Christianity and Alcohol: Once Together, Then Separated, Now Somewhere in Between

In American society today, there is a riff between the church on the whole about the view and consumption of alcohol. The fact is that for the 1,800 years prior to prohibition and temperance movements, Christians enjoyed the use and consumption of alcohol¹. It wasn't until the late 19th and early 20th century that prohibition began to take hold as a desirable field of thought. In today's term, many are split in the church on whether the consumption of alcohol is acceptable or sinful.

During the Protestant Reformation, many reformers of the church found alcohol and beer to be of enjoyment and to be viewed as a gift from God². Supporters of this view included John Calvin, Martin Luther, and Ulrich Zwingli². The use of alcohol is mentioned in many of the articles of confession, including the 1869 Baptist Confession of Faith³, the Lutheran Formula of Concord⁴, and even the English Puritans enjoyed wine and ale⁵.

However, the temperance and prohibition movements against alcohol began to rise in the 19th with the support of John Wesley and the Methodist church⁶. After Thomas Welch discovered a way to pasteurize grape juice, many denominations began to use it in place of alcohol for the Lord's Supper, including Methodists, Baptists and Presbyterians. The height of the prohibition movement was seen when the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1913 prohibited the consumption of alcohol all across the country. This amendment was later amended in 1933 by the Twenty First Amendment to the United States Constitution.

Today, we are stuck somewhere in between this mess of prohibiting alcohol, abstaining from alcohol or practicing moderation when using alcohol. It is an agreeable fact that the Bible clearly condemns drunkenness as a sin (Romans 13:13-14, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, 1 Corinthians 5:11-13, Galations 5:19-21, etc.). However, stances differ on what the Bible says pertaining to the use and consumption of alcohol because the Bible does not clearly say whether we should drink it or not.

There are many instances in the Bible where alcohol is considered a blessing and a good gift (Deutoronomy 14:26, Psalm 104:15, John 2:6-12) and there are many instances where alcohol can be misused (Isaiah 28:7, Proverbs 23:29-35, Isaiah 5:11).

The common perception of alcohol in the modern Christian evangelical church is that it is a bad thing and that we should not partake of it. However, one must ask, where in the Bible does it say this? Look all you want, but you will not find a blanket statement that says "Alcohol is bad - stay away from it". While there are instances where Paul warns that would we should exercise moderation when partaking of certain foods (1 Corinthians 8 & 10, Romans 14), no where in Scripture is it documented that alcohol is a forbidden substance.

However, it is interesting that Paul not only warns Christian believers about abusing their liberty, he also warns us as Christians not to devote ourselves to law or practices contrary to gospel teaching concerning foods (Colossians 2:16-23, 1 Timothy 4:1-5).

Many will say that it is wise just to stay away from it altogether, but the last time I checked, that is not Biblicism - that is pragmatism. Pragmatism and Biblicism are two completely different things, but so many in the church today mesh the two together in order to create "unity" in the church. However, their term "unity" is not the same idea Paul is using in 1 Corinthians 12 to describe gospel and church unity. Uniformity would be the better term for those who engage in pragmatic thinking, and that is not Biblical thinking. Pragmatism leads to dissension and disdain towards the church because those outside of the church see the hypocrisy inherent in the pragmatic argument against alcohol. Why? Because pragmatism does not line up with what the Bible teaches!

The gospel and salvation of Jesus gives us freedom to enjoy his creation (Colossians 1:19-20, Titus 1:15) and the freedom to chose not to partake of his creation (1 Corinthians 10:23-33). In this freedom we can rightly derive that alcohol inherently is not evil, there are times to enjoy it and there are times to stay away from it. However, you cannot make a blanket statement based on your liberty and conscience about alcohol. The gospel of Jesus gives us the freedom to consume or abstain from alcohol provided we are regenerated by His Spirit. The church as a whole must move away from pragmatism and turn back to Biblicism if it ever wishes to truly begin to make a difference in the world today. The church must stands on its ultimate authority, the Bible, first and foremost in every aspect of operation.

1. R. V. Pierard (1984). "Alcohol, Drinking of". in Walter A. Elwell. Evangelical Dictionary of Theology. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House. pp. 28f. ISBN 0801034132.
2. Jim West (March /April 2000). "A Sober Assessment of Reformational Drinking". Modern Reformation9 (2).
3. http://www.ccel.org/creeds/bcf/bcfc30.htm#chapter30
4. http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/creeds3.iii.iv.html#iii.iv-p25.766
5. Jim West (2003). Drinking with Calvin and Luther!. Oakdown Books. p. 22ff. ISBN0-9700326-0-9.
6. Coke and Asbury, notes on Article XIX, p. 24.