This week and next, I want to spend some time examining what the Bible says about alcohol. That’s not as easy as you might think because of a couple of factors:

• Emotion: This is an issue that many people have a lot of emotion tied up in. Either they’ve been personally touched by alcohol abuse, or they’ve been frustrated by traditions that have been bound upon them. Others have publicly taught one side or the other of this issue and are hesitant to go back and see if their previous conclusions are true.
• Prior assumptions: Lots of assertions are made about alcohol, especially about what the Bible teaches about it. Many of these hinder serious study rather than advance it. My appeal is that we suspend judgment until we examine the evidence. That sounds logical, but I find it rarely happens when studying this issue.

Here’s my plan of study:

1. The Pentateuch: We need to examine the first five books of the Bible, the books of the Law. These should receive special attention for several reasons. First, there was a time when these were probably the only written witness God’s people had. Surely God had a message for them about this important topic. Secondly, the teachings of these books give us a good idea of how the Jews would have viewed this subject. They placed a special emphasis on what was written in the Law, placing the teachings of the Pentateuch above those of other books.
2. Most of the rest of the Old Testament: I want to look at some of the wisdom literature separately, but feel that a survey of the rest of the Old Testament is in order.
3. Wisdom literature: Actually, I want to look at Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon separately.
4. The gospels: As always, we need to take time to look at what our Lord said and did concerning alcohol in his lifetime.
5. The rest of the New Testament: We’ll conclude our biblical overview with the other books of the New Testament. (I started to say “the letters,” but then I remembered the reference in Acts 2)

Stay with me through this. Let’s take a good look at what Scripture says. Is there a better way to determine what we should do as Christians?

[I’m largely refraining from commenting on comments, trying to present my thoughts bit by bit. Toward the end of the series, I’ll try and be more interactive.]

Previous posts in this series:
The Christian and Alcohol (Alcohol abuse)
The Christian and Alcohol, Part 2 (Alcohol in the history of the U.S.)