With the many scriptural references to drinking as part of celebration, how did protestants, and expecially Baptists, come to the conclusion that complete abstinence from alcohol is desirable?
I asked a person whose opinion value and they mentioned that during the “Second Great Awakening” as Baptists were evangelizing westward in America they encountered a number of frontiersmen with drinking problems and used scripture to condemen their behavior. Then this attitude sort of stuck.
I would have asked him elaborate, but I had to excuse myself to get another beer…
Any other info out there? I always thought it was a remnant of our Puritain background. Nothing fun can be pleasing to God…but what do I know?
In Methodism, it was more or less a reaction to the pattern of binge drinking that was prevalent in society at the time; gin was plentiful and cheap; most people who drank, did so excessively and to the detriment of themselves, their families and third parties.
In such conditions, it simply wasn’t much of an exaggeration to describe alcohol as a societal evil.
Nothing really tough to figure out here. The problem, as with many problems, is that people insist on generalizing.
Jewish cultural tradition was always to imbibe in moderation, and to eschew habitual drunkenness. Jesus clearly was a man of his time in this regard.
Now, any alcoholic (including AA members) can tell you that some people just plain cannot drink in moderation, but will become addicted, and the only way to keep from indulging that addiction is total abstinence.
19th Century America was loaded with people who drank to excess, and with people who saw slippery slopes everywhere. The net result was an inclination on the part of the latter to feel that alcohol was a danger to everyone and that no one should drink at all. This turned into a virtue, so that “temperance” (moderation) actually became a code word for “abstinence.”
Strictly speaking the Baptist denomination was not part of the protestant reformation. Calling all non-Catholic/Orthodox Christians protestant and assuming they are all against normal use of alcohol is painting with a wide brush. That said I’m ELCA Lutheran and we had beer at our Oktoberfest talent show this year. Other than that I think Polycarp the wise covered it well.
What Padeye says is a good point, but it’s only fair to point out that some of the mainstream Protestant denominations, such as important synods of the Presbyterians, did advocate abstinence from alcohol once upon a time. The United Presbyterian Church in North America was a temperance church until they merged with the UPCUSA in 1957. And back in the days of Prohibition, it was not unusual to see what are now considered the mainstream, moderate Protestant leadership advocating that law.
Don’t flame me for this, but the only input I have on it is, that the pastor of my particular Southern Baptist Church, the pastor claims that wine was actually GRAPE JUICE.
Strange, but the congregation accepted so many of the biblical texts as literal truth, but did not see the ones referring to wine as such.
Likewise, the Baptist churches (non-“Southern” BTW) I attended as a youth made this same proclomation, and also stated that Jesus’ hair wasn’t long as often pictured by actually close-cut and well-groomed by today’s standards! Uh… that’s why I’m non-denominational now (those that know I actually go to Catholic churches now know that it’s because my wife hasn’t made the non-denom leap yet). Oh, what else? There were all the pamphlets about the evils of Dungeons and Dragons, and how the Chinese were building a superhighway to invade India and start World War III. Do the Baptists have a sad story of repression like the Mormons? Then at least I can feel sorry for them…
Let’s stay focused so this doesn’t have to be kicked into GD.
There are several biblical admonitions against drunkenness so it isn’t unexpected that some would just take that to extremes. I like to remind them that the first miracle of Christ noted in the bible was turning water into wine at the wedding at Cana.
Some churches give communion with grape juice not because they consider alcohol evil but so that children and people in recovery can partake of the lord’s supper. Ours is a relatively smal congregation so we offer only juice to dip communion wafers in to keep things simple. My parent’s church, also ELCA, is a growing “jumbotron” church so they offer both juice and wine in every possible permutation of dipping/sipping and kneeling/standing.
I am a member od a Southern Baptist church. I do not believe that drinking, in and of itself, is “wrong” or “sinful”. If you want wine with your dinner or to relax with a beer, fine. I used to drink fairly often and I have been drunk many times. Most of the time nothing bad happened. I have, however, done things while under the influence that I am not proud of. I placed myself and others at unnecessary physical risk, hurt people physically and emotionally and made poor decisions that have had far reaching ramifications - IOW, all the things I strive not to do while sober. The temporary pleasure of drunkeness is not worth the risk of damaging or destroying things that are important to me. It is both easier and wiser to not place myself in a position where that temptation is even an option.
