Is it a sin to drink alcohol

  • Christian Chat is a moderated online Christian community allowing Christians around the world to fellowship with each other in real time chat via webcam, voice, and text, with the Christian Chat app. You can also start or participate in a Bible-based discussion here in the Christian Chat Forums, where members can also share with each other their own videos, pictures, or favorite Christian music.

    If you are a Christian and need encouragement and fellowship, we're here for you! If you are not a Christian but interested in knowing more about Jesus our Lord, you're also welcome! Want to know what the Bible says, and how you can apply it to your life? Join us!

    To make new Christian friends now around the world, click here to join Christian Chat.
Oct 25, 2018
2,377
1,198
113
Right.

It's not the worshiping idols, it's the drinking (it doesn't even say wine in Exodus 32)

It's not the raping drugged unconscious people, it's the fact they drank.

Priorities eh
It wasn’t a sin for the daughters to lay with Noah. It was their getting him passed out smashed that was the sin. Actually, both were.
 

Dino246

Senior Member
Jun 30, 2015
25,606
13,863
113
This isn’t strictly grapes either. Corn ferments into whiskey and moonshine. Watermelon and other fruits make wine. Potatoes ferment into vodka. Anything sugar(also starch in vegetables) will ferment into alcohol.
True. Any sugar or starch source will do (starch is merely complex sugar). The key is the yeast, which converts the sugar into alcohol.
 

John146

Senior Member
Jan 13, 2016
17,176
3,700
113
True. Any sugar or starch source will do (starch is merely complex sugar). The key is the yeast, which converts the sugar into alcohol.
And what does yeast represent?
 

Dino246

Senior Member
Jun 30, 2015
25,606
13,863
113
And what does yeast represent?
That depends on the passage.

Matthew 13:44 He told them still another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.”
 

posthuman

Senior Member
Jul 31, 2013
37,957
13,615
113
New wine is found in the cluster.
That's not in Genesis 40 and it refers to fermentation on the vine - "do not throw it away, there is a blessing in it!"

No one throws away perfectly ripe grapes. Someone might think to throw away over-ripe grapes. Which are grapes that have begun to change sugars into alcohol: scripture calls this a blessing.
 

posthuman

Senior Member
Jul 31, 2013
37,957
13,615
113
That's not in Genesis 40 and it refers to fermentation on the vine - "do not throw it away, there is a blessing in it!"

No one throws away perfectly ripe grapes. Someone might think to throw away over-ripe grapes. Which are grapes that have begun to change sugars into alcohol: scripture calls this a blessing.

Thus saith the LORD, As the new wine is found in the cluster, and one saith, Destroy it not; for a blessing is in it: so will I do for my servants' sakes, that I may not destroy them all.
(Isaiah 65:8)
 

John146

Senior Member
Jan 13, 2016
17,176
3,700
113
Thus saith the LORD, As the new wine is found in the cluster, and one saith, Destroy it not; for a blessing is in it: so will I do for my servants' sakes, that I may not destroy them all.
(Isaiah 65:8)
There’s a blessing in rotten grapes?
 

Lightskin

Well-known member
Aug 16, 2019
3,165
3,665
113
It wasn’t a sin for the daughters to lay with Noah. It was their getting him passed out smashed that was the sin. Actually, both were.
You have an interesting take. I always thought what they did was an act of desperation in an attempt to maintain the bloodline of their people. 🤔
 

John146

Senior Member
Jan 13, 2016
17,176
3,700
113
Grapes that have started to ferment are not "rotten". The verse says nothing, and implies nothing, about the grapes being rotten.

Here’s what I read.

All fruits attract bacteria, yeasts, and molds that would like to feed on them. They don't usually get a chance until the fruit is very ripe; it's protected by a skin. ... The grapes that don't fall off will ferment on the vine, though they'll be infested with all kinds of things in addition to the yeast.
 

Dino246

Senior Member
Jun 30, 2015
25,606
13,863
113
Here’s what I read.

All fruits attract bacteria, yeasts, and molds that would like to feed on them. They don't usually get a chance until the fruit is very ripe; it's protected by a skin. ... The grapes that don't fall off will ferment on the vine, though they'll be infested with all kinds of things in addition to the yeast.
You're engaging in eisegesis.
 

Dino246

Senior Member
Jun 30, 2015
25,606
13,863
113
That was what I googled, sorry.
I understand that, but if you're assuming that what you read from a Google search is what God was meaning in Isaiah 65:8 (which is a reasonable conclusion from your previous few posts), you're engaging in eisegesis.
 

John146

Senior Member
Jan 13, 2016
17,176
3,700
113
I understand that, but if you're assuming that what you read from a Google search is what God was meaning in Isaiah 65:8 (which is a reasonable conclusion from your previous few posts), you're engaging in eisegesis.
My point is, grapes that start to ferment on the vine are rotten, full of bacteria.
 

Dino246

Senior Member
Jun 30, 2015
25,606
13,863
113
My point is, grapes that start to ferment on the vine are rotten, full of bacteria.
That's a conclusion to which you've come by engaging in eisegesis. You have an a priori belief that fermentation is bad, and you're looking for justification for that belief. Three hours ago you didn't know that yeast occurs naturally on grapes. Now you're explaining your interpretation of Isaiah 65:8 on the basis of some Google page that tells you harmful bacteria may get into grapes on the vine. That's true, but God's word says, "There may yet be a blessing in it."

Instead of trying to redefine the passage based on outside information, let Scripture interpret Scripture (where have I heard that before?). The verse is a perfect parallel of Abraham's discussion with God in Genesis 18, and there is no way to infer that Isaiah 65:8 is referring to bacterial rottenness rather than yeast-induced fermentation without a pre-existing bias.
 

John146

Senior Member
Jan 13, 2016
17,176
3,700
113
That's true, but God's word says, "There may yet be a blessing in it."
The blessing is found when one learns to stay away from it.😉

“One cannot become an alcoholic if they never start to drink.”