Alcohol in the Bible
[2][3][4] Additionally, the inhabitants of ancient Israel drank beer and wines made from fruits other than grapes, and references to these appear in scripture.
[6][7][8] The low alcohol content was due to the limitations of fermentation and the nonexistence of distillation methods in the ancient world.
[9][6] Rabbinic teachers wrote acceptance criteria on consumability of ancient alcoholic beverages after significant dilution with water, and prohibited undiluted wine.
Bible verses would be interpreted in a way that encouraged abstinence, for example 1 Corinthians 10:21, which states, "You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too..." Historically, however, the main Christian interpretation[10] of biblical literature displays an ambivalence toward drinks that can be intoxicating, considering them both a blessing from God that brings joy and merriment and potentially dangerous beverages that can be sinfully abused.
The original versions of the books of the Bible use several different words for alcoholic beverages: at least 10 in Hebrew, and five in Greek.
Biblical literature uses several words in its original languages to refer to different types of alcoholic beverages.
[7] Common dilution ratios from the ancient world were compiled by Athenaus of Naucratis in Deipnosophistae (Banquet of the Learned; c. AD 228):[103] The many biblical references to wine are both positive and negative, real and symbolic, descriptive and didactic.
[104] Both archaeological evidence and written records indicate the significant cultivation of grapes in ancient Israel and the popularity of wine-drinking.
The production capacity apparent from archaeological remains and the frequent biblical references to wine suggest that it was the principal alcoholic beverage of the ancient Israelites.
One of the original sections of 1 Esdras describes a debate among three courtiers of Darius I of Persia over whether wine, the king, or women (but above all the truth) is the strongest.
[124] Jesus instituted the Eucharist at the Last Supper, which took place at a Passover celebration, and set apart the bread and "fruit of the vine"[96][125][126][127][128] that were present there as symbols of the New Covenant.
"[132] The commonness and centrality of wine in daily life in biblical times is apparent from its many positive and negative metaphorical uses throughout the Bible.
Negatively, wine is personified as a mocker ("[t]he most hardened apostate" in the Book of Proverbs whose chief sin is pride)[135] and beer a brawler (one who is "mocking, noisy, and restless").
Similarly, the winepress is pictured as a tool of judgement where the resulting wine symbolizes the blood of the wicked who were crushed.
Connected also to the cup of judgement is the wine of immorality, which the evil drink and which both brings and is part of the wrath of God.
Oil mixed with wine was a common remedy in the ancient world to cleanse wounds and assuage their pain.
[148] Abstentionists generally regard this passage as a positive example of abstention from wine and see Paul's instructions as exceptional and purely for the sake of health, while other interpreters suggest that Timothy was "upright in his aims" but here guilty of an "excess of severity"[2][149] or that he felt inappropriately bound by a Hellenistic custom that younger men should not drink.
The fact is pointed out that even in earlier stages of the English language, such as in 1611 when the King James Version was translated, "wine" could refer to non-alcoholic beverages as well as alcoholic ones.
Dr. Robert Teachout, a fundamental Baptist seminary professor, argued for this position in his 1979 doctoral dissertation The Use of "Wine" in the Old Testament.
