# Scriptural support for non-drinking?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scriptural-support-for-non-drinking/328307>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [October 28, 2005, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scriptural-support-for-non-drinking/328307 "2005-10-28T13:46:36Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\
**Post date:** [October 31, 2005, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scriptural-support-for-non-drinking/328307/21 "2005-10-31T14:22:56Z")

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Good post, **e-logic**.

In fact, one could interpret Romans 14 as saying that drinking’s okay _if_ you don’t have a problem with it and if you don’t cause trouble for people who _do_ have a problem with it.

A few years ago I read the minor Christian classic _In His Steps_. (This is the novel, written about a hundred years ago, from whence the “What Would Jesus Do?” meme sprang.) And I was struck by how similar the attitude toward alcohol and drinking in this pre-Prohibition-era book was to, say, the attitude toward crack today: as a Bad Thing that needed to be rooted out, and a major source of the social ills that plague people, particularly the poor and inner-city people of the day.

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**Author:** ![Stonebow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Stonebow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stonebow)\
**Post date:** [October 31, 2005, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scriptural-support-for-non-drinking/328307/22 "2005-10-31T14:59:47Z")

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Thanks for all of the great replies so far. So, if I am to understand it, it’s largely either a) cultural or b) the result of placing heavier weight on OT scripture?

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**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\
**Post date:** [October 31, 2005, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scriptural-support-for-non-drinking/328307/23 "2005-10-31T15:12:42Z")

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Just for completeness, I’ll report that the LDS Church has a “new commandment,” which is considered to be appropriate for current times although it was not in the past. It’s a dietary rule covering all the stuff Mormons are famous for, like no tobacco, alcohol, or coffee/tea, while also enjoining a diet light on meat and full of grains and vegetables.

So while we know that Biblical people routinely drank wine, we don’t ourselves. Though we do expect the rule to be relaxed someday. Hope that helps.

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**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\
**Post date:** [November 1, 2005, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scriptural-support-for-non-drinking/328307/24 "2005-11-01T03:38:54Z")

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> [@Stonebow](#):
>
> Thanks for all of the great replies so far. So, if I am to understand it, it’s largely either a) cultural or b) the result of placing heavier weight on OT scripture?

No. The OT is not anti-drinking. Really, your question has been answered- the Bible is anti-drunkeness not anti-booze.

Do note however that the\* Koran \*is pretty anti-booze.

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