In Christianity, why is drinking alcohol a sin? and is smoking Marijuana a sin?

Question

I am an Indian and believe in Hinduism. I am studying Chrisitianity to expand my theological knowledge. Hindu scriptures drinking is referred to as one of the five heinous crimes, which include murder and adultery. Yet in Hinduism, smoking marijuana is not a sin. Matter of fact, Lord Shiva, used to go to smokes pounds and pounds of marijuana and go to the Himalayas and deeply meditate.

My question is, I heard that drinking Alcohol in any form is a sin. But I see that Jesus had cups of wine in The Last Supper and also turned water into wine. What's up with that?

Answer 1

Drinking in moderation is not a sin.

Sin is not an aggregate of individual bad acts, nor is it a single isolated violation of a law. Sin does not merely involve the committing of one action, being sorry for it, going to confession, and forgetting its effects.

Sin results from a pattern of behavior we have allowed to develop in our lives. We are prone to be attracted to less than perfect actions due to the innate evil tendency within us we call original sin. Sinfulness is an appropriate term to use for the propensity to do wrong. Sinfulness becomes sin by repetition. It is like one who has a glass filled over and over. But it is the one swig that makes him drunk. The drunkenness has been building up. Sinfulness rests on inner motivations and tendencies and escalates into a pattern of wrongdoing.

Theologians call this habit of tending toward sin or away from it, our fundamental option. It is an underlying current pulling us toward and deeper into a basic pattern of behavior, oriented toward God or away from God. One does not fall into sin. You can say one chooses it through one's fundamental option.

Answer 2

Translation wise, grape juice and wine are interchangeable. Unless it says strong drink of course, which it never does in reference to Jesus drinking it.
During the last supper any thing with leaven represented sin, so leavened bread was out, as was fermented drink. So by looking at the context we can see that Jesus was not drinking rancid wine at the last supper. There are also two reason to believe that the drink at the wedding was not alcohol. One, Jesus would not create something new, already rotten. Second, the amount that was transformed would have been plenty to make people drunk. And even Christians who believe it is alcoholic wine, believe drunkenness is a sin. And Jesus would not be facilitating that kind of activity at a sacred wedding. Also while Jesus was on the cross a sponge with alcohol was held up to Jesus' lips. When He tasted it, He refused. Even in time of extreme agony He refused to dumb down His God given senses and reasoning skills. So although an English translation might make things on the surface seem a little confusing, a little digging makes it all come together.

Answer 3

Drinking alcohol is never outed as a sin in either the Jewish Torah or the Christian Bible (which uses the Jewish Torah as the Old Testament). There are warnings against becoming a drunkard, to be sure, but it is not a sin to have a glass of wine.

The problem is one of excess. While a little wine won't do much, drinking to intoxication produces a foolish, abusive person. The same can be said of overeating. Is it bad to eat food? Of course not. But a person who overindulges themself with food does so at the cost of his/her health and other human relationships.

Marijuana is not mentioned in the Bible. I don't know if it is mentioned in the Torah or not, but I highly doubt it. I would consider the affects of smoking a joint to be about the same as going on a bender: the user becomes "intoxicated".

And intoxicated people do abusive, stupid things to others around them. That might be why God doesn't want us to become intoxicated!

Answer 4

You are right about Jesus drinking wine. In fact,
the Bible shows that from ancient times wine was a common beverage with meals, being used by such persons as King-Priest Melchizedek, by Abraham, Isaac and many others. (Gen. 14:18, 19; 27:25; 1 Sam. 16:20; Eccl. 9:7) Jesus provided wine for a wedding feast, and the apostle Paul counseled the young man Timothy to “use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent cases of sickness.”—1 Tim. 5:23; John 2:1-10.

Rightfully the Bible lists wine as among God’s provisions and blessings for the enjoyment of mortal man. (Deut. 11:13, 14; Ps. 104:15; Joel 2:19) It also shows that God’s people used other alcoholic beverages.—Deut. 14:26.

The problem comes when there is no balance. That's where the Bible warns about drunkeness, drunken bouts, etc. This is unacceptable to God because in a drunken stupor, you're not in your right mind and it's easy to commit sins agaist God, not to mention the destruction of the body God gave us.

Proverbs 23:20, 21 - "Do not come to be among heavy drinkers of wine, among those who are gluttonous eaters of flesh. For a drunkard and a glutton will come to poverty, and drowsiness will clothe one with mere rags".

As far as the marijuana goes, well that's a touchy one. The Bible only condems ABUSE of substances. Wine can help the stomach feel better but in excess causes health issues. People take opiates in medications such as Oxycontin. These people need it for pain and take it as prescribed (and as one who takes it, when taken properly it relieves pain, it doesn't get you high). Yet other people abuse (Opium)it to a point where it becomes mind altering.

Marijuana is used for pain, in prescribed amounts. Other people are using it to get as high as a kite. It's all in perspective and balance.

Answer 5

Pot is illegal. Getting handcuffed and fingerprinted is not a great example to set. I didn't realize that the Last Supper image was a photograph. They didn't have 2000 beverages to choose from at that time in history. Water was bad, since drilling rigs were not quite perfected yet. Most Christians don't have a problem with occassional, moderate alcohol use. I don't understand why they bother though. If impairment is wrong, it seems odd to drink something that might impair you. Sort of like skating on thin ice.

Answer 6

No not per se. But drunkenness is a sin. For a Bible study on the subject see http://www.bcbsr.com/topics/alcohol.html

Marijuana is a similar issue, but the main difference is that it's illegal, as such sin, and it's hard to find an instance where people don't get wasted smoking marijuana. So what's the point.

Answer 7

Like everyone else said, drunkenness is the sin. However, I would not drink at all. That is my personal conviction because some people do have a struggle with alcoholism and I would not want to be a stumbling block.

Also, pot is illegal, even for medical purposes, in most parts of the US. We are commanded to obey the laws of the land. So if we are breaking the law, we are sinning.

Answer 8

The Bible never said drinking alcohol is a sin. The Bible specifically says being DRUNK is a sin. It is a sin because it is letting a substance control your thought and behavior. This is why smoking weed is a sin, besides that it is illegal. Weed controls your thoughts and behaviors and breaking the law is a sin.

The Bible teaches us to let the Holy Spirit control you. Christians are those who have the Holy Spirit of Jesus in their spirit. Anything, anyone, any behavior that controls you, instead of obeying God is a sin. This means that overeating, overexercising, gambling, and many other things become sin if they control you.

Answer 9

You heard wrong. God created everything as good. But there is a time and place for everything. And moderation is the key to enjoying it all. It is ok to drink in moderation. But it is a sin to abuse it by getting drunk. It is not even a sin to smoke marijuana in moderation; however, you must pay the consequences if you are caught under civil law.

Answer 10

Well the reason why drinking in acsess is classified as a sin is because it reduces your wisdom. Look at the things which happen when you are drunk. Car accidents unthought out violence, the breakdown of marriages. Basically drinking alchol in acess increases the likelyhood of follidh behavior and can lead to sin. Just one glass won't harm, but drinking to much is considerd foolish.