Those Christians committed to the notion that true disciples won't touch alcohol just can't catch a break from modern archaeology and anthropology. Another careful study purports to show that ancient Israelites not only drank wine ( a well established fact,) but also drank a great deal of beer. As disconcerting as this is to our puritan friends, who scorn God's creation by declaring bits of it evil, it really should surprise no one that a drink that results in an alcohol preserved form of grain for human consumption would become popular in a pre-refrigeration culture. Besides, if alcohol were evil why would the Holy Ghost inspire scripture passages like the psalm "He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth; And wine that maketh glad the heart of man," ( psalm 104, KJV,) or "Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake," ( I Tim.)
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The quote from I Tim. is interesting. You are citing concrete evidence that Timothy was a teetotaler and that he had to be exhorted to drink wine for the sake of his stomach. Moreover, archaeological discoveries of the existence of alcoholic beverages in ancient times don't do anything for your case. We also know orgies existed. Can we conclude that they are therefore permissible for 21st century Christians?
ReplyDeleteThanks for commenting, Anonymous.
ReplyDeleteOf course the citation from I Tim is by no means the only possible reference on this point, one of the strongest being our Lord's miracle at the Wedding Feast, in which there can be no reasonable dispute that He changed plain water into wine. The Lord in fact kept the party(drinking)going where it otherwise would have come to an end.