What is Sin?
The Greek word in The New Testament that is translated into English as “sin” is hamartia. It is an archery term that literally means missing the target. The target, of course, would be perfection. I know I have not only missed the target, but sometimes I miss so badly I wonder if I was ever aiming in the right direction to begin with.
We could spend days or months covering the topic of sin itself. However, for our purpose here, I am just going to focus on the drinking aspect.
Intoxicants – Or Not?
First, I think it would be significant to note what people in history (Old Testament) drank. Was it truly an intoxicant, grape juice or something similar, but without alcoholic properties? It is a common argument their beverages did not include alcohol, or that their wine was grape juice.
The Hebrew term shekhar; sikera; from shakhar means to become drunk. Originally shekhar seems to have been a general term for intoxicating drinks of all kinds, without reference to the material out of which they were made; and in that sense, it would include wine. Before the Hebrews settled in Canaan they had not heard of wine from grapes, and did not need a special word to describe it. After arriving in Canaan, they cultivated wine, and borrowed the word “yayin” to separate it from shekhar. At that point, shekhar changed to mean all intoxicating beverages, other than wine. 1
There are many instances in the Bible of drunkenness: Noah, Lot, Nabal, Uriah, Amnon, Elah, king of Israel, Benhadad, king of Syria, etc. Its prevalence is also found in the New Testament: Matthew 24:49, Luke 21:34, Acts 2:13-15, Ephesians 5:18 and 1 Thessalonians 5:7. 2
“There can be no doubt that shekhar was intoxicating. This is proved.” – D. Miall Edwards1
What does the Bible say about drinking alcohol? (The scripture references are hot linked, it will take you to bible.com to read them)
The Old Testament says:
† Genesis 43:34 – festive atmosphere
† Isaiah 5:11 – talks about excessive drinking
† Isaiah 28:1-8 – over indulgence
† Proverbs 23:29-33 -over indulgence
† Leviticus 10:8,9 – Instructions for Priests
† Ezekiel 44:21 -Instructions for Priests
† Numbers 6:3 -Instructions for Priests
† Amos 2:12 – Vows
† Jeremiah 35:6, 8, 14 – Rechabites living a Nomadic life
† Daniel 1:8-16 – Voluntary abstinence
† Judges 9:13 – Wine cheers God and people
† Psalms 104:15 – Cheers
† Proverbs 31:6,7 – Cheers/helps sick
The New Testament says:
† Luke 21:34 – Excessive
† Matthew 24:49 – Excessive
† Luke 12:45 – Excessive
† Galatians 5:21 – Excessive
† Ephesians 5:18 – Excessive
† Acts 24:25 – Self-control
† Galatians 5:23 – Self-control
† 2 Peter 1:6 – Self-control
† 1 Timothy 3:2 – Instructions for Elders
† Titus 1:7; 2:2 – Self-control
† Luke 1:15 – Instructions for Zechariah for his son John the Baptist
† Matthew 11:19 – Jesus called a “wine bibber” by his enemies
† John 2:10 – Jesus turning water in the best wine at the party
† Luke 5:38; 17:8 – Enjoyment
† Matthew 16:24 – If you put alcohol before Jesus there is a definite issue
† Mark 9:42 – Leading someone to sin
† Romans 14:13-21 – If someone believes it is wrong for them, it is
† 1 Corinthians 8:8-13 – Leading someone to sin
So, is drinking alcohol a sin?
I would say that this is between you and God. If you believe it is a sin, then I would treat it like that, and abstain. However, my interpretation, based on Scripture, is that it is completely fine to enjoy alcohol in moderation. There is obviously a lot of reference to excessive drinking, and being drunk. I believe that the reason for that is when we are drunk, we lose our inhibitions and it could easily lead to other sins. Alcohol does have some nice qualities according to the Bible. It cheers people up, helps people that are ill feel better, and promotes fellowship.
Have any thoughts? Leave them in the comments.
Update – The source links did not get included in the original post.
1 The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia – Drink, Strong
2 The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia – Drunkenness
Cheers and God Bless!
3 responses so far ↓
nate // August 30, 2008 at 9:55 pm |
hmmm….great thoughts…the only point I disagreed on is when you said, “I would say that this is between you and God. If you believe it is a sin, then I would treat it like that, and abstain.”
Something is either wrong or right…different morality for different folks only breeds contempt.
Based off the biblical AND historical (Christian) evidence, I conclude it is NOT a sin regardless of ones premonition.
Great blog, I am subscribed.
Chad Hudson // September 1, 2008 at 11:16 pm |
Nate,
Thank you my brother, for dropping by. It is an honor to me that you subscribed. Thank you. I pray you had a fun/safe Labor Day weekend. Stick with me for a moment.
I guess this is sort of where I was going with that point. If you believe something is wrong – then it is wrong (hence, it is a sin.)
My point is that there are a lot of different things that people perceive differently. Indeed, we have the Ten Commandants that tell us definitively what we should/should not do. There are a myriad of things that are – how do I say this delicately – to one’s own perception or as you said, “premonition.”
I absolutely agree. There are thing in this life, decisions we make, that identify our personalities daily. These are the things we judge ourselves on in a daily basis.
This is what I consider religion and what I do not adhere to. However, that being said. If we consider something a sin to Jesus, then to us, it is a sin and something we need to reconcile with Jesus. I do not consider drinking a sin, much as, I do not adhere to the 600+ laws the Pharisees injected into their local culture as a way to having a relationship with God. I believe that “law” or “religion” was created exactly for what you have stated, “Contempt.” It was a way to humanly judge people for their actions and how we should treat them.
My Jesus forgave me for everything I have done, and he will continue to do so, according to Scripture. I only wish, and I fully believe through you, me and all of our Christian brothers and sisters we can communicate the message: “That Jesus Christ came to this earth. To relieve us of our indiscretions, and to fulfill His duty – the most attested fact in history – that Jesus died on that cross so we could have a personal relationship with Him.”
My closing point is the one I have trouble with, so if you all will give me an extra paragraph or two:
God loves you.
God loves me (more importantly!) Just kidding. Kind of.
That is my point. Above. The last two lines.
We forget. We all want to be the best – at something.
The truth is God loves us equally, no matter how many mistakes we have made. The reason He died on the cross, is to forgive those mistakes, inconsequential of how bad we think they may be. Jesus loves you. He WILL forgive you, if you ask Him.
Nate, thank you for bringing up a very valid point. Have a pint on me!
nostawetan // March 16, 2009 at 1:29 pm |
This is Mike, I’m Nate’s co-writer on the blog that we do. I think that I’m inclined to agree with the concept that if you think something is sin and do it, then it is a sin for you to do that. I suppose the argument runs along the same lines as Paul’s discussion on meat sacrificed to idols. Conscience is the inherent issue that you are appealing to (so far as I can see).
Many sins are not “inherently” evil and can simply be a matter of the conscience or the excessive use of something that was created to be enjoyed.
The other point that I would raise is the problem that of radicalizing individualism, which seems to be a implicit or explicit issue that underlies our conceptualization of sin and maybe even part of the issue here. Namely, not all sin (in fact most) is individual in the broadest sense. It seems to me that a balance must be struck between the individual conscience and the communal conscience (I mean the stance of the people that we fellowship with) for determining which Adiaphora (to use Philip Melancthon’s terms) are actually sin or are matters of the heart.
We are often cross-talking each other about this issue of the individual, community, and morality (in the Biblical, not Deistic sense). Ultimately, I believe things like drinking are a matter of conscience. But that conscience is driven by scripture, community belief, and our ability to do exactly what we are doing now (talking about what all these thing mean). Different “moralities” or stances, if you want to call them that, also shaped/sharpened much of the doctrine that the Church currently has.
Just a few thoughts.