Danny ChaiThere is absolutely no Biblical basis for the idea that drinking alcohol at all is wrong. Zero.
Jesus’ first miracle in John was to make water into wine. And based on what the host says, it’s clear that the wine was alcoholic. Some people have said that what they meant by “wine” was something non-alcoholic. But this makes no sense in light of the host, who says that usually they bring out the bad wine at the end, when everyone’s drunk.
Also, Paul instructs Timothy to take a little wine for his heart. So, both Jesus and Paul seem to think it’s OK; in some circumstances, even good.
There is clear Biblical basis for not getting drunk, however. This is very clear. But no basis for saying Christians cannot drink at all.
Which isn’t to say that abstinence is wrong. There’s nothing wrong with it by any means. Just, abstinence is not a requirement of Christianity either.
I don’t know, just, Adrian is on this big separating the essence of Christianity from Christian culture, and while I disagree with some of his conclusions, I agree with the idea. And I think Christians too often confuse the culture with what is Christianity. And even worse, change their interpretations of the Bible and faith in light of the culture instead of the other way around. Like, saying that the “wine” in the New Testament isn’t alcoholic because of a prejudice against drinking in general. And that bothers me.
Anyway, I’m totally in favor of just trying as much as possible to identify what’s Christianity and what’s just Christian culture. And, saying drinking is wrong is not Christianity. Drunkenness is wrong. But not drinking.
Anyway, that’s why I don’t have a study Bible. Just, in a way, I feel like, I should be able to get the message from the Scripture itself, you know? Sometimes study Bibles just put too much of its own interpretation in the way. I feel like the essence of Christianity can be found in the text itself. So I haven’t used a study Bible in a while. It’s not that those Bibles aren’t helpful. It’s just, a lot of them are too interpretive for me, and sometimes I think their conclusions are a stretch, and I don’t like getting confused between arguable interpretation and the Word itself.
I also don’t like it when people say, “well the study Bible says this so we must be right/wrong.” That just really bothers me. Just, if we’re going to talk about the Bible, we need to argue from the Bible itself to support our conclusions. And whatever some commentary might say is only valid in light of whether it’s supported by the Scripture. So, just argue from the Bible alone. Soli Scriptura.
Uh, random rant.