Drinking in Moderation is OK

A Catholic View of Alcohol · Drinking in Moderation is OK · Narcissism and Selfishness do NOT Define Sin

What does the Bible say about drinking? | 412teens.org
412teens | 11 April 2024
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3crAb0wzOjU

0:28 "regular drinking water wasn't very clean"

When you dug your own well? When you got it from running waters?

Doen't seem very realistic.

0:44 People still drink wine or other alcohol for health reasons.

If I may be somewhat nasty, sorry, if you want a laxative, sugary stuff is better, but if you want a diuretic, alcohol is better.

0:49 "it is unlikely that Biblical wine was fermented to the levels of modern day wines"

If you mean Port or Sherry, they are not just fermented, they have distilled alcohol added to stop the fermentation while there is sugar left.

If you mean Côte de Rhone or Bordeau or Bourgogne, I can't for my life see why. Fermentation goes up to the level when alcohol kills off yeast, at c. 16 % as long as there is any glucose left to ferment.

In places like the Rhine or Moselle, historically, glucose levels don't get all that high, because it's not very hot. In the Holy Land it definitely was hotter than that.

Now a historic alcohol strength of a Rhine or Moselle, at the very lowest, would be 9 %, the equivalent of a very strong beer.

0:53 Ps 103:15 has And that wine may cheer the heart of man. That he may make the face cheerful with oil: and that bread may strengthen man's heart.

This very clearly means that the initial euphoria is not drunkenness in the Biblical sense where it is condemned.

I obviously appreciate the reference to Our Lord's first public miracle.

2:55 "what is not OK is drunkenness, addiction, or allowing your actions to harm others"

What does "addiction" mean here?

There are men of an older generation of Evangelicals, of Muslim or 7 D A or Mormon persuasions who will take habitual alcohol use as a clear sign of addiction, no matter the quantities.

There are also people who want to discredit a writer or to find a solution for a homeless person by pretending he's an addict. I am both a writer and homeless, so concerned.

This also concerns a big portion of Swedish health care system, since Swedes had a big drinking problem among poor in the 19th C. and overreacted by teetotalist movements.

412teens

@412teens

I'm so sorry to hear of your housing situation! Praying that God provides some solutions for your needs.

The kind of addiction we are talking about is dependency upon a substance--whether physically or mentally. If someone is using a substance in such a way that they cannot stop or function without it, then that is addiction. In this way, addiction has a negative effect on one's life and relationships, and help should be sought to find freedom from reliance on that substance.

Hans-Georg Lundahl

@hglundahl

@412teens "If someone is using a substance in such a way that they cannot stop or function without it, then that is addiction."

Including medication for high glucose?

412teens

There is nothing inherently wrong with taking prescription medication. Prescribed medication, so long as it is being used as prescribed, can actually HELP us function in daily life, so that is not what we're talking about here. Those medications (such as for managing diabetes) are fine because they help the body function better.

Needing prescribed medication to help your body function better is not addiction; it is a medical treatment for better physical (or mental) health. If someone is using alcohol (for example) to regulate their stress and anxiety, then that is not going to lead to better health. Does that difference make sense?

And while there ARE addictive prescription medications, under medical supervision, they can still be beneficial. Of course, prescription medications might be abused by the user, but that is not following how their doctor has prescribed it. I hope this helps!

Hans-Georg Lundahl

@412teens "Those medications (such as for managing diabetes) are fine because they help the body function better."

So, if I use alcohol in a comparable way, helping the body to function better by peeing well before I go to sleep, what's the difference?

412teens

@hglundahl I was addressing prescription medications there--not self-medicating with alcohol. Also, there are much healthier ways to help you urinate than drinking alcohol--such as drinking more water! The cost-benefit of abusing alcohol is not worth the perceived outcomes.

Hans-Georg Lundahl

@412teens The 3—4 cl. alcohol per evening, like 1 pint of beer or 25 cl wine, are not abuse.

They also replace calories from solid to liquid. Meaning I have to shit less next morning, pretty important if the nearest toilet apart from bars are 500 meters / 1640 feet away.

Drinking more water may be healthier, but that's one part of the stress I am living under. Bottled water costs. Getting it from taps is easy as pie if you are in an apartment or work in a place where you have access to the kitchen, less so if you're on the street.