Christian views on alcohol are varied. Throughout the first 1,800 years of Church history, Christians generally consumed alcoholic beverages as a common part of everyday life and used "the fruit of the vine" in their central rite—the Eucharist or Lord's Supper. They held that both the Bible and Christian tradition taught that alcohol is a gift from God that makes life more joyous, but that over-indulgence leading to drunkenness is sinful.Raymond, p. 90. However, the alcoholic content of ancient alcoholic beverages was significantly lower than that of modern alcoholic beverages. The low alcoholic content was due to the limitations of fermentation and the nonexistence of distillation methods in the ancient world.
In the mid-19th century, some Protestant Christians moved from a 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"). Many Protestant churches, particularly Methodists, advocated abstentionism or prohibitionism and were early leaders in the temperance movement of the 19th and 20th centuries. Today, all three positions exist in Christianity, but the original position of alcohol consumption being permissible while being moderate in its consumption, remains the most common and dominant view among Christians worldwide, in addition to the adherence by the largest bodies of Christian denominations, such as Anglicanism, Lutheranism, Roman Catholicism, and Eastern Orthodoxy.
Alcohol in the Bible
Alcoholic beverages appear in the Bible, both in usage and in poetic expression. The Bible is ambivalent towards alcohol, considering it both a blessing from God that brings merriment and a potential danger that can be unwisely and sinfully abused. • • Christian views on alcohol come from what the Bible says about it, along with Jewish and Christian traditions. The biblical languages have several words for alcoholic beverages,Fitzsimmonds, pp. 1254f. and though prohibitionists and some abstentionists dissent, • Quoted in Reynolds, The Biblical Approach to Alcohol. • • • • there is a broad consensus that the words did ordinarily refer to intoxicating drinks. (Emphasis in original.) • • Quoted in • Pierard, p. 28: "No evidence whatsoever exists to support the notion that the wine mentioned in the Bible was unfermented grape juice. When juice is referred to, it is not called wine (Gen. 40:11). Nor can 'new wine' ... mean unfermented juice, because the process of chemical change begins almost immediately after pressing."
The commonness and centrality of wine in daily life in biblical times is apparent from its many positive and negative metaphorical uses throughout the Bible.Raymond, p. 24: "The numerous allusions to the vine and wine in the Old Testament furnish an admirable basis for the study of its estimation among the people at large." Positively, for example, wine is used as a symbol of abundance, and of physical blessing.Ge 27:28; 49:9-12; Dt 7:13; 11:14; 15:14; compare 33:28; Pr 3:9f; Jr 31:10-12; Ho 2:21-22; Jl 2:19,24; 3:18; Am 9:13f; compare 2Ki 18:31-32; 2Ch 32:28; Ne 5:11; 13:12; etc. Negatively, wine is personified as a mocker and beer a brawler,Pr 20:1 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.Ps 60:3; 75:8; Is 51:17-23; 63:6; Jr 13:12-14; 25:15-29; 49:12; 51:7; La 4:21f; Ezk 23:28-33; Na 1:9f; Hab 2:15f; Zc 12:2; Mt 20:22; 26:39, 42; Lk 22:42; Jn 18:11; Re 14:10; 16:19; compare Ps Sol 8:14
The Bible also speaks of wine in general terms as a bringer and concomitant of joy, particularly in the context of nourishment and feasting.Jg 9:13; Ps 4:7; 104:15; Ec 9:7; 10:19; Zc 9:17; 10:7 Wine was commonly drunk at meals, and the Old Testament prescribed it for use in sacrificial rituals and festal celebrations. The Gospel of John recorded the first miracle of Jesus: making copious amountsSix pots of thirty-nine liters each = 234 liters = 61.8 gallons, according to of wine at the wedding feast at Cana.Jn 2:1-11; 4:46 Jesus instituted the ritual of the Eucharist at the Last Supper during a Passover celebration,Mt 26:17-19; Mk 14:12-16; Lk 22:7-13. The Gospel of John offers some difficulties when compared with the Synoptists' accounts on whether the meal was part of the Passover proper. In any case, it seems that the Last Supper was most likely somehow associated with Passover, even if it was not the paschal feast itself. See the discussion in he says that the "fruit of the vine"Seesemann, p. 162: "Wine is specifically mentioned as an integral part of the passover meal no earlier than Jub. 49:6 ['... all Israel was eating the flesh of the paschal lamb, and drinking the wine ...'], but there can be no doubt that it was in use long before." P. 164: "In the accounts of the Last Supper the term [wine] occurs neither in the Synoptists nor Paul. It is obvious, however, that according to custom Jesus was proffering wine in the cup over which He pronounced the blessing; this may be seen especially from the solemn [fruit of the vine] (Mark 14:25 and par.) which was borrowed from Judaism." Compare "fruit of the vine" as a formula in the Mishnah, Raymond, p. 80: "All the wines used in basic religious services in Palestine were fermented." is a "New Covenant in [his] blood,"Mt 26:26-29; Mk 14:22-25; Lk 22:17-20; 1 Co 10:16; 11:23-25 though Christians have differed on the implications of this statement (see Eucharistic theologies contrasted). Alcohol was also used for medicinal purposes in biblical times, and it appears in that context in several passages—as an oral anesthetic,Pr 31:4-7; Mt 27:34,48; Mk 15:23,36; Lk 23:36; Jn 19:28–30 a topical cleanser and soother,Lk 10:34 and a digestive aid.1 Ti 5:23
Kings and priests in the Old Testament were forbidden to partake of wine at various times.Pr 31:4f; Lv 10:9; compare Ez 44:21 John the Baptist was a Nazirite from birth.Compare Lk 1:15. Nazirite vows excluded not only wine, but also vinegar, grapes, and raisins.Nu 6:2-4 (compare Jg 13:4-5; Am 2:11f); Jr 35 (Jesus evidently did not take such a vow during the three years of ministry depicted in the gospels, but in fact was even accused by the Pharisees of eating and drinking with sinners).Mt 11:18f; Lk 7:33f; compare Mk 14:25; Lk 22:17fI. W. Raymond p. 81: "Not only did Jesus Christ Himself use and sanction the use of wine but also ... He saw nothing intrinsically evil in wine.[footnote citing Mt 15:11 ]" 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."Ro 14:21.Raymond understands this to mean that "if an individual by drinking wine either causes others to err through his example or abets a social evil which causes others to succumb to its temptations, then in the interests of Christian love he ought to forego the temporary pleasures of drinking in the interests of heavenly treasures" (p. 87). Jewish priests cannot bless a congregation after consuming alcohol.
Virtually all Christian traditions hold that the Bible condemns ordinary drunkenness in many passages,For instance, Pr 20:1; Is 5:11f; Ho 5:2,5; Ro 13:13; Ep 5:18; 1 Ti 3:2-3. 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." Additionally, the consequences of the drunkenness of NoahGe 9:20-27 and LotGe 19:31-38 "were intended to serve as examples of the dangers and repulsiveness of intemperance." St. Paul later chides the Corinthians for becoming drunk on wine served at their attempted celebrations of the Eucharist.1Co 11:20-22
Winemaking in biblical times Both the climate and land of Palestine, where most of the Bible takes place, were well-suited to growing grapes,Ewing, p. 824. and the wine that the vineyards produced was a valued commodity in ancient times, both for local consumption and for its value in trade.See Broshi, passim (for instance, p. 29: Palestine was "a country known for its good wines").Compare 2Ch 2:3,10 Trade with Egypt was quite extensive. Jews were a wine-drinking culture well before the foundation of Rome. Vintage wines were found in the tomb of King Scorpion in Hierakonpolis. Archaeological evidence suggests that Semitic predecessors were thought to be responsible for the vintages that were found in the tomb. Vineyards were protected from robbers and animals by walls, hedges, and manned watchtowers.Ps 80:8-15; Is 5:1f; Mk 12:1; compare SS 2:15
In Hebrew, grape juice need not ferment before it is called wine: "When the grapes have been crushed and the wine [yayin] begins to flow, even though it has not descended into the cistern and is still in the wine press...".Sefer Kedushah, MaAchalot Assurot, Ch. 11, Halacha 11
The harvest time brought much joy and play,Compare Is 16:10; Jr 48:33 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."Broshi, p. 24. 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, often to music. The Feast of Booths was a prescribed holiday that immediately followed the harvest and pressing of the grapes.Dt 16:13-15
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). 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.Broshi, p. 26. Even after a year of aging, the vintage was still called "new wine," and more aged wines were preferred.Lk 5:39; compare Is 25:6Dommershausen, pp. 60-62.
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.Broshi, p. 27. One might expect about 10% of any given cellar of wine to have been ruined completely, but vinegar was also created intentionally for dipping breadRu 2:14 among other uses.Broshi, p. 36.
Alcoholic content of beverages in the ancient world After the conquest of Palestine by Alexander the Great, the Hellenistic custom of diluting wine had taken hold such that the author of 2 Maccabees speaks of diluted wine as "a more pleasant drink" and of both undiluted wine and unmixed water as "harmful" or "distasteful."2 Maccabees 15:40