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Religion

2007-03-01 11:38:00

Is having a few drinks sinful?

My husband drinks three beers before and with dinner, and sometimes wine also. I was raised to believe that using alcohol is not part of God's plan; but my husband says I am wrong, and that it is totally okay. Can you help me understand what God expects of us with regard to alcohol use?

The first pages of the Bible (Genesis 1, verses 12, 18, 25, 31) tell us that God viewed all of his creation, and declared it good. The use of good things of God's creation is good or virtuous, while the abuse of anything is bad or sinful. Wine and beer and other alcoholic beverages are good: so long as they are drunk in moderation. It is not part of God's plan that such drink be used to make a person drunk or incapacitate him/her to function with reason. Drunkenness is the sin of Gluttony, one of the capital sins. Numerous passages in the Old and New Testaments of the Bible accept that drinking wine and other fermented drinks, particularly during meals and at celebrations, is a normal part of human life. The Apostle Paul advises his disciple Timothy: "Stop drinking water only. Take a little wine for the good of your stomach, and because of your frequent illnesses" (1 Tim 5:23). A little later the same Apostle cautions: "Be sober" (2 Tim 4:5). In the Old Testament book of Genesis we learn that, after the great deluge, the patriarch Noah "was the first to plant a vineyard. When he drank some of the wine, he became drunk" (Gen 9:21). The Scripture does not condemn him for drinking, but there is a silent reproof of his getting drunk. Psalm 104 (103) praises God for his creation; verse 14-15 says to God: "You produce bread from the earth, and wine to gladden men's hearts." The Old Testament book Wisdom of Sirach, verses 25-31, sum up the Judeo-Christian view about wine and strong drink: "Let not wine-drinking be the proof of your strength, for wine has been the ruin of many. . . .Wine is very life to man: if taken in moderation. Does he really live, who lacks the wine which was created for his joy? Joy of heart, good cheer and merriment are wine drunk freely at the proper time (in moderation). But headache, bitterness and disgrace is wine drunk amidst anger and strife. More and more wine is a snare for the fool; it lessens his strength and multiplies his wounds. Rebuke not your neighbor when wine is served, nor put him to shame while he is merry." The example of Our Lord Jesus Christ is most important. Jesus worked his first miracle at a wedding celebration in Cana of Galilee, when he changed water into the best wine in order to spare a young bridegroom from embarrassment of running out of wine during the banquet: cf. John 2:1-11. Further, as his perpetual memorial, at the Last Supper on the night before he died, Jesus instituted his greatest Sacrament, the Holy Eucharist. He took bread and told his apostles: "Take and eat, this is my body." Then he took the cup of wine and gave it to his apostles saying: "Take and drink, for this is my blood, the blood of the covenant, to be shed in behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins" (Matt 26:26-28; Mark 14:22-25; Luke 22:19-20). Many other texts in the Bible also encourage the use of wine and other beverages, but always in moderation. In the times when the Bible was written, beer and many other alcoholic beverages had not yet been invented, or at least were not in common use in the biblical lands. What the Bible says about wine can be applied also to those other beverages.At various times in the Church's history there have appeared religious persons, usually fanatics, who seeing the widespread abuse of alcoholic beverages, instituted movements to prohibit the use of anyone using such beverages. They thought to correct the abuse by banning something God created for human use. Among such persons-in-error are the Manichees and Albigensians and Moslems and Puritans. Also wrong were the leaders of the Womens' Christian Temperance Movement, who successfully pushed for the 18th amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1919, which outlawed the sale, importing and possession of all intoxicating liquors. That prohibition led to more drunkenness than before, as well as to innumerable violations of civil laws. Fortunately, that amendment was repealed by the 21st amendment in 1933. In most countries, except where Islam is dominant, alcoholic beverages are a part of every meal. And even many Moslems secretly enjoy drinking alcoholic beverages. I grew-up in Wichita, when Kansas was officially a "dry" state. Yet it was common knowledge at that time that probably more alcoholic beverages were available in Kansas than in neighboring "wet" states. The lady, who raised this question is in error. According to God's plan, her husband has the right to drink beer and other beverages before, during and after his meals: provided he does so in moderation and doesn't get drunk or abusive. That wife might also indulge a bit of wine "for the good of her stomach," of course, - according to St. Paul, as I cited above -- and for harmony in her marriage.