Revisiting Wine and Gladness

It’s been six years since I posted my thoughts on wine, in one of my most read posts. In “Wine to Gladden the Heart of Man”: Thoughts on God’s Good Gift of Wine I traced out the connection that I believe the Old Testament makes between wine and joy, and why I think that indicates that enjoying a glass of wine is permissible (and even recommended) for a Christian.

Over the years since, I’ve further developed and fine-tuned my position on this controversial topic. And I’ve appreciated anew the position of many that drinking wine should be avoided for various wisdom issues related to interacting with our culture. But my basic position still stands. I believe that Scripture praises wine, with it’s joy-producing qualities (a relaxed, calmed mind and uplifted heart) as a good gift from God for mankind. God gave us this for our good, but like many of God’s other gifts (food, sex, etc.) we abuse it and suffer the consequences. We can enjoy the gift of wine without sinfully abusing it and becoming intoxicated (or drunk). Drunkenness is sin, not a disease; but Christians can responsibly enjoy wine without getting drunk (which is sinful and wrong). I have never come close to being drunk, but I have learned to appreciate the gift of wine.

I bring this up because over at Sharper Iron last week, Aaron Blumer posted a response to my article. His post is titled “The True Gladness of Wine,” and takes dead aim right at my central thesis. I respect his careful argumentation and clear position. He is gracious and fair, and he agrees with the majority of scholarship in holding that the vast majority of the instances where the word wine is used in Scripture is referring to alcoholic wine. But I don’t believe he successfully undercuts my primary thesis which I will summarize below. I’m only now responding on my blog, but I have participated in the comments on his post. You can read the 100+ comments over there and follow the whole exchange (which has been more charitable and instructive compared to other such comment threads). Before I proceed with the rest of this post, however, I want to stress that in over 1,000 published posts here at Fundamentally Reformed, this will be only the 10th post devoted to the topic. This isn’t the most important topic facing the church at large and I refuse to make it my hobby horse of choice. Still, from time to time I do discuss the issue because it is important. And everyone should take time to think through their position on this matter.

Rather than rehashing the back and forth from Sharper Iron, or summarizing and then critiquing Aaron’s post, I thought I would just detail here the connection between wine and joy, and why I think that the joy produced by wine is related to the alcoholic properties of wine. My primary point is that God teaches us that the alcoholic properties of wine were intended to be a blessing (which can be abused in violation of God’s will for us).

Wine and Joy

Before I begin, I want to stress that the evils of drunkenness are too large and real to be ignored and I agree that abstinence is one very reasonable way of dealing with that. But for me, it was Scripture’s teaching on wine which compelled me to pick up a glass and experience the joy of wine first hand. I felt like I was denigrating a God-created substance through my views on it and my cultural taboo that I held about it–I was placing reason and experience above Scripture. Everyone needs to think through this for themselves, and my liberty should not require others to partake of wine. But let me try to show why I think the teaching of Scripture on wine and gladness is so persuasive an argument for drinking wine in moderation.

Consider the following verses:

Wine and Gladness

But the vine said to them, ‘Shall I leave my wine that cheers God and men and go hold sway over the trees?’ (Judges 9:13)

You cause the grass to grow for the livestock and plants for man to cultivate, that he may bring forth food from the earth and wine to gladden the heart of man, oil to make his face shine and bread to strengthen man’s heart. (Ps. 104:14-15)

Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do. (Eccl. 9:7)

Bread is made for laughter, and wine gladdens life, and money answers everything. (Eccl. 10:19)

The wine mourns, the vine languishes, all the merry-hearted sigh. (Isaiah 24:7, see also vs. 8-11 and Is. 16:10)

Then Ephraim shall become like a mighty warrior, and their hearts shall be glad as with wine. Their children shall see it and be glad; their hearts shall rejoice in the LORD. (Zechariah 10:7)

Drunkenness and a Merry Heart

And when their hearts were merry, they said, “Call Samson, that he may entertain us.” So they called Samson out of the prison, and he entertained them. They made him stand between the pillars. (Judges 16:25)

And Abigail came to Nabal, and behold, he was holding a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. And Nabal’s heart was merry within him, for he was very drunk. So she told him nothing at all until the morning light. In the morning, when the wine had gone out of Nabal, his wife told him these things, and his heart died within him, and he became as a stone. (1 Sam. 25:36)

Then Absalom commanded his servants, “Mark when Amnon’s heart is merry with wine, and when I say to you, ‘Strike Amnon,’ then kill him. Do not fear; have I not commanded you? Be courageous and be valiant.” (2 Samuel 13:28 )

On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha and Abagtha, Zethar and Carkas, the seven eunuchs who served in the presence of King Ahasuerus, (Esther 1:10)

While they are inflamed I will prepare them a feast and make them drunk, that they may become merry, then sleep a perpetual sleep and not wake, declares the Lord. (Jeremiah 51:39)

There are a host of additional passages and verses that establish a connection between wine and joy, and loss of wine and loss of joy. My original post details those. What the second set of verses above establish, however, is that a merry heart is specifically connected with drunkenness. There is a specific kind of joy or merriness that is organically caused by wine. So wine and joy don’t just go together like peas in a pod (in that culture without lots of healthy beverage choices), instead there is a causal connection between wine and joy. The wine is causing people to have a merry heart in a particular sort of way.

1 Sam. 25:36 and Jeremiah 51:39 are most clear in establishing this connection. But I argue that a full-blown merry heart (complete with drunken stupor) does not have to result from “drink[ing] your wine with a merry heart.” In fact, Ps. 104:15 again takes center stage in this. God gave wine specifically to “gladden” our hearts. It causes merriment to happen. A relaxed and uplifted spirit, which is the experience of drinking wine after just a few sips, certainly is a joyous thing. And this is why wine is connected with feasting in Scripture and in so many other medieval (and older) cultures. Festal joy and festal drink go hand in hand. Yes there is joy that isn’t caused by the wine, but the wine adds its own joy. This is why (I believe) the joys of harvest and good food go together with wine often in some of the joy passages. But more than merely joy at the harvest or joy from the food is in view. The wine gives a joy of its own which enhances the entire experience.

So I posit a causal role for wine. Wine causes merriness (the sort that is displayed by drunken people, as well as other sorts of merriness). And this very merriment-inducing quality is what God praises. It is in this light that we should read the passages in the first list, like Judges 9:13 and Ps. 104:15.

Wine in Bible times

My thesis is aided by the general consensus that fermented wine was definitely being partaken of in the Bible times. In the OT, we don’t see evidence of wine being diluted (see Is. 1:22), that came about only later. Later, Greek and Roman cultures praised diluted wine and Jewish culture eventually followed suit. Yet even with diluted wine, the average ratio would put the alcoholic content at around 2.5 or 3.5% (by comparison the average beer sold has between 3.2 and 4% alcoholic content). But with all the passages above, my point here is that fermented drink was definitely in view. For more on this point, see my post “Isaiah 16:10 and the Two-Wine Theory.”

Additional Points

Before I conclude, consider three final points.

First, there are a few passages which speak clearly of alcoholic wine in one verse, and a few verses later wine is referred to in a positive light. Nothing indicates we should assume that the wine was different in the case of the alcoholic variety and the variety which is praised. In 1 Sam. 1:14, Eli tells Hannah to “put your wine away from [her]“. But in vs. 24, Hannah brings wine with her on her trip back to Shiloh. Nothing indicates that the wine Hannah brought would be different than the wine Eli thought she was drinking earlier. In 1 Sam. 25:18, Abigail serves wine for David and his men, then later in verses 36-37 Nabal is drunk with wine. Nothing in the context would lead us to think the drink David and his men received was different from that which made Nabal drunk. The difference of course is Nabal immoderately drank the wine, whereas David and his men didn’t. Joel 1:5, 10 is another similar passage.

Second, Scripture clearly praises alcoholic wine. Isaiah 25:6 is definitely referring to alcoholic wine when it indicates that such wine will characterize the blessings of Christ’s future kingdom: “And in this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all people a feast of choice pieces, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of well-refined wines on the lees. (NKJV) “. “Wines on the lees” is translated in most modern versions as “well-aged wine”.

Third, Nehemiah when describing what supplies were given to him as Judean governor, mentions all kinds of wines. Nothing indicates that he did not partake of them. And the context is one of approval, as he is writing inspired Scripture. Here is the passage: “Now what was prepared at my expense for each day was one ox and six choice sheep and birds, and every ten days all kinds of wine in abundance. Yet for all this I did not demand the food allowance of the governor, because the service was too heavy on this people.” (Neh. 5:18 ) So if there is two kinds of wine, this passage indicates Nehemiah partook of both.

I think the preponderance of evidence is in favor of my conclusion – which the majority of the church down through the ages has also held to. I conclude that the moderate enjoyment of alcoholic drinks is something God has intended for our good. God gave wine to man for our good and for the temporary relief of stress and other health benefits that it brings – and to give us the joy that we have when we drink good wine with good friends and people. This festal joy was God’s gift to man and God designed all of this when he created the natural fermentation process and the gift of wine.

If you want to read more on this topic, I’d encourage you to peruse my other posts on wine. And if you’re brave, you can dig through all the comments (there’s quite a few debates preserved there).

Book Briefs: “From The Resurrection to His Return” by D.A. Carson

When Christians think of the end times, they usually look up. Christ’s imminent return and “being left behind” come to mind, as do signs of the times, beasts, antichrists, and Armageddon. And what’s more, there are endless debates over millennial positions, and whether the rapture is pre-wrath, or pre-, mid-, or post-trib. And with such a focus, we tend to miss the main point of Scripture when it focuses on the end times.

D.A. Carson in a short little book from Christian Focus Publications, sets our sights on what’s most important when it comes to the end times. In From The Resurrection to His Return: Living Faithfully in the Last Days, he argues that Christians since Paul’s time down to today have been living in the age of the end times. And this reality, he argues, should impact how we live and think. In this book he takes us through 2 Timothy 3 and 4, and offers practical reflections on how to orient ourselves in these last days.

The chapters are short, but the points made are profound. Carson writes with a refined style that’s been sharpened through his many years of waging scholarly battles for truth, while at the same time basking in the Gospel. He is a rare blend of scholasticism and heart, intellect and emotion, humility and widespread renown. He shares a good many gems of wisdom in the pages of this book, which make it well worth picking up (or downloading to your e-reader).

Sometimes the simple truths are the hardest to see and live out. So what Carson offers us in this devotional study is as helpful as when he gives us 400 more pages with hundreds of footnotes (in one of his commentaries, perhaps). He presses home the importance of mentoring, of speaking the Word to others, and the dangers of false teaching. He shares poignant insights as in his contention that when Paul refers to evil men waxing “worse and worse”, that he does not mean that each generation gets worse. Rather it is that “evil people get worse and worse”. I don’t want to steal Carson’s thunder in rehashing all the best parts of his book, but I do want to provide an excerpt to give you a feel for his style and to encourage you to pick up this little book.

Some who go by the name of ‘Evangelical’ view the Bible in such scrappy atomistic bits that they can find moralising lessons here and there, but cannot see how the Bible gives us the gospel of Jesus Christ. But the Bible is not a magic book, as in: “A verse a day keeps the devil away”. It is a book that points us to Jesus, and this Jesus saves and transforms…. These Scriptures make you “wise for salvation”.

With the book’s catchy cover, the author (and his appeal), together with the subject matter (the end times), I have to admit that I was hoping for more. But even with the shorter length of this work (60 pages), there is much value. Hopefully for some, it will introduce them to D.A. Carson and make them want more. For others, it will provide a helpful reminder of the main point concerning the Bible’s end-times teaching. And for all who pick up this book, it will be both an encouragement and a challenge. May Christ come quickly, and find his people “living faithfully in the end times”.

Pick up a copy of this book: Westminster Bookstore, ChristianBook.com, Amazon.com, or direct from the publisher.

Disclaimer: This book (the Kindle e-book version) was provided by Christian Focus Publications. I was under no obligation to offer a favorable review.

About Book Briefs: Book Briefs are book notes, or short-form book reviews. They are my informed evaluation of a book, but stop short of being a full-length book review.

In the Box: Books from Kregel, Brazos, Eerdmans and IVP

In the Box posts highlight new books I’ve received in the mail.

Over the last couple years, I’ve really enjoyed staying up to date with many of the new books being published by the major Christian publishers. This year, I plan to share news and thoughts on publishing and books more often here at Fundamentally Reformed. One of the recurring posts I plan to showcase is my “In the Box” series. In these posts, I’ll showcase new books received or purchased in the last week or so.

Today’s post will cover the last 3 weeks or thereabouts — and it won’t cover all the books I’ve received, otherwise this will get too long. I won’t mention (or I guess I am mentioning!) that I just love the NIV Application Commentary series and am slowly adding to my collection. Or that I picked up the IVP Bible Background Commentary on the OT to match my NT volume. Well, enough about that, now on to the new titles of note I’ve received in the last 2-3 weeks or so.

Invitation to Biblical Interpretation by Andreas Kostenberger and Richard Patterson (Kregel)

Never before have I encountered a book with this many endorsements! I counted 39 endorsements on 13 pages! The book is quite impressive, so I guess it earned all the glowing remarks. With that many positive remarks from so many different respected Christian leaders, I am all the more excited to read and review this book! It looks to be an accessible and comprehensive manual on interpreting Scripture.

UPDATE: Read my review of this book here.

To learn more about the book, visit the book detail page at Kregel, or check out the sample pages at Westminster Bookstore.

Reformation Commentary on Scripture – Volume 12: Ezekiel, Daniel (IVP)

This is the second volume in the Reformation Commentary on Scripture series from IVP. They are doing for the Reformation era writers what they did with the Church Fathers in the Ancient Christian Commentary series. Many of the comments included in this book have never before been available in English. It promises to open up a window into the thought of the Reformers like nothing else. This is also a beautiful volume, that will earn a prominent spot on anyone’s bookshelf.

To learn more about the book, visit the book detail page at InterVarsity Press, or check out the preview available at Amazon.com.

The Best of The Reformed Journal edited by James Bratt and Ronald Wells (Eerdmans)

This book brings the best articles from The Refromed Journal, which was a top-notch journal from 1951 to 1990. The selections range from comments on humor and literature to politics and theology. Reflections on Billy Graham and JFK, baseball and Watergate, the Vietnam war and conservatism. This anthology promises to be an enjoyable look at some of the best evangelical writing of years gone by. Authors of the excerpted articles include Richard Mouw, George Marsden, Mark Noll, Cornelius Plantinga, Nicholas Wolterstorff, Stanley Hauerwas and many others.

UPDATE: Read my review of this book here.

To learn more about the book, visit the book detail page at Eerdmans, or check out the preview available at Amazon.com.

The Evolution of Adam: What the Bible Does and Doesn’t Say about Human Origins by Peter Enns (Brazos Press)

I will have much more to say about this book in the near future. I jumped into this work with both feet as soon as it arrived at my door. I was intrigued by the subject matter and impressed with Enns’ writing abilities. But ultimately, I was disappointed and alarmed by how far he took things.

The topic is controversial so there will be a variety of opinions on this, I’m sure. Enns seeks to show how we should best think of Adam in light of evolution. His contention is that Scripture is often misunderstood when it comes to the Adam story. It remains to be seen whether he succeeds in his quest.

To learn more about the book, visit the book detail page at Brazos Press, or check out the excerpt available at Christianbook.com.

Dr. Russell Moore: A Gospel-Centered Response to the Komen Foundation and Planned Parenthood

Dr. Russell Moore struck gold in his comments Friday on the Susan G. Komen Foundation’s reversal of their decision to remove funding for Planned Parenthood. I really appreciated his viewpoint and wanted to share some of his article posted on Christianity Today here.

Some pro-life persons might wish that the Christian churches had as much influence in the public arena as Planned Parenthood, that we were able to mobilize as many callers and threaten as many boycotts. Some might see this as a sign that we need more money and respect. After all, if some Christian foundation had more financial firepower than Planned Parenthood, Komen might have stood firm…

In all of this, though, we can gain an opportunity to see what the abortion culture is all about: cash. Planned Parenthood and their allies use the thoroughly American language of freedom of choice and women’s empowerment, but what’s at stake, as seen here, are billions of dollars…

The answer for those of us who cherish the lives of women and their children, regardless of stage of development, isn’t to long to compete with Planned Parenthood in the influence that comes with massive amounts of wealth. It’s instead to see, first of all, how our own captivity to Mammon devolves us in the same way…

We don’t need a Christian foundation to compete with the merchants of death. We don’t need one more coalition with enough signatures to counter the threatened boycotts of the abortion rights peddlers. And we sure don’t need to sell bumper stickers with a line drawn through a pink ribbon.

What we need, first of all, are churches who recognize that this isn’t all that surprising. Mammon is a jealous god, and he’s armed to the teeth….

And then we need to demonstrate what it means to believe that a person’s life consists in more than the abundance of his possessions.

Let’s stop highlighting how God “blesses” the millionaire who tithes. Let’s stop trumpeting the celebrity football players and beauty queens as evidence of God’s blessing. Let’s show that God has blessed us in a Christ who never had a successful career or a balanced bank account, but who was blessed by God with life, and with children that no one can number, from every tribe, tongue, nation, and language.

Planned Parenthood has won this one. They spent a lot of money, and they’ll make a lot of money. And they’ll do so off the shredded corpses of children and the raped consciences of women. If Jesus’ kingdom were of this world, we’d be fundraising to keep up with them.

But what we have is greater than that. We have a word that tells a pregnant young woman that we believe her Down Syndrome baby is a gift, not a health care burden. And we can offer the kind of gospel that cleanses the conscience and offers what outlasts money and power: life and that to the uttermost.

Let’s work to legally protect women and children. And let’s grieve that old Mammon has won the day, again. But let’s not grieve like the pagans who have no hope. When it comes to the struggle for life, the color of victory isn’t pink like a ribbon. It’s red like a cross. [Read the full article]

The Mexico Trip

It is stories like this, corroborated by several people who were there, which make my faith in Fairhaven Baptist Church’s account of things waver. CNN took down the video clip of last night’s broadcast segment on Fairhaven. I’m not entirely sure why. But on the video, Roger Voegtlin said he was not aware of Butch McCoy’s story as shared below. I’ve been told that he was made aware of the story by a professor at the college. This professor confronted Roger Voegtlin about this, and that was part of the rationale he had for leaving Fairhaven.

Why am I about to share the details of this story to everyone on my blog? Especially when I can’t corroborate it? Because it would appear that many have tried to silence this story. The CNN video clip which has been taken down, talked about this in part, and I want to share the story here for others to see. This should help explain why people would want to “out” Fairhaven via CNN, and I would have to hope that everyone would agree that the actions described below are harsh, abusive and just plain wrong. Even if in some particulars the events were slightly less severe as described below, it still is alarming.

One more reason I have for sharing this, is that I intend to talk about a philosophy of discipline and this is a negative extreme that can flesh out the ramifications of our philosophy. Sadly actions like these, and there were other stories recounted on similar teen trips sponsored by Fairhaven that are similarly rife with humiliation and physical abuse, have poisoned the hearts of many of the children such tactics were intended to win. And Fairhaven has the distinction of scores and scores of children who’ve been raised there only to “go bad” and leave the church running headlong into the world. That alone should say these tactics don’t work, and should alarm people about the philosophy of discipline and family advocated at Fairhaven.

Finally, I should share another reason. I went there, and I have family who have been influenced by the place. I’ve known about such tales for some time and haven’t spoken out as strongly as I should. I believe this is my duty, to speak strongly against what I believe to be is at least a horrible neglect when it comes to reigning in the actions of members who abuse their children, and what may well be a culture of using harsh physical corrective discipline in ways that go way beyond the bounds of common decency and Christian love.

You’ll have to click this link, to read the story. I’ve already gone so long as it is. The link goes to a page on my site with a copy of the story that’s been spreading around Fairhaven and is signed by several people who were there and witnessed all this. Comments will be closed on this post, as well. No need to glory and revel in the sad tale shared here. Just take it as a lesson of what can happen by well intentioned people who are not thinking through what they’re doing to young people well enough.