Is drinking alcohol a sin?

(The Christian Life)

From a cold beer after a long day to a toast of wine at a fancy party: Alcohol can make life a lot more relaxing and fun for many humans all around the world, but at the same time alcohol causes much sorrow, addictions, and destruction: becoming drunk from too much, suffering from the hangover afterwards, alcoholism destroying lives and families, and not only that but it can destroy a drinker's organs and kill them! Considering all this, it’s no wonder why so many Christians question wherever drinking alcohol is a sin! And because of its pleasure and toxic affect, it rightfully should be questioned!

But there is much confusion about the answer to this question in the Church (depending on the specific denomination):

Some Churches (mainly Catholic & Orthodox) say only being drunk is the sin but drinking alcohol in moderation is not, but other churches (mainly Protestant & Mormon) Says drinking any alcohol is a sin!

So, we are left with confusion: So, is drinking a sin or not? Who are we going to believe?

As with all things, we should see what the Bible says about drinking alcohol: when we want to answer matters about right or wrong (especially if you're Christian) we should always go to the Bible to seek out what God says about the subject : NEVER just believe the opinion of anyone else even if they are your pastor, Church, or even family member or friend(s) we only need one source to prove something is absolutely a sin or not and that is The Bible!

So, with this in mind, let’s put away what we might think is right or wrong and listen only to the Bible. So what does the bible say about alcohol? What are God’s thoughts on alcohol? Let’s see!

Being Drunk:

It is definitely a sin

Isaiah 5:11

“Woe to those who…follow intoxicating drink;…!”

Though the Bible does not openly say that being drunk is a sin (like murder and adultery), We can tell for sure by looking at how the bible treats drunkenness: The Bible portrays being drunk in a negative light in all references to it:

Job 12:25

“They grope in darkness…;he makes them stagger like drunkards.”

Ecclesiastes 10:17

“Blessed is the land whose king is of noble birth and whose princes eat at a proper time—for strength and not for drunkenness.”

Deuteronomy 21:20

“They will say to the elders, ‘This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey us. He is a glutton and a drunkard.' ”

Proverbs 23:21

“for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags.”

Isaiah 5:11

“Woe to those who rise early in the morning, that they may follow intoxicating drink; who continue until night, until wine inflames them!”

Revelation 17:2

“With her…the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries.”

So being drunk is something not good, and its strongly hinted as a sin with all these negative verses about it. But the New Testament finally directly confirms this is a sin, when Paul openly defines drunkards as sinners who will go to hell (defined here as not inheriting the kingdom of God)!

1 Corinthians 6:9-10

“...do you not know that wrongdoers (sinners!) will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral (people who commit adultery: which is clearly defined by God as a sin)…nor drunkards…will inherit the kingdom of God.”

So being drunk is definitely defined as a sin in the Bible! So, the Christians who think drinking too much alcohol is a sin (mainly The Catholic and Orthodox denominations) are right in this belief: The Bible clearly says drinking too much alcohol until your drunk is a sin.

So, we know being drunk is a sin but here’s what is not quite clear: is it still a sin to drink any alcohol at all? even in moderation so you will not get drunk Or is drinking any drink with alcohol in it a sin?

This is where the problem and confusion arises; but what does the Bible have to say about drinking any alcohol? Let’s see what the whole Bible has to say about drinking alcohol to find the answer:

Wine in the bible:

It’s everywhere!

Wine (an alcoholic beverage) is mentioned a lot in the bible; almost every book in the bible mentions wine. So, if we are to know if alcohol is a sin or not, we better pay attention to what it says about wine! Well, the bibles speaks of wine in both a positive way and in a negative way: One passage talks about wine being a “mocker”

Proverbs 20:1

“Wine is a mocker…”

and the other talks about wine as being “Pleasing”

Song of Songs 4:10

“...pleasing…wine,…”

So which is it, Both? Well though wine is referred to being good and bad let’s take a notice that alot of people drunk this wine! As we look throughout the Bible, we see many people of God drunk wine: The first mention being Noah himself who planted the first known vineyard (Grape Garden):

Genesis 15:20-21

“...Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded to plant a vineyard….[and]…he drank some of its wine…”

Isaac: the holy chosen promised son of Abraham, drunk wine:

Genesis 27:25

“Jacob brought it (a meal) to him (Isaac) and he ate; and he brought some wine and he drunk it.”

King David seems to have drunken wine; hinted in a positive statement he makes about drinking wine:

Psalm 104:15

“wine that gladdens human[s]…”

His son King Solomon (though at many times he was very sinful) was also very wise and drunk wine.

Ecclesiastes 2:3

“I...cheer[ed]...myself with wine,…”

Even Jesus himself strongly hinted that he drunk wine:

Mark 14:23

“Truly I tell you, I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine (that is grape juice: the juice wine is made from!) until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

All his disciples drunk wine as well, as Jesus gives them wine to drink from his cup (he encouraged them to drink wine):

Mark 14:23

“Then he took a cup [of wine], and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them (his disciples), and they all drank from it.”

The Apostle Timothy most likely drunk wine (because he was ordered by the Apostle Paul to drink some wine instead of just water):

1 Timothy 5:23

“...Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine…”

Wine was not only druken by men of God but also by pretty much everyone in the Middle East and beyond pretty much everyday: even little children drunk wine as this one passage tells of children begging their moms for bread and wine during a famine:

Lamentations 2:12

“...They (Children) say to their mothers, ‘Where is bread and wine?’ ”

So, through theses verses, we find it was common for not only Middle Eastern people to drink wine but also many of God’s people who followed his commands and had a close relationship with him drunk wine as well.

Now if drinking any alcohol at all was truly a sin, then with all these people following God drinking wine you would think God would say something to them about not drinking anymore wine. But he does not really say anything about this to Noah, Isaac, David, Solomon, the disciples of Jesus, or Timothy (and he especially says nothing about it to his sinless dear son Jesus!).

In fact, God speaks very positively about wine, often telling his people he will bless them (or has blessed then) with wine:

Joel 2:19

“I am sending you…new wine…enough to satisfy you fully;…”

Hosea 2:8

“...I was the one who gave her (Isreal)…the new wine…”

and

Amos 9:14

“...I will bring my people Israel back from exile. They will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them. They will plant vineyards (grape gardens) and drink their wine;…”

So, if God had given wine for his people to drink then he wanted them to have it and therefore he has no problem with humans drinking it and shows he even wants humans to enjoy the wine he gives them: therefore, all these verses prove that drinking alcohol alone is not necessarily sinful!

Another problem to consider:

Wine or Grape Juice?

Why this short study of Wine mentioned in the Bible should had concluded that drinking alcoholic beverages is not necessarily sinful, there are some who would say that the word ‘wine’ in the Bible is misleading:

Though the translation may say ‘wine’, the original word is not actually referring to what we would call ‘wine’ today (which is fermented/alcoholic grape juice) but is really referring to just grape juice.

So, what many Christians of the Protestant and Mormon denominations would argue is this word wine cannot be used to prove drinking alcoholic beverages is okay and not always a sin, because this ‘wine’ is Really not an alcoholic beverage but is referring to grape juice and should be actually translated to grape juice.

all the mentions of ‘wine’ in the passages above would be useless to prove wherever alcoholic drinks are a sin or not:

So does the Bible mention any actually alcoholic drinks?

According to these Christians, actual alcoholic beverages are mentioned in the Bible but they are always mentioned in the negative light: proving they are always sinful to drink!

So, if all this is true then this would prove that drinking any alcohol would be a sin after all! But is this really what the original words for ‘wine’ is referring to? Did the men of God/Jesus himself drink grape Juice and stayed away/condemned wine/other alcoholic beverages?

Let’s look at the original word for ‘wine’ to find out for sure!

The English word “Wine” was actually used translated two major words used to describe one main drink in the Hebrew and Greek languages.

Is this one type of drink actually grape juice instead of wine? And Could the negative referring wine actually be what we would consider wine or other alchoholic drinks and the positive referring wine actually be grape juice? let’s see!

The main word translated as ‘wine’ is the Hebrew word: “יַיִן” (pronounced Yah-Yin)

This was the original and main Hebrew word translated as wine in the Old Testament, and this word was used throughout Old Testament before Babylonian captivity: It is used from Genesis to Chronicles to describe wine [1].

‘Yahyin’ is the same drink men of God drunk:

Genesis 9:20-21

“Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded to plant a vineyard…[and]…he drank some of its wine(originally the word Yahyin: so whatever this drink is, its made with grape juice),…”

Genesis 27:25

“Jacob brought it (a meal) to him (Isaac) and he ate; and he brought some wine(Yahyin) and he drunk it.”

Psalm 104:15

“wine(Yahyin) that gladdens human[s] hearts…”

His son King Solomon: though at many times he was very sinful, was also very wise: drunk wine.

Ecclesiastes 2:3

“I...cheer[ed]…myself with wine(yahyin),…”

This is the same drink many ancient Midde Easteners drunk, including little children:

Lamentations 2:12

“...They (Children) say to their mothers, ‘Where is bread and wine(Yahyin)?’ ” [2]

In the New Testament, the original Hebrew word used for wine is now the Greek word “οἶνος” (pronounced: Oy-nous) but its referring to the same drink just in a different language and godly men still are drinking this [1]:

This is the drink Timothy was told to drink by Paul:

1 Timothy 5:23

“Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine(originally oinos)…”

This is also the same drink Jesus made miraculously from water at the wedding at Cana:

John 2:9

“...the water that had been turned into wine(oinos).” [2]

This is also the beverage Jesus (and his disciples) drunk and most likely the drink Jesus gave to his disciples at the last supper.

So if this is the drink that Godly men (especially) Jesus drunk that is referred to in a positive way really Grape Juice?

Yahyin/Oinos is described as a drink being made of grape juice, but it’s also described as being red ,foamy, and the blood of grapes:

Proverbs 23:31

“...wine when it is red,…”

Psalm 75:8

“...a cup full of foaming wine…”

Genesis 49:11

“...he will wash his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes.”

The blood of grapes is grape juice! So, is this what this drink is?

Why this drink is made of grape juice, it’s clear that its definitely more than just completely unfermented grape juice; because this same drink is described as having the potential to make you drunk!

Yahyin is the Same drink Noah got drunk off of:

Genesis 9:21

“When he drank some of its wine(that is Yahyin), he became drunk…”

This same type of drink also led to Lot becoming drunk so he could have sex without knowing it:

Genesis 19:33

“That night they got their father to drink wine (once again Yahyin), and the older daughter went in and slept (had sex) with him. He was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up (he was very drunk).”

This drink can clearly not make you think straight (make you drunk) as the Bible describes:

Proverbs 23:30-34

“Those who linger over wine (Yahyin),…Your eyes will see strange sights, and your mind will imagine confusing things. You will be like one sleeping on the high seas, lying on top of the rigging(you will be dizzy).” [2]

This description is describing what its like to be drunk: pure unfermented Grape juice cannot make you or anyone truly drunk because it has no alcohol, and even if the grape juice is slightly fermented (this means it was unpasteurized: has a sight trace of alcohol) can only make someone drunk (or give a drunk effect not necessarily caused by the alcohol but rather sugar and resveratrol) if massive amounts of grape juice were drunk at one time (around 8 pounds worth of grapes at one time!) and drinking all this it would be enough to make someone sick before they were made drunk from it [3]!

So, since the Bible describes it as possible to get drunk off of this drink without becoming terribly sick from drinking too much, This drink is far more likely to be fermented/alcoholic grape juice with far more higher alcohol content; thus, easier to get drunk off of also known as wine!

And why this type of drink does had positive comments about it (And even states God approves of humans drinking this alcoholic wine and even made the grapes grow to make wine that makes humans glad!):

Ecclesiastes 10:19

“A feast is made for laughter, wine(yahyin) makes life merry,…”

Ecclesiastes 9:7

“Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine(yahyin!) with a joyful heart, for God has already approved what you do.”

Psalms 104:14-15

“He (God) makes grass grow for the cattle,and plants for people to cultivate—bringing forth food from the earth: wine(yahyin) that gladdens human hearts, oil to make their faces shine, and bread that sustains their hearts.” [2]

the same drink also has plenty of negative comments about it as well:

Proverbs 23:31-32

“Do not gaze at wine(Yahyin) when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly! In the end it bites like a snake and poisons like a viper.”

Isaiah 5:11

“Woe to those who rise early in the morning to run after their drinks, who stay up late at night till they are inflamed with wine(Yahyin).”

Proverbs 20:1

“Wine (yahyin) is a mocker and beer a brawler; whoever is led astray by them is not wise.” [2]

So, contrary to what some (most likely protestant or Mormon) Christians would say about all the negative statements about wine really referring to a totally other (mostly alcoholic) beverage than the one drunken by men of God with only positive statements (which is claimed to have been just grape juice), it’s actually the same beverage that the men of God drunk that is referred to in both a positive and negative ways because it’s the same original word used for both!

The exact same thing is true for the Greek word of this beverage:

This same wine drunk by the men of God in the New Testament also had the potential to make someone drunk:

Ephesians 5:18

“Do not get drunk on wine (oinos), which leads to debauchery.”

Revelation 17:2

“With her the kings of the earth committed adultery, and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated(drunk) with the wine (oinos) of her adulteries.” [2]

Even Jesus was accused of being a drunkard by the pharisees for drinking this wine:

In comparison to his cousin John, which was under the Nazirite vow (which could not even drink grape juice let alone even eat a grape) the pharisees accused Jesus of being a drunkard for drinking this oinos wine:

Luke 7:33-34

“For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine(oinos), and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man (Jesus himself) came eating [bread] and drinking, [wine (oinos)] and you say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard,…’”[2]

Why we know Jesus would never get drunk and commit a sin, for those who claim Jesus and the disciples drunk only grape juice it would be an insane accusation to claim he was a drunkard for just drinking grape juice!: according to this verse, you could get drunk off of this type of grape juice drink Jesus and most likely his disciple drunk (as proven by the rest of the verses above this one).

Once again, you can’t get drunk off of just pure unfermented grape juice, and even if it was slightly fermented it would take quite a lot to get drunk if this was what this drink truly was [3]:

The only drink made from grape juice you can get drunk off with a reasonable amount to not make you feel sick is alcoholic wine!

So, in a final conclusion from what the Bible has to say about this drink; is this drink really grape juice and is just mistranslated as wine as some Christians might say?

The answer according to all these verses seems to be no: it’s referring to actual wine, which is an alcoholic beverage:

Therefore, the claim is false about all the mentions of wine just being pure unfermented grape juice, and thus proves what was talked about earlier: if wine is okay for humans to drink (and God is clearly okay with it in moderation) then drinking alcohol in itself is not a sin! Thus, the Catholic and Orthodox Christians are correct in their belief that only getting drunk is the sin.

Conclusion:

Drinking alcohol is not a sin but beware of drinking too much!

Drinking alcohol (especially wine) is not necessarily a sin: alcoholic drinks in moderation can improve health, make people happy, and even make events in life more joyful; these are all God given benefits of alcoholic beverages that have so negative aftereffects (like so much of sin does); however, the key word here when it comes to alcoholic drinks is moderation:

It’s only not a sin as long as you don’t drink more than you should, thus end up getting drunk:

As stated before, being drunk from too much alcohol is the sin, not drinking alcohol itself:

This is where all the negative statements for wine in the Bible come from: warning about excessive drinking that leads to being drunk and is the root cause of all the negative effects of alcohol:

Being drunk is where the addiction to alcohol (alcoholism) begins as well as the hangovers after being drunk:

This is the root of the destruction of lives and families from the addiction, as well as your own organs beginning to be destroyed and even your own death! All of this comes from getting drunk/alcoholism the ‘sinful part’ of drinking alcohol!

Drinking should not make you drunk; after drinking alcohol you should be able to think straight, and you should still remain sober; so, while drinking alcohol is not a sin and you are free to drink alcohol if you want (of course as long as you’re over the legal drinking age in your country: just because God says your free to drink does not necessarily mean you should break your country’s laws to do so: obey your countries laws and wait until you’re the correct age to go drinking; God does not promote rebellion to national laws if it does not conflict with his: and this does not necessarily conflict with his!) but you need to show some caution before you do, to keep from getting drunk:

Know your personal limits

The first thing you should do before drinking is you should have a general idea of your personal limits: you should know how much you should drink and what the limit is at which point you will drink too much and get drunk so you don’t ever drink over that limit. And if you happen to start drinking and begin to feel woozy then you need to listen to your body and stop and remember how much you drunk to get to that point so it does not happen again: this will ensure you can drink safely and enjoy the benefits of alcohol without drinking too much for your body to handle.

Not all alcoholic beverages are equal

While you should know your personal limits you also need to know what type of alcoholic beverage you're drinking as well and know your specific limits for that alcoholic beverage: Because some are stronger than other, in that they have a much higher alcohol continent. As a basic rule, beers and wines have a much lower alcoholic continent and thus you can generally drink more of them, but liquors and spirits and very high in alcohol and you only have to drink a small amount to get drunk. Thus, depending on what alcohol your drinking, you need to know what limit you can have depending on what your drinking (personally to me I choose to generally drink lower alcoholic beverages like beers and wines because their safer and you can enjoy more of them without getting drunk than a small shot you might get with spirits and liquors, which mostly people drink to get drunk faster).

Most important of all: make sure you can control yourself!

The most important rule with drinking alcohol is being able to control how much you drink and thus when you’re done you can choose to stop and walk away: If you just can’t control yourself, none of the above will work and you will end up getting drunk: if it’s just too tempting to continue drinking you need to stay away from alcohol; you don’t have to drink alcohol and you shouldn’t if you think you can’t control yourself; don’t take any chances that will lead you to sin and destroy your life:

though no self-control on anything is not good: you need to pray about that lack of self-control and try to gain self-control over this alcoholic addiction and maybe even be able drink alcohol again.

(Back to The Christian Life)

Sources:

[1]

[A] Strong Hebrew #3196--“יַיִן” (Yah’Yin)--wine, by Biblehub

Website:

https://biblehub.com/str/hebrew/3196.htm

[B] Strong Greek #3631-- “οἶνος” (oy’-nos)--wine, By Biblehub

Website:

https://biblehub.com/str/greek/3631.htm

[2]

Verses with Hebrew ‘YahYin’:

[A] Hebrew interlinear Genesis 9:21 by Biblehub