Can an alcoholic get into Heaven?

[TMC]

Jesus said no drunkards can enter heaven, but what about alcoholics who try but can’t kick the habit?

The premise is flawed - Jesus did not say that no drunkards can enter heaven.

 

[Nelka]

Matthew 11:19 The Son of man came, eating and drinking, and they say, “Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.” Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.’

 

[TMC]

Matthew 11:19 The Son of man came, eating and drinking, and they say, “Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.” Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.’

In that passage Jesus notes that He (“Jesus”) has been accused by others (“they”) of being a glutton and a drunkard. He does not say that being a drunkard (or a glutton, or tax collector, or a sinner) prevents one from entering heaven.

To the contrary, Jesus is observing that some people will find any reason to condemn others. Just prior to this quote, Jesus notes that John was known for fasting and abstaining, and “they” rejected him for that. He goes on to say that He (Jesus) was known for eating and drinking with sinners, and “they” rejected Him for that. Seems to me Jesus is saying that neither are reasons to condemn someone.

 

[Boy_Wonder]

Jesus said no drunkards can enter heaven, but what about alcoholics who try but can’t kick the habit?

It’s impossible to make a blanket pronouncement on such things. God examines them on a case-by-case basis. It depends on the individual and his/her circumstances and state of mind.

Habitual abuse of alcohol or drugs is definitely a violation of the 5th Commandment’s prohibition: “Thou Shalt not kill.”

 

[Boy_Wonder]

Seems to me Jesus is saying that neither are reasons to condemn someone.

God’s job is to judge. Our job is to know love and serve both God and others.

We’d do best to seek holiness and otherwise stay away from proclaiming the words of damnation over our more notorious neighbors. This is one thing that consistently angered Jesus in the Gospels. People of faith still fall into this conduct today. The most insidious sins are the ones cloaked in the garb of righteousness. We must watch out for these.

 

[Boy_Wonder]

Of course an alcoholic can get into heaven. What you must remember though is that once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic. Just because someone has been sober for 24 hours, 1 week, a year, or 50+ years, they are still and will always be an alcoholic.

I have been sober for over 5 years, and the biggest problem that I see in my past life was that I turned to the bottle with all my problems instead of trusting in God and turning to Him. I had a huge hole in my life and once I filled that with God, it changed me. Remarkably, I have gone though some even tougher times in my life while I have been sober than I did when I was drinking and I can only say that I was able to do so with the Grace given to me by God.

Another thing to think about, and I talk about with other alcoholics is I will die one day an alcoholic. There is nothing I can do about that and I have accepted it. What I don’t accept though and what I pray will never happen is that I will die from alcoholism. Those are two different items as generally speaking, people who die from alcoholism are those who are still drinking (and rarely those who quite some time ago but the damage to their bodies was so severe and cessation was so late in the process that the damage was already done) and die from their drinking.

So to go back toy our initial question, yes, alcoholics can go to heaven. They will have to repent and all the other things that go along with forgiveness of sins, but God loves alcoholics just as much as he loves everyone else. It is our choice though if we wish to accept His love and embrace it.

Pax

John

John - your post above brought me to tears. Thank you. I drank alcoholically for 30+ years. Then God brought me to a simple program of recovery and that program brought me much closer to God. Yes, alcoholics can and do go to heaven. In recovery, we remain alcoholic although we choose, with God’s help, not to drink.

 

[truetofaith]

God’s job is to judge. Our job is to know love and serve both God and others.

We’d do best to seek holiness and otherwise stay away from proclaiming the words of damnation over our more notorious neighbors. This is one thing that consistently angered Jesus in the Gospels. People of faith still fall into this conduct today. The most insidious sins are the ones cloaked in the garb of righteousness. We must watch out for these.

I guess priests and Protestant preachers better stop telling people about sin and sing “Everything is Beautiful.”

 

[Boy_Wonder]

I guess priests and Protestant preachers better stop telling people about sin and sing “Everything is Beautiful.”

No one said that. People must be instructed about sin. As Catholics, we have a duty, AT THE APPROPRIATE TIME AND IN THE APPROPRIATE MANNER, to express our concern to others when their conduct is clearly in the wrong. However, most people would rather see a sermon that hear one. Setting a consistent good example is far better than scolding and condemning. Self righteousness is obnoxious. It prevents God’s message from reaching others, but it sure makes the pious skunks feel good about themselves.

 

[Lormar]

Just a reminder to everyone that one of AA’s most famous “slogans” would fit in very well here:

There but for the grace of God go I.