Alcohol
Nov 21, 2007 Uncategorized
.:mood:. Moderate
.:itunes:. The Road Not Taken by Bruce Hornsby & The Range
Thanks to Michael for linking to the best paper on alcohol I have ever read: you can read it here.
The author examines specifically everything the bible has to say about the topic and asks whether drinking alcohol is a “scriptural” or “cultural” sin. Here’s the breakdown of verses he examined:
| Category | Wine | Strong Drink |
|---|---|---|
| Use accepted as normal part of culture | 58 | 1 |
| Symbolic (The wine of his wrath, etc.) | 32 | 1 |
| Wine called a blessing from God | 27 | 0 |
| Use in offerings and sacrifices | 24 | 1 |
| Loss of wine an example of a curse from God | 19 | 1 |
| Examples of abuse of alcohol | 16 | 3 |
| Vows of abstinence | 15 | 6 |
| Warnings against abuse | 13 | 4 |
| Gifts between people | 9 | 0 |
| Comparisons (x is better than wine) | 5 | 0 |
| False accusations of drunkenness | 3 | 1 |
| Rules for selecting deacons | 3 | 0 |
| Miscellaneous | 3 | 1 |
| Abstinence in deference to weak consciences | 1 | 0 |
| Total | 228 | 19 |
November 23rd, 2007 at 11:53 am
excellent article. I’ve made all those points talking with different people, but he does a great job of putting them all together in one place.