How much alcohol is too much?

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I am curious about how much alcohol is too much, meaning when does it become a sin? When does it become a grave sin? If I go out maybe once a month and drink with my friends and get drunk, is that a sin? Is only a little or medium drunk okay but not a lot drunk? I am confused on how much is too much? Is it only a sin if you are like an alcoholic? I have read many answers but none seem to be very clear exactly. I know that it may vary from person to person but what exactly constitutes a sin?

It was my birthday party last night so my friends and I went out to drink. I was planning to drink a lot but not necessarily to get really drunk. I have a pretty high tolerance but it depends on if I eat something or not, etc. But I figured I would get a little drunk at least. I hardly ever go out drinking, honestly I probably go out drinking once or twice a month these days. I got drunk last night but I didn’t do anything bad, didn’t lust after any woman, didn’t think any bad things, etc. I was acting a little silly as one does when drunk but nothing inappropriate. I didn’t throw up or anything but when I got home and went to sleep, I passed out. Did I commit a sin?

I guess I should also mention I have a headache now but its not a really bad hangover.
 
I’m sure someone will correct me if I’m wrong, but drinking is not a sin, and getting drunk is not a serious sin, however, it is opening yourself up for an occasion to sin, which, I understand, if done intentionally, like getting on the plonk for teh sole purpose of getting trashed, is a sin.

So, getting drunk could lead to something that is a sin, say pre-martial sex.

Also, given everyone is different, I’d say there’s no set amount, for example, I can drink a bottle of wine and it won’t touch me, but I have friends who after half a glass are on the floor.

Of course, then we lead into teh discussion of what classes itself as “drunk”. I’m from a very drink a lot culture, and getting “tipsy” is not considered “drunk”, considered drunk down here usually involves being face down in the gutter spewing your ring out.

But the point of alcohol is to give you a bit of a buzz, if you can reach that, and your’e still in control of your facilities then stop, else you coudl end up doing something that is serious.
 
vera_dicere said:
I’m sure someone will correct me if I’m wrong, but drinking is not a sin, and getting drunk is not a serious sin, however, it is opening yourself up for an occasion to sin, which, I understand, if done intentionally, like getting on the plonk for teh sole purpose of getting trashed, is a sin.

So, getting drunk could lead to something that is a sin, say pre-martial sex.

Also, given everyone is different, I’d say there’s no set amount, for example, I can drink a bottle of wine and it won’t touch me, but I have friends who after half a glass are on the floor.

Of course, then we lead into teh discussion of what classes itself as “drunk”. I’m from a very drink a lot culture, and getting “tipsy” is not considered “drunk”, considered drunk down here usually involves being face down in the gutter spewing your ring out.

But the point of alcohol is to give you a bit of a buzz, if you can reach that, and your’e still in control of your facilities then stop, else you coudl end up doing something that is serious.
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I’ve heard it said that it’s a sin when you lose the ability to make rational decisions, and your logic faculties are gone. I can say that I have consumed alcohol from the point of being only lightly effected (my face feels warm) to losing chunks of memory. I will say that I feel drinking until I am throwing up and half passed out is probably a sin because I am not setting a good example for as a Christian.

I have to wonder if a lot of “how drunk is too drunk” depends on what kind of drinker you are too. For example, my mental faculties are fully operational up until I’ve had so much that I am pretty much comatose. Thankfully, this hasn’t happened to me often since the first time was my last. I do know that when I drink from my first drink onward, people can’t usually tell how much I have had. I act a little more outgoing, and I can’t follow movie storylines well, but that’s it. I can carry on clear debates about deep topics, I can clearly define my moral guidelines and follow them, and I have even been known to reach out to those around me for Christ. Almost as if the alcohol has released my reservations about sharing God with those who need him. I also don’t run into issues with temptation because I structure my environment every time I drink. Hubby is always with me, we are in a safe place, and we are with safe people. This is true whether I have a glass of wine or more.

To be honest, on my party nights (once a year, if that) I will typically drink until my face feels numb. I don’t like getting to a point where I can’t walk, and I judge it off the feelings in my body because my mental faculties rarely change. My emotions stay constant (typically I grow happier, if anything) so I can only judge it on how my body feels. I may legally be “over the limit” but my conscience isn’t pricked about it. I also notice that I NEVER get hungover from drinking this amount, so I feel certain that the damage to my body is minimal.

Only you can really judge when you’ve crossed a line. I know I crossed a line when I drank to the point of getting sick. I didn’t set a good example. Some people may not be able to drink more than 1 glass of wine without crossing a line. It just depends on who you are and how alcohol affects you, I guess. 🤷
 
In the US, medical personnel recommend that men limit their alcohol intake to 2 drinks a day, and women to 1 drink, with food.
Considering that alcohol kills with greater frequency than any other drug, these are probably good recommendations.
 
I believe that if you drink enough alcohol to give yourself a “buzz”, that is too much alcohol. The reason why is because once you have a “buzz” your mind has been altered by the alcohol.
 
Viki63 said:
In the US, medical personnel recommend that men limit their alcohol intake to 2 drinks a day, and women to 1 drink, with food.
Considering that alcohol kills with greater frequency than any other drug, these are probably good recommendations.
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Is it cumulutive or do you have to spread it out? What I mean, is I try to follow a standard of no more than an average of 2 drinks per day but usually that means I’ll have 7 on Friday and 7 on Saturday. Or some weeks I’ll have 4, 4 and 6 on three different days, well you get the point. Or since most of the time I don’t end up using all 14 drinks up, perhaps I have a cumulative basis to go all out now. For example, since I don’t drink during an exam period since it might kill that one brain cell that knows the answer for all I know, I’ll have a cumulative amount of drinks to use up and drink after exams are over to safely enjoy in one day according to the allowable average,

But I think drinking only becomes a sin when it becomes a catalyst to other sins. Or, if you are too drunk to drive and you decide to drive anyways. That’s got to be a sin of some sort, especially if you hurt someone or yourself.
 
Levels to drinking
  1. no discernible effect - you had a couple of drinks but don’t feel anything from it
  2. tipsy - at this point you’re feeling a mild relaxing effect from the drinks but nothing too noticeable
  3. buzzed - you’re are definitely high - there is no questioning you’re feeling the effects of the alcohol in your system. You’re starting to think that now might be a good time to slack off or find something to eat.
  4. sloshed - slurred speech and a tendency to ramble and repeat yourself. You can’t walk a straight line and your vision is starting to turn double.
  5. blackout - you’re on autopilot now. The potential for embarrassment is extremely high and it is doubtful you will be able to form a full memory of everything that happens. You might wake up the next morning in a pile of vomit with a dog licking your face or in some strange place where you can’t recall how you got there.
I’d say you want to stay somewhere between a 2 and a 3 for your own safety and enjoyment. 👍
 
How do people black out? Do you have to foce bottles of vodka down your throat? I’ve never understood it. I never black out since I get sick after I am drunk and vomit. Don’t people vomit before they have too much to the point that they black out? I’ve also never experienced the double vision slurred speach thing for the same reason as above. I just get sick before I reach a point like that.

Now I’ve gained 30 pounds in the past couple years which means I can now have a lot more drinks before I get sick, but the concept remains true. I just don’t understand how or why people black out unless they force bottles of liquor down themselves before they have a chance to get sick.
 
Holly3278 said:
I believe that if you drink enough alcohol to give yourself a “buzz”, that is too much alcohol. The reason why is because once you have a “buzz” your mind has been altered by the alcohol.
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Hmmm. Not to defend excessive or compulsive drinking, but prayer can also alter the mind to the point of total abstraction, and is the right goal of prayer to begin with, so the alteration of the mind is not in and of itself any indication of sin.

.
 
Alcohol is a poison, like it or not. It is no different than a lot of medications, take on too much and you are poisoning yourself. That notion of one drink for a woman and two for a man is a good one. Of course if you are a 250 lb man or a large woman increasing that to two and three is probably quite OK. Drinking till one pukes or passes out or losing parts of the memory(blacking out or being unable to recall parts of the evening) is drunk enough to be objectively a serious sin. In my younger days I did that maybe three or four times. Drinking in my opinion is much more fun when you don’t get that smashed. I was an EMT for about a decade and after peeling people off the windshield of their car and even having a few dead ones(One I will never forget is the one where the guy’s car basically exploded on impact and his lower part was ten feet away from the rest of him.) on my arrival driving drunk or without your seat belt fastened is nothing but being crazy. Don’t be kidding yourself, alcohol can be a very fickle friend.
 
A few drinks with friends is not sinful. Drinking becomes sinful when you abuse alcohol; I consider excessive drinking to be a sin of gluttony. I also think drinking leads to other sins because it lowers inhibitions and dulls the power of reason. I think excessive drinking is an occasion to sin; you are unable to resist temptations and you do things you would never do when sober. Have a social drink by all means; but do not be greedy and drink excessively; you must be prudent and know your limits.

If you reach the point where you are slurring your words and have trouble walking in a straight line, I think you have possibly crossed the line. If you cannot walk and the room spins, then I think you have drank too much. I always try to treat alcohol like food; I stop eating when I am full; I do not stuff myself or gorge on food until I vomit. In the same way, I do not drink alcohol until I reach the point where I cannot function properly.
 
What about this problem: drinking and getting drunk because you should have a drink in your hand and be drinking like everyone else. How many times are you in a situations where everyone is drinking beer or there is a pitcher? Probably a lot, at least if you are younger. It is just weird not to drink and more awkward not have have a beer in your hand than to have one. I suppose you can have a coctail and make it non alcoholic giving off the impression that you have a drink, but I think overall society looks down on people that are not drinking.

It implies that they are either an alcoholic or just something bad if they don’t do whatever else it is people are doing.
 
Whitacre_Girl said:
Only you can really judge when you’ve crossed a line. I know I crossed a line when I drank to the point of getting sick. I didn’t set a good example. Some people may not be able to drink more than 1 glass of wine without crossing a line. It just depends on who you are and how alcohol affects you, I guess. 🤷
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I agree with this view and hold it myself.
 
wjp984 said:
Is it cumulutive or do you have to spread it out? What I mean, is I try to follow a standard of no more than an average of 2 drinks per day but usually that means I’ll have 7 on Friday and 7 on Saturday. .
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No, my dear. It is not cumulative. Would you save up your sleeping pills, if you took one each night, and take a week’s worth at once? You might never wake up. It’s 2 drinks per day for men, 1 for women. No fudging.

Re: forcing drinks down your throat --You can’t always tell whether you’re drinking too much, I heard recently of a young woman who was very thirsty, she kept drinking cranberry juice with vodka or something similar, fell asleep and died - she never realized she was overdoing it.
 
wjp984 said:
What about this problem: drinking and getting drunk because you should have a drink in your hand and be drinking like everyone else. I suppose you can have a coctail and make it non alcoholic giving off the impression that you have a drink, but I think overall society looks down on people that are not drinking.

It implies that they are either an alcoholic or just something bad if they don’t do whatever else it is people are doing.
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How about a little independent thinking? Who says you should have a drink, or get drunk like everyone else? If you hang around with a bunch of morons, then sure. But alcohol kills more people than any other drug.
If anyone looks down on you for not drinking to excess, their good opinion is not worth having.
 
I believe that if one drinks until “buzzed” and stops there, they are fine. Just because one is feeling a little giddy does not mean it’s a bad thing. Now, if you are “buzzed” you should still definitely not drive.

Basically, if one is “buzzed” they are still able to maintain reason. For example, I submit my own personal experience.

I never drank in high school. However,I did say I was okay with a “little drinking” in college.

Recently I attended a social event at the local party area. I had a couple beers and a little straight-up vodka (alas, vodka without a “chaser” is basically rubbing alcohol. Bleh.)

I noticed that I was starting to laugh at regular things, and I decided, “I think this would be an appropriate time to stop.”

This was clearly a use of reason, as I noticed that more drinking would further dull my senses, thus, I had had my fill. Indeed, I was quite giggly, but it was not anything I felt to be a problem. I was still able to make moral decisions.
 
I always think the appropriate Bible passage to consider is “and be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess, but be filled with Spirit” Ephesians 5:18.

I am not prepared to say much about the passage. Only that I keep it in mind as evidence that too much drinking negates the ability for one to be under the strongest possible direction of the Holy Spirit, and that drunkenness is most likely a sin. We should want to always be under the full influence of the Holy Spirit so that we can achieve our strongest possible impact for the Kingdom of God. As to when one is crossing a line (for some drinking seems permissible) I am not prepared to say, other than to say that I believe it is good to err on the side of caution and be sure you have not offended, than to try to go as far as you possibly can in an attempt to get the last possible drop that you want for yourself. Even with good intentions, once you start drinking your intentions may change the more you drink. I am not offering an answer, just my thoughts and I just wanted someone to mention the passage as it is relevant for one to wrestle with regarding the topic.
 
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