Alcohol or no alcohol?

[Goodbook]

In the bible it does say people would drink wine to forget their troubles, because it made them merry.

 

[Goodbook]

Well drunk just means they had been satisified drinking it doesnt actually mean they were drunk in the sense they were stoned. Sometimes drink just means a drink..it doesnt mean it was necessarily alcoholic.

In english its a bit weird that people ask you do you drink, of course I do, everybody does. I would die without water! But I dont drink alcohol.

 

[TravelerFarAwayFromHome]

Hi everyone.

Do you think Christians are allowed to drink alcohol?

I can find a lot of verses against it, and some verses not against it and I don't know.

I know that drinking alcohol until you get drunk is a sin, but what if I meet with family / friends and drink a little wine or beer but don't get drunk?

I know there are a lot of articles about this issue but I'm curious about your opinions.

God Bless you.

where in the scripture say it is not ok to touch alcohol?

if that is the case, then doesn't that mean we are not allowed to drink wine during the communion?

 

[QuietBeauty]

I think that if you drink appropriately then of course it's not a sin, But if you drink to get drunk like you said then obviously that's a problem. Also, if you feel like drinking is a sin or if you feel guilt when you do drink then don't do it because technically your sinning willingly.

If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn't do it, it is sin for them. James 4:17

 

[TheDag]

Thank you for your answer. No, I don't want to drink to get drunk again. It is not my motivation. That time was before my "born again" experience. I just will meet with my friends today evening and would like to have a few beers, and don't know if I should. I won't drink too much, I won't get drunk again that is for sure. Those time is over. And I am sure I will not give in the temptation. We used to drink too much with my friends as I mentioned earlier, but last time we met we had some wine and beer but only a few and I was not drunk. (I don't think others were neither)

My motive is just to have some fun and have some beers while talking with my friends. Not getting drunk for sure. What is your opinion after knowing this?

Sounds fine to me. As long as you do resist temptation. More important is being able to recognise if it is becoming a problem. As I said in my previous post only you can now your limits. In terms of motivation the main thing is that you aren't wanting to drink for the sake of drinking which is great and gives you a good foundation. Since it is just occasionly I personally would be of the opinion that you should enjoy and have a good night out with your friends. Of course that is not knowing you in-depth. So be honest with yourself.

 

[Goodbook]

I just want to add that, if you know how to be merry without drinking alcohol, as children naturally are, then you dont need it!

We are to come to Him as little children.

People who drink in order to be drunken need deliverance. Alchohol is extremely addictive. If it were not, there would be no such thing as alcoholics.

 

[Dave-W]

Yes; alcoholism is a very big problem.

But OTOH I see a big problem also with people who teach so adamantly against it.

Growing up I heard endless sermons on the evils of Scope or Listerine mouthwash and vanilla extract and other household items with alcohol in them. That pastor believed that even accidentally SMELLING alcohol equaled the sin of drunkenness and therefore voided your salvation on the spot.

We are told many times in scripture to not take away from God's commands or add to them. When a warning against getting drunk becomes "THOU SHALT NOT SMELL ALCOHOL;" that is adding to the command IMO. Is that not EXACTLY what our Lord blasted the Pharisees for?

 

[Goodbook]

Well alcohol deosnt smell very nice. And some people are allergic. Even perfumes have alcohol content.

Some alcoholics take to drinking meths and even mouthwash to get their buzz if no other alcohol is available.

You can find alcohol, free alternatives, like essential oils are better than those synthetically produced perfumes with artificial fragrance. Also cleaning products dont have to contain alcohol, but alcohol does have some practical uses however if you pour it down the drain it might poison all the fish in the sea. If you throw it on a fire, it will explode. Also it can be used to fuel cars.

 

[Goodbook]

Use a salt gargle or chew parsely to freshen your breath.

 

[BFine]

where in the scripture say it is not ok to touch alcohol?
*From what I've read in the Bible one is to abstain from it if they've taken a Nazarite vow(and or consecrated themselves to the Lord)...not only alcohol /strong drink...but abstain from consuming vinegar, unclean meat, nor can they have anything that comes from the grape; they can't cut their hair either.

if that is the case, then doesn't that mean we are not allowed to drink wine during the communion?

*That would depend upon whether you've taken a Nazarite vow and or consecrated yourself to the Lord. Or if one is weak in the faith or voluntarily abstains from wine/or strong drink.

I've been to churches that served wine,dark grape juice or white grape juice.

 

[Goodbook]

All baptist churches serve grape juice. It is very nice. jesus referred to wine as the fruit of the vine, he didnt specify that it had to contain any alcohol. Grape juice is fruit of the vine.

If you having communion, try a baptist church fellowship.
Although salvation army does have worship services i dont know if they have communion or the lords supper, as heard they dont do that or baptism, as originally they were outreach to the poor, which included many who struggled with addictions to alcohol.

I know presybetarians serve grape juice, but anglicans tend to serve port or sherry, but i heard that they have grape juice as an option, depending on which church you go to. Dont let anyone stop you from receiving the Lords supper if you have repented and want to give thanks and remember Him.

 

[Goodbook]

Communion is shared so even if it contains alcohol you just take a sip or thimble full. Nobody would drink it to be drunken.

I dont fellowship in anglican churches because of the port/ sherry served, it doesnt agree with me. My body cant handle much alcohol.other peoples bodies can. Women mostly cant as we have less blood than men. Alcohol gets into your blood.

Its basically rotten sugar.

 

[BFine]

Baptist churches I've attended vary between
what I've mentioned up-board.
One such church served cranberry juice(white)...
there seemed to be a problem with folks spilling
the darker juice and or wine on the carpet and or
padded seats on the pews.
(fairly stained by such spills.)

 

[Goodbook]

Mine serves red grape juice and the seats are padded and there is carpet.

We drink it from those tiny shot glasses that get passed round.
I know anglicans just share frome one cup and the minister gives it to you to drink and even places the bread in your mouth. Like a baby. i find that weird actually.

 

[BFine]

There's a particular church that we attended one
Sunday morning and they served wine, grape juice
and pieces of unleavened bread... it's the first church
we'd been to where one dips their bread into either
the wine or the grape juice.

 

[Cernunnos]

Okay, first moderation is the key. . . in pretty much everything. Drink too much and be sinning as a drunkard, eat too much and be sinning as a glutton, have sex too much and it will probably involve stepping outside your marriage (adultery), focus too much on some "thing" and you have idolatry. . .. a whole bunch of the sins spoken of throughout the Bible have to do with anything in a "too much" fashion. Alcohol in its right contexts and moderation is fine (Jesus made wine for the guests at a wedding which included himself and his own mother! Paul said so & if you don't believe one part of the Bible how can you believe any of it) and feasting is okay in its right contexts (Jesus was accused of gluttony because of all the time He spent eating with sinners, but the Bible says He was sinless & if you don't believe Jesus was sinless, how would His sacrifice work?). Sex is good in its proper context, otherwise God wouldn't have designed it and told people to be fruitful and multiply. So much of human sin has to do with how we use something, if we use it to excess, and not anything wrong with the substance or action itself.

Second, I appreciate that some denominations don't approve of alcohol & I affirm their right to build hedges around the Law just like pharisees. I understand that hedge is there for the protection of "young" believers & to help people in recovery stay "on the wagon" . . .. however, attempts to say that wine in the Bible wasn't really wine & to support doctrine by making believe it was really juice, are not supported by any credible Biblical scholars, contemporary witnesses i.e. Josephus, credible historians, credible theologians. . . . just plain nobody even asserted this idea until around the time of the industrial revolution (late 1700's) . . . it isn't Biblical, it was an idea cooked up by tent revival preachers & the temperance movements. Perpetuating a lie to support doctrine doesn't really do "young believers" or people in recovery any good in the long term, eventually they read, study, think for themselves and discover the truth & that can undermine their faith significantly. It would be better to just admit that churches that forbid alcohol do so to put a hedge around the Law. Hedges are their for protection, there is no shame in that. . . . unless it becomes an idol.

 

[TheDag]

Well alcohol deosnt smell very nice. And some people are allergic. Even perfumes have alcohol content.

Some alcoholics take to drinking meths and even mouthwash to get their buzz if no other alcohol is available.

You can find alcohol, free alternatives, like essential oils are better than those synthetically produced perfumes with artificial fragrance. Also cleaning products dont have to contain alcohol, but alcohol does have some practical uses however if you pour it down the drain it might poison all the fish in the sea. If you throw it on a fire, it will explode. Also it can be used to fuel cars.

All this without addressing the comment made? Really?

 

[Dave-W]

*That would depend upon whether you've taken a Nazarite vow and or consecrated yourself to the Lord. Or if one is weak in the faith or voluntarily abstains from wine/or strong drink.
I've been to churches that served wine,dark grape juice or white grape juice.

If you have taken a nazirite vow, then you cannot take grape juice either. Or even stuffed grape leaves for that matter.

Numbers 6.2 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When either a man or woman consecrates an offering to take the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to the Lord,
3 he shall separate himself from wine and similar drink; he shall drink neither vinegar made from wine nor vinegar made from similar drink; neither shall he drink any grape juice, nor eat fresh grapes or raisins.
4 All the days of his separation he shall eat nothing that is produced by the grapevine, from seed to skin.

 

[Dave-W]

jesus referred to wine as the fruit of the vine, he didnt specify that it had to contain any alcohol. Grape juice is fruit of the vine.

You are correct. that phrase does not specify between fermented and unfermented.

But you should understand where the specific wording came from. In the first century bc, the rabbis started writing out (standardizing) blessings for all things including eating and drinking. The specific blessing for wine/grapes/grape juice/raisins was this: (in english translation)

Blessed are You O Lord our God who creates the fruit of the vine.

Whenever you see that phrase in the NT, it refers to this blessing.

 

[Dave-W]

One such church served cranberry juice(white)...

I would LOVE to see their scriptural justification for using cranberries ........