I’m sure this isn’t an area of concern for most readers of this blog, but none the less, I thought I would bring the subject up and respond to the major arguments against boozing.

You may see me at a bar partaking in a low-carb libation and I may cause you to stumble. You may stumble because you’re a drunk. If this is so, then we need to work on our relationship and your problem. If I make you stumble because you suffer from bad theology, then we can rectify that problem here and now.

In several posts we’ll discuss the tee-totaller arguments.

Argument Number 1 - The word “wine” in the Bible referred to Welch’s grape juice. It was non-alcoholic.

Click here to find a pretty good discussion on this argument.

The argument basically goes like this:
Premise 1 - God is opposed to alcohol.
Premise 2 - God would not want us to partake in things that he is opposed to, nor would he ever want us to partake in those things.
Conclusion - When the Bible speaks of wine, therefore, it must be speaking of something other than alcohol.

Here’s the problem - premise one has no scriptural basis whatsoever. So it must be discarded. Premise 2 is probably okay. The conclusion is very flawed.

First of all, many people conclude that first century people drank unfermented grape juice and wine was merely the word they used for what they drank. If this is true, then why are there so many scriptural warnings to us to be careful with alcohol and to avoid becoming drunk on wine? How can a person get drunk off something that is essentially non-alcoholic juice?

The second major problem I have with this argument is the fact that fermentation was unavoidable in Biblical times. Ever heard of Welch’s grape juice? Thomas Welch (who founded Welch’s) was a dentist, a Methodist and a staunch prohibitionist. As a prohibitionist he was scandalized and horrified that a church would use alcohol during communion. To rectify this, he invented a process of pasteurization that would keep grape juice from fermenting. You can read about it all here. This all occurred in 1869.

Tim Gallant says this:

It must be remembered that prior to the advent of modern preservation methods, it was literally impossible to have unfermented grape juice on hand at all times. It would spoil in short order. A year-round, available-weekly supply of wine could only be precisely that: a year-round supply of wine, real honest-to-goodness strong-drink-wine. The early Church, we should not forget, did not live in the days of Mr Welch.

Now, if you’re a drunk, stop drinking. stop ruining your life. Stop ruining your family. I’ll deal with this in a later argument. If you have convictions about booze, stick with your convictions - you are mandated. If your convictions are dumb, however, pitch them.

Here’s the point - wine is wine. The Bible says “wine” and wine is wine. So quit whining (sorry, couldn’t resist).

Here are some resources:

• An angry Michigan pastor’s response to grape juice enthusiast - click here
• Tim Gallant’s article ” ‘Wine’ means ‘Wine’ ” - click here
• A blog post that is too long for me to read (A D D) - click here

The Unexamined life is not worth living…

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