Warnings against Drunkenness

Several New Testament passages specify the moral evil of becoming drunk: 

I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is . . . [a] drunkard. (1 Cor. 5:11) 

And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery. (Eph. 5:18)

In addition, Paul includes “drunkards” among those who will not “inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Cor. 6:10). Elsewhere he says that “drunkenness” is among those activities of which “those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Gal. 5:21; see also Luke 21:34; Rom. 13:13; 1 Pet. 4:3). In listing the qualifications for an elder in the church, Paul says that he must not be “a drunkard” (1 Tim. 3:3; also Titus 1:7), and a deacon must not be “addicted to much wine” (1 Tim. 3:8). 

Some Old Testament passages also warn against drunkenness. Two prominent stories show that people who get drunk lose good judgment and moral restraint, as happened with Noah, who shamefully “became drunk and lay uncovered in his tent” (Gen. 9:21), and with Lot, who twice became drunk and, without realizing what he was doing, committed incest with his daughters (Gen. 19:30–36).

The author of Proverbs counsels: 

Be not among drunkards
      or among gluttonous eaters of meat,
for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, 
      and slumber will clothe them with rags. (Prov. 23:20–21) 

A longer passage describes with vivid poetic imagery the consequences of drunkenness:

Who has woe? Who has sorrow? 
      Who has strife? Who has complaining? 
Who has wounds without cause? 
      Who has redness of eyes? 
Those who tarry long over wine; 
      those who go to try mixed wine. 
Do not look at wine when it is red, 
      when it sparkles in the cup 
and goes down smoothly. 
      In the end it bites like a serpent 
and stings like an adder. 
      Your eyes will see strange things, 
and your heart utter perverse things. 
      You will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea, 
like one who lies on the top of a mast. 
      “They struck me,” you will say, “but I was not hurt; 
they beat me, but I did not feel it. 
      When shall I awake? I must have another drink.” (Prov. 23:29–35)

But how should we define being drunk? Individual people vary widely in the amount of alcohol they are able to drink without becoming drunk, but some passages in Scripture emphasize the loss of good judgment and moral restraint (see Gen. 9:21; 19:30–36; Prov. 31:4–5) or being “led astray” by alcohol (Prov. 20:1). Paul says that being drunk “is debauchery” (Eph. 5:18; the Greek word, asōtia, refers to “reckless abandon, debauchery, dissipation, profligacy,” and the related adjective is used in Luke 15:13 of the prodigal son who “squandered his property in reckless living”). 

Therefore, a definition of drunkenness would specify that a person is drunk when he or she: 

  • has lost good judgment; 
  • is not thinking clearly; 
  • has lost some moral restraint; 
  • acts in a way that brings reproach on the person’s own reputation or the reputation of the gospel; or 
  • has lost good physical coordination (as in the inability to drive a car safely).

Warnings about the Dangers of Alcohol

1. Scripture warns against being deceived by alcoholic beverages.

The book of Proverbs frequently cautions about the deceptive nature of alcohol: 

Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, 
      and whoever is led astray by it is not wise. (Prov. 20:1) 

Whoever loves pleasure will be a poor man; 
      he who loves wine and oil will not be rich. (Prov. 21:17) 

Governmental leaders have a special responsibility in this regard. They must be particularly careful of clouding their judgment through the use of alcohol, and thereby making wrong decisions: 

It is not for kings, O Lemuel, 
      it is not for kings to drink wine, 
      or for rulers to take strong drink, 
lest they drink and forget what has been decreed 
      and pervert the rights of all the afflicted. (Prov. 31:4–5; see also Eccl. 10:17; Jer. 13:13) 

Under the Mosaic covenant, certain groups of people were actually prohibited from all use of wine or “strong drink,” such as Aaron and his sons, who were priests (Lev. 10:8–9), and people who took a Nazirite vow (Num. 6:1–4; see also Luke 1:15 regarding John the Baptist).

2. Scripture also warns against making another person “stumble.”

An important passage on this topic is 1 Corinthians 8:1–13. Though it does not specifically discuss alcoholic beverages, but rather food offered to idols, there are still some helpful principles in the passage that we can apply to the question of alcoholic beverages. 

The city of Corinth was full of temples to various Greek and Roman gods, which Paul identified as “idols” (1 Cor. 8:1). Many of the Corinthian Christians had previously participated in the worship of these idols in their various temples (see 1 Cor. 12:2). But then the question arose whether it was right to eat food that had previously been offered to idols and then was sold in the meat market at Corinth. 

Paul responded to this question with these instructions: 

Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience. For “the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof.” (1 Cor. 10:25–26) 

In other words, the Corinthians were free to eat such meat without worrying that it had been tainted by its previous dedication to an idol in a temple. (However, Paul specified that they should refrain if an unbeliever explicitly stated that it had been offered to an idol, for then it would appear as though the Christians were agreeing with the offering of such food to idols and the spiritual efficacy connected with it; see 1 Cor. 10:28–29.) 

Yet there was another complicating factor: though the Corinthians were ordinarily free to eat such food, realizing there was no spiritual harm connected with it, not all the Christians in Corinth shared this conviction or understood this principle. For them, it was morally wrong to eat food offered to idols, and thus it violated the conviction of their consciences. 

Therefore, Paul warned the Corinthian Christians to be careful in how they used their freedom to eat such food that had been offered to idols. In itself, the practice was harmless, but if it set an example that led other Christians to act contrary to the convictions of their consciences, then it was wrong. Therefore, Paul said, “Take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak” (1 Cor. 8:9). Then he explained:

For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols? And so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. (1 Cor. 8:10–11)

The sin involved here is encouraging a Christian to sin against his conscience by eating food offered to idols, even though he believes it is wrong to do so (see also 1 Cor. 8:7).1

Not everything that is morally right in itself is wise or helpful in every situation.

Paul’s conclusion was that he would be very careful not to publicly eat food offered to idols in a place or a time that would encourage Christians to do so even though they themselves believed it was wrong: 

Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble. (1 Cor. 8:13)2

We can apply this teaching to the question of alcoholic beverages. Christian believers who have no moral objection to drinking alcoholic beverages should still be careful that they not drink them in a way that might encourage younger Christians (or others who think drinking alcoholic beverages is wrong) to drink also and thereby to violate their consciences. This would be to cause them to “stumble” in the way Paul means in 1 Corinthians 8:13. 

But it is also important to keep in mind that the verse does not say, “If food makes another person become upset with me or irritated with me . . .” It is talking only about the question of encouraging people who think that eating meat offered to idols is wrong to eat it anyway and thereby to violate their consciences. The verse does not mean that a person has to refrain from all use of alcohol when in the company of others who disagree about this question. 

Romans 14 contains a similar teaching about observing special days or refraining from eating certain foods, such as meat. But here Paul adds that Christians should not judge one another on questions of food: 

As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. . . . Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. (1 Cor. 8:1–4, 13) 

Taken together, the passages in 1 Corinthians 8and Romans 14 encourage Christians to allow freedom for individual convictions on this matter and to be content to let each person individually be accountable before God for how he or she answers this question.

Other Passages in Scripture View Alcoholic Beverages More Positively

We should recognize that the warnings against drunkenness in Scripture (see passages above) reveal a tacit assumption that there is a right use of alcohol that does not lead to drunkenness. If it had been God’s intention to prohibit all use of alcoholic beverages in all circumstances, the Bible would explicitly prohibit it rather than prohibiting only drunkenness. 

In contrast to the Bible’s repeated and strong prohibitions against drunkenness and the frequent warnings about the dangers of alcoholic beverages, a number of other biblical passages see these beverages as part of God’s good creation, for which people should give thanks:

You cause the grass to grow for the livestock 
      and plants for man to cultivate, 
that he may bring forth food from the earth 
      and wine to gladden the heart of man, 
oil to make his face shine 
      and bread to strengthen man’s heart. (Ps. 104:14–15)

This psalm says that one of the reasons God causes “plants for man to cultivate” on the earth is so that people may bring forth “wine to gladden the heart of man” as one of the good products of the earth, similar to oil and bread. A related verse is found in Ecclesiastes: “Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do” (Eccl. 9:7). 

Proverbs says: 

Honor the Lord with your wealth 
      and with the firstfruits of all your produce; 
then your barns will be filled with plenty, 
      and your vats will be bursting with wine. (Prov. 3:9–10)

These “vats” may have contained unfermented grape juice for the first day or two, but in the climate of the Middle East, without modern refrigeration, it quickly turned to wine. 

Sometimes wine is seen as part of a joyful celebration in the presence of God, as when Melchizedek “brought out bread and wine” and blessed Abraham after his victory over the kings who had captured Lot (Gen. 14:18–20), or when the people of Israel were to “eat the tithe of your grain, of your wine and of your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and flock” in the presence of the Lord at a place he had commanded (see Deut. 14:22–26). In the New Testament, Jesus celebrated the Passover with the use of a cup of wine (see Matt. 26:27–29), and John’s Gospel records that Jesus’s first miracle was turning water to wine in six large jars, each holding “twenty or thirty gallons” and filled with water “up to the brim” (John 2:6–7). This wine was so good that the master of the feast thought the bridegroom had saved “the good wine” until the end (John 2:10). The point is that Jesus “manifested his glory” by miraculously creating excellent wine at a wedding feast (John 2:11). 

When Paul names some things about which Christians should “not pass judgment on one another” (Rom. 14:13), he explicitly names wine: 

Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble. (Rom. 14:20–21) 

Paul elsewhere says that one of the “teachings of demons” is to “forbid marriage” and also to “require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving” (1 Tim. 4:1–3). Though he does not specify wine in this passage, the principle still applies, and Paul’s reasoning in the following passages is relevant to the question of wine as well as food: 

For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer. (1 Tim. 4:4–5; see also Col. 2:20–23)

In one passage Paul explicitly tells Timothy to drink wine, and implies that there is some health benefit from it: 

No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments. (1 Tim. 5:23) 

According to the Mayo Clinic, red wine seems to have heart-healthy benefits, because it contains antioxidants, such as flavonoids or a substance called resveratrol, which are good for the heart. Resveratrol helps prevent damage to blood vessels, reduces bad cholesterol (LDL), and prevents blood clots. Other antioxidants in red wine called polyphenols may also protect the lining of blood vessels in the heart. However, the Mayo Clinic says that additional research needs to be done to verify these benefits.3 John Hopkins University has found that red wine also helps protect against strokes.4

But Paul’s words of caution about not causing others to stumble by what we do are a reminder that not everything that is morally right in itself is wise or helpful in every situation. Paul also says, “‘All things are lawful,’ but not all things are helpful” (1 Cor. 10:23).

Notes:

  1. See a longer discussion of this question in Andrew David Naselli and J. D. Crowley, Conscience: What It Is, How to Train It, and Loving Those Who Differ(Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2016), 109–10.
  2. The word translated as “makes . . . stumble” (Greek, skandalizō, “to cause to sin, cause to stumble”) is elsewhere translated as “cause to sin” (see Matt. 5:29, 30; 18:6, 8, 9).
  3. “Red Wine and Resveratrol: Good for Your Heart?” The Mayo Clinic, November 12, 2016, http://www .mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/heart-disease/in-depth/red-wine/art-20048281.
  4. “How Red Wine May Shield Brain from Stroke Damage,” John Hopkins Medicine, April 21, 2010, http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/How_Red_Wine_May_Shield_Brain_From_Stroke _Damage.

This article is adapted from Christian Ethics: Living a Life That Is Pleasing to God by Wayne Grudem.

Wayne Grudem

Wayne Grudem (PhD, University of Cambridge) is Distinguished