Recently I heard Pastor Anderson speak very harshly about alcohol. His claim was that it is a sin to drink anything alcoholic. Any time the Bible shows any righteous person drinking or any time the Bible makes a positive statement about wine, it was talking about unfermented wine.

Of course this is complete rubbish. Wine starts fermenting the second it comes off the press, and the only way to stop fermentation is modern chemicals. But this nonsense persists in spite of physics.

Contrary to what Pastor Anderson claims, the Bible completely encourages certain forms and levels of intoxicating drink:

Pro 31:6 Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts.
Pro 31:7 Let him drink, and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more.

This proverb, a prophecy of God, makes no sense through the lens of Anderson. How would drinking grape juice make someone forget their worries, and if it was non-alcoholic, why would the previous verse say for princes not to partake in it? This is definitely alcoholic wine, wine which is recommended by God to be used as an anti-depressant.

Likewise, one of God’s curses/harms of rebellion from God is that Israel’s wine is diluted:

Isa 1:21 How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.
Isa 1:22 Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water:

Why would God mention grape juice being diluted? And if wine is sinful, why is God listing it as a curse. This would be the equivalent to God saying drug users can no longer shoot drugs into their arm if their arm is cut off due to drug use. It makes no sense.

Furthermore, one of God’s qualifications to become a leader in the church is that the men in question do not drink too much wine:

1Ti 3:8 Likewise must the deacons be grave, not doubletongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre;

If this wine is not alcoholic, why would God not just condemn gluttony? If this is alcoholic wine, why would God not condemn any drinking of wine? It is readily apparent that church leaders can partake in some wine.

The real clincher is not that Paul recommends Timothy to drink some wine for health reasons (1Ti 5:23), but Christ made “good” wine for his very first miracle:

Joh 2:9 When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom,
Joh 2:10 And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now.

Notice that the men are well drunk by the time the inferior wine comes out. The good wine was the more alcoholic wine, something confirmed by even modern standard. It was the alcoholic wine that Jesus made. Jesus made “good” wine.

Wine is not sinful. As Jesus said:

“Mat 15:11 Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.”

Alcohol is not a sin, but being a drunkard is a sin. All the quotes in the Bible concerning alcohol and sinning deals with drunkenness, not the rare drunken night or drinking to drown sorrow, but the wanton gluttony that characterized drunkards.