Does the Bible state that drinking alcohol is a sin against God in terms that are either figuratively or literally?

Answer

According to what I know of the Christian Bible, drunkenness, or over-indulgence, is a sin, but simply drinking alcohol is not.

In fact, Jesus' first miracle was to change water into wine at a wedding. And I believe he drank wine at the "Last Supper."

What I can recall off the top of my head all concerns wine.

There are references to "the fruit of the vine" in the Bible which I take to mean grapes (and maybe hops?). I don't know if distilled liquor was produced back in biblical times, but that would clearly not come from "the vine."

Drinking small quantities of wine is part of the sacrament, or Communion, which is a common practice of the Catholic church and many Protestant churches. I am Lutheran and when we participate in Holy Communion, we receive wine and wafers.

Many churches have switched to grape juice instead of wine, or offer both. Mainly because they are sensitive to the needs of recovering alcoholics or people (like me)who abstain for other reasons. Some churches also allow young children to participate in Communion.

And it may be that certain religions prohibit consumption of alcohol at specific times, or even as a general rule.

But according to the Christian Bible drinking is not considered a sin.

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There's no way the Bible would have said that

In Biblical times, everyone drank wine all the time. You can't get dysentery from drinking wine, and you could from drinking the water that was available.

Also note that at the Wedding Feast of Cana, Jesus turned about 300 gallons of that bad water into, according to reports in the Bible, very good wine.

So, according to the Bible, it's okay to drink wine but it's not okay to get drunk and act all stupid.

There are two reasons a church wouldn't let its parishioners drink:

1) When some people drink, they get all stupid--drinking up the rent money, beating their wives, driving drunk, getting thrown in jail, things like that. It's easier to not let your flock drink, so they tell them drinking is a sin.

2) It's a test. Drinking is fun. Okay, getting drunk and falling down a fifteen-foot sandstone cliff (this happened to a guy I knew--yes, he did get cut up while sliding down it) is not fun, but having a few drinks is fun, which is why people do it. The idea here is that you can prove your love for God by foregoing fun things...like drinking.

But no, just having a couple beers on Friday night if you can afford to have them, and if you won't hurt anyone especially yourself by drinking, is not a sin according to the Bible.

First answer by Tina. Last edit by Jmowreader. Contributor trust: 190 [recommend contributor]. Question popularity: 33 [recommend question]