- Dec 16, 2018
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I believe drinking alcohol is not a sin (that is important to remember), but Christians should not drink, should actively encourage the church community to refrain from drinking, and would do well to restrict the use of alcohol as much as possible in their surrounding communities. This is the base-line belief, and I will offer a Biblically-based argument in favor of it and a few challenges to anyone who would disagree with it. Challenges welcomed!
There is a thread in Scripture and Christian history of repudiating, for Scripturally-based reasons, certain social practices that exist in the Bible. The three foremost examples are polygamy, slavery, and drinking alcohol. First challenge: is there any clear Biblical prohibition, for all believers, against polygamy or slavery, in God's Word? Or is there any declaration of either as a sin? Is there any passage or verse in the Bible that explicitly tells Christians to advocate for the abolition of either in their societies?
Not only is there no verse that clearly prohibits polygamy or slavery for the general population of believers, there are clear verses where both practices are condoned by God, at least in certain instances (Polygamy: 1 Samuel 12:8--God speaking. Slavery: Exodus 21, Leviticus 25:44-46).
Why have Christians then come to oppose both polygamy and slavery? Although both had practical reasons for their existence at a certain point in time, both looked different in Biblical times than the purely negative forms they have taken in modernity, and both were explicitly condoned by God in the Bible; there were issues that Christians ended up having with them, over time. Both have negative examples in Scriptural stories, the ideal situation given as examples of higher spiritual things are neither (marriage as between one man and one woman is a picture of Christ and the Church; Christ frees us from the bondage of sin), and both are seen to be negative for those in spiritual authority in the church age...and even in places in the Old Testament (elders to have one wife; the treatment of Onesiumus in Philemon; various pieces of wisdom and commands given to kings and priests). Both social practices were fraught with abuse towards people and became damaging to society.
Christians moved away from polygamy (Roman society was already more based in monogamy, but distant parts of the empire were not) early on. Christians actively advocated against slavery, eventually (because the form it had taken was clearly unscriptural, and higher ideals of freedom and all men being equal began to be in conflict with it). Christians then moved to remove alcohol from their subculture and general society because of various problems associated with it in Scripture, negative stories in the Bible about it, because of rules and laws restricting its use with spiritual leaders in the Bible (kings, priests and elders in churches), and lastly because of the way its use had changed in our society and the disappearance of it as a practical need.
My challenge to drinking Christians: if alcohol is not to be actively preached against (not drunkenness alone, but drinking alcohol in general) because the Bible does not explicity state it as a sin, should Christians also refuse to preach against polygamy if it arises (which it will) or speak against it in Christian circles; or, should they have sought the abolition of slavery or spoken against such a practice for Christians?
I think polygamy should not be practiced by Christians and society. I think slavery should not be practiced by Christians and society. I think drinking alcohol should not be practiced by Christians and society. But I think none of these are sin, inherently. Nonetheless, I do think none of these are things Christians should do--for Scriptural reasons.
And the Scriptural reasons against alcohol are much, much more stringent and numerous than they are for either polygamy or slavery. Its an easier argument to make against drinking alcohol than the other two practices.
Thanks for reading this lengthy post, and feel free to offer a challenge, I'd be interested if there are any good ones, because I haven't heard any in general conversation.
There is a thread in Scripture and Christian history of repudiating, for Scripturally-based reasons, certain social practices that exist in the Bible. The three foremost examples are polygamy, slavery, and drinking alcohol. First challenge: is there any clear Biblical prohibition, for all believers, against polygamy or slavery, in God's Word? Or is there any declaration of either as a sin? Is there any passage or verse in the Bible that explicitly tells Christians to advocate for the abolition of either in their societies?
Not only is there no verse that clearly prohibits polygamy or slavery for the general population of believers, there are clear verses where both practices are condoned by God, at least in certain instances (Polygamy: 1 Samuel 12:8--God speaking. Slavery: Exodus 21, Leviticus 25:44-46).
Why have Christians then come to oppose both polygamy and slavery? Although both had practical reasons for their existence at a certain point in time, both looked different in Biblical times than the purely negative forms they have taken in modernity, and both were explicitly condoned by God in the Bible; there were issues that Christians ended up having with them, over time. Both have negative examples in Scriptural stories, the ideal situation given as examples of higher spiritual things are neither (marriage as between one man and one woman is a picture of Christ and the Church; Christ frees us from the bondage of sin), and both are seen to be negative for those in spiritual authority in the church age...and even in places in the Old Testament (elders to have one wife; the treatment of Onesiumus in Philemon; various pieces of wisdom and commands given to kings and priests). Both social practices were fraught with abuse towards people and became damaging to society.
Christians moved away from polygamy (Roman society was already more based in monogamy, but distant parts of the empire were not) early on. Christians actively advocated against slavery, eventually (because the form it had taken was clearly unscriptural, and higher ideals of freedom and all men being equal began to be in conflict with it). Christians then moved to remove alcohol from their subculture and general society because of various problems associated with it in Scripture, negative stories in the Bible about it, because of rules and laws restricting its use with spiritual leaders in the Bible (kings, priests and elders in churches), and lastly because of the way its use had changed in our society and the disappearance of it as a practical need.
My challenge to drinking Christians: if alcohol is not to be actively preached against (not drunkenness alone, but drinking alcohol in general) because the Bible does not explicity state it as a sin, should Christians also refuse to preach against polygamy if it arises (which it will) or speak against it in Christian circles; or, should they have sought the abolition of slavery or spoken against such a practice for Christians?
I think polygamy should not be practiced by Christians and society. I think slavery should not be practiced by Christians and society. I think drinking alcohol should not be practiced by Christians and society. But I think none of these are sin, inherently. Nonetheless, I do think none of these are things Christians should do--for Scriptural reasons.
And the Scriptural reasons against alcohol are much, much more stringent and numerous than they are for either polygamy or slavery. Its an easier argument to make against drinking alcohol than the other two practices.
Thanks for reading this lengthy post, and feel free to offer a challenge, I'd be interested if there are any good ones, because I haven't heard any in general conversation.