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RodneyJ
Guest
What is the church teaching for alcohol and scripture with it?
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Believe_85
Guest
found this by searching for “Bible and alcohol” under the search tab. If you copy and paste this link, you should be able to find it. 
forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=135961&highlight=bible+alcohol
forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=135961&highlight=bible+alcohol
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Joe_5859
Guest
As with most things, the Church teaches moderation. It is okay to drink alcohol, provided you do not abuse it through excess. In other words, don’t get drunk! (Ephesians 5:18)
Of course, Jesus’ first miracle in the Gospel of John was turning water into wine. It’s hard to imagine why He would do this if it weren’t okay for us to drink it!
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rpp
Guest
Some Protestant groups assert that the “wine” referred to in the New Testament is actually grape juice. That is not correct. It is wine.
We know it is wine for a couple of reasons. Jesus uses the simile of putting “new wine into old wine-skins”. That simile only works because the old wine-skins have already been stretched by the gases given off during fermentation. Thus an old wine-skin will burst because it is already stretched to its limit.
Another reason we know it is wine is because of historical records. People drank wine. It was a staple.
Why was wine a staple and not grape juice? Let me suggest an small experiment. Take some fresh grape juice, remove it from the nice sterile original container and pour it into a container with a tight fitting lid. Store it a room temperature for 1 week. Now, do the same thing with some wine. The result is that the grape juice will have spoiled but the wine is still drinkable. The alcohol in the wine acted as a preservative. Even water, if stored in a cask for an extended period will go bad. That is why ancient people learned to brew wine and beer.
It is only since the advent of universal and reliable refrigeration that we can forget that ancient peoples had to find creative ways of preserving food. Meat is smoked, jerked and salted, fruits and vegetables are dried, and pickled for the same reason. Canning is a relatively new idea making its appearance in the 18th century.
By the way, I have heard some state that the alcohol content of wine around that time was probably only about 6%. I do not know if it is true, but that seems possible to me. That would be enough to stave off spoilage for quite a while.
We know it is wine for a couple of reasons. Jesus uses the simile of putting “new wine into old wine-skins”. That simile only works because the old wine-skins have already been stretched by the gases given off during fermentation. Thus an old wine-skin will burst because it is already stretched to its limit.
Another reason we know it is wine is because of historical records. People drank wine. It was a staple.
Why was wine a staple and not grape juice? Let me suggest an small experiment. Take some fresh grape juice, remove it from the nice sterile original container and pour it into a container with a tight fitting lid. Store it a room temperature for 1 week. Now, do the same thing with some wine. The result is that the grape juice will have spoiled but the wine is still drinkable. The alcohol in the wine acted as a preservative. Even water, if stored in a cask for an extended period will go bad. That is why ancient people learned to brew wine and beer.
It is only since the advent of universal and reliable refrigeration that we can forget that ancient peoples had to find creative ways of preserving food. Meat is smoked, jerked and salted, fruits and vegetables are dried, and pickled for the same reason. Canning is a relatively new idea making its appearance in the 18th century.
By the way, I have heard some state that the alcohol content of wine around that time was probably only about 6%. I do not know if it is true, but that seems possible to me. That would be enough to stave off spoilage for quite a while.
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RodneyJ
Guest
I’m glad you intelligent guys are apart of this forum, otherwise, I’d be super ignorant.
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COPLAND_3
Guest
I have issues with this. I see a lot of Catholics who have drinking problems, and it is a bad witness. Catholics seem to have the reputation of being drinkers, and I can’t say that I will defend it. I agree with the moderation answer, but I don’t think some Catholics take moderation very seriously. I don’t know if it is just in my parish or not, but I see too many heavy drinkers. When I signed up for RCIA a few years ago, the lady who organized the group carried a bottle of wine around with her, very tacky! In the class everyone had to tell things about themselves, and a couple of sponsers mentioned drinking wine as a sort of identity of themselves. This really buggs me!
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Al_Masetti
Guest
Port has so much alcohol that it doesn’t need to be refrigerated; probably more than 18%.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_wine
And this is interesting:
chetday.com/alcoholandthebible.htm
Hmmm… apparently a lot of the wine back then was awful. Jesus made wine at Cana that was very delicious. Rare, apparently.
Anyway, they used to add stuff to kill the taste:
ezinearticles.com/?The-Wine-of-Israel-and-Wine-in-Biblical-Times&id=340401
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allhers
Guest
An Irishman is never drunk as long as he can hold on to one blade of grass and not fall of the face of the earth.
:shamrock2:(…but that isn’t official Church teaching.)
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Todd_Easton
Guest
Thou dost cause the grass to grow for the cattle, and plants for man to cultivate, that he may bring forth food from the earth, and wine to gladden the heart of man, oil to make his face shine, and bread to strengthen man’s heart. (Psalm 104:14-15)
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