Binge Drinking and the Bible

There's evidence to suggest that beer has been around for at least 7000 years, and beer along with wine were of course present in the days of the Old and New Testament.

Just like today alcohol featured heavily at weddings (John 2:1-3), was used for medicinal purposes (1 Timonthy 5:23), and also seems to have been used as a simple antiseptic for cleaning up wounds (Luke 10:34). (On a side note, my next door neighbour affectionately refers to his beer as his "medicine"!)

The drinking water in those days probably wasn't up to much and the process of fermentation actually made the water safer to drink. So in some cases beer and wine were consumed on daily basis out of necessity albeit in a form much weaker than the commercially available drinks we're all used to today.

So as far as the Bible is concerned moderate drinking of alcohol is not expressly banned, and in some cases actually seems to be encouraged.

Drinking to excess, binge drinking and alcoholism however seem to be strongly discouraged.

Proverbs 20:1 states:

Wine is a mocker and beer a brawler; whoever is led astray by them is not wise. (NIV)

Can't really argue with that I suppose - how many brawls, fights and arguments have been caused by drinkers over indulging on beer.

Meanwhile in the Old Testament, Isaiah 5:11-12 tells us:

Woe to those who rise early in the morning to run after their drinks,
who stay up late at night till they are inflamed with wine. (NIV)

There is a pub in Edinburgh that opens at 5 am, a complete dive. On the way home from late nights out with friends I used to see tramps and red-faced alcoholics, squat little men milling about outside, waiting for the bar to open, eager for their next fix. Alcohol also causes inflammation of different parts of the body, including the joints, oesophagus and internal organs.

Luke 21:34 says:

Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you suddenly like a trap. (NIV)

Drunkenness and anxieties. Feeling weighed down. Feeling trapped. All sounds like the effects of too much alcohol to me!

There are at least fifty other references to alcohol and drinking in the Bible. They are all worth reading and considering - whether you are a heavy drinker or not.