8)

These passages add up to strong direction to avoid anything that is likely to compromise our ability to stay sharp in tempting times.

3 Beverage alcohol poses dangers to both wise stewardship and sharp-mindedness.

The Bible’s warning passages in reference to “wine” and “strong drink” are well known, and it’s commonly claimed that they refer only to drunkenness and not to having the occasional drink. But as noted above, it’s really not rational to propose a complete non-relationship between drunkenness and “one drink.” You can’t have the former without the latter. They’re connected.

Since many get drunk without starting out with that goal, it’s absurd to claim that a single drink poses no risk at all of leading to drunkenness.

The likelihood may be low, but the stakes are high.

Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes? 30 Those who tarry long over wine; those who go to try mixed wine. 31 Do not look at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly. 32 In the end it bites like a serpent and stings like an adder. 33 Your eyes will see strange things, and your heart utter perverse things. 34 You will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea, like one who lies on the top of a mast. 35 “They struck me,” you will say, “but I was not hurt; they beat me, but I did not feel it. When shall I awake? I must have another drink.” (Prov. 23:29–35)

To this and similar passages, we should add the humiliation of Noah (Gen. 9:20-26) and the degradation of Lot (Gen. 19:30-38). It’s significant that the first occurrence of “wine” in the Bible is a story of tragic family consequences. Did either of these men sit down with a mug that day thinking, “I believe I’ll get drunk now and do something ruinous”?

4 Avoiding pointless hazards is wise.

There is no risk-free living. Driving to work every day is a risky activity — but so is farming the back forty. We take these risks because they’re unavoidable and because the potential gain is worth the degree of risk involved. But acts with a high risk and low potential are just stupid, and recklessness is not a fruit of the Spirit!

The prudent sees danger and hides himself, but the simple go on and suffer for it. (Prov. 22:3)

Folly is a joy to him who lacks sense, but a man of understanding walks straight ahead. (Prov. 15:21)

When a man’s folly brings his way to ruin, his heart rages against the Lord. (Prov. 19:3)

In our culture, we’d say the fool “gets it.” You have to enjoy life. Cut loose and have a good time … and it’s God’s fault when things go horribly wrong.

5 We should seek every advantage for successful competition.

Olympic athletes have a distinctive way of arranging their lives in pursuit of success. Their personal discipline amazes. They take advantage of every tiny detail of posture, clothing, or gear that might gain them a performance edge. Mostly, we respect that. They’re competing at the highest level.

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. 25 Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 26 So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. 27 But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. (1 Cor. 9:24–27)

Every Christian is called to Olympic-level godliness –- elite uprightness of character. Few can claim to have achieved that, but the pursuit is supposed to be where we live every day.

I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:14)

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, (Heb. 12:1)

If there is spiritual advantage in total abstinence, shouldn’t we be eager to seize that advantage?

Avoiding fermented beverages wasn’t easy in ancient times. There is little evidence that most bothered to even try. But in our times, tee-totaling is easy. Alcohol is a much-to-risk and almost nothing to gain scenario, and abstaining is a negligible sacrifice with a significant benefit. Wasting that opportunity is simply not wise.

Discussion

In weighing risk vs. benefit, here’s an important statistic. I don’t have properly sourced U.S. numbers yet, but in UK nearly 1 in 10 people suffer alcohol dependency… some degree of chemical addiction to alcohol.

https://www.drinkaware.co.uk/alcohol-facts/drinking-habits-and-behaviou…

I read in a police department drug/alcohol policy yesterday that the number in the U.S. is also 1/10, but the document did not identify the source of their data.

Think this through: if 1 in 10 of the general population in UK develop a chemical dependency to alcohol, and some of that general population (very small % I would guess) never drink at all, then the % of those who actually drink who become dependent would be even higher.

But 1 in 10, or 1 in 11 if we round conservatively, is a non-trivial risk. The figure comes from the National Health Service over there.

Views expressed are always my own and not my employer's, my church's, my family's, my neighbors', or my pets'. The house plants have authorized me to speak for them, however, and they always agree with me.

Aaron,your source is mixing the definitions of problem drinking and alcoholism to get that number. To use a picture they use, what real alcoholic waits until Friday to start drinking? Physical addiction simply doesn’t work that way, and your source is doing their cause no favors by mixing alcoholism with mere problem drinking.

And the notion that the wine in John 2 wasn’t wine? Honestly, does anyone dip their cup in the pond because they’ve drunk so much Evian that they need to hit the bathroom? Does anyone go to the Sam’s Club brand because they’ve had a quart of Coca-Cola already?

I’m going to enter a counter-proposal here; that a lot of fundamentalists need to take a tour of a winery or brewery to learn how it’s made, why a nonalcoholic wine at Passover was impossible prior to Thomas Welch and Louis Pasteur, the science of balancing sugars in the must to obtain the desired flavor profile, the importance of aging, oaking, bottling, and the like. Bonus points if they attend a tasting—nobody will try to get you drunk or anything.

The simple fact is that in my opinion, it’s impossible to sustain a “two wines” theory if you understand wine-making. The archeological and Biblical evidence is simply too pervasive to ignore, and those who’ve learned a bit about the process can’t help catching on to the cues whether they drink or not.

Aspiring to be a stick in the mud.

Aaron,

Very good article.

Even if the Bible said nothing, directly or indirectly, about alcohol and other drugs, common sense should tell us to stay away from it.

David R. Brumbelow

One of several ways ancients provided nonalcoholic wine for the Lord’s Supper and other occasions:

Then Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand; and I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand.” -Genesis 40:11

“Non-alcoholic drinks are not new. There is evidence that they existed as far back as ancient Egypt.” -New York Times; 1992

“Some even who presented no other wine at the sacrament of the Lord’s cup but what they pressed out of the cluster of grapes.” -Cyprian

“Bring ye also as an offering holy bread, and, having pressed three clusters from the vine into a cup, communicate with me, as the Lord Jesus showed us how to offer up when He rose from the dead on the third day.” -Acts and Martyrdom of Matthew

“One my squeeze the juice of a bunch of grapes into a cup and say the ‘Kiddush’” -Jewish Encyclopedia

The ancient grape harvest lasted six months and “good keeping” grapes, stored properly, would last for a year or more.

David R. Brumbelow

Take some grapes, put them in your hand, and try to squeeze them into juice, David. Put the results on YouTube. I guarantee you that you will get nothing but a mess—and you seriously need to learn to recognize figurative language.

Sorry, David, but I’m quite frankly tired of you spreading your nonsense on this topic, and you are one of the top people who seriously need to visit a vineyard and learn something.

Aspiring to be a stick in the mud.

Bert Perry,

Your continuing insults are noted.

To the others, please consider the evidence and quotes in my previous comment. Much more such evidence is available.

I have more pro-drinking books, old and new, than most drinkers. I have studied the evidence on both sides and am for abstinence from alcohol and other recreational drugs. It is the wise, prudent thing to do.

By the way, I have toured a winery.

I have been to a wine tasting at a winery. The owner asked me to join them. I respectfully told him I really appreciated the tour and information, but I do not drink.

He replied, “Some mornings I wish I didn’t either.”

David R. Brumbelow

I have never taken any intoxicating beverages. The closest I ever came was smelling the stuff at a Milwaukee Brewers baseball game some 25 years ago. I recall by the seventh inning the booze was literally running down the aisles from patrons spilling it. I remember thinking how badly it reeked and wondering why anyone would want to put that stuff in their mouths.

I also was a child growing up in the Finger Lakes wine country of New York state. I recall once getting the chance to taste the juice of grapes being grown for making wine. Right off the vine these grapes had incredibly thin skin, unlike the grapes you get at the store….and one nick of the skin and the juice burst right out. I remember how clear the juice was—not pulpy at all.

I have not yet run into any compelling reason why I should start taking rotten grape juice into my body.

No, David, the simple fact is that I’m actually understating the bankruptcy of your ideas by using the word “nonsense.” Again, if you want to test your ideas, try to replicate your interpretation of Genesis 40:11 and put it on YouTube. The world will then see, very clearly, that the verse is a figurative word picture representing the vintner’s art, not an actual practice. Really, most of your “examples of non-alcoholic wine” fall into the same category. You’re simply failing to recognize figurative language.

Regarding Cyprian, you’re quoting an allowance for the use of fresh must during Communion if wine cannot be found—your source (an 1882 Methodist prohibitionist book) really ignores this fact. It does not speak to the widespread, year-round use of unfermented grape beverages at all. The same thing goes for your quote from the Jewish Encyclopaedia; it’s simply a permission to use unfermented juice if wine is not available.

And you’re quoting Acts and Martyrdom of MatthewGnostic heresy—to support your position? Really?

Even that citation is the same thing—the allowance for using unfermented must when wine was not available, and the very existence of all three citations demonstrates what we know from Luke 5:39—the ancients preferred old, fully fermented wine.

Why play games as if this wasn’t the preference of the ancients? Why pretend that God’s blessings of full wine-vats, and His creation of wine at Cana, wasn’t the real thing? Again, it’s as if the First Fundamental stops at the vineyard gates or something. Why discredit all of what we say with hare-brained schemes to avoid the simple, logical conclusion of Proverbs 3:10, John 2, Luke 5, and other passages?

(side note; no, wine is not rotted, but is rather fermented….completely different action from rotting)

Aspiring to be a stick in the mud.

I have been on 2 separate forums this week with 2 topics that looked unrelated at first. Since I am bi-vocational, I also posted on a forum about jump starting batteries on my excavator (it is a 24 volt system and most cars are 12 volt). I was asking advice for how to jump start the batteries safely. Here is the link for those interested (BTW a lot of Christians post on that forum as well) https://talk.newagtalk.com/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=770439&DisplayType=nested&setCookie=1

The reason these posts are related is that some were warning about the dangers of 24 volts. The idea was that if you do not know what you are doing, do not mess with it because that voltage can be really dangerous. I have to admit that I felt like some of the guys were kind of overreacting, but as I thought about it, I do not think they were trying to be internet know it alls. I think they just wanted to make sure no one got hurt.

My view is that this is what Aaron was doing with his article as well. I plan to jump start my 24 volt system if my batteries ever go dead. I have researched the issue and plan to take that risk. Others will not go near them- I respect that. I have researched the alcohol issue. I may not view it as being as risky as David does, but I view it as being more risky than Bert does. The point is, I see a risk and I have made a decision based on that risk just as others have. My decision is to just stay away from drinking alcohol. If I had seen a battery blow up in my dad’s face and had seen that affect him for the rest of his life, I would probably have a different attitude about the batteries. No doubt seeing my dad drunk (I had a nightmare about him last night again) has had an effect on what I view the wisest course of action is concerning alcohol. Just a side note, my dad would consistently brag about never getting drunk. That is likely affecting my opinions on how wise it is to drink as well. I am not suggesting this is scripture, I am simply suggesting that our wisdom is informed by our experience. In other words because of my experience I am going to have an opinion about what is the wisest thing to do. Some of my opinions on subjects are right, others are wrong, but like the rest of us, they are informed by the information we have.

No doubt there are people who get upset with me (and Aaron) for not declaring that anyone who ever drinks alcohol is sinning. It baffles me just as much when someone suggests that I am wrong for saying the wisest course of action for me is to abstain. Outside of Christian debates on alcohol, I can only remember one person ever giving me grief for not drinking and that was a right after I graduated from high school. The guy giving me grief about it was a guy who was a jerk to me on just about any subject he could come up with, so it had more to do with his rudeness than the issue of my abstaining. In the secular world, I typically run into people who have an attitude like the guy at the winery in the post above. I see more contention about Coke vs Pepsi, than I have ever seen toward someone who does not drink. I am not sure if others have had that experience, but it has been a nice blessing to me as I have abstained.

IMHO:

Brumbelow 1

Perry 0

Ashamed of Jesus! of that Friend On whom for heaven my hopes depend! It must not be! be this my shame, That I no more revere His name. -Joseph Grigg (1720-1768)

[David R. Brumbelow]

“Non-alcoholic drinks are not new. There is evidence that they existed as far back as ancient Egypt.” -New York Times; 1992

David R. Brumbelow

…..and not simply because it is from the New York Times! =)

I’d like to see the context in which it was printed, because it (obviously) is presented without the (fuller) context in which it was made.

“Non-alcoholic drinks…existed as far back as ancient Egypt.”

REALLY?

You mean that WATER existed in ancient Eqypt? Who knew?

Or goat’s or sheep’s milk (fresh from the animal)?

Or even freshly pressed grapes (among other fruits)? (A point of contention in this thread being exactly how much time it would take for fermentation to occur.)

As it’s presented above, the quote is laughable. (But then again, it is–purportedly–from the New York Times……..)

JD, you make a great point, but as an engineer myself, that picture in the post you linked just makes me cringe. Eight exposed connectors, no clear color coding, and a random screwdriver or box wrench between any two releases 500-3000 amperes of current and a hail of lead and sulfuric acid.

Sure, people who’ve dealt with these older machines know how to deal with it, and my hat’s off to them/you, but this seems to be the machine equivalent of “Everclear punch” or “hand-written invitation to OSHA”. Which is, really, your point.

Aspiring to be a stick in the mud.

Romans 14 is the classic passage on Christian Liberty. Wine is specifically named in verse 21, and referred to indirectly as “drinking” in verse 17, so we know wine is covered by the principles discussed herein. It should be obvious that Romans 14 wine is alcoholic. To explain why anyone would feel compelled to refrain from grape juice requires some pretty rigorous exegetical gymnastics. That said, Romans 14 principles should guide any discussion about wine.

1) Everyone should be fully persuaded in his own mind.

2) Friendly discussion is allowed, but coercive behavior is unacceptable.

With this in mind, it would be helpful if those who wish to articulate strongly held opinions would clearly state that this is their personal opinion, not a rule of conduct for others. My personal opinion is to abstain, but my conscience does not condemn me if I occasionally partake. I simply choose to refrain 99.9% of the time. Others may choose to partake, and as long as they do not get drunk, I must allow them that liberty. However, it would be helpful to make clear that this is a personal decision, and not something they are trying to foist upon others.

If we keep this in mind, we should be able to discuss calmly. If we cross these boundaries, we are sure to create heated resistance.

G. N. Barkman