The following is a position paper I wrote for a class I'm taking at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. As part of Pastoral Ministry, I am writing 6 different position papers over the course of the semester. I chose "Alcohol" for my first topic. Just so no one is shocked, I am not opposed to Christians drinking alcohol in moderation, and that is the position I argue for in this paper. I will also add that my seminary requires abstinence while I am a student here, and I do follow that covenant. I would love to get some healthy debate going on this topic. If anyone wants to write a formal response to my position, please email it to me at josh.p.herring@gmail.com and I will post it. I'd rather get actual posts than a never ending comment stream.
A
Biblical Position on Alcohol
The
consumption of alcohol has been a contentious subject in the United States of
America since the mid-19th century. In the wake of technological
advances in brewing which made strong liquor more available at an affordable
price, coinciding with growing urbanization and industrialization, Americans
moved to curb their national drinking habit. The temperance movement began as
an effort to curtail excessive drinking, to encourage men to drink moderately.
In light of the second Great Awakening and a growing concern for outward signs
of redemption, Protestants adopted the extreme position of teetotalism with
some arguing the inherent sinfulness of alcohol and other contending that total
abstention constituted the wise path in life. This national movement culminated
in the Prohibition amendment to the Constitution, which was eventually repealed.
While the federal government and many states concluded that Americans should
not be legally forbidden to drink, many Protestants hold to a conviction that
Christians should not consume alcoholic beverages.
In
an article titled “The Christian and Alcohol,” Richard Land and Duke Barrett,
leaders of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, present the status quo position of Southern Baptists
on alcohol. The authors establish a consequentialist argument for total
abstention, citing cases of men abusing alcohol and the terrible results that
follow. They hold to the position that Christians should never drink alcohol,
and to do so hinders their witness for the gospel.[1]
Written in 2008 and published in The
Criswell Review, this article illustrates the pressing nature of this
discussion for Southern Baptists. The International Missions Board will not
appoint missionaries unless they agree to abstain from alcohol, regardless of
the cultural context in which those missionaries work. The North American
Missions Board holds a similar position in regards to church planting.[2] While
Land and Barrett argue persuasively based on their family histories and impacts
of the abuse of alcohol, they do not provide firm case of Scriptural support to
uphold their view.
While
historical context and the inertia of tradition have led Southern Baptists to
hold a teetotaler position on alcohol, Christians should not draw their
positions from culture but from the Word of God. The Bible is authoritative in
all areas of life and practice, and alcohol is no exception. By first defining
some terms in the alcohol discussion, then looking at the whole counsel of
Scripture, several advantages to changing the status quo position on alcohol
become clear.
To
begin examining the biblical perspective on alcohol requires some definitional
efforts. By alcohol, this paper means all forms of alcoholic beverage whether
wine, beer, or liquor. Secondly, the Oxford English Dictionary offers the
following definition of drunkenness: “The state of
being drunk; intoxication; the habit of being drunken or addicted to excessive
drinking.” It also defines the state of being as occurring in one “has drunk
intoxicating liquor to an extent which affects steady self-control; intoxicated,
inebriated; overcome by alcoholic liquor.” One further definitional point seems
necessary. This paper will seek to avoid use of the term “alcoholic” as that
implies some form of medical disease which excuses the drunk from his personal responsibility.
No one reaches the state of drunkenness on accident, but rather as a result of deliberate
choices. The term alcoholic allows the drunk to escape responsibility for his
own actions since he has a disease.[3]
Jesus
Christ made several radical claims about sin, one of which applies to this
discussion. In response to Pharisaical questioning of his disciples, Christ
taught on the location of sin. “Do you not see that whatever goes into the
mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled? But what comes out of the mouth
proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come
evil thoughts, murder, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These
are what defiles a person.”[4]
Sin does not come from external sources. As fallen human beings, people are in
essence sinful. Alcohol may loosen restraints upon sin, but it in itself does
not cause sin. In his classic book Witness,
recovered Communist Whitaker Chambers recounts how his Party superiors forced him
to become drunk so they could know his true loyalties. Alcohol may reveal the
inner man, but it does not bring sin into a man’s heart; the heart is already
wicked. Thus, alcohol is not innately a sinful substance.
Alcohol
is present throughout the New and Old Testaments. By looking at a sampling of
passages, the proper and improper usages of alcohol become clear. In John 2,
Christ performs his first miracle at a wedding. The guests were a thirsty lot,
and ran out of wine. Mary asked Jesus to solve the problem. He responded by
turning 120-180 gallons of water set aside for purification into 120-180
gallons of “good wine.” The author’s detailing the amount of wine created and
its quality is not accidental. By this miracle, John tells us, Jesus “manifested
his glory.” Wine was used both in a celebratory manner as part of the wedding,
but also as a way in which God demonstrated the glory of His Christ.[5] Later
in the life of Christ, Jesus used the normal wine of the Passover meal to
inaugurate the new covenant in His blood. During his ministry, Jesus often
associated with tax collectors and sinners to the point where He was called “A
glutton and a drunkard…”[6] In
light of other passages of Scripture, this verse is clearly an exaggeration of
how much Christ drank, but does indicate that he met people in their daily
lives and joined them in drinking alcohol.
In
his letter to the Ephesians, Paul writes, “Do not be drunk with wine, for that
is debauchery but be filled with the Spirit…”[7]
Paul does not command abstention but wisdom. Debauchery does not honor God, but
wise use of his gifts does. Paul mentions wine twice in his first letter to
Timothy. He writes that elders must not be drunkards, and then tells Timothy to
no longer drink only water but “take a little wine for your stomach.”[8]
Paul illustrates the biblical teaching about alcohol in these passages. Like
all of God’s creation, there are legitimate and illegitimate to use alcohol.
Followers of Christ are not called to ignore or neglect this aspect of creation
but rather to learn to use it well. John’s gospel shows wine rightly used to
celebrate, and Paul’s urging of Timothy illustrates alcohol’s health
properties.
Paul
also writes about wine in his letter to the Romans, including it in a list of legitimate
issues on which Christians disagree. Paul stresses the need for those of a more
robust conscience in such matters to yield their liberties for the sake of weaker
brethren.[9] By
setting up a contrast between weak and strong believers, Paul implies that
Christians should strive to develop their consciences. As one pastor has
pointed out, “We shouldn’t want to be
the weaker brethren!”[10]
The
Old Testament contains numerous examples of drinking alcohol. Genesis lists two
occasions where drinking wine to the point of drunkenness leads to sin.[11]
Isaac used wine as a symbol of Jacob’s blessing over Esau.[12]
In Exodus, God lists wine as an acceptable drink offering, and in Deuteronomy an
increase of wine is one of the ways in which God will bless His people.[13]
Leviticus gives a prohibition – the Aaronic priesthood is forbidden from
drinking wine.[14]
The Pentateuch portrays wine as a substance dangerous when abused, but a
blessing from God when used rightly. The priestly limitation is not normative,
and is a picture of the higher calling of the priests to serve.
Psalm
104:15 provides one further commentary on wine. The psalmist writes, “You cause
the grass to grow for the livestock and plants to grow for man to cultivate,
that he may bring forth food from the earth, and wine to gladden the heart of
man.” The fermentation of grapes, wheat, berries, and other vegetation did not
take God by surprise! This psalm indicates that God actually built this into
creation so that men might enjoy life more. Martin Luther extrapolated from
this idea the principle that men who struggled with depression should drink
more alcohol. John Calvin took a different approach, arguing that rejecting
alcohol meant one rejected the goodness of God’s creation.[15]
While few today would go so far as to argue Calvin or Luther’s stance, the natural
processes which result in alcohol were created by God as part of the intended
order of the world for our benefit.
Scripture
presents alcohol as a gift from God to be used in accordance with His wishes. It
is not to be abused; Scripture clearly condemns drunkenness. It should be
shunned as an inherently sinful substance. The call of Christians in regards to
alcohol is the same call as to any other part of God’s creation. The Christian
must learn to steward it well, to use it as God intended, and to always honor
God in his enjoyment of His gift.
Based
on the counsel of Scripture, this paper contends that the status quo position
on alcohol is in error. The view of alcohol as a substance to legalistically avoid
because of the consequences of drunkenness ignores the power of the Holy Spirit
over sin, reduces all believers to the position of weaker brother, and rejects
part of God’s creation intended for our joy. Rather than unquestioningly
adopting a position held by our spiritual fathers as a response to their historical
culture, Christians should examine the full counsel of Scripture and establish
their positions on primary and secondary matters from God’s Word. This
understanding of alcohol seeks to examine the question just as the believer would
examine any other part of his life in culture: is this act idolatrous? Have I
made an idol out of the pleasure derived from it? Does this act honor God? What
does Scripture say directly about this act? Should I set this aside for the
sake of another believer or for gospel witness? Asking these questions moves
alcohol from a special category of consideration and restores it to a part of
God’s creation which requires a response from the believer. The alcohol is not
sin, but how the believer responds to such substances may involve gluttony,
drunkenness, or idolatry. Rather than a legalistic abstention, the believer is
left to determine how to glorify God by rightly enjoying His creation.
[1]
Richard Land and Duke Barrett. “The Christian and Alcohol” in The Criswell Theological Review, 5/2
(Spring 2008), 19-38.
[2]This
policy has resulted in a growing number of church planters going with the ACTS
29 church planting network instead of the traditional SBC institution.
[3]
This argument is most effectively illustrated in the South Park show “Bloody
Mary” accessible here: http://www.southparkstudios.com/full-episodes/s09e14-bloody-mary
[4]
Matt. 15:17-20a.
[5]
John 2:1-12
[6]
Matt. 11:19
[7]
Ephesians 5:18
[8]
I Timothy 3:3, 5:23
[9]
Romans 14
[10]
Rev. Phillip Herring, Minister of Education at First Baptist Church of Norfolk,
VA, in a personal conversation in 2011.
[11]
Genesis 9, 19
[12]
Genesis 27:37
[13]
Exodus 29:40, Deuteronomy 7:13
[14]
Leviticus 10:9-10
[15]Jim
West. Drinking with Calvin and Luther: A
History of Alcohol in the Church, Oakdown Publishers, 2003. West devotes a
chapter each to Luther and Calvin and their perspectives on alcohol.
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