In Robert Stein’s article mentioned previously, he said “The ratio of water might vary, but only barbarians drank it unmixed, and a mixture of wine and water of equals parts was seen as ‘strong drink’ and frowned upon.” A bit later he says, “In several instances in the Old Testament a distinction is made between […]
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Weak In Faith
So, what does Weak in Faith mean? At first, it appears obvious. It’s similar to weak in math. It carries the idea of having trouble with something. Compare weak in math with strong in math. What thoughts come to mind? One makes us think of someone struggling with math – not being very good at […]
Robert Stein’s article Wine Drinking in New Testament Times was published in the June 20, 1975 issue of Christianity Today. Some prohibitionists consider Stein’s article an important source establishing that wine in biblical times was so diluted that it bears little resemblance to modern alcoholic beverages. The article can still be obtained easily through inter-library […]
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Twenty To One
Homer’s The Odyssey is referenced by some prohibitionists to show that wine was diluted by as much as twenty parts water to one part wine. This is part of the evidence that wine was so diluted in biblical times that it bore no resemblance to modern wine. This mention of The Odyssey is misleading. In […]
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The Da Vinci Code
It’s fiction! What, you didn’t know that?
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Romans 14:1
Romans 14 begins with the imperative, “accept the one who is weak in faith” [NASB]. The first thing to notice is who this command is given to. This command is given to those who have authority to decide who is accepted into the church and who is not, i.e., the leaders of the church. Paul […]
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Habakuk 2:15
Sometimes, this is quoted from Habakuk 2:15: “Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink” This is presented as prooof that it was even forbidden to give an alcoholic beverage to a neighbor – so clearly, all drinking is sin. But, if we bother to crack open our Bible and read the entire verse, we […]
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Not Enough Time
This one’s a hoot: Jesus must have turned the water into grape juice (NOT wine) because it didn’t have time to ferment! It could not possibly have been wine! Jesus transformed hydrogen and oxygen atoms into different elements! He circumvented the natural processes for producing grape juice — no seed, soil, cultivation, irrigation, weed control, […]
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Something Rotten
Perhaps my favorite proof that Jesus turned water into grape juice (NOT wine) is this: Jesus never could have made something dead and rotten! This argument is based on the mistaken idea that fermentation is a process of death and decay. This might have been understandable 150+ years ago, but now we know that fermentation […]
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No Good Reason
This morning, folks attending my church were treated to a bulletin insert that explained why it is wrong for Christians to go to the cinema. Basically, since the author of the article could think of no “good” reason to go to one, it must be sinful to do so. This argument is frequently put forth […]