The Bible plainly condemns drunkenness, but it does not forbid all wine: Jesus’ first miracle was turning water into wine at a wedding. That is why some Christians drink in moderation and many churches ask for total abstinence, each side with biblical reasons.
And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;
The command is clear for every Christian: “be not drunk with wine”. In place of the wine that takes control of a person, Paul puts the Spirit who fills them.
Read the chapter →Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.
“Wine is a mocker”: it promises joy and deceives. Whoever is led astray by it “is not wise”.
Read the chapter →Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes? They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine. Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder. Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things. Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast. They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.
The Bible’s most vivid portrait of addiction: fights, wounds, red eyes, and in the end the words of someone who can no longer stop — “I will seek it yet again.”
Read the chapter →And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage. And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come. His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it. When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom, And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now. This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.
Jesus’ first sign was turning water into “the good wine” at a wedding feast. It is the key text for those who hold that drinking in moderation is not a sin; some who teach abstinence understand it as unfermented grape juice.
Read the chapter →And wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengtheneth man's heart.
Among the gifts of creation, the psalm sets side by side bread, oil and “wine that maketh glad the heart of man”.
Read the chapter →Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmities.
Paul advises Timothy, who drank only water, to take “a little wine” for his stomach and frequent illnesses: a moderate, medicinal use common at the time.
Read the chapter →It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak.
The principle of love: even what is allowed can be set aside — “nor to drink wine” — so as not to make a brother stumble. It is one of the strongest arguments of those who choose not to drink, for instance for the sake of someone fighting alcoholism.
Read the chapter →On drunkenness there is no disagreement: it is sin. The difference lies in moderate drinking. Those who accept it point out that wine was part of Israel’s table and feasts (Deuteronomy 14:26; Psalm 104:15), that Jesus, unlike John the Baptist, ate and drank (Luke 7:33-34), and that church leaders were to be “not given to much wine” (1 Timothy 3:8) — not that they could never drink. Those who hold to total abstinence, the position of many evangelical churches, point to Proverbs’ warning about the wine that deceives, the damage alcohol does to families, and the principle of not making a brother stumble (Romans 14:21); the vows of the Nazirites and the Rechabites (Numbers 6:3; Jeremiah 35:6) show that giving up drink can also be an act of consecration. Neither side should despise or judge the other (Romans 14:3).
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