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Drinking
Intoxicating Beverages - Part 3
By Allan E. McNabb
This week we continue our study on intoxicating beverages. Since
teenagers originally asked me about drinking alcohol, I’ve tried
to make these points meaningful to them.
Review
In the first article, we learned it’s a sin to be intoxicated,
concluding we shouldn’t participate in drinking to any degree.
- “Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership
have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with
darkness” (2 Cor. 6:14)?
- “Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but
instead even expose them” (Eph. 5:11).
- “Abstain from every form of evil” (1 Th. 5:22).
In the second article, we learned it’s a sin to go to drinking
parties, whether we drink or not.
- “For the time already past is sufficient for you to have carried
out the desire of the Gentiles, having pursued a course of sensuality,
lusts, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties and abominable idolatries” (1
Pet. 4:3).
Then we learned that drinking alcohol (ethanol) is sinful, because
it harms our bodies.
“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who
is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For
you have been bought with a price: therefore
glorify God in your body” (1 Cor. 6:19-20).
Wine in the Bible
There is much debate over wine in the Bible. Some people believe
some wine was unfermented grape juice, without any alcohol. And
others believe all wine in the Bible was fermented, and had alcohol.
Frankly, it’s difficult to nail down absolute specifics about
New Testament wine, but there are a few general things we know that are
helpful.
Fermentation: A Method of Preserving Wine
Researchers suggest that ancient societies had numerous ways of preserving
the fruit of the vine: boiling, filtering, cooling, adding preservatives,
and fermentation.
Fermentation is a naturally occurring process that results in a low-level
alcohol content, and preserves the juice.
In Palestine, the fermentation process began almost immediately. But
the juice wasn’t considered wine until fermenting forty days (International
Standard Bible Encyclopedia).
Three Greek Words Translated “Wine”
There are three words translated “wine” in the New Testament.
Oinos “is the general word for ‘wine.’ The
mention of the bursting of the wineskins, Matt. 9:17; Mark 2:22; Luke
5:37, implies fermentation” (Vine’s Dictionary).
- Since the juice was fermented, it had an alcohol content. Typically
the alcohol content of first century wine was 2-3%, perhaps reaching
as high as 5%.
- The alcohol level of first century wine was about the same as low-alcohol,
twenty-first century cider.
- The alcohol level of present-day wine in the United States ranges
from 11-14%.
- Modern wine has a significantly higher alcohol content than first
century wine, as much as 600%. (Note: Some modern
wines have alcohol added to them to make them more intoxicating.)
- In the first century, wine was diluted with water, significantly
reducing the alcohol level.
- In Revelation 14:10, John uses a phrase associated with mixing wine
with water. He says the wine of God’s wrath is “prepared
unmixed” (ASV). The Greek here is “used of wine unmixed
with water (usually so mixed)” (Robertson).
- Also from the Jewish Mishna, we learn that water was added to wine
to dilute it. “The proportion of water was large, only
one-third or one-fourth of the total mixture being wine” (International
Standard Bible Encyclopedia).
Gleukos is translated “new wine” and “sweet
wine,” appearing only in Acts 2:13, where the apostles were accused
of being drunk with new wine.
- New wine is “juice of the grape which distills before a pressure
is applied, and called must” (Barnes’ Notes). It
was very intoxicating.
Oxos is translated “sour wine” and “vinegar.” It
was “the ordinary drink of laborers and common soldiers” (Vine’s). It
was given to Jesus by Roman soldiers before He died.
- Vinegar was mixed with other foods, and sometimes used as a condiment. It
was mixed with water to create a cheap drink.
- Typically, vinegar does not contain alcohol.
Conclusion
When we talk about alcoholic beverages from a New Testament perspective,
we must understand that the wine (oinos) of their day was
much weaker than twenty-first century wine. Then, they made it
even weaker by adding water, resulting in about 1% alcohol, which was
only intoxicating in very large quantities.
Intoxicating beverages with higher alcohol content were considered liquor
(strong drink, Lk. 1:15). These beverages had ingredients added
to them, to make them more intoxicating.
If we try and compare New Testament wine, after it was mixed with water,
to something in the twenty-first century, we could compare it with non-alcoholic
wine, which is about 0.5% alcohol.
To Be Continued
In the next article, we’ll investigate Scriptures containing the
word wine, such as John 2:1-11, where Jesus turned water to wine.
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