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071 | Is it a Sin to Drink Alcohol?
314 Plays3 years ago
In this episode Phylicia breaks down the Old and New Testament history of wine, it symbolism in Jewish literature, and the contrast of being filled with alcohol versus being filled with the Spirit.
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Transcript
Introduction to Verity Podcast
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome to Verity. I'm your host, Felicia Masonheimer, an author, speaker, and Bible teacher. This podcast will help you embrace the history and depth of the Christian faith, ask questions, seek answers, and devote yourself to becoming a disciple of Jesus Christ. You don't have to settle for watered-down Christian teaching. And if you're ready to go deeper, God is just as ready to take you there. This is Verity, where every woman is a theologian.
Is it Sinful for Christians to Drink Alcohol?
00:00:30
Speaker
Well, hello, friends. Welcome back to Verity Podcast. And today we are talking about a topic that I am asked every single Monday and Ask Anything Monday on Instagram. And it is a question about alcohol. Is it a sin for Christians to drink alcohol? And if not, how do we engage with it in a healthy way? How do we walk with our brothers and sisters who maybe come from families with a history of alcoholism or have a history of alcoholism themselves?
00:00:58
Speaker
Lots of great questions affiliated with this topic, and we're just going to do a pretty high-level look at what scripture says about it with a little dip of our toes into church history and Jewish history on the topic of alcohol, specifically wine, which is what we see most often described in the scriptural narrative.
Wine in Jewish Literature and the Bible
00:01:22
Speaker
So we're going to start by looking at the symbolism of wine in scripture. Wine is a symbol of rejoicing, especially in Jewish literature. And so that would be the whole Old Testament for us. It's a symbol of rejoicing. In Ecclesiastes 9.7, it says, go eat your food with gladness, drink your wine with a joyful heart, for God has already approved what you do.
00:01:52
Speaker
such a beautiful verse, and it affiliates that rejoicing and that joyful heart with wine. Another place we see this is in Psalm 104, 14 through 15, which says, He makes grass grow for the cattle and plants for people to cultivate, bringing forth food from the earth, wine that gladdens human hearts, oil to make their faces shine, and bread that sustains their hearts.
00:02:16
Speaker
So there's this association between wine and the gladdening of the heart. And I actually want to read for you a Jewish blessing that describes this concept of wine and rejoicing.
00:02:31
Speaker
This is an ancient Jewish benediction. It's preserved from the Cairo Geniza. So this has been expanded from a shorter blessing that was given by rabbis before wine was drunk. Here's what it says.
00:02:49
Speaker
Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, who created sweet wine, good must from grapevines, that is pleasing to a person and good for man, that gladdens the heart and makes the face shine. It is consolation to mourners and those of bitter spirit forget their misery. It is medicine to all who drink it, to him who drinks it sensibly.
00:03:13
Speaker
It is heart's joy, gladness, and great delight to its drinkers. He, our God, created it of old for pleasure among the works established from the beginning, so that all who drink it shall bless God and praise the author of understanding, who prepared the delicacies of the world and formed the sweet things of the earth.
00:03:35
Speaker
So this is just a beautiful blessing over the wine, but it does contain some really interesting facts and truths that we can look to to guide our own understanding of what it is. And from the Jewish Encyclopedia of 1906, we have this quote that kind of describes the function of wine. In metaphorical usage, wine represents the essence of goodness.
00:04:00
Speaker
the Torah, Jerusalem, Israel, the Messiah, the righteous, all are compared to wine. The wicked are likened unto vinegar, and the good man who turns to wickedness is compared to sour wine.
Historical Context of Wine Consumption
00:04:14
Speaker
The wine which is kept for the righteous in the world to come has been preserved in the grape ever since the six days of creation."
00:04:23
Speaker
So again, this is connecting with the goodness of wine, the rejoicing of wine as it is used in Scripture. But in order to understand this and translate it to today, we want to know what kind of wine we're dealing with in the Bible and if it is indeed the same as the alcohol that's being consumed today. Remember, if you've listened to me talk about Bible study at all,
00:04:50
Speaker
I pull from the scholarship of Scott Duvall, who teaches something called the theological bridge, where you take the context of the text you're dealing with, the historical context, you take that principle, you build a bridge to modern day, and then you take the principle and apply it to the modern context.
00:05:14
Speaker
So we don't just take one verse and immediately apply it to today. We try to glean the context and the theological principle first so that we apply it accurately. And to do that, we need to understand what wine was like back in Jesus' day and in the Old Testament days.
00:05:34
Speaker
So if I'm not mistaken, a typical glass of wine, at least that I've seen on menus when I've gone out to eat, is anywhere between 9% and 13% alcohol. Sometimes you can get something a little bit lower. And so what was it like in Old Testament times in the ancient world? Was wine that alcoholic or was it a little bit less?
00:05:55
Speaker
So I'm reading to you from an article on Masada in the world of the New Testament, specifically on wine and what wine was like in the ancient world. So I'm going to read you a quote from this scholar on the types of wine in the biblical era.
00:06:15
Speaker
In the ancient world, varieties of wine were made from prunes, raisins, cherries, dates, apples, and pomegranates, but the wines of Palestine were almost entirely made from fermented grape juice. Once the grapes were pressed, the juice would begin to ferment within 6 to 12 hours. The quantity of alcohol in the wine is uncertain, but scholars explain the amount of alcoholic content which could be achieved by fermentation was not high when compared with what can be attained through modern methods of distillation,
00:06:43
Speaker
unknown in the ancient world. Wines that were a year old were still considered new wine and tradition held that a man could not drink old wine while giving his Jewish slaves new wine because of its inferiority. Although wine improved over time, wines were generally consumed within three or four years.
Wine in Religious Events and Miracles
00:07:01
Speaker
Modern pasteurization or containers that would allow longer storage periods were not available."
00:07:08
Speaker
So definitely a difference there. Not only is modern distillation not available, but likely the alcohol content is lower, partially due to storage methods and just how the process worked.
00:07:23
Speaker
Another thing to note is that wine was regularly drunk with meals, but it was drunk in a diluted form. So it was sometimes one to two parts wine to water or some rabbinic commentaries say it's one to three parts. So very diluted and this was because the water back then could not be purified effectively. So the wine helped to purify the water and they would drink this mixture of wine and water together.
00:07:51
Speaker
Now, this doesn't mean they only drank diluted wine. They did drink wine in its pure form as well, and it was served at circumcisions, engagements, weddings, and Sabbaths. So we're seeing this theme of wine, and it's rejoicing all throughout the Bible. It's a regular character on the scene. Jesus turns the water into wine as his very first miracle.
00:08:16
Speaker
And this isn't just Jesus saying, hey, y'all, I like to drink. This is Jesus beginning to give us a picture of the new covenant in his blood, right? So the new wine of the Spirit, which we're going to talk about in a little bit, the new wine represents the Holy Spirit. In the New Testament, his very first miracle is to turn water into wine. Pretty powerful stuff.
00:08:42
Speaker
One fun little fact I found during my research for this episode is that some rabbinic traditions believe that the tree of knowledge in the Garden of Eden was a grapevine. Now, I've heard some people try to argue with me that what was in the Garden of Eden was actually just straight alcohol, like
00:09:02
Speaker
They're just a liquor store sitting in the middle of the Garden of Eden. Not the case. The rabbinic traditions have kind of tossed around the idea of the grapevine being the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And then there's also a theory that the tree Noah planted after the flood came from the Garden of Eden
00:09:20
Speaker
and was a grapevine also and that's how he began his vineyard which if you have followed the story of Genesis or if you're reading chronologically this year you know that planting the vineyard ended up being a little bit of a dastardly event for Noah. If you don't believe me you can read Genesis 8 through 10.
00:09:37
Speaker
So this presence of the grapevine and some of the stuff that happens with wine and scripture has caused some church traditions to be extremely anti-alcohol, to say there's no circumstances under which alcohol is okay. Even saying examples of someone like Noah who gets drunk, using that example and saying, well, you know, this is obviously Noah's sin, that drunkenness was a sin and therefore all alcohol is a sin.
00:10:06
Speaker
But really, when we look at scripture and how wine is presented, that can't be argued.
Moderation and Biblical Views on Drunkenness
00:10:12
Speaker
And the fact that it was drunk both in pure form and in diluted form, we have to take that into account as well. So it's very interesting, the rabbinic idea of the tree of knowledge being a grapevine. Now, one thing I do want to mention on the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and I'm going to do a separate episode about this, so just log it away, it wasn't that
00:10:35
Speaker
Adam and Eve did not know what good and evil were. It's not that God said, hey, you completely have no knowledge of right and wrong, and by the way, trick to, here's a tree, and don't touch it, that's wrong. That's not what God is doing. That phrase, knowledge of good and evil, means that they did not have the sovereignty to decide what was good and evil.
00:10:57
Speaker
the sovereignty to decide or determine. And when they took the fruit, they were deciding that they would determine what was good and what was evil. They were going to play God. And so that's what happened in the garden. And so if it was a grapevine, that would be very interesting.
00:11:15
Speaker
to, you know, kind of the interplay between me taking on God's sovereignty and consuming this forbidden fruit, if you will. And so there's always been kind of that interesting tension of the goodness of wine presented in Scripture and then, hey, maybe this interesting theme of the foolish fearlessness that comes with too much wine.
00:11:40
Speaker
So let's move from the Old Testament to the New. Wine represents the New Covenant. Touched on this already. It also represents the Holy Spirit. New wine. Jesus talks about this with his disciples in Mark 2, where he says, no one sows a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the new piece will pull away from the old and a worse tear will result.
00:12:05
Speaker
And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. Instead, new wine is poured into new wineskins. And what he's talking about here is the new nature given through Christ and how we can't pour this new nature in him, this new thing that he's doing into the old system, the old person that we are, the old community.
00:12:35
Speaker
It's new and it needs a new community, a new system. And so he's creating the church and anyone who calls upon the name of the Lord can be a part of that. So wine represents the new covenant.
00:12:48
Speaker
So knowing what we know now and seeing just how wine is a symbol of rejoicing when not used to access that wine is a symbol of new covenant, of the fullness of the Holy Spirit, we have to ask the question, well then, is it wrong for a Christian to drink?
00:13:07
Speaker
And the short answer is, Scripture does not condemn drinking alcohol, but it does condemn drunkenness. And it condemns drunkenness repeatedly throughout the Bible, both Old Testament and New.
Influence and Responsibility in Alcohol Consumption
00:13:21
Speaker
So this is also from the Jewish encyclopedia that I referenced earlier. It says, wine is called yayin because it brings lamentation and wailing into the world, and tirosh because one that drinks it habitually is certain to become poor. Rabbi Kahana said that the latter term is written sometimes in Hebrew, a specific way, to mean if drunk and moderation it gives leadership,
00:13:48
Speaker
So if wine is drunk in moderation, it gives leadership. But if drunk in excess, it leads to poverty." And this is consistent with what we see throughout scripture when it talks about alcohol. In 1 Corinthians 10, 23-24, Paul writes to the Corinthian church who had a significant problem with alcohol because drunkenness was a big part of Greek worship. Paul says this.
00:14:15
Speaker
I have the right to do anything, you say, but not everything is beneficial. I have the right to do anything, but not everything is constructive. No one should seek their own good, but the good of others." And he's teaching them that just because you have a freedom doesn't mean that you can use that freedom in a way that could hurt other people or damage your own witness.
00:15:01
Speaker
In Galatians 5, Paul says,
00:15:03
Speaker
When people hear that phrase, their first thought goes to their own actions. Well, if I did those things, does that mean I'm not going to inherit the kingdom of God? And the question I would encourage you to ask is, if you have indeed inherited the kingdom of God through Christ, why would you want to do those things?
00:15:22
Speaker
you're a new person. And that's why drunkenness is so antithetical to the Christian life. You are filled with the spirit of the living God. You have strength, you have power, you have awareness, you have the exciting life in him. So why would you go backwards into a life where you have to rely on a substance to enjoy it, to rely on a substance to have conversation or community?
00:15:47
Speaker
That's not true community. That's not true conversation. Unfortunately, drunkenness goes hand in hand with almost every other thing in the list in Galatians 5. And the other thing is Paul makes a very clear contrast because he follows this list with the fruits of the spirit in Galatians 6.
00:16:07
Speaker
And so in Romans 14 we see a pretty clear example of why walking and holiness when it comes to alcohol is so important. It's not just about us, it's also about other people.
00:16:45
Speaker
Not too long in the past, we had a dear friend who was a part of our small group. And she very kindly told us at one point in our small group that she was prone to alcoholism. It was something I never would have expected or known if she hadn't been vulnerable with this and shared. Well, what if in my freedom, I had decided to provide alcohol at an event without ever asking or trying to be aware?
00:16:48
Speaker
And this is what Paul says,
00:17:15
Speaker
This is what happens so often in Christian context, at least in America. We normalize alcohol and drunkenness so much because it's a quote-unquote freedom that we fail to even consider the needs or weaknesses of our brothers.
00:17:31
Speaker
If you translate that to a different situation, such as pornography, we would all be so offended. Why would we bring pornography in front of someone who struggles with it? That would be terrible, right? You're putting a stumbling block in front of them. But because alcohol is such a normative part of American culture, at least, I can't speak for every other culture, it's something that Christians, in a reaction against legalism, have endorsed more and more. And unfortunately,
00:18:01
Speaker
If you don't know the line between healthy consumption of alcohol and drunkenness, you're in danger of causing your brother to stumble and being a bad witness yourself. Ephesians 5, 18 says, do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. There's that contrast again.
00:18:23
Speaker
We have a choice.
Joy in the Holy Spirit vs. Alcohol
00:18:24
Speaker
We can consume alcohol in a healthy way, which I'm not advising for everyone. I think if you have a history of alcoholism in your family, you're probably going to need to engage with this with much more caution, maybe not at all, maybe refrain.
00:18:39
Speaker
But even if you do engage with it in a healthy way, you need to be aware of the boundaries and even aware of who's with you and where you are and your witness. There's a lot to be aware of. And if you feel like that's a lot of work, welcome to the Christian life.
00:18:55
Speaker
The Christian life is about ministering to others and keeping in mind that, yes, we follow Christ and we are so free. We don't do this because we have to. We do it because we can, because He's given us new life in the Spirit. So there's a contrast here. You can either be drunk on wine or you can be filled with the Holy Spirit. You can either depend on this substance for a quote-unquote good time or you can be filled with the joy and the excitement of life in Christ.
00:19:25
Speaker
And this is why a theology of the Holy Spirit is so important because so many people don't have a rich theology of the Holy Spirit. They don't even know what an exciting life in Christ is like. They think it's just, you know, I believe in Jesus and I memorize the Bible and then I just try to do what the Bible says.
00:19:43
Speaker
Ugh, what a sad loss because that's not what the Christian life is. This is why Paul can make this correlation between life in the spirit of Christ and life with alcohol because one is giving this cheap alternative that gives you this, you know, adventure and excitement for a time
00:20:06
Speaker
And one gives you adventure and richness and excitement and community for a lifetime.
New Wine as a Metaphor for the Holy Spirit
00:20:12
Speaker
And that's why he can make that contrast. I want to wrap up this episode by reading this quote from David Grab. I found this little quote online in an article. I'll link it in the show notes. And I just thought it was so well said and expressed this so powerfully that I couldn't say it better. So I'm going to read it to you.
00:20:34
Speaker
When we link the new wine with Jesus being taken away, it coincides with the Passover Cup, representing Christ's blood and the new covenant. When we add the fact that the Holy Spirit could not be given until Jesus had gone away, then the new wine entails more than just forgiveness, but also suggests God's Spirit, His love, power, and sound-mindedness. 2 Timothy 1.7
00:20:57
Speaker
In the example, the new wine is expansive. The fermentation process produces a great deal of pressure. An old and brittle wineskin will not be able to withstand the increasing stress, and it will burst. The wineskin is a type of vessel. Throughout scripture, vessels are symbols for people. For Christians, there is an old man and a new man. The old man represents the life we had before conversion, and the new man, the new vessel, is the life that comes because of conversion.
00:21:26
Speaker
But if we take the expansive and dynamic new wine of the Holy Spirit, and we attempt to put that into the old life, we can be sure that we will have a disaster on our hands. Our old lives, our old ways are entirely incompatible with the new wine. The new wine requires change, expansion, and steady improvement, while in the old life there is no real desire or ability to change.
00:21:49
Speaker
Remember, the new wine is tied to the blood of the Passover, the new covenant, the receipt of God's Spirit, and the spiritual result that will be produced by those powerful factors. Trying to cram all that into a person who is unwilling to change will invariably result in his coming apart at the seams. The precious new wine is spilled on the ground and dreadfully wasted." I know this episode is about alcohol.
00:22:17
Speaker
But I think it really points to a much bigger theological theme. So many people are asking, is this person a Christian? They say they're a Christian, but their life doesn't look like it. And to be honest, my friends, I think we're asking the wrong question. I think we need to ask, why does someone who claims to be a Christian not desire to live as if they are?
00:22:41
Speaker
That is the question we should be asking with alcohol. It's the question we can ask when people don't bear the fruit of the new wine that should be within them.
Conclusion: Drinking and Spiritual Impact
00:22:52
Speaker
People who have the Holy Spirit will live in the power of the Holy Spirit. And if they're not changing, if they're not trying to change,
00:23:01
Speaker
you have to really come away with the conclusion that they do not have the Holy Spirit at all. Because He truly is someone who transforms you, who inspires you, who convicts you, and who leads you to a life of transforming power, a life that is exciting and is fulfilling even as we face trials and difficulties. So, can a Christian drink alcohol? Yes, they can.
00:23:29
Speaker
The question is, is it beneficial to your brothers in the circumstance in which you're in? Is it good for your witness? And is it something that allows you to continue to walk in the Holy Spirit? If you can answer those questions, you'll have your answer on alcohol.
Connect with Felicia
00:23:45
Speaker
Thank you for joining us for today's episode of Verity. You can connect with fellow listeners by following me on Instagram at Felicia Masonheimer or on our Facebook page by the same name. Also visit FeliciaMasonheimer.com for links to each episode and the show notes.