Kenneth Gentry has played a tremendous role in shaping my thinking on matters of eschatology and ethics. What follows is a summary article based on his book entitled: God Gave Wine, a book thoroughly analyzing the Biblical issues in the drinking question. It defends the practice of moderation in alcohol consumption.This article’s purpose is to review the three major positions on the issue and acquaint the reader with the topic and the debate. As I’ve said before, “you can’t know, unless you understand.” By God’s grace the church will no longer make the same mistakes made by the revivalist in the early part of the 20th century. I’d like to hear your thoughts.
Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr., Th.D.
December 8, 2004
Few issues have generated more heated debate among Christians than that of the morality of alcohol consumption. The dispute has generated responses ranging from local educational temperance movements to federal amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
Certainly there is evidence of widespread abuse of alcoholic beverages today; this few would deny. Furthermore, the Bible clearly condemns all forms of alcohol abuse, by binding precept and by notorious example. Yet the ethical issue before us is, Does the Bible allow for a righteous consumption of the beverage alcohol? The fundamental question is ethical, not cultural or demographical; it requires an answer from a Biblical, not an emotional, base.
Three Viewpoints
Among evangelicals, the fundamental approaches to alcohol use may be distilled (no pun intended) into three basic viewpoints. (1) The prohibitionist viewpoint universally decries all consumption of the beverage alcohol. Adherents to this position do not find any Scriptural warrant for alcohol consumption, even in Biblical times. (2) The abstentionist perspective discourages alcohol use in our modern context, though acknowledging its use in Biblical days. They point to modern cultural differences as justification for the distinction: widespread alcoholism (a contemporary social problem), higher potency distilled beverages (unknown in Biblical times), and intensified dangers in a technological society (e.g., speeding cars). (3) The moderationist position allows for the righteous consumption of alcoholic beverages. This position, while acknowledging, deploring, and condemning all forms of alcohol abuse and dependency, argues that Scripture allows the partaking of alcoholic beverages in moderation and with circumspection.
The Importance of the Question
Often, non-moderationist argumentation inadvertently and negatively affects certain aspects of the Christian faith. It can undercut the authority of Scripture (in that any universal condemnation of what Scripture allows diminishes the authority of Scripture in Christian thought). It may distort the doctrine of Christ (in that any universal censure of something Jesus did detracts from His holiness). It adversely affects our apologetic (in that any denunciation of that which Scripture allows sets forth an inconsistent Biblical witness).
My approach to the issue before us involves three presuppositions: (1) the Bible is the inerrant Word of God; (2) therefore, the Bible is the determinative and binding standard for all ethical inquiry; and (3) the Bible condemns all forms of alcohol abuse and dependence. The moderationist viewpoint in no way compromises any of these three fundamental commitments. Continue reading “Does Scripture Permit Us to Drink Alcoholic Beverages?”