Christianity and alcohol
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Throughout the first 1,800 years of church history, Christians consumed alcoholic beverages as a common part of everyday life and nearly always used wine (that is, fermented grape juice) in their central rite — the Eucharist or Lord's Supper.[1][1] They held that both the Bible and Christian tradition taught that alcohol is a gift from God that makes life more joyous and that overindulgence, which leads to drunkenness, is a sin. In the mid 1800s, some Protestant Christians moved from this historic position of allowing moderate use of alcohol (sometimes called moderationism) to either deciding that not imbibing was wisest in the present circumstances (abstentionism) or prohibiting all ordinary consumption of alcohol because it was believed to be a sin (prohibitionism).[1] Today, all three of these positions exist within Christendom, but the historic position remains the most common worldwide.
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Alcohol in the Bible
Alcoholic beverages appear repeatedly in the Bible, both in actual usage and in poetic expression, and on the whole, the Bible is ambivalent toward them, considering them both a blessing from God that brings merriment and a potential danger that can be unwisely and sinfully abused.[1][1][1][1] Since nearly all Christians base their views of alcohol, in whole or in part, on their understanding of what the Bible says about it, the Bible is the single most important source on the subject, followed by Christian tradition.
The original languages of the Bible have several different words to distinguish different types of alcoholic beverages,[1][1] and though prohibitionists and some abstentionists (see "Current views" below) sometimes dissent from the established view,[1][1][1][1] there is a broad scholarly consensus that the words did ordinarily refer to intoxicating drinks.[1][1][1][1][1][1][1][1][1][1]
The commonness and centrality of wine in daily life in biblical times is apparent from its many postitive and negative metaphorical uses throughout the Bible.[1][1] Positively, wine is used as a symbol of abundance and physical blessing,[1] for example. Negatively, wine is personified as a mocker and beer a brawler,[1] and drinking a cup of strong wine to the dregs and getting drunk are sometimes presented as a symbol of God's judgment and wrath.[1]
The Bible also speaks of wine in general terms as a bringer and concomitant of joy, particularly in the context of nourishment and feasting.[1] Wine was commonly drunk at meals,[1] and the Old Testament prescribed it for use in sacrificial rituals and festal celebrations.[1] The Gospels record that Jesus himself miraculously made copious amounts[1] of wine at the wedding feast at Cana,[1] and when he instituted the ritual of the Eucharist at the Last Supper during a Passover celebration,[1] he says that the wine[1][1] is a "New Covenant in [his] blood,"[1] though Christians have differed on the implications of this statement (see Eucharistic theologies contrasted).[1]
Kings and priests in the Old Testament were forbidden to partake of wine at various times,[1] and certain optional vows excluded as part of its ascetic regimen not only wine, but also vinegar, grapes, and raisins[1] (unlike John the Baptist, Jesus evidently did not take such a vow).[1][1] St. Paul further instructs Christians regarding their duty toward immature Christians: "It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall."[1]
All Christians agree that the Bible condemns ordinary drunkenness in many passages,[1] and Easton's Bible Dictionary says, "The sin of drunkenness ... must have been not uncommon in the olden times, for it is mentioned either metaphorically or literally more than seventy times in the Bible."[1] Additionally, the consequences of the drunkenness of Noah[1] and Lot[1] "were intended to serve as examples of the dangers and repulsiveness of intemperance,"[1] and St. Paul later chides the Corinthians for becoming drunk on wine served at their attempted celebrations of the Eucharist.[1] In short, for nearly all of Christendom drunkenness "is not merely a disgusting personal habit and social vice, but a sin which bars the gates of Heaven, desecrates the body, which is now in a special sense the dwelling-place of the Holy Spirit, and stains the mystical body of Christ, the Church."[1]
Winemaking in biblical times
Both the climate and land of Palestine, where most of the Bible takes place, were well-suited to growing grapes,[1] and the wine that the vineyards produced was a valued commodity in ancient times, both for local consumption and for its value in trade.[1][1] Vineyards were protected from robbers and animals by walls, hedges, and manned watchtowers.[1]
The harvest time brought much joy and play,[1] as "[m]en, women and children took to the vineyard, often accompanied by the sound of music and song, from late August to September to bring in the grapes."[1][1] Some grapes were eaten immediately, while others were turned into raisins. Most of them, however, were put into the wine press where the men and boys trampled them, also often to music.[1]
The fermentation process started within six to twelve hours after pressing, and the must was usually left in the collection vat for a few days to allow the initial, "tumultuous" stage of fermentation to pass. The wine makers soon transferred it either into large earthenware jars, which were then sealed, or, if the wine were to be transported elsewhere, into wineskins (that is, partially tanned goat-skins, sewn up where the legs and tail had protruded but leaving the opening at the neck).[1] After six weeks, fermentation was complete, and the wine was filtered into larger containers and either sold for consumption or stored in a cellar or cistern, lasting for three to four years.[1][1] Even after a year of aging, the vintage was still called "new wine," and more aged wines were preferred.[1][1][1]
Spices and scents were often added to wine in order to hide "defects" that arose from storage that was often not sufficient to prevent all spoiling.[1] One might expect about 10% of any given cellar of wine to have been ruined completely, but vinegar was also created intentionally for dipping bread[1] among other uses.[1]
The Feast of Booths was a prescribed holiday that immediately followed the harvest and pressing of the grapes.[1]
Alcohol in Christian history and tradition
Template:Eucharist For over 1,800 years, the regular use of wine in the celebration of the Eucharist and in daily life was the universal and undisputed practice in Christendom.[1] During the 19th and early 20th century, as a general sense of prohibitionism arose, many Christians, particularly some Protestants in the United States, came to believe that the Bible prohibited alcohol or that the wisest choice in modern circumstances was for the Christian to willingly abstain from alcohol.
Before Christ
The Hebraic opinion of wine in the time before Christ was decidedly positive: wine is part of the world God created and is thus "necessarily inherently good,"[1] though excessive use is soundly condemned. The Jews emphasized joy in the goodness of creation rather than the virtue of temperance, which the Greek philosophers advocated.[1]
As the Jews returned from the Babylonian exile (starting in 537 BC) and the events of the Old Testament draw to a close, wine was "a common beverage for all classes and ages, including the very young; an important source of nourishment; a prominent part in the festivities of the people; a widely appreciated medicine; an essential provision for any fortress; and an important commodity," and it served as "a necessary element in the life of the Hebrews."[1][1][1] Wine was also used ritualistically to close the Sabbath and to celebrate weddings, and circumcisions, and Passover.[1]
Although some abstentionists argue that wine in the Bible was almost always cut with water greatly decreasing its potency for inebriation,[1] there is general agreement that, while Old Testament wine was sometimes mixed with various spices to enhance its flavor and stimulating properties, it was not usually diluted with water,[1][1] and wine mixed with water is used as an Old Testament metaphor for corruption.[1] Among the Greeks, however, the cutting of wine with water was a common practice used to reduce potency and improve taste.[1][1] By the time of the writing of 2 Maccabees (first or second century BC), the Greeks had conquered Palestine under Alexander the Great, and the Hellenistic custom had apparently found acceptance with the Jews[1][1][1][1][1] and was carried into Jewish rituals in New Testament times.[1][1][1]
Under the rule of Rome, which had conquered Palestine under Pompey, the average adult male who was a citizen drank an estimated liter (about a quarter of a gallon, or a modern-day bottle and a half) of wine per day,[1] though beer was more common in some parts of the world.[1]
Early Church
The Apostolic Fathers make very little reference to wine,[1] but the earliest references from the Church Fathers make it clear that the early church used wine in their celebration of the Eucharist, often mixing it with water according to the prevailing custom.[1][1] The Didache, an early Christian treatise which is generally accepted to be from the late 1st century, instructs Christians to give a portion of their wine in support of a true prophet or, if they have no prophet resident with them, to the poor.[1]
Clement of Alexandria (died circa 215) wrote in a chapter about drinking that he admires those who adopt an austere life and abstain from wine, and he suggests the young abstain from wine so as not to inflame their "wild impulses." But he says taking a little wine as medicine or for pleasure after the day's work is acceptable for those who are "moored by reason and time" such that they aren't tempted by drunkenness, and he encourages mixing water in with the wine to inhibit inebriation. He also says wine is an appropriate symbol of Jesus' blood.[1][1]
Cyprian (died 258) rejects as "contrary to evangelical and apostolical discipline" the practice of some Gnostics, who used water instead of wine in the Eucharist. While still rejecting drunkenness, on the content of the cup he says, "The Holy Spirit also ... makes mention of the Lord’s cup, and says, 'Thy inebriating cup, how excellent it is!' [quoting a variation of Ps 23:5 (in the Hebrew numbering)] Now the cup which inebriates is assuredly mingled with wine, for water cannot inebriate anybody."[1]
The virtue of temperance passed from Greek philosophy into Christian ethics and became one of the four cardinal virtues under St. Ambrose[1] and St. Augustine.[1][1] Drunkenness, on the other hand, is considered a manifestation of gluttony, one of the seven deadly sins as compiled by Gregory the Great in the 6th century.[1]
Middle Ages
The decline of the Roman Empire brought with it a significant drop in the production and consumption of wine in western and central Europe, but the Eastern and Western Church (particularly the Byzantines) preserved the practices of viticulture and winemaking.[1]
The medieval monks were renowned as the finest creators of beer and wine,[1] were allotted about five liters of beer per day, and were allowed to drink beer (but not wine) during fasts,[1] and Will Durant says of the customs of England in the day: "a gallon of beer per day was the usual allowance per person, even for nuns."[1] The Catholic Church continues to celebrate a number of saints related to alcohol — for instance, St. Adrian, patron saint of beer; St. Amand, patron saint of brewers, barkeepers, and wine merchants; St. Martin, the so-called patron saint of wine; St. Vincent, patron saint of vintners.[1] The Orthodox celebrate St. Tryphon as the guardian saint of vines and vineyard workers.[1] Because the Catholic Church requires properly fermented wine in the Eucharist[1] — with a modern exception for alcoholic priests[1] — wherever Catholicism spread, the missionaries also brought grapevines so they could make wine and celebrate the Mass.[1]
Reformation
- Further information: Alcohol in the early modern period
As the Protestant Reformation began, the Reformers from Luther and Calvin to Zwingli and Knox strongly supported the enjoyment of wine as a biblical blessing,[1] and indeed Calvin's annual salary in Geneva included seven barrels of wine.[1] The Lutheran Formula of Concord (1576)[1] and the Reformed Christian confessions of faith[1][1][1][1] also make explicit mention of and assume the use of wine, as does the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith[1] and the Methodist Articles of Religion (1784).[1] In the Dordrecht Confession of Faith (1632), even the radical Anabaptists, who sought to expunge every trace of Catholicism and to rely only on the Bible, also assumed wine was to be used,[1] and despite their reputation as being killjoys, the English Puritans were temperate partakers of "God's good gifts," including wine and ale.[1]
Colonial America
- Further information: Alcohol in Colonial America
As the Pilgrims set out for America, they brought a considerable amount of alcohol with them for the voyage (more than 28,617 liters = 7,560 gallons),[1] and once settled, they served alcohol at "virtually all functions, including ordinations, funerals, and regular Sabbath meals."[1] M. E. Lender summarizes that "[t]he colonists had assimilated alcohol use, based on Old World patterns, into their community lifestyles" and that "[l]ocal brewing began almost as soon as the colonists were safely ashore."[1] Increase Mather (died 1723), prominent colonial clergyman and erstwhile president of Harvard, expressed the common view thusly in a sermon against drunkenness: "Drink is in itself a good creature of God, and to be received with thankfulness, but the abuse of drink is from Satan; the wine is from God, but the drunkard is from the Devil."[1] This Old World attitude is likewise found among the early English Methodists (John and Charles Wesley, George Whitefield, and Adam Clarke) and Baptists (for instance, John Gill and John Bunyan).
19th century
In the early 19th century, however, things began to change. With the social upheaval that accompanied the American Revolution and the urbanization induced by the Industrial Revolution, drunkenness was on the rise and was blamed for the increasing poverty, unemployment, and crime, and Temperance Societies began forming in order to combat the trend. Initially they espoused moderation and temperance in the use of alcohol, but, fueled in part by the Second Great Awakening — which emphasized personal holiness and sometimes perfectionism — the message soon changed to the outright elimination of alcohol.[1][1][1][1] Once the Temperance Movement made the leap from temperance to prohibition, alcohol itself became an evil, and so it had to be expunged from Christian practice, especially from the holy rite of the Lord's Supper.[1][1] Such a position was made practical by Methodist minister Thomas Bramwell Welch's invention of a pasteurization process to stop the fermentation that grape juice naturally undergoes.[1] Welch's church elders considered substituting juice for wine in the Lord's Supper to be an "unacceptable innovation,"[1] though it eventually took hold in much of American Protestantism.
Though many Protestants consider Christian tradition to be a valuable guide in matters of faith and practice (compare Paleo-Orthodoxy, for instance), Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy each have a stronger view of Sacred Tradition, and consequently they were largely unaffected by the movements to eliminate alcohol from church life. Similarly, while the Lutheran and Anglican churches felt some pressure, they did not alter in their moderationist position. Even the English denominational Temperance Societies refused to make abstention a requirement for membership, and their position remained moderationist in character.[1] The changes in practice thus were not common to the church around the world but rather were primarily a phenomenon in American Protestantism, particularly those without a strong international history or connections. These changes have persisted with some waning of support to the present.[1][1]
Current views
Today, the views on alcohol in Christendom can be divided into moderationism, abstentionism, and prohibitionism. Abstentionists and prohibitionists are sometimes lumped together as "teetotalers" (compare list of teetotalers) and share some similar arguments for their positions, but the distinction between them is that the latter abstain from alcohol as a matter of law (that is, they believe God requires abstinence in all ordinary circumstances), while the former abstain as a matter of prudence (that is, they believe total abstinence is the wisest and most loving way to live in the present circumstances).[1]
Moderationism
The moderationist position is held by Roman Catholicism[1] and Eastern Orthodoxy,[1] and within Protestantism, it is accepted by most Lutherans,[1][1] Anglicans,[1] and Reformed churches.[1][1][1][1][1] Moderationism is also accepted by Jehovah's Witnesses.[1]
Moderationism argues that, according to the biblical and traditional witness, (1) alcohol is a good gift of God that is rightly used for making the heart merry, and (2) while its dangers are real, it may be used wisely and moderately rather than being shunned or prohibited because of potential abuse.[1][1][1][1] Moderationism holds that temperance (that is, moderation or self-control) in all of one's behavior, not abstinence, is the biblical norm.[1]
On the first point, moderationists reflect the Hebrew mindset that all creation is good.[1] Going further, Calvin says that "it is lawful to use wine not only in cases of necessity, but also thereby to make us merry,"[1] and in his Genevan Catechism, he answers that wine is appropriate in the Lord's Supper because "by wine the hearts of men are gladdened, their strength recruited, and the whole man strengthened, so by the blood of our Lord the same benefits are received by our souls."[1]
On the second point, Martin Luther employs a reductio ad absurdum to counter the idea that abuse should be met with disuse: "[W]e must not ... reject [or] condemn anything because it is abused.... [W]ine and women bring many a man to misery and make a fool of him (Ecclus. 19:2; 31:30); so [we would need to] kill all the women and pour out all the wine."[1] In dealing with drunkenness at the love feast in Corinth,[1] St. Paul does not require total abstinence from drink but love for one another that would express itself in moderate, selfless behavior.[1][1] However, moderationists approve of voluntary abstinence in several cases, such as for a person one who finds it too difficult to drink in moderation and for the benefit of the "weaker brother," who would err because of a stronger Christian exercising his or her liberty to drink.[1]
While all moderationists approve of using (fermented) wine in the Eucharist in principle (Catholics, the Orthodox, Anglicans and some Lutherans require it),[1][1] because of prohibitionist heritage and a sensitivity to those who wish to abstain from alcohol, many offer either grape juice or both wine and juice at their celebrations of the Lord's Supper.[1][1][1][1] Some Christians mix some water with the wine following ancient tradition, and some attach a mystical significance to this practice.[1][1]
Comparison
In addition to lexical and historical differences,[1][1] moderationism holds that prohibitionism errs by confusing the Christian virtues of temperance and moderation with abstinence and prohibition and by locating the evil in the object that is abused rather in the heart and deeds of the abuser.[1][1] Moreover, moderationists suggest that the prohibitionist and abstentionist positions denigrate God's creation and his good gifts and deny that it is not what goes into a man that makes him evil but what comes out (that is, what he says and does).[1][1] And so, moderationists hold that in banishing wine from communion and dinner tables, prohibitionists and abstentionists go against the witness of the Bible and the church throughout the ages and implicitly adopt a Pharisaical moralism that is at odds with the what moderationists consider the right approach to biblical ethics and the doctrines of sin and sanctification.[1][1][1]
Abstentionism
The abstentionist position is held by many Baptists,[1] Pentecostals,[1] Methodists,[1] and other evangelical and Protestant groups including the Salvation Army.[1] Prominent proponents of abstentionism include Billy Graham,[1] John F. MacArthur,[1] R. Albert Mohler, Jr.,[1] and John Piper.[1]
Abstentionists believe that although alcohol consumption is not inherently sinful or necessarily avoided in all circumstances, it is generally not the wisest or most prudent choice. While most abstentionists don't require abstinence from alcohol for membership in their churches, they do often require it for leadership positions.[1][1][1]
Some reasons commonly given for voluntary abstention are:
- The Bible warns that alcohol can hinder moral discretion. As discussed above, Proverbs 31:4-5 warns kings and rulers that they might "forget what is decreed, and pervert the rights of all the afflicted." Some abstentionists speak of alcohol as "corrupt[ing]" the body and as a substance that can "impair my judgment and further distract me from God’s will for my life."[1]
- Christians must be sensitive to the "weaker brother," that is, the Christian who (incorrectly, in the abstentionist's view) believes imbibing to be a sin. On this point MacArthur says, "[T]he primary reason I don't do a lot of things I could do, including drinking wine or any alcoholic beverage, [is] because I know some believers would be offended by it.... [M]any Christians will drink their beer and wine and flaunt their liberty no matter what anyone thinks. Consequently, there is a rift in the fellowship."[1]
- Christians should make a public statement against drunkenness because of the negative consequences it can have on individuals, families, and society as a whole. Some abstentionists believe that their witness as persons of moral character is also enhanced by this choice.[1][1]
Additionally, abstentionists argue that while drinking may have been more acceptable in ancient times (for instance, using wine to purify polluted drinking water),[1][1] modern circumstances have changed the nature of Christian's responsibility in this area. First, some abstentionists argue that wine in Biblical times was weaker and diluted with water such that drunkenness was less common,[1][1][1] though few non-abstentionists accept this as a matter of historical fact (see above), and the invention of more efficient distillation techniques has led to even more potent and cheaper alcohol, which in turn has lessened the economic barrier to drinking to excess.[1][1] Second, some of the consequences of drunkenness have been amplified by changing circumstances such as the availability of automobiles and the hazards of driving under the influence.
Comparison
On historical and lexical grounds, many abstentionists reject the argument of prohibitionists that wine in the Bible was not alcoholic and that imbibing is nearly always a sin.[1][1] Piper summarizes the abstentionist position on this point:
- The consumption of food and drink is in itself no basis for judging a person's standing with God.... [The Apostle Paul's] approach to these abuses [of food and drink] was never to forbid food or drink. It was always to forbid what destroyed God's temple and injured faith. He taught the principle of love, but did not determine its application with regulations in matters of food and drink.[1]
Abstentionists also reject the position of moderationists that in many circumstances Christians should feel free to drink for pleasure because abstentionists see alcohol as inherently too dangerous and not "a necessity for life or good living,"[1][1] with some even going so far as to say, "Moderation is the cause of the liquor problem."[1]
Prohibitionism
The prohibitionist position has experienced a general reduction of support since the days of Prohibitionism as a movement, with many of its advocates becoming abstentionists instead.
Prohibitionist individuals such as Stephen Reynolds[1][1][1] and Jack Van Impe[1] and denominations such as the Seventh-day Adventists[1][1] hold that the Bible forbids partaking of alcohol altogether, with some arguing that even the alleged medicinal use of wine in 1 Timothy 5:23 is a reference to unfermented grape juice.[1] They argue that the words for alcoholic beverages in the Bible can also refer to non-alcoholic versions such as unfermented grape juice, and for this reason the context must determine which meaning is required.[1] In passages where the beverages are viewed negatively, prohibitionists understand them to mean the alcoholic drinks, and where they are viewed positively, they understand them to mean non-alcoholic drinks.[1] Prohibitionists also accuse most Bible translators of exhibiting a bias in favor of alcohol that obscures the meaning of the original texts.[1][1]
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the largest body of the Latter Day Saint movement, also teaches that "God has spoken against the use of ... [a]lcohol."[1][1] They base this teaching on the Word of Wisdom, a section in Doctrine and Covenants which is part of the Mormon canon, that recommends against the ordinary use of alcohol, though it makes an exception for the use of wine in the sacrament, a similar rite to the Eucharist.[1] However, the church also uses water instead of wine in the sacrament,[1] and since 1851, the Word of Wisdom's advice for wise living has been considered "a binding commandment on all Church members."[1]
