Tim Challies: Christians and Alcohol

….with Challies’ logic is that Romans 14 and 1 Corinthians appear to be, in the context of that society, about things sacrificed to idols and Jewish holidays (esp. Rom. 14). However, today, most beers, wines, and distilled spirits are made by people without any theological axe to grind, and sold in stores owned and operated by people of all religions. So it’s not clear that Romans 14 is really our applicable passage here, and even if it were, does not Romans 14:3 tell the weaker brother not to judge him who eats? (presumably here meat sacrificed to idols) Sorry, but in various circles, I see a lot of judging based on this issue.

Also worth noting is that, at least outside of India, I don’t hear Christians trying to apply this to the eating of meat. So I’ve got to question whether this is really a Romans 14 issue.

(something that comes closer for me; the veneration of the state that is common in American fundagelical churches comes a bit too close to veneration of Caesar for my taste….)

Otherwise, much appreciated.

[Jim]

Many Americans may not know this, but alcohol is a non-issue for Christians in many other parts of the world

…..in America, it wasn’t an issue for Christians to any degree until the late 19th/early 20th centuries.

(Although I’m sure somebody here can and/or will produce some obscure quote, circa pre-1885 or so, that “proves” otherwise….. ) =)

…from whom it might come. Just read the 1979 Robert Teachout dissertation that kept “two wines” theories rolling (he uses that very phrase), and he does have evidence of abstentionism from the late 18th/early 19th centuries. I think most of Teachout’s work is nonsense, but he’s on firm ground in noting that abstentionism/Prohibitionism predates Queen Victoria. For that matter, Jim linked to the artworks “Beer Street and Gin Lane”, which date from 1751.

I personally think—Whiskey Rebellion, Gin Laws, Reinheitsgebot, “Let them eat cake”, Roman imports of grain from Egypt—that the deal is that you get Prohibitionism as a response to abundant food and the ability to turn it into liquor. Then you get people falling off flatboats on the way to New Orleans and the desire to just skip it all if this is the result. Hence you get abstentionism in the U.S., Britain, and Eastern Europe, but not in most of western Europe.

The question in my mind is simply whether Prohibitionism helps—I’d say in light of Colossians 3:23 that the answer is no. Here are some fascinating stats on alcohol consumption for what it’s worth. More or less, alcohol consumption in the U.S. has gone from primarily hard liquor in the mid-1800s to a mixture of beer, wine, and hard liquor today. Though overall consumption isn’t down, DUIs and on road deaths from alcohol are down about 50% as the number of Americans is up by 50%. It’s quite striking; we appear to be drinking more like western Europeans, and we’re benefiting from it.

Colossians 2:23 is of course the verse indicating that man-made rules have no value in restraining sensual indulgence, not Colossians 3:23. Oops!