Why Christians shouldn't drink alcohol (even if it's in moderation, it's a sin!)

[kyria]

If the purpose of drinking alcohol is **solely sensual gratification **it feel it is a sin

I get gratification from eating chocolate. You feel it is a sin that is fine. The church does not declare drinking in moderation is a sin, so if some of us enjoy a drink now and then I think we are all confident we aren’t going to go to hell.

Not all Christians are paronoid about what they consume might be a sin.

 

[LilyM]

Should pray to God to be free of shyness rather than turning to alcohol

Then you should also pray to God to be free of diabetes instead of taking your insulin or medication, or free of cancer instead of taking your chemotherapy drugs

 

[Porknpie]

I think it is a sin.I strongly feel there is no such thing like drinking in moderation not being a sin.The degree of sin may from person to person.

Then the questions for you to answer are

“Would God tell us it is OK to sin?”

Genesis 27
24 He said, “Are you really my son Esau?” He answered, “I am.” 25 Then he said, “Bring it to me, that I may eat of my son’s game and bless you.” So he brought it to him, and he ate; and he brought him wine, and he drank.

Nehemiah 8
10 Then he said to them, “Go your way, eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions of them to those for whom nothing is prepared, for this day is holy to our Lord; and do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

“Would God sin?”

Luke 7
33 For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon’; 34 the Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ 35 Nevertheless, wisdom is vindicated by all her children.”

Amos 9:7
I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel,
and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them;
they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine,
and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit.

The Written Word of God tells the people to plant vineyards and to drink the wine. Is God capable of telling us to sin? Jesus drank wine…do you believe that God sinned?

 

[abinjoy]

Then you should also pray to God to be free of diabetes instead of taking your insulin or medication, or free of cancer instead of taking your chemotherapy drugs

The context was someone said drinking alcohol helps to overcome shyness.I replied in that context.
So wat if suddenly the alcohol availability stops?
What will the shy person do to overcome his shyness?

 

[abinjoy]

Then the questions for you to answer are
“Would God tell us it is OK to sin?”

Genesis 27
24 He said, “Are you really my son Esau?” He answered, “I am.” 25 Then he said, “Bring it to me, that I may eat of my son’s game and bless you.” So he brought it to him, and he ate; and he brought him wine, and he drank.

Nehemiah 8
10 Then he said to them, “Go your way, eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions of them to those for whom nothing is prepared, for this day is holy to our Lord; and do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

“Would God sin?”

Luke 7
33 For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon’; 34 the Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ 35 Nevertheless, wisdom is vindicated by all her children.”

:

I get terribly confused when people quote old testament:
Solomon had 700 wives, princesses, and 300 concubines.I wont be able to look after so many but I may be able to look after 2 .Is that permissible?

 

[abinjoy]

Forget all the debated going on here.I challenge all those who drink in moderation to give up drinking for an year and check if you are attached to drinking or not and let me know if you find it easy to abstain from alcohol for an year

 

[Sam_777]

dammit… if i knew i was on trial i’da given a reference and bibliography.
if i found it anyone can find it.

Because what you have said was not accurate…

 

[LilyM]

​

The context was someone said drinking alcohol helps to overcome shyness.I replied in that context.
So wat if suddenly the alcohol availability stops?
What will the shy person do to overcome his shyness?

Similar to what a diabetic does when they cannot get their insulin or a cancer sufferer when they cannot have their chemo. They suffer unnecessarily. Is that really what you want? People suffering for no legitimate moral or ethical reason but merely for the sake of your scruples?

 

[Porknpie]

I get terribly confused when people quote old testament:
Solomon had 700 wives, princesses, and 300 concubines.I wont be able to look after so many but I may be able to look after 2 .Is that permissible?

Abinjoy -

New Testament only:

You have to explain how Jesus drank wine in Luke and if drinking wine for stomach ailments is a sin

1 Timothy 5:23
No longer drink only water, but take a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.

I also added a quote from Amos. The Written Word of God has his people planting vineyards. Do you have another written Word of God later in the bible where he says not to do this?

I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel,
and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them;
they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine,
and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit.

Regarding the Old Testament see 2 Timothy. Below…ALL scripture… including the OT is inspired by God.

2 Timothy 3:16
**All Scripture is [a]inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;
**

You can not simply pick and choose what applies today. You have no authority to do so. The Authority comes from the Catholic Church, established by Christ to lead his flock.

Timothy 3
15 if I am delayed, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and bulwark of the truth.

To say drinking is to sin is to say Jesus was a sinner and to believe God told his people to sin by both planting vineyards and to do the complete opposite of what you contend. Do you really want to say that ?

Show me the chapter and verse that supports what you contend, that drinking wine - and not drunkeness which I would agree is sinful - is a sin.

Chapter and verse. Pleasee:shrug:

 

[Bob_Crowley]

While I can appreciate the OP’s point of view (I have the occasional drink myself I might add), the trouble is that you can apply the same argument to just about anything.

Cars kill people if not used correctly, so we should not drive as an example. Televisions portray a lot of smut these days, so we should not have televisions as an example. Eating too much is bad for you, so we should eat very frugally as an example. Sport can become an addiction to some people, so don’t play sport.

I remember many years ago, when I was still a young bloke and a haircut meant more than a tweezer job, a bloke died in the UK because all he lived on was carrot juice, having an obsession with Vitamin A or some such. I have no idea what his eternal fate is, but if he’s in Purgatory, he’s probably forced to share all his carrots with a bunch of demonic bunnies or something, until he gets the message.

So even drinking carrot juice can be deadly if you take it to extremes.

A lot of people are hooked on gambling, so charitable organisations and community groups should not run raffles or lotteries, even if the proceeds are used to build hospitals, fund medical research etc.

As someone else pointed out Christ was accused of being a “glutton and wine bibber”, which meant he enjoyed the occasional good meal and had a drink or two. If it was good enough for Him, I would imagine it’s good enough for the rest of us. But I doubt if He ever got drunk, or ate to excess. I’d say He enjoyed genial company, and did His best to welcome those who didn’t feel quite so confident.

It’s a case of moderation in this and everything else. It’s the excess that does the damage.

 

[abinjoy]

I get gratification from eating chocolate. You feel it is a sin that is fine. The church does not declare drinking in moderation is a sin, so if some of us enjoy a drink now and then I think we are all confident we aren’t going to go to hell.

Not all Christians are paronoid about what they consume might be a sin.

This might sound very hypocritical.But I certainly feel our small indulgences can mean a lot to thousands across the world
I too live in Australia currently(originally an Indian).A chocolate may cost me only 3-4$.But if I donate that 3$ back home the money after conversion is sufficinet enough for 3 absolutely poor people to have 3 good meals on day.In that sense If I indulge in a chocolate for **solely sensual gratification **I think it is a sin(however small it may be as I am neglecting a needy person)and not that I am paranoid about drinking juice being a sin as it tastes better than water

 

[abinjoy]

​

Similar to what a diabetic does when they cannot get their insulin or a cancer sufferer when they cannot have their chemo. They suffer unnecessarily. Is that really what you want? People suffering for no legitimate moral or ethical reason but merely for the sake of your scruples?

I am a bit shy person at times.So you reccommend taking alcohol as it helps me to open up?
T

 

[oneGODoneCHURCH]

Forget all the debated going on here.I challenge all those who drink in moderation to give up drinking for an year and check if you are attached to drinking or not and let me know if you find it easy to abstain from alcohol for an year

I at one time not so very long along ago went 4 years with out a drop if alcohol, it is not a big deal. I challenge you to understand it is not for us to addd to God commandments. Since god has never said that drinking alcohol is a sin and has show it to be of benefit give it a rest.

 

[Porknpie]

This might sound very hypocritical.But I certainly feel our small indulgences can mean a lot to thousands across the world
I too live in Australia currently(originally an Indian).A chocolate may cost me only 3-4$.But if I donate that 3$ back home the money after conversion is sufficinet enough for 3 absolutely poor people to have 3 good meals on day.In that sense If I indulge in a chocolate for **solely sensual gratification **I think it is a sin(however small it may be as I am neglecting a needy person)and not that I am paranoid about drinking juice being a sin as it tastes better than water

Abinjoy,

Curious, though, what is your current religion?

My point to the previous posts is that you can not say that drinking is a sin by looking at the bible. Scripture is clear that drunkenness is sinful (we all agree to this) but not drinking on its own.

There is nothing wrong with not drinking…it’s a good way to save some money.

Do you smoke?

Pork

(ps…I only eat chocolate for gratification…again the issue here would be if it were doing so excessively)

 

[Bob_Crowley]

… I remember many years ago, when I was still a young bloke and a haircut meant more than a tweezer job, a bloke died in the UK because all he lived on was carrot juice, having an obsession with Vitamin A or some such. I have no idea what his eternal fate is, but if he’s in Purgatory, he’s probably forced to share all his carrots with a bunch of demonic bunnies or something, until he gets the message.

So even drinking carrot juice can be deadly if you take it to extremes…

With reference to my comment above, I lifted this off another site just for interest’s sake -

omg-facts.com/Science/In-1974-A-British-Health-Nut-Drank-Himse/17490

In 1974, a British health nut drank himself to death with carrot juice.

The man, Basil Brown, guzzled 10 gallons of carrot juice in a span of 10 days! This gave him 10,000 times the recommended amount of vitamin A and ultimately led to his untimely death from severe liver damage.

 

[abinjoy]

I at one time not so very long along ago went 4 years with out a drop if alcohol, it is not a big deal. I challenge you to understand it is not for us to addd to God commandments. Since god has never said that drinking alcohol is a sin and has show it to be of benefit give it a rest.

Good on you if you self control and moderation and I appreciate you.
But I suspect how many in the forum will be up to the challenge.I am not adding to God’s commandments. I am just challenging a few.

 

[oneGODoneCHURCH]

This might sound very hypocritical.But I certainly feel our small indulgences can mean a lot to thousands across the world
I too live in Australia currently(originally an Indian).A chocolate may cost me only 3-4$.But if I donate that 3$ back home the money after conversion is sufficinet enough for 3 absolutely poor people to have 3 good meals on day.In that sense If I indulge in a chocolate for **solely sensual gratification **I think it is a sin(however small it may be as I am neglecting a needy person)and not that I am paranoid about drinking juice being a sin as it tastes better than water

That is great and wonderful thing if you feel the need to make those scarifies for the poor. However Christ gave the example that it is not a sin to give to comforts for yourself when he said the poor us shall have with you always.

 

[oneGODoneCHURCH]

Good on you if you self control and moderation and I appreciate you.
But I suspect how many in the forum will be up to the challenge.I am not adding to God’s commandments. I am just challenging a few.

You are adding to Gods command by tell people that they are sin when God has never said it is a sin.

 

[abinjoy]

You are adding to Gods command by tell people that they are sin when God has never said it is a sin.

I did not mean to add a new command.I think you misunderstood or I conveyed the message wrongly.Wonder if God has given us the right to judge others motives and actions

 

[Porknpie]

I did not mean to add a new command.I think you misunderstood or I conveyed the message wrongly.Wonder if God has given us the right to judge others motives and actions

Answer is YES. We can judge their actions against what is sinful and try correcting them.

Matthew 18
15 “If another member of the church[d] sins against you,[e] go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one.[f] 16 But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17 If the member refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.