In the next several posts I plan to discuss the sensitive topic of consumption. This post will serve as the introduction to the discussion. In subsequent posts I plan to present the core topic, motivations for the use of different substances, a plea for consistency, my assesment, and concluding remarks.
The term "intoxication" in its biblical category is generally thought of as the altered mental state acquired by ingesting chemicals made, in part, to do just that. Alcohol (beer, wine and strong drink), being the most commonly mentioned in Scripture, will also be the term I use by default, to include any intoxicating substance. Even so, we must observe that there have for millennia been people who have ingested other substances in addition to alcohol with the intent of altering their mental state. In the comparison I'm about to make as the article is meted out, I don't want to imply that the degree or quality of intoxication by these different substances is the same (in some cases it isn't even similar) but I have felt that their common effects and the common motives behind taking them deem it necessary to make at least that much of a comparison. I do also want to point out my lack of knowledge regarding the specific uses of some prescription drugs or for that matter, the chemical make-up of any drug, so my comparisons between the specific chemical effects of alcohol and anti-depressants may not be scientifically engaged but the principles I'm trying to promote beg forgiveness for any pharmaceutical misunderstanding.
Arguably the Scriptural warnings against the abuse of alcohol can be extended to any substance that intoxicates. Warnings of drunkenness can be applied to drunkenness brought on by any substance capable of causing it. So for instance when Paul says in Eph. 5:18,"...do not be drunk on wine, for it is debauchery, be filled with the Holy Spirit", in principle we are able to exchange wine for any substance that acts similarly on our bodies. That admonition and other warnings are often, and as they should be, framed in the principle of moderation. If substances are ingested in moderation, even if a mild degree of intoxication is obtained, then their use in and of themselves is not explicitly prohibited.
In the wisdom literature of the Old Testament the use of alcohol is at times prescribed and at other times prohibited, but not universally in either case. In passages such as Ps. 104:15 and Prov. 3:10, alcohol is prescribed for our physical bodies wherein it is viewed as a generally good substance which makes the heart glad. And in Prov. 31:6 it is prescribed as a physical and mental anesthetic—a pain-killer and a mood-lifter of sorts. As a more eschatological benefit, just as milk and honey were the tactile substances that enticed the Jews to their physical land, in 2 Kings 18 our sense of taste is used to entice our desires toward the Ultimate Land (the New Heavens and New Earth) therein described as a Land where the olives groves flourish and there are stores of grain and wine—it is expressed as a treasure symbolic of the benefits of future Kingdom life. On the other hand many passages provide warnings of the dangers of alcohol, as though it is such a good thing that it is easily abused, just like food with which it is sometimes coupled in warnings against gluttony. Prov. 20:1, 21:17, and 23:20 all point out the pitfalls of overuse.
So we should be sober-minded as we consider what the Scriptures have to say about the use of alcohol and by extension, other similarly intoxicating substances. We should also be careful not to unnecessarily condemn or promote its use or those who use it in moderation, lest we speak more strongly about it than Scripture or become hypocrites as we ignore our own overindulgent behaviors.
In the next post I plan to describe the core topic at hand.
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