@egaxton
Of all people to quote from, the professional bible twister and very shallow person in the mould of Mr chris oyakhilome. Are you saying the final authurity Jesus himself was sinning on the several occassions the bible recorded he took wine? Phew what a bunch of daft hypocrites.

cesc4:

according to the dictionary wine is anytin dat has alcohol and the bible neva said we should not take alcohol.though takin too much may be bad because we all knw that too much of everytin is not good including money and since the sayin goes thus that money is the root of all evil we as xtians cant say we wont send money because it is the root of all evil so as alcohol we av no right to say takin alcohol is a sin.

KunleOshob:

It really pieces me off when people try to force their own opinions into the bible, ther is absolutely NO injunction in the bible which forbids the drinking of alcohol by christians. We were just advised to drink in moderation.There is no point in subtracting from the bible just becos it doesn't favor your argument the bible makes it clear that he drinks in that passage. The emphasis of the passage is not what is the issue here it is the drinking issue which th passage confirms and for emphasis i would reproduce it here:

Luke 7:33-34:

   33For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and ye say, `He hath a devil.'
   
   34The Son of Man is come eating and drinking, and ye say, `Behold, a gluttonous man and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners!'

rabzy:

@ osazu, i think the following scriptures you listed below has more to tell us than you did on wine.
Le 10:9 Do not drink wine nor strong  thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations:

Nu 6:3 He shall separate himself from wine and strong drink, and shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink any liquor of grapes, nor eat moist grapes, or dried.
Jg 13:4 Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing:
Jg 13:14 She may not eat of any thing that cometh of the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing: all that I commanded her let her observe.
Pr 23:31 Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.
Pr 31:4 It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink:
Pr 31:6 Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts. {of, : Heb. bitter of soul}
Lu 1:15 For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb.
Eph 5:18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;
1Ti 3:3 Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous; {given, : or, ready to quarrel, and offer wrong, as one in wine}
1Ti 3:8 ¶ Likewise must the deacons be grave, not doubletongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre

@osazu i appreciate your verseness in the scriptures, but you did not tell us the full context of the scriptures you quoted below: i would like to analyze each verse by verse:

Num 6:2-4 Speak to the sons of Israel and you must say to them, ‘In case a man or a woman takes a special vow to live as a Naz′i·rite to Jehovah, 3 he should keep away from wine and intoxicating liquor. He should not drink the vinegar of wine or the vinegar of intoxicating liquor, nor drink any liquid made from grapes, nor eat grapes either fresh or dried. 4 All the days of his Naziriteship he should not eat anything at all that is made from the wine vine, from the unripe grapes to the skins.

The above scriptures which you did not explain clearly shows that alcohol was forbidden because the person is taking up a speacial vow, note he also has to avoid any drink or liquid made from grapes and he cant even eat the grapes either fresh or dried and he should do this all the days of his naziriteship. The nazirite vow is one you take up either for life or for a given period of time and these rules apply. So if wine is forbidden by this scripture for everyone, so the will the eating of grapes and or any liquid from grapes.

Le 10:9 : 9 “Do not drink wine or intoxicating liquor, you and your sons with you, WHEN you come into the tent of meeting, that you may not die. It is a statute to time indefinite for your generations, 10 both in order to make a distinction between the holy thing and the profane and between the unclean thing and the clean.

This also specifically states that the high priest must not touch wine when he is officiating, not that he cant drink while he is at home or with friends. and for those who say that wine is not alcoholic, that is so naive, apart from the dictionary proof that there is no such thing as non-alcoholic wine, those terms only exist here, go and check it out with archaelogists and Scholars of ancient they would tell you, it is intoxicating wine.

Jud 13:4 In time Jehovah’s angel appeared to the woman and said to her: “Look, now, you are barren and have borne no child. And you will certainly become pregnant and give birth to a son. 4 And now watch yourself, please, and do not drink wine or intoxicating liquor, and do not eat anything unclean. 5 For, look! you will be pregnant, and you will certainly give birth to a son, and no razor should come upon his head, because a Naz′i·rite of God is what the child will become on leaving the belly; and he it is who will take the lead in saving Israel out of the hand of the Phi·lis′tines.”

it is clear that this was another case of a special birth, this child (samuel) is already ordained to be a nazirite, he wont take the vow as an adult, but would be born as a nazirite, so his mother was forbidden to take wine nor any intoxicating liquor. No other mother was asked to refrain froom taking wine, even mary the mother of Jesus, because Jesus was not going to be a nazirite. If the woman was not expressly forbidden and told about the nazirite child, then she would have noreason not to take wine in moderation.

Pr 23:31  Who has woe? Who has uneasiness? Who has contentions? Who has concern? Who has wounds for no reason? Who has dullness of eyes? 30 Those staying a long time with the wine, those coming in to search out mixed wine. 31 Do not look at wine when it exhibits a red color, when it gives off its sparkle in the cup, [when] it goes with a slickness. 32 At its end it bites just like a serpent, and it secretes poison just like a viper. 33 Your own eyes will see strange things, and your own heart will speak perverse things. 34 And you will certainly become like one lying down in the heart of the sea, even like one lying down at the top of a mast. 35 “They have struck me, but I did not become sick; they have smitten me, but I did not know it. When shall I wake up? I shall seek it yet some more.”

This clearly is talking about drinking too much wine (those staying a long time with wine), those who take pleasure in mixing wine and who are fascinated with flavors and mixtures and are enthralled by it, they have a danger of over indulgeness and then messing up themselves. the conditions described in those scriptures are definitely those of a drunken person.

Pr 31:3,4
Do not give your vital energy to women, nor your ways to [what leads to] wiping out kings.4 It is not for kings, O Lem′u·el, it is not for kings to drink wine or for high officials [to say:] “Where is intoxicating liquor?” 5 that one may not drink and forget what is decreed and pervert the cause of any of the sons of affliction. 6 Give intoxicating liquor, YOU people, to the one about to perish and wine to those who are bitter of soul. 7 Let one drink and forget one’s poverty, and let one remember one’s own trouble no more.

Does this verse imply that lemuel should not sleep with any woman, because even if you sleep with one woman you would lose part of your energy, no he was talking about womanizing and the dangers, i.e too much women like what destroyed Solomon. In the same vein, she is asking him to watch from taking wine for he would be in danger of drinking so much that he would forget weightier matters and pervert justice, it is only a chronic drunk and alcoholic that would do this. She was warning him not as forbidden drink but as something that should not be over indulged in.
'Give wine to those about to perish'. thats an interesting statement. Its not saying wine leads to destruction, but its saying those who are heartbroken or are already on a destructive behavioral pattern would be aided further when they indulge in wine.and its true, men lose their job, they turn to the bottle to quench their sorrow, but they find out it turns out worse for them.

Luke 1:15 However, the angel said to him: “Have no fear, Zech·a·ri′ah, because your supplication has been favorably heard, and your wife Elizabeth will become mother to a son to you, and you are to call his name John. 14 And you will have joy and great gladness, and many will rejoice over his birth; 15 for he will be great before Jehovah. But he must drink no wine and strong drink at all, and he will be filled with holy spirit right from his mother’s womb; 16 and many of the sons of Israel will he turn back to Jehovah their God.

this was a case of another special birth, John the Baptist. it does not apply to all Israelites.

Eph 5:18 Also, do not be getting drunk with wine, in which there is debauchery, but keep getting filled with spirit.

This is clear enough, do not get drunk, and not 'do not drink'

the same applies to the last two scriptures osazu quoted 1tim 3:3, 8.

Lastly the mosaic law is quite explicit on sins and their punishment, incest, fornication, theft but there is nothing on drinking wine and that is because it was not forbidden but evryone is to exercise caution just like in food and evrything else. Sex is a gift from God, but it has been most abused than alcohol, this does not make it a sin to have sex in tyhe confines of marriage,

Jesus warns us about the pharisees, who teach commands of men as doctrines, they see only themselves as righteous and all others as sinners because they have turn the law into a burden, adding unnecessary restrictions which God did not forbid. Ecclesiates 3:16 says 'Do not become righteous overmuch, nor show yourself excessively wise'

This condenmation of alcohol by modern day pharisees is just over-righteousness. Lets not go beyond the bounds of the scriptures. People now come up with 'God told me', how do you verify that claim. Well if you are very familiar with the Bible just check it against the scriptures andif it contradicts the word of God, then you can throw back in the 'man of God's face'.