Postmillennial Worldview

PMW 2024-077 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

This is my fourth installment in a series considering passages in Scripture that seemingly prohibit any consumption of alcohol. We are discovering that these verses have to be ready uncarefully and uncontextually. Let us continue.

Proverbs 23:31-32

Do not look upon the wine when it is red,
When it sparkles in the cup,
When it goes down smoothly-,
At the last it bites like a serpent,
And stings like a viper.

Undoubtedly this passage is one of the most frequently employed texts in the debate over wine drinking. Indeed, prohibitionist Reynolds in his Alcohol and the Bible not only opens his major argument (p. 9) with this passage, but closes his book by referring to it (p. 64). He cites this passage over twenty times in his follow up work, Biblical Approach to Alcohol. We may fairly state that, according to Reynolds and those of like persuasion, this passage is the most significant and compelling prohibitionist statement in Scripture. Reynolds comments: “It is the intent of this essay to prove that Proverbs teaches an absolute prohibition against the beverage use of alcohol.” Before interpreting the passage, then, it will be helpful to cite some of Reynolds’s observations on it. Continue reading →

PMW 2024-076 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

In this survey of alleged negative passages regarding alcohol consumption, we come to perhaps the most used passage in this regard, Proverbs 20:1.

Proverbs 20:1

Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler.
And whoever is intoxicated by it is not wise.

Charismatic Gift of Prophecy
(by Kenneth Gentry)

A rebuttal to charismatic arguments for the gift of prophecy continuing in the church today. Demonstrates that all revelatory gifts have ceased as of the conclusion of the Apostolic era.

See more study materials at: www.KennethGentry.com

Although not tied to unique circumstance, this verse does not universally prohibit wine drinking. The statement refers to the inebriating potential of wine and strong drink, of which the user must be wary. It warns those who use it immoderately. Note the following observations:

First, the general warning pattern. The warning “wine is a mocker” follows the pattern of 1 Corinthians 8:1, which says that “knowledge makes arrogant.” Obviously neither Christian ethics nor a biblical world-view disparage the quest for knowledge as a proper function of rational beings generally, or of Christians specifically. In certain respects wine-consumption and knowledge-acquisition are similar, and bring certain responsibilities with them. That is, each can be used for either good or evil. The point of Proverbs is that wine has the potential to mock, just as the point of Paul is that knowledge has the potential to make arrogant. Not all who have knowledge are “arrogant.” Neither do all who partake of wine become “mockers” or “brawlers.”
Continue reading →

PMW 2024-075 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

This is my second in a five-part series on the Christian and alcoholic beverages. I am highlighting the passages that many evangelicals believe condemn any and all use of wine or alcoholic beverages.

Numbers 6:2–6

This famous passage reads:

“Speak to the sons of Israel, and say to them, “When a man or woman makes a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to dedicate himself to the LORD, he shall abstain from wine and strong drink; he shall drink no vinegar, whether made from wine or strong drink, neither shall he drink any grape juice, nor eat fresh or dried grapes. All the days of his separation he shall not eat anything that is produced by the grape vine, from the seeds even to the skin. All the days of his vow of separation no razor shall pass over his head. He shall be holy until the days are fulfilled for which he separated himself to the LORD; he shall let the locks of hair on his head grow long. All the days of his separation to the LORD he shall not go near to a dead person.”

Again Scripture here clearly prohibits wine drinking. But just as before, this is a special circumstance totally irrelevant to our standing and conduct today. This prohibition is a piece of Naziritic legislation that forbid wine only after taking a peculiar, public vow (v. 2). Old covenantal ceremonial actions and vows no longer prevail in the new covenant order (Heb. 8:13).
Continue reading →

PMW 2024-074 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

In this new five-part series I will focus on a pesky biblical worldview question: Does the Bible condemn alcohol use? I believe it does not, for even Jesus turned water into wine. But the approach I will take in this series is to consider the leading passages that some evangelicals believe condemn alcohol consumption. Several biblical passages seem upon cursory reading to imply that all wine drinking is prohibited. I will focus on the nine most prominent passages employed in the argument against imbibing. I will provide brief explanatory statements showing that these passages perfectly harmonize with my statement that God does not prohibit is consumption.

Leviticus 10:8–11 reads:

The LORD then spoke to Aaron, saying, “Do not drink wine or strong drink, neither you nor your sons with you, when you come into the tent of meeting, so that you may not die — it is a perpetual statute throughout your generations — and so as to make a distinction between the holy and profane, and between the unclean and the clean, and so as to teach the sons of Israel all the statutes which the LORD has spoken to them through Moses.”

Continue reading →