At this point I think I need to just summarize a little bit, and then answer a couple of questions which were posed to an earlier post.  First the summary.  We can see from the biblical evidence that what Dr. Mohler called the historic position on alcohol is clearly represented.  What is the historical position?  It is simply that alcohol is no where forbidden by Scripture, and in fact it is even spoken of positively, yet drunkenness is a sin, which most likely will beget many other sins, and thus drunkenness not alcohol itself is to be avoided at all costs.  Thus, alcohol fits into the category of adiaphora, because the Bible no where condemns it.

This summary brings about many questions that have yet to be answered?  Why is it that some Christians believe alcohol itself to be sinful?  Does this mean that all Christians should drink alcohol?  What should we do in the Church today with regard to the fact that some Christians believe alcohol to be a sin?  How should the Church respond to those who have been enslaved to alcohol?  Should Christians require total abstinence from alcohol in the ministry?  Should Christians submit to total abstinence in the local church or Christian school?  These are questions which I will be tackling in future posts.

Until then, let me see if I can answer a couple of questions that were asked by Jeff and Ardel.  Jeff asked about the alcohol content of the wine, which was drunk in the Bible.  It seems to me that from the texts I gave in the post on the goodness of wine and the post on flee from drunkenness that the biblical authors were able to distinguish between wine and non-fermented grape juice.  This is seen in the requirements for the Nazirite vow.  Also, it is clear from the biblical passages that even if the alcohol content of the wine of that time was lower than the content in contemporary wines that there was still alcohol in it, and when enough of it was consumed one would be drunk.  So the argument that the wine in biblical times was less alcoholic does not prove anything.  There was still alcohol in it. 

Ardel asked regarding the mixing of water with wine or wine with water.  That is, was wine mixed with water to dilute the alcohol content, and thus make it more like grape juice or what water mixed with wine to kill the bacteria, etc in polluted water.  Regarding this, I am not sure which is true.  Maybe both are true in that depending upon the region and the water source either one could work.  Either way to me this argument is like the previous one.  Regardless of the mixing the point is that there was still alcohol in it.  So because of this when Jesus drank wine at the last supper, he was drinking alcohol.  What was the proof?  We don’t know, but there was alcohol in it.  It may have been mixed but at least as I see it, that doesn’t matter.  This seems to me to be a distinction without a difference.  It is almost like those who drink Odoule’s out of a conviction that they should not drink beer, because of the alcohol.  No doubt you have known people who have signed lifestyle statements agreeing to never drink alcohol, yet they find it alright to consume and Odoule’s.  What is the difference between the Odoule’s and a light beer?  Only the amount of alcohol content.  Though the amount of alcohol in Odoule’s is minimal, there is still alcohol in it.  From what I understand it would still take a great deal of consumption to become intoxicated, but there is still alcohol in it.  But I digress!

Regarding mixing itself, the Bible does reveal an understanding of the differences between mixed and unmixed wine, for God’s wrath in Revelation 14:10 is described in terms of the full potency of wine. 

Well, we still have a great deal of ground to cover as I mentioned above.  Thanks to Jeff and Ardel with their great questions!  I will keep plugging away at this.  Next stop will be to talk about why there are different views regarding the consumption of alcohol and how do we live as Christians with this different views.  The first question will not be a historical account (e.g., We have the views today, because of the temperance movement.), rather I will look biblically at why we have differing views today.