> Date: Sat, 18 Dec 1999 23:10:51 -0500
> From: Michael Bannen <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Wine in the Bible
> Message-Id: <[log in to unmask]>
>
> Hi Frans van Liere,
>
> Samuel Bacchiocchi is a professor from Andews University and a 7th Day
> Adventist. Since his arguments are many and I haven't yet read the entire
> text, I hesitate to summarize his arguments. His conclusion, however, is
> that the Bible gives consistent approval to the moderate use of
> unfermented wine and consistent disapproval to any use of fermented wine,
> other than as a medicine (as in I Tim. 5:23).
I haven't read that particular work, but I have read a couple of other
articles
along those lines. They seem to suffer from a basic inconsistency in that
they state on the one hand that the words used for wine refer to both
fermented
and unfermented grape juice (which would imply that ancient people did not
generally distinguish the two) and yet on the other that the Bible condemns
the consumption of fermented grape juice or wine.
In fact, such a conclusion is completely nonsensical in view of what we
know of the drinking habits of most pre-modern Europeans. For most of
human history, the hazards of drinking fresh water were far more life
threatening than those of drinking beer or wine -- and as a result even
small children drank such beverages until the 19th century or so. I can
only assume that this practice would apply to all of the ancient peoples
who lived around the Mediterranean.
Of course, since Islam introduced prohibitions against the consumption
of alcohol, I am not sure whether Muslims accepted a higher mortality
rate or found some way around the hazards of fresh water. Maybe those
desert wells were less dangerous than European rivers and lakes?
-- David Knott
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