Why is it so important to some Christians to believe wine in Jesus' day was non-alcoholic?

Question

and where do they get this information from?
Everyone knows home made wine and alcohol is much stronger. Why do some of the Christians insist that by "wine" they meant "grape juice"?
All you have to do is extract juice from a grape to make juice, but WINE is a process, I'm sure the bible writers knew the difference between juice and wine--which is a beverage that had to undergo a process of fermentation.
So why have the Christian monks for hundreds of years been getting drunk off their home made wine recipes, just as they did in the biblical days?

Answer 1

The fact is, that prior to refigeration there were only a few ways to preserve anything - de-hydration, salting and fermenting. Un-fermented grape juice would have turned to vinegar very soon without refrigeration. Meat would have turned rotten in 2-3 days without salting or drying.
The people who suggest that wine was un-fermented are only revealing that they, personally, have trouble with alcohol. Yes, it is wrong to get drunk, but no more or less wrong than lying, cheating or fornication.
Jesus' first recorded miracle was turning water to wine and it wasn't grape juice because the other guests at the wedding party commented that the host of that particular wedding had saved the best wine for last - that other hosts, in order to save money, would serve the good first and after the guests had had plenty, would bring out the cheap c**p. I submit that there is little discernible difference between cheap grape juice and expensive. But there is definitely a difference between good wine and cheap stuff.

Answer 2

the simple answer for this is, because it was juice. If you do a Greek and Hebrew study of the English words in the bible, wine and strong drink have 2 different meanings. strong drink in the Hebrew ALWAYS means alcoholic. Wine, however, means alcoholic sometimes and non-alcoholic other times. The bible mentions people pressing wine. If you know anything about juice making, you know that people used to stomp on grapes to make juice, this has had no time to ferment and is in no way wine. It also mentions the juice still inside the grape as wine in one instance. It's just the language
from that time. It's just as if a drunk man said "bartender, give me a drink." its understood as beer. But if a two year old says "mommy, i want a drink", it doesn't mean that little Timmy wants some rum. It's all in the connotation, and not the denotation. Its the same in the bible, you have to read the context around it.
As for those who are saying that the bible never says drinking is wrong, Proverbs 20:1 says: "Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler; And whosoever erreth thereby is not wise." and Proverbs 31:4 says:"It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink:" this means nobody is fit to drink, not even kings.
The recommendation of "have a little wine for your stomach" is the only instance you see wine condoned in the bible. This was for medicinal purposes ONLY. These people didnt have penicillin or bayer, so they used the only thing they knew killed everything it touched, alcohol. We still use it as medicine today. cough syrup is over 15% alcohol. This is a totolly different instance and does, in no way, allow for drinking. If you're tummy hurts, you have pepto bismol to take, you have no excuse to drink.

Answer 3

In the Bible, "wine" can sometimes mean fermented or non-fermented juice from the grape.

I think that those who favor the non-fermented approach are coming from the perspective of the Temperance Movement, which sought to eliminate all forms of alcohol from society. The Methodist church is one that took a firm stand against wine, partly in solidarity with those who are alcoholics and must abstain. The United Church of Canada, which has Methodist roots, takes this same approach and uses only grape juice in communion, while it does not take any stand against wine or other liquor in the home.

Actually Welch's Grape juice was invented just for this reason. Check the url below for a great story about it.

Answer 4

I think it's an obsession. Also, I noticed that those are the same people who claim that everything in the Bible is meant literally. I happen to think otherwise. Some parts are allegorical, some are historical, some are a cultural synopsis. Many books of the New Testament are letters and preachings, meant for certain groups that were being addressed. People who lived in the times before Pasteurization was invented drank wine because it was free from bacteria and other pathogens that could cause diseases like dysentery, etc. This is what Paul meant when he told Timothy to "drink a little wine for the sake of your stomach". Wine was added to drinking water to purify it.

Answer 5

The wedding itself is used to indicate the legitimacy of marriage. Tea totaling Christians cannot apply the same logic to the wine. Darned good wine if we believe the report.

Not all Christians argue this, or have an absolute ban on alcohol, by the way.

Those who quote Old T. scripture for other reasons overlook the prescription of "a little wine for the poor in spirit" as well as stomach ailment.

Answer 6

Why can't people think with their brains?!?!?!?! It doesn't matter what the alcohol content of Christ's wine was! We are given the Word of Wisdom for OUR day, for THIS generation, THIS dispensation! If pork was so bad to eat when Christ was alive, why is it okay now? Because Christ gave them a NEW Covenant for THEIR generation and THEIR age! Please, don't put limits on my God. edit: Oh, I see...you're not just a mormon hater, you're a Christian hater...gotcha! If you think man is any better consider tabacco was thought to be healthy at one point and all the other things man has discovered were wrong over the ages that have now been proven differently. I put my trust in God, not man.

Answer 7

Must be some new thing, cause I was born and raised christian and I never heard it. I don't think there was such a thing as non-alcoholic wine in biblical times.

I think a lot of christians are just so anti-alcohol, they pretend Jesus never drank it. The bible tells us not to overdo it, it never says we can't drink, but some people take things to extremes. If they want to believe it, fine, don't really care, but it's obviously not true.

Answer 8

The wine Jesus drank was new wine,or grape juice.

Answer 9

Every civilization invents ways to get drunk/high. Vikings drank mead a thousand years ago and the Romans (and the Greek) drank wine well before Christ was born. Alcohol is easy to produce.

Answer 10

Wine that was not alcoholic in ancient times would have quickly become poison because they had neither pasteurization nor refrigeration. In a couple of days it would have turned into curdled grape mold.

Some people are so intent in making God in their own image that they will take their temperance beliefs and project them onto Jesus. Imagine what other matters are simple projections of their prejudices onto God, whom they then lift above questioning because he contains all truth.