I know where I stand on this issue. Drinking was in common place in the early church but obviously getting drunk and being a every day drunkard was never acceptable. Martin Luther and John Calvin and the Catholics believed it was a gift of God. It still is considered that by most in Christianity today when used in moderation. Having said that, it is not acceptable to get intoxicated in the worship service but moderate use of alcohol should be acceptable in feasts and social gatherings.
Abuses by some led certain feminists to push their own views on everyone else through dominionist laws while most of our men were off to war. It ended in prohibition and those laws only brought in bootlegging and major organized crime.
We have these same feminists and legalistic people in some churches today who twist scripture to make it say what they want it to say rather than what it actually says. All wine in the days of the early church had some alcohol content since their was no refrigeration. One of the major problems of the church in our generation is this feminization of the church.
There is simply nothing wrong with having a couple beers or some wine. It helps men to mellow out after a hard day and it allows people to relax in social situations . The medical community has documented and has published papers on the health benefits of moderate amounts of alcohol. Beer and wine are simply given by God for man’s use, but not abuse.
If you believe it is a sin to use alcohol or it causes you to sin then it is a sin for you to use it. However, if you dictate your unique twisting of scripture toward the the rest of the Church, you are doing more harm then good.
Lansing State Journal: Holt ministry celebrates its love of God – and beer (link is now dead)
Early Protestant reformers Martin Luther and John Calvin didn’t just tolerate alcohol, said the Rev. Jim West, author of “Drinking with Calvin and Luther!” “They reveled in it as a gift of God,” he said.Luther “would talk about drinking wine and beer as imparting joy to the human heart,” he said. Calvin said it was permissible to drink wine “to make us merry.”
And for centuries, he said, drinking was basically a non-issue in Protestant churches. In the United States, opposition to alcohol in Protestant churches didn’t begin in earnest until the 1800s, growing up around the temperance and, later, prohibition movements.
Still, many Protestants believe that drinking alcohol is a sin.
