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Should Christians Drink? Seven Good Reasons Christians Should Not Drink Pastor David L. Brown, Ph.D. ©1989 & February 2002 David L. Brown "Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise." Proverbs 20:1 My heart aches for the family that lost their only two in an auto accident recently. A drunk driver crossed the median and plowed into their car. The five month old and, their four year old were killed. Their wiped out. But, there is more. This tragic scene is repeated every 33 minutes. That’s right. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration a person dies every 33 minutes in an alcohol related accident. And that’s not all. An estimated 310,000 persons were injured in crashes each year where police reported that alcohol was present. That’s an average of one person injured approximately every 2 minutes. Consider these additional statistics from the United States Justice Department: Nearly 4 in 10 violent victimizations involve use of alcohol. Also, victim reports show, on average each year about 183,000 and sexual assaults involve alcohol use by the offender, as do just over 197,000 robberies, about 661,000 aggravated assaults, and nearly 1.7 million simple assaults. The Scripture is true! "Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise." Proverbs 20:1. It is at the root of all kinds of problems in our country today and it has been for hundreds of years. Proverbs 23:31-32 is a powerful injunction against drinking alcoholic beverages. It says, . 31 Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. 32 At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder. There is clear evidence in the Scriptures that believers should not drink alcoholic beverages. In this report I list 7 Good Reasons Why Christians Should Not Drink Alcoholic Beverages. However, before we do that, we are going to look at the words translated wine, drink or drinking. A LOOK AT THE WORDS There are 637 references to wine, drink and drinking in the King James Version of the Bible. Most people think in today’s terms, believing that when wine is mentioned it refers to alcoholic wine. Actually, that is not necessarily true. Thirteen different words are translated "wine" in the King James Version of the Bible. The word wine has a wide range of meaning in the Bible, covering everything from grape juice, to concentrated grape syrup to alcoholic wine. To understand what the Bible has to say about drinking, we need to look at several of these words. OLD TESTAMENT HEBREW WORDS FOR WINE "yayin" -- It is a general term for grape beverages and includes all classes of wine, non-alcoholic or alcoholic; unfermented, in the process of fermentation and fermented. (Proverbs 31:4) The context will show whether it is alcoholic wine or not. Yayin, when used properly was always diluted with water. "shekar" -- It is the word for strong drink, unmixed wine. The 1901 edition of THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA says, "Yakin, wine, is to be distinguished from Shekar, or strong drink. The former is diluted with water; the later is undiluted." Shekar was not diluted with water." (see Numbers 28  ) "Tirosh" -- This word refers to fresh grape juice. It is referred to often as new wine or sweet wine. (see Proverbs 3:10; Deuteronomy 7:13) NEW TESTAMENT GREEK WORDS FOR WINE "oinos" is the counterpart to the Old Testament word yayin. It is a general term for grape beverages and includes all classes of wine, non-alcoholic or alcoholic; fermented or unfermented. The context has to be used to determine whether the drink was intoxicating or not. (Luke 10:34; Ephesians 5:1  . Oinos, when used properly was always diluted with water."sikera" is the counterpart to the Old Testament word shekar. It is the word for strong drink, unmixed wine. (Luke 1:15) "gleukos" is the counterpart to the Old Testament word tirosh. Dr. Paul Dixon says "It refers to fresh wine, a new wine" or freshly squeezed grape juice. Now, why believers should abstain from drinking... 1. DRINKING LEADS TO DRUNKENNESS In the April 24, 1965 issue of Christianity Today, the article, on page 25 says, "People must be informed that the use of alcohol is not unlike Russian roulette: every tenth person becomes automatically hooked. the only solution is total abstinence." These statistics are supported by the American Medical Association. DRUNKENNESS IS CONDEMNED IN THE BIBLE Isaiah 5:11-- "Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them!" Proverbs 23:20-- "Be not among winebibbers;" The word means to drink so much that you become tipsy or drunk. Romans 13:13 -- "Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting (drunken partying) and drunkenness (general drunken-ness)..." Galatians 5:19a & 21 -- "Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these...drunkenness..." Ephesians 5:18 -- "And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;" DRUNKARDS ARE AMONG THE LIST OF THOSE WHO WILL NOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD. 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God." You can’t get around it, and in fact, all godly men agree that the Bible condemns drunkenness. Drunkenness is a serious matter. 2. THE BIBLE CONDEMNS STRONG DRINK ALSO Proverbs 20:1 "Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise." NOTE again, Isaiah 5:11 -- "Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them!" Proverbs 23:29-31 -- "Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes? (30) They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.(a mixture of wine and spices) (31) Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright." WHAT WAS "STRONG DRINK" IN BIBLE TIMES? Distillation was not discovered until about 1500 A.D. Strong drink and unmixed wine in Bible times was from 3% to 11% alcohol. Dr. John MacArthur says "...since anybody in biblical times who drank unmixed wine (9-11% alcohol) was definitely considered a barbarian, then we don’t even need to discuss whether a Christian should drink hard liquor--that is apparent!" CHRISTIANS SHOULD NOT DRINK STRONG DRINK! Since wine has 9 to 11% alcohol and one brand 20% alcohol, you should not drink that. Brandy contains 15 to 20% alcohol, so that’s out! Hard liquor has 40 to 50% alcohol (80 to 100 proof), and that is obviously excluded! Someone will say, "since beer is only 4% alcohol, IT’S OK FOR A BELIEVER TO DRINK BEER, RIGHT?" The answer is NO! Here’s why... 3. IN BIBLE TIMES WHAT CHRISTIANS DRANK WS SUB-ALCOHOLIC, BASICALLY PURIFIED WATER Remember the Hebrew word "yayin" and the Greek word "oinos" that we looked at earlier? These were the companion words for wine whether fermented or unfermented. In fact, whether fermented or not, it was MIXED WITH WATER. Norman Geisler, former Dean of Liberty Center for Christian Scholarship, Liberty University, has written: "Many wine drinking Christians today mistakenly assume that what the New Testament meant by wine is identical to wine used today. This, however, is false. In fact, today’s wine is by Biblical definition strong drink, and hence forbidden by the Bible. What the Bible frequently meant by wine was basically purified water," purified by adding some alcoholic wine. The Holman Bible dictionary says, wine was also used as a medicine and disinfectant. Geisler goes on to say, "Therefore, Christians ought not to drink wine, beer, or other alcoholic beverages for they are actually strong drink forbidden in Scripture. Even ancient pagans did no |
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11/24/2008 2:59 am |
This is just a heap of legalistic nonsense. Jesus turned water into wine when all the wedding guests were already too far gone to be able to tell the difference. Paul told Timothy to take a little wine for his stomach pains. God created everything for our enjoyment and if used correctly alcohol is a blessing not a curse. I know the difference as my brother's partner has only recently died from the effects of years of alcohol abuse. The answer to abuse is not non-use but right use. "The kingdom of God is not a matter of eating or drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit" {Romans 14 v 17} Read the whole of Romans 14 for the context of this quotation and I think you will agree it backs up my point. Peter  "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth" 2 Timothy 2 v 15
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thanks for sharing and welcome to the land of blogs, cheers May the Lord bless you and keep you
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I will tell everyone this...I use to drink and yes I did find it fun and the temptaition to drink is still there at times....but there was this one day not long ago when I really got down on my knees and sought God's wisdom and advice on whether Christians should drink. It was unbelievable how hard the answer hit me a couple days later, it was almost like I was Goliath and David swung a stone right smack into the centre of my forehead! I on one hand have never looked at it this way, it was such a revelation in my life. James 1:13 (King James Version) Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: - When people declare in their own opinions that drink is not bad as long as you use it in moderation...I find that hard to believe when I look at this verse. To basically say that God allows you to have one drink, just don't get drunk is to really label God as a liar! Why would God allow that when just knowing that there is drink in front of you, the temptation is there to get drunk?....Did He not clearly state that God does not tempt any man? So simple! Therefore to believe such a theory as "drink in moderation" is a lie of the devil! I know for one that many like to use this theory as a means or an excuse for their own satisfaction and enjoyment in drinking...but in the end we must remember that the world is fun, but all that is fun is not right. 1 John 2:15-16 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. God bless you richly Treasure
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