Did Jesus drink alcohol?

[Runningman]

The Bible doesn’t really define what constitutes drunkeness. It doesn’t define what an unacceptable intensity of a drunken state is nor the frequency one must be drunk to be considered a drunkard.

Based off of the vagueness of the Bible, you’ll get a wide range of answers relative to someone’s personal convictions and interpretation.

My personal opinion is at the point you can’t be a good Christian then you’ve gone too far. What a good Christian is open to interpretation too. Just make a decision and if you’re in doubt then it never hurt anyone to abstain from alcohol completely which I think is the best choice.

 

[joecoten]

It's the same drug.

 

[posthuman]

However...
The first two mentions of wine in scriptures were LOT and his daughters and Noah...

Neither was all that good of a deal.

actually the first is Noah in Genesis 9:21-24, and the second is this:

Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; He the priest of God Most High.
(Genesis 14:18)
​

king & priest
bread and wine

anyone reminded of communion?

 

[jb]

Did Jesus drink alcohol?

The simple answer is "yes He did" and in a controlled responsible manner!

 

[AndrewMorgan]

From what I have learned, they had "new wine," that being wine not yet fermited, and they had fermited wine. I would expect Jesus drank both at one time or another.

That being said, there is a huge difference between wine and "alcohol." Alcohol brings to mind strong drink such as whiskey or some such. I do not believe Jesus ever drank such as these, and there is no evidence that I have found that He did.

Do not know this Pastor Anderson person, so can not comment on the truth of his teachings..

h

The simple answer is "yes He did" and in a controlled responsible manner!

Communion - good point! Thanks, all, for your input. The fact that the Pharisees called him a winebibber does not make Him necessarily so. It could have been a misunderstanding or a lie to discredit Him.

The point Anderson was making was that the word translated "wine" ("oene") meant fruit juice rather than alcohol.

 

[JohnDB]

h

Communion - good point! Thanks, all, for your input. The fact that the Pharisees called him a winebibber does not make Him necessarily so. It could have been a misunderstanding or a lie to discredit Him.

The point Anderson was making was that the word translated "wine" ("oene") meant fruit juice rather than alcohol.

The counter was that John the Baptist didn't drink any wine and they said that he was possessed by a demon.

Meaning that you are never going to please the masses. Never going to seem good enough for people at large whether you drink adult beverages or not.

But to God both of these were His messengers with Jesus being very God of very God.

 

[AndrewMorgan]

I don't know much Greek, so I don't know the correct meaning of "oene".
I'd be interested if anyone could shed some light on the subject.

 

[posthuman]

The point Anderson was making was that the word translated "wine" ("oene") meant fruit juice rather than alcohol.

Well he's wrong about oinos. It's a really common but utterly false teaching.

Ephesians 5:18
And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit

Wine in that verse is oinos - and clearly it can get a person drunk.

 

[JohnDB]

I don't know much Greek, so I don't know the correct meaning of "oene".
I'd be interested if anyone could shed some light on the subject.

Koine Greek and Early Latin are of only limited use in deciphering the scriptures and they must be used in light of the translation methods used for the Septuagint when doing so....because of the many allusions and outright quotes that the New Testament uses of the Old Testament.

Which is why we go to the Hebrew and Aramaic so often. Sure you can translate the Greek and it's useful at times but we always go back to the metaphoric language of Hebrew.

 

[posthuman]

Well he's wrong about oinos. It's a really common but utterly false teaching.

Ephesians 5:18
And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit

Wine in that verse is oinos - and clearly it can get a person drunk.

So now the question is whether or not this pastor is lying to his congregation on purpose or if he simply never did 2 minutes of simple Bible study?

 

[AndrewMorgan]

Koine Greek and Early Latin are of only limited use in deciphering the scriptures and they must be used in light of the translation methods used for the Septuagint when doing so....because of the many allusions and outright quotes that the New Testament uses of the Old Testament.

Which is why we go to the Hebrew and Aramaic so often. Sure you can translate the Greek and it's useful at times but we always go back to the metaphoric language of Hebrew.

Thanks for your point.
Unfortunately, I know even less Hebrew, but it's something that be a useful thought.
I must say I'd never heard anyone say the specific point Anderson made.

 

[AndrewMorgan]

So now the question is whether or not this pastor is lying to his congregation on purpose or if he simply never did 2 minutes of simple Bible study?

I've thought the same thing. He's said he's never tasted alcohol, so maybe he's got a thing about this.
I don't know if you've heard of Anderson. He's considered to be an extremist, and was on a British program about "America's Hate Preachers"

 

[joecoten]

Some people insist that what you put in your body can make you unclean, contrary to what the apostle Paul taught.
Nowhere does scripture say that one is to refrain from alcohol. It clearly teaches against drunkenness. I don't drink,
I want to know what the word says, not what I want it to say.
If one has a drinking problem...why? This should be the focus.

 

[JohnDB]

So now the question is whether or not this pastor is lying to his congregation on purpose or if he simply never did 2 minutes of simple Bible study?

It's morality sermons....
Lots of pastors preach morality (as they see it to be) instead of hermeneutics....explaining what the scriptures actually say.

Explaining the scriptures and not going beyond what is written is not the norm anymore. People with good and evil intentions have been abusing scriptures for thousands of years to license overly legalistic behavior as well as outright sinful behavior.

Nothing new there.

They have gone so far as to create their own translations to emphasize certain things and demote others to promote their peculiar pet theologies.

Here in the USA there's a certain set of scriptures that are preached over and over again. While in Europe it is a different set....South Africa another set indeed....all because of pet theologies that itching ears wish to hear.

After the rise of Saddleback Church, prophesy has been all but forgotten...especially Old Testament prophesy. Because when it is diagrammed and studied carefully it actually makes New Testament prophesy clearer than ever before.

The requisite underlying principles are very academic stuff. 80-90% of pastors preaching from the pulpit don't have the requisite skills to study this stuff much less preach/teach it to congregants.

Here's what....if scriptures were to deliberately name a year that the leadership of churches in a particular country were wicked they would have to find a way of obscuring that fact...so that they could keep the status quo. They would be desperate to do so now that everyone has access to scriptures.

And your favorite utilities used to assist you with scripture studies would need to also help keep you from the truth. Couldn't be obvious....after all this is a "holier than thou" contest.

So how would this be accomplished?

Always got to reverse this stuff and look at it from every angle.

 

[Melach]

Jesus did drink alcohol. just like most people back then. in the tanakh God tells israel spend this money on whatever you like, and lists wine and strong drink, if we take the wine to be non-alcoholic fruit juice then strong drink has to also be twisted to mean something else. what is strong drink? extra strong grape juice? its just so ridicilous and foolish to think that wine means juice. there is a word for juice and its not oinos. oinos means wine.

 

[tourist]

Part of the reason that prompted this question is that Pastor Steven Anderson said that "oene" in the NT refers to non-alcoholic fruit juice.
I'd be interested in reading others' opinions.

Pastor has it all wrong. Jesus turned water into wine at the wedding of Cana.

 

[tourist]

Yes, he did. Consider the topography of Jesus day.

Wine nourishes the body. And when water is not the "turn the tap and drink your fill" luxury it is for us today, a life saver.

Remember too, the wedding at Cana. Just turned water stored in stone jars I to wine at his mother's request.

If drinking alcoholic beverages is a sin, Jesus contributed to sinners ability to sin by making jars full of wine. Rather than leaving the people water to drink.

Of course Jesus could never sin.

Drinking alcoholic beverages is not a sin. Becoming drunk, losing or compromising your faculties, is.

Hope that helps.

I fully concur with your estimation.

 

[tourist]

I was under the impression that wine needs to ferment. So if thats the case id say no but then again if the wine had a chance to age....? Or possible there were 2 kinds of wine offered?

Having turned water into wine I am sure that Jesus was capable of it being fermented. Who drinks grape juice at a wedding?

 

[Edify]

mr. anderson says a lot of things.

how many are true??

that is the question.

but, my opinion- Jesus was called a winebibber.

so that points to alcohol.

Nope....
He needs to learn proper anthropology.

They called Jesus a drunk for a reason...and it wasn't because he always abstained from alcohol.

I cringe when believers can't agree on the simplest texts, yet fully falsely agree to the accusations of the scribes & pharisees.
I suppose Jesus was playing with evil spirits because they said he has a demon & cast out devils through the prince of demons?
Don't insult my Savior, praise & glorify Him instead & give Him the glory due His great Name.

 

[Edify]

What has become of the modern church when people excuse their drinking of over 25% alcohol, 2-3 glasses at a meal?
Back then, decent water was scarce. They mixed wine in the water to kill germs.
Point is, we no longer have such problems, therefore we have no such excuses.