If I can help in any way, let me know. Hope you stick around…

Blessings in Christ,

Bob

Many beers today are 3.2% content. The stuff I’ve read suggests that a typical wine in Bible times was around 4% alcoholic content or so. What you are saying about having to drink the stuff all day in order to get drunk doesn’t quite fit in with the Biblical admonitions not to get drunk, and not to be deceived by wine.

I do agree that it is easier to get drunk using today’s distilled liquors. This doesn’t necessarily change things all that much. Scripture says, per my argument above, that the effects of wine that come prior to inebriation are commendable. So if having one’s spirit uplifted by the drink is commendable, surely this is true whether or not it took 3 cupfuls of liquid to get there or just 1. Drunkenness is still forbidden and you can avoid it easily today.

In fact, the very cup designs for drinking alcohol today bear this in mind. Wine is served in 6 oz. wine glasses, vodka is served in 2 oz. shot glasses. Beer is served in 12 oz. mugs. Each of these servings will give one approximately the same alcoholic punch. None of these would typically get the average person drunk.

Hope that helps. You may also want to explore other articles I’ve done on this topic under the category wine.

Blessings in Christ,

Bob

Thanks for dropping by. The Bible actually condones the use of strong drink in Deut. 14:22-26 and Numbers 28:7. Many want to make “fruit of the vine” into some description of non-alcoholic drink, but this is a faulty assumption. The phrase is only used by Jesus in the specific context of the Passover / Lord’s Supper. In Judaism it was a technical term for the wine used at the Passover which we know was wine (albeit somewhat watered down comparable to the alcoholic content of beer). The Bible predominantly uses the term wine, and almost always it is a fermented wine, at least most scholars say this is the case.

We need to beware of bringing our interpretation to the text instead of letting the text force our interpretation.

Blessings to you in Christ,

Bob Hayton

I’ve been participating in a discussion on Boundless.org and was sent on a chase for articles condemning the use of alcohol.

I grew up in the Episcopal church, so this whole argument is only a recent one for me to deal with.

Concerning giving alcohol to children:
Strong liquor has been used mixed with milk to calm babies’ stomachs and help them sleep better.

I personally was allowed to have a sip of wine starting at the age of 10 with every major family dinner (Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas). I remember my father sending me to visit a friend in Wisconsin with money for Milwakee brewed beer when I was 13 (I was adamently opposed to this idea, but I laughed at how serious he was about it).

As I grew older, my parents and uncle felt it better to expose us to alcohol and teach us how to use it wisely while we were still young enough to be influenced by them. In their minds, far better for us to not feel the need to sneak out and over-indulge on a binge that to be free to drink within the presence of family members.

I appreciate many of your arguments. I have never questioned whether it was a sin or not to partake in alcoholic drinks. This was simply because by the time I was old enough to legally drink and no longer at my “dry-campus” college, I had already been exposed to what the bible says about alcohol.

To Dave and those that don’t agree that it is right and have chosen to abstain, I respect your choice and it makes me very happy that you have stated your position in such a way that doesn’t make me feel like the “spawn of the devil”.

To the anonymous college student, it is possible to say “no”. However, its a lot easier to say “no” when you don’t feel that it is a novelty. Most college students shouldn’t be drinking outside of their parents’ homes due to the country’s laws, anyway. But when drinking, I would encourage every christian to set a limit before they ever start drinking.

Blessings in Christ,

Bob