Does the Bible Teach Abstinence?

Does the Bible teach "no wine," or just "not too much wine"?

Christian churches bear considerable responsibility for the alcohol epidemic raging in America today. A majority of the 100 million drinkers in America are churchgoers who have been taught that the Bible sanctions a moderate use of alcoholic beverages.

Since the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, most evangelical churches have gradually abandoned their stand for total abstinence, adopting instead the position that the Bible forbids only drunkenness, not moderate drinking.

An Apparent Contradiction

On the one hand, the Bible unreservedly disapproves of the use of wine (Lev 10:8-11; Judg 13:3,4; Prov 31:4,5; 23:31; 20:1; Hab 2:5; Eph 5:18; 1 Tim 3:2-3), while on the other hand it wholeheartedly approves of its use as a divine blessing for people to enjoy (Gen 27:28; 49:10-12; Ps 104:14,15; Is 55:1; Amos 9:13; John 2:10,11). Are these passages speaking of the same thing?

If they are, do the disapproving passages refer only to drinking to excess? Irrespective of the amount used, the Bible denounces wine as "treacherous" (Hab 2:5) and as "a mocker" (Prov 20:1) that "bites like a serpent and stings like an adder" (Prov 23:32). To avoid the shame and suffering caused by drinking fermented wine, Scripture admonishes not moderation but total abstinence: "Do not look at wine" (Prov 23:31). The reason for this absolute prohibition is no doubt the fact that gazing at something attractive is the first step toward partaking of it.

The Meaning of "Wine"

The apparent contradiction between the Biblical approval and disapproval of wine stems from the assumption that the Hebrew and Greek words for wine (yayin and oinos) always mean "fermented wine."

I investigated the Biblical and historical usage of the term "wine," beginning from the English wine, proceeding backward through the Latin vinum, the Greek oinos and finally to the Hebrew yayin. The result was abundantly clear: these four related words have been used historically to refer to the juice of the grape, whether fermented or unfermented.1

The Hebrew term for "wine" (yayin) was also used to refer to either fermented or unfermented wine. The context of several passages clearly indicates that the word designates unfermented grape juice (Jer 40:10, 12; Neh 13:15; Lam 2:12; Gen 49:11).4 For example, Isaiah 16:10 pronounces God's judgments upon Moab, manifested through the removal of the divine blessing from the vineyard: "In the vineyard no songs are sung, no shouts are raised; no treader treads out wine [yayin] in the presses; the vintage shout is hushed." The "wine" (yayin) the treaders tread out in the pressing vat is obviously unfermented grape juice, since fermentation is a time-controlled process. These texts show that the unfermented yayin does not come under condemnation like the fermented yayin.

Biblical Approval and Disapproval of "Wine"

Unfermented Wine

In several instances the context indicates that the positive references to wine have to do with unfermented and unintoxicating grape juice. Because of its natural and nourishing properties, grape juice was fittingly used to represent the divine blessing of material prosperity (Gen 27:28; 49:10-11; Deut 33:28), the blessing of the messianic age (Joel 2:18-19; Jer 31:10-12; Amos 9:13-14), the free offer of God's saving grace (Is 55:1), the wholesome joy God offers to His people (Ps 104:14-15; 4:7), and the acknowledgement of God through the use of grape juice as tithe, offerings and libations (Num 18:12; Deut 14:23; Ex 29:40; Lev 23:13).

Fermented Wine

The negative references to wine have to do with fermented and intoxicating wine, which Scripture uses to represent immorality, apostasy and divine wrath (Is 19:14; Rev 14:10; 16:19; 17:2; 18:3). Some texts condemn the use of wine outright (Prov 20:1; 23:29-35; Hab 2:5; Eph 5:18). Other texts (such as Is 28:7; Lev 10:9-11; Hab 2:15; Prov 23:20-21; 31:5) explain the physical and moral consequences of the use of alcoholic beverages.5

Proverbs 31:4-5 makes a value judgment on alcoholic wine itself, rather than on the quantity drunk: "It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine [yayin] or for rulers to desire strong drink; lest they drink and forget what has been decreed, and pervert the rights of all the afflicted." The text does not say, "it is not for kings to drink much wine." Rather it says, "It is not for kings to drink wine." What is here prohibited, as elsewhere in Scripture, is not the abuse but the actual use of alcoholic beverages.

Priests were commanded to abstain from alcoholic beverages in order to preserve sanctuary holiness. This implies that alcohol is seen in Scripture as profane and unholy. The reason may be found both in the intrinsic nature of alcohol, that is, in its power to intoxicate (Prov 23:29-30; 20:1; Hab 2:5) and in its effects, that is, in its capacity to impair one's ability to discern between the holy and the profane, and between right and wrong (Lev 10:9-11; Eze 44:21, 23).

Wine in the New Testament

The example and teaching of Jesus, coupled with the model of Christian beliefs and practices left for us by the apostolic church, are fundamental in helping us determine whether we as Christians today should take our stand on the side of moderation or on the side of abstinence.

Jesus and Wine

Did Christ make fermented wine at the Cana wedding? Did He commend the moderate use of alcoholic wine when He stated that "new wine must be put into fresh wineskins"? Was He a glutton and a drunkard when He spoke of His "eating and drinking"? Did He drink alcoholic wine at the Last Supper?

Cana Wedding (John 2:1-10)

Many Christians believe that the "good wine" Jesus made at Cana was "good" because of its high alcoholic content. This belief rests on three main assumptions:

that the Jews did not know how to prevent the fermentation of grape juice,

that when the master of the wedding banquet described the wine Jesus provided as "the best" (John 2:10, NIV), he meant a high-quality alcoholic wine,

that the expression "well drunk" used by the master of the banquet indicates that the guests were intoxicated because they had been drinking fermented wine.

Assumptions Tested

These assumptions are not valid. Briefly, here is why:

Numerous testimonies from the Roman world of New Testament times describe various methods of preserving grape juice. The preservation of grape juice unfermented was in some ways a simpler process than the preservation of fermented wine. Such a beverage could have been kept unfermented until the wedding six months after the grape harvest.

As for the best wine being alcoholic, in the Roman world of New Testament times the best wines were those whose alcoholic potency had been removed by boiling or filtration. Plutarch, for example, points out that wine is "much more pleasant to drink" when it "neither inflames the brain nor infests the mind or passions" because its strength has been removed through frequent filtering.6

Were the guests intoxicated? The Greek verb methusko, translated by some as "well drunk," can also mean "to drink freely," as rendered by the RSV, without any implication of intoxication. It refers simply to the large quantity of wine generally consumed at a feast, whether it was alcoholic or not.

New Wine, New Wineskins (Luke 5:37-38; Matt 9:17; Mark 2:22)

Christ's statement that "new wine must be put into fresh wineskins" is seen by moderationists as an indication that Jesus commended the moderate use of alcoholic wine.

The imagery of new wine in new wineskins is an object lesson in regeneration. As fittingly explained by Ernest Gordon, "The old wineskins, with their alcoholic lees, represented the Pharisees' corrupt nature. The new wine of the Gospel could be put into them and they would ferment it. By comparing intoxicating wine with degenerate Pharisaism, Christ clearly intimated what his opinion of intoxicating wine was.... [Christ] identifies wine altogether with unfermented wine. Fermented wine is given no recognition. It could be put into any kind of wineskin, however sorry and corrupt. But new wine is like new cloth which is too good to be used in patching rags. It is a thing clean and wholesome, demanding a clean container. The natural way in which this illustration is used suggests at least a general, matter-of-fact understanding among his Jewish hearers that the real fruit of the vine, the good wine, was unfermented."7

Eating and Drinking (Luke 7:33-34; Matt 11:19)

The phrase "eating and drinking" is used idiomatically to describe the difference between the social lifestyle of Jesus and that of John the Baptist. John came "eating no bread and drinking no wine," that is to say, he lived a lifestyle of full social isolation, while Christ came "eating and drinking," that is, living a lifestyle of free social association.

Jesus did not mention "wine" in describing His own lifestyle. If Jesus had wanted to make it clear that, contrary to John the Baptist, He was a wine-drinker, He could have repeated the word wine, for emphasis and clarity, in describing His own practice.

Jesus quotes His critics describing Him as "a drunkard and a glutton." To conclude that Jesus must have drunk wine because His critics accused Him of being a drunkard means to accept as truth the word of His enemies. Critics also accused Jesus, saying, "You have a demon" (John 7:20; 8:48). If we believe that Christ must have drunk alcoholic wine because His critics accused Him of being a drunkard, then we must also believe that He had an evil spirit because His critics accused Him of having a demon. The absurdity of such reasoning shows that using critics' accusations is not a safe ground for defining biblical teachings. The results of Jesus' life of self-denial speak for themselves.

Communion Wine (Matt 26:27-29; Mark 14:24-25; Luke 22:18)

In the first three gospels Jesus calls the contents of the cup "the fruit of the vine." The noun "fruit" (gennema) denotes that which is produced in a natural state, just as it is gathered. Fermented wine is not the natural "fruit of the vine" but the unnatural fruit of fermentation and decay.

A typical Passover cup of wine contained not just a sip of wine, but about three-quarters of a pint.8 Christ could hardly have commanded "all" of His followers to drink the cup if its contents were alcoholic wine. Young children who participate at the Lord's table should certainly not touch wine. There are those to whom the simple taste or smell of alcohol awakens in them a dormant or conquered craving for alcohol. Could Christ, who taught us to pray, "Lead us not into temptation," have made His memorial table a place of severe temptation for some and of danger for all?

The Mosaic law required the exclusion of all fermented articles during the Passover feast (Ex 12:15; 13:6-7). Jesus warned against "the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees" (Matt 16:6). "Leaven" for Christ represented corrupt nature and teachings.

The Apostolic Church and Wine

Outside the four gospels, the New Testament contains thirteen specific references to "wine," eight of which occur in the book of Revelation, where the term is used mostly symbolically to represent either human depravity or divine retribution. The New Testament also admonishes Christians to be "sober" or "temperate" more than twenty times, many of which refer directly to drinking alcohol.

"Filled with New Wine" (Acts 2:13)

At Pentecost, thousands believed in Christ, but others accused the apostles of being drunk, saying: "They are filled with new wine." Those accusing them of being drunk did not use the word oinos, "wine." Instead, they used gleukos, the word which unmistakably means unfermented grape juice.

The accusation takes on an ironic tone when we understand the words used. The mockers of the apostles were saying, "These men, too abstemious to touch anything fermented, have made themselves drunk on grape juice!" Or as Ernest Gordon puts it in modern speech, "These drys are drunk on soft drink."9 Here is an indirect but important proof that the disciples and, by inference, their Teacher, abstained from alcoholic beverages.

"Do not get drunk with wine" (Eph 5:18)

Notice how Paul contrasts two commands: "Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit." The statements point to a basic incompatibility between the two, both in nature and operation. This mutual incompatibility precludes a moderate use of intoxicating wine. When the phrase "for that is debauchery" is translated literally from the Greek text, it becomes even stronger: "Do not get drunk with wine, in which is debauchery" (italics supplied). It is not merely becoming drunk that constitutes debauchery, but debauchery is found within wine itself.

"Use a little wine" (1 Tim 5:23)

Many have used this text to justify drinking alcoholic beverages: "No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments." Here Paul was speaking with paternal concern for Timothy, his "beloved son in the gospel." His words, "Use a little wine," sound more like a doctor prescribing the dosage of a medication to a patient than a general principle for all people.

The prudent caution is most significant. Paul does not say, "No longer drink water," but rather, "No longer drink only water." He says, "Use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments" rather than "Drink wine for the physical pleasure of your appetite."

It is generally assumed that the wine Paul recommended to Timothy was alcoholic. But this is by no means certain, for two reasons. First, the term oinos, "wine," was used generically to denote either fermented or unfermented wine. Second, there are historical testimonies attesting the use of unfermented wine for medical purposes. Athenaeus (A.D. 200) specifically counseled the use of unfermented "sweet wine" for stomach disorders. He wrote: "Let him take sweet wine [glukus], either mixed with water or warmed, especially that kind called protropos,... as being good for the stomach; for sweet wine [glukazon d'oinos] does not make the head heavy" [Athenaeus, Banquet II 45 e]. Here we have advice that sounds strikingly similar to that of Paul, with the difference that Athenaeus qualifies the kind of wine recommended, namely, the sweet wine, which did not have the effect of alcoholic wine.

"Be sober" (1 Pet 4:7)

Three times in his first letter Peter expresses the admonition to physical abstinence (1 Pet 1:13; 4:7; 5:8), which is the basic meaning of the word translated "be sober" (nepho). His exhortation to abstinence occurs in the context of readiness for the soon return of Christ. Like Paul, Peter grounds his call to a life of abstinence and holiness in the certainty and nearness of Christ's return.

In 1 Peter 4:7 Peter exhorts Christians to keep mentally vigilant and physically abstinent: "The end of all things is at hand; therefore keep sane (sophronesate) and sober (nepsate) for your prayers." The meaning of "sober" as abstinence from wine is suggested also by the context, where Peter contrasts the past lifestyle of "licentiousness, passions, drunkenness, revels, carousing, and lawless idolatry" (1 Pet 4:3) with the new lifestyle of temperance and abstinence. The passage may be paraphrased as follows: "The end of all things is at hand; therefore be sober in mind and abstemious in life in order that you may maintain a healthy devotional life at this critical time."

Healthful and holy living is commended in Scripture not merely for the sake of personal health and goodness, but primarily for the sake of God's desire to dwell within us in this present life (1 Cor 3:16-17; 6:13) and to fellowship with us in the life to come.

Prepared for Christ's Coming