Is there a place for alcohol in the life of a Christian?
Although some Christians forbid alcohol, the Bible makes no demand for abstinence. The scriptures do condemn drunkenness and enslavement to wine (Ephesians 5:18; Titus 2:3), but it never says that tee-totaling is a better way to be obedient to God. The Bible never says that
abstaining from alcohol is the wisest way to avoid getting drunk, nor does it say that all believers should therefore refrain from drinking.
The taboo against alcohol only found a place in Christianity among some of the late protestant reformers, yet John Calvin had a stipend of 250 gallons of wine per year written into his church contract, and Martin Luther’s wife was famed for her skills at brewing beer.
If Christians want to forbid all alcohol consumption as a way of avoiding drunkenness, we should be consistent and also avoid making a lot of money, lest we fall under the sin of materialism. Likewise, if we think that drinking might ruin our witness as Christians, most non-Christians are more likely to be turned off to arbitrary dos and don’ts created by modern Christians, who have distanced themselves from the practices of Christians from the earliest of times. It seems unlikely that an unbeliever will be turned off the Christianity simply because he saw his Christian neighbor slipping into a pub. It is more likely you’d gain traction in your witness by sharing a beer with your neighbor.
Stripping away all the man-made clutter that dims the message of the Gospel is likely to go a lot further in convincing your neighbor that there just might be something to your Christian faith, than pushing a pharisitical version of your faith. If the “good news” we preach requires that we never have a cocktail, a glass of wine, or a beer with our neighbor, we will end up hiding the real message, that of the crucified and risen Lord Jesus Christ. Man-made and unbiblical footnotes to the Gospel will actually serve as a distraction and offense to the Gospel message.
To those who would say that the wine of the Bible was really unfermented grape juice, then why did Paul warn the Ephesians: “Do not get drunk with grape juice, which is debauchery, but be filled by the Spirit?” People were quite able to get smashed by drinking too much of it (Proverbs 20:1; Isaiah 5:11). Even so, the Bible never forbid drinking it. In fact, the Hebrew word for “strong drink,” shakar, refers to fermented barley, which is why some translations call it “beer.” Shakar was 6-12 percent alcohol, similar to a Belgium Trippel Ale or a Double IPA. Like all alcoholic beverages, the Bible prohibits abusing beer (Isaiah 5:11; 28:7; Proverbs 20:1; 31:4). But in moderation, drinking beer was encouraged (Proverbs 31:6). In fact, Deuteronomy 14:26 actually commands Israelites to use some of their tithe money to buy some beers and celebrate before the Lord. They were also commanded to offer up two liters of beer to God six days a week and even more on the Sabbath (see Numbers 28:7-10).
This is why the absence of beer (and wine) was an outcome of God’s judgment on the nation. Under the old covenant, wine is a blessing (Deut 7:13; 11:14) and the absence of wine a curse (28:39, 51). When Israel looked to the future, God promises to flood them wine flowing from the mountaintops (Amos 9:14; Joel 3:18) and vats brimming with fresh wine (Joel 2:19, 24).
Jesus signals the beginning of such blessings by creating an over-abundance (150 gallons) of wine at Cana (John 2:1-10). And on the eve of his death, He sanctified a cup of wine as “the new covenant in my blood” (Luke 22:14-23). When Christ comes back, He’ll prepare “well-aged wine” (Isaiah 25:6), and it will be served, as at Cana, in abundance.
Love and blessings,
Abbot Tryphon
Photos: I am at Saint Nicholas Ranch and Retreat Center in Dunlap, CA., where I am the keynote speaker for the Orthodox Christian Fellowship’s college retreat. There are 57 registered college students for this gathering, and I consider myself blessed to have been asked to be here with these beautiful young people. Overlooking the center is the Monastery of the Life Giving Spring, a Greek Orthodox women’s monastery with 27 nuns.
Saturday December 27, 2014 / December 14, 2014
29th Week after Pentecost. Tone three.
Nativity (St. Philip’s Fast). Fish Allowed
Martyrs Thyrsus, Leucius, and Callinicus of Apollonia (250).
Martyrs Apollonius, Philemon, Arianus, and Theoctychus of Alexandria (ca. 305).
New Hieromartyr Nicholas priest (1937).
St. Bassian confessor, archbishop of Tambov (1940).
Sainted Ilarion, Metropolitan of Suzdal’ and Yur’ev (1707).
St. Venatius Fortunatus, bishop of Poitiers (7th c.) (Celtic & British).
Venerable Hygbald, abbot in Lincolnshire (7th c.) (Celtic & British).
Sts. Fingar and Phila, brother and sister, martyrs in Cornwall.
Venerable Daniel the Hesychast of Voronej (17th c.) (Romania).
Four guards converted by St. Arianus and martyred (Greek.).
St. Folciunus, bishop of Tervas (855) (Neth.).
Scripture Readings for the Day
Ephesians 2:11-13
Brought Near by His Blood
11 Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands— 12 that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
Luke 14:1-11
A Man with Dropsy Healed on the Sabbath
14 Now it happened, as He went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees to eat bread on the Sabbath, that they watched Him closely. 2 And behold, there was a certain man before Him who had dropsy. 3 And Jesus, answering, spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”
4 But they kept silent. And He took him and healed him, and let him go. 5 Then He answered them, saying, “Which of you, having a donkey or an ox that has fallen into a pit, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?” 6 And they could not answer Him regarding these things.
Take the Lowly Place
7 So He told a parable to those who were invited, when He noted how they chose the best places, saying to them: 8 “When you are invited by anyone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in the best place, lest one more honorable than you be invited by him; 9 and he who invited you and him come and say to you, ‘Give place to this man,’ and then you begin with shame to take the lowest place. 10 But when you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, go up higher.’ Then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you. 11 For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
And so I’ll raise a glass of beer in honor of this beautiful blog. God bless Holy Orthodoxy. Athanasius
Two problems the ancient world had which we now can take for granted were the scarcity of potable water and the preservation of perishables. Alcoholic drinks were the answer where these two problems crossed. The only alternatives for nonalcoholic drinking would be fresh juices and milks — but to produce an excess of them would result in waste unless there was a way to store them and at the time fermentation was the only way. Of course, not every juice ferments nicely. There are wine and cider, but I have never come across fermented orange juice.
There is some truth to what you say, but not much. Humans have been drinking water since they came into existence. They did not make beer or wine until much later. The idea that there was no such thing as “safe water” until we figured out how to create water treatment plants is just plain silly. Hunter-gatherers still exist, and they drink wild, unfermented water every single day, and do not die from it.
250 gallons of wine per year is a truly prodigious amount, the equivalent of 1250-1300 bottles of wine.
That comes to three and a half bottles per day, more than the equivalent alcohol in a case of beer.
I’d imagine he had help putting it all away.
Calvin often entertained. Check out “Drinking with Calvin and Luther” by Jim West. 🙂
Father
And Father, your post today reminds me of something I once heard:
“What is the difference between a Baptist and a Catholic?”
“A Catholic will say ‘hi’ to you in the liquor store.”
God bless you and enjoy your time in California.
Alan
Calvin’s stipend, as reported in this blog, is not so prodigious is one does not think in selfish terms. Could it not be that this wine stipend was for the benefit of service to his congregation, and not solely for his own table? Just thinking ………..
Yes, I was confused with my facts. However, I think it was Ivan Illych who once wrote that people now seem to live longer (because the statistical critical mass now favors this) thanks to the broad availability of potable water and not because of medical advances…of course that was his axe to grind. Hunter gatherers probably had short lives anyway regardless of the kind of water available and I suppose water quality is more an issue in the post-industrial age.
Cheers!