Back نظرة المسيحية للمشروبات الكحولية Arabic Point de vue du christianisme sur l'alcool French शराब पर ईसाई विचार Hindi Christianity and alcohol SIMPLE 基督教對酒的觀點 Chinese

Christian views on alcohol

Jesus making wine from water in The Marriage at Cana, a 14th-century fresco from the Visoki Dečani monastery

Christian views on alcohol are varied. Throughout the first 1,800 years of Church history, Christians generally consumed alcoholic beverages as a common part of everyday life and used "the fruit of the vine"[1] in their central rite—the Eucharist or Lord's Supper.[2][3] They held that both the Bible and Christian tradition taught that alcohol is a gift from God that makes life more joyous, but that over-indulgence leading to drunkenness is sinful.[4][5][6][7] However, the alcoholic content of ancient alcoholic beverages was significantly lower than that of modern alcoholic beverages.[8][9][10] The low alcoholic content was due to the limitations of fermentation and the nonexistence of distillation methods in the ancient world.[11][8] Rabbinic teachers wrote acceptance criteria on consumability of ancient alcoholic beverages after significant dilution with water, and prohibited undiluted wine.[9]

In the mid-19th century, some Protestant Christians moved from a position of allowing moderate use of alcohol (sometimes called "'moderationism") to either deciding that not imbibing was wisest in the present circumstances ("abstentionism") or prohibiting all ordinary consumption of alcohol because it was believed to be a sin ("prohibitionism").[12] Many Protestant churches, particularly Methodists, advocated abstentionism or prohibitionism and were early leaders in the temperance movement of the 19th and 20th centuries.[13] Today, all three positions exist in Christianity, but the original position of alcohol consumption being permissible remains the most common and dominant view among Christians worldwide, in addition to the adherence by the largest bodies of Christian denominations, such as Anglicanism, Lutheranism, Roman Catholicism, and Eastern Orthodoxy.[14]

  1. ^ Jesus Christ. "Matthew 26:29;Mark 14:25;Luke 22:18". I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.
  2. ^ R. V. Pierard (1984). "Alcohol, Drinking of". In Walter A. Elwell (ed.). Evangelical Dictionary of Theology. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House. pp. 28f. ISBN 0-8010-3413-2.
  3. ^ F. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone, ed. (2005). "Wine". The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press, USA. p. 1767. ISBN 978-0-19-280290-3. [W]ine has traditionally been held to be one of the essential materials for a valid Eucharist, though some have argued that unfermented grape-juice fulfils the Dominical [that is, Jesus'] command.
  4. ^ Domenico, Roy P.; Hanley, Mark Y. (1 January 2006). Encyclopedia of Modern Christian Politics. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 18. ISBN 978-0-313-32362-1. Drunkenness was biblically condemned, and all denominations disciplined drunken members.
  5. ^ Cobb, John B. (2003). Progressive Christians Speak: A Different Voice on Faith and Politics. Westminster John Knox Press. p. 136. ISBN 978-0-664-22589-6. For most of Christian history, as in the Bible, moderate drinking of alcohol was taken for granted while drunkenness was condemned.
  6. ^ Raymond, p. 90.
  7. ^ "Wine". Easton's Bible Dictionary. 1897. Retrieved 2007-01-22.
  8. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Quarles was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference rabbinic was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference scientific was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference sasson was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Gentry, Kenneth (2001). God Gave Wine. Oakdown. pp. 3ff. ISBN 0-9700326-6-8.
  13. ^ Campbell, Ted A. (1 December 2011). Methodist Doctrine: The Essentials. Abingdon Press. ISBN 978-1-4267-1364-4. Prohibition: Methodists supported efforts for the prohibition of alcoholic beverages as a social extension of their concern for temperance or abstinence
  14. ^ Miller, Stephen M. (15 April 2014). 100 Tough Questions about God and the Bible. Baker Academic. p. 225. ISBN 9781441263520. Most, however, preach moderation: Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, and Eastern Orthodox.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · View on Wikipedia

Developed by Nelliwinne