Christian Culture Concerning Alcohol

In the excellent book, Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes, Brandon J. O’Brien shares a helpful illustration of how different churches deal with alcohol very differently:

When I (Brandon) was growing up, pastors in our Christian tradition preached often on the evils of alcohol. We were frequently reminded—from Scripture—that “wine is a mocker and beer a brawler (Prov 20:1). Thus, we learn, “Do not gaze at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly! In the end it bites like a snake and…