Early Christian Views on Alcohol

Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor (Paedagogus) Direct teaching

For this reason, the apostle rightly commands, "Do not get drunk with wine, in which there is much excess." By the word "excess" (ἀσωτία), he means that drunkenness does not fit with salvation (τὸ ἄσωστον). For when He made water into wine at the wedding, He was not giving permission for people to get drunk. He gave life to the watery element in the meaning of the law. He filled with His blood the one who does the law and is from Adam, that is, the whole world. In this way, He supplies piety with drink from the vine of truth, the mixture of the old law and of the new word, for the fulfilment of the predestined time. So, Scripture has called wine a symbol of the sacred blood. But when it rebukes shameful drinking of the dregs of wine, it says, "Wine is intemperate, and drunkenness is insolent." Proverbs 20:1 Therefore, it agrees with right reason to drink because of the cold of winter, until the numbness is driven away from those who are subject to it, and at other times to use it as medicine for the intestines. For just as we should use food to satisfy hunger, so we should use drink to satisfy thirst, taking the greatest care not to slip, because the use of wine is dangerous. Then

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Direct teaching

...e to warn the disorderly. Now Scripture says, "Men in power are passionate." But let them not drink wine, lest by drinking they forget wisdom and are not able to judge rightly. Therefore the presbyters and the deacons are those who have authority in the Church, next to God Almighty and His beloved Son. We say this not because they must not drink at all, for that would insult what God has made for cheerfulness, but that they must not be thrown into disorder by wine. For Scripture does not say, "Do not drink wine"; but what does it say? "Do not drink wine to drunkenness"; and again, "Thorns spring up in the hand of the drunkard." Nor do we say this only to those of the clergy, but also to every lay Christian, upon whom the name of our Lord Jesus Christ is called. For to them also it is said, "Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has uneasiness? Who has babbling? Who has red eyes? Who has wounds without cause?" Do not these things belong to those who stay long at the wine, and who go to look for drinking parties? Proverbs 23:29-30

Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor (Paedagogus) Direct teaching

Also, drinking a lot of wine does not fit with the study of divine things. For strong, unmixed wine is far from making a person wise, much less self-controlled, as the comic poet says. But toward evening, around supper time, wine may be used, when we are no longer occupied with more serious reading. At that time, the air also becomes colder than it is during the day. So the body’s failing natural warmth needs to be supported by adding some heat. But even then, only a little wine should be used, because we must not go on to excessive drinking. Those who are already advanced in age may drink a little more cheerfully, so that the harmless medicine of the vine may warm the coldness of old age that the passing of time has caused. For the passions of old men are not, for the most part, stirred so strongly as to drive them to the shipwreck of drunkenness. Being anchored by reason and time, as by anchors, they endure more easily the storm of passions that rushes in from lack of self-control. They also may be allowed some light humor at feasts. But for them too, the limit of their drinking should be the point up to which they keep their reason steady, their memory active, and their body unm

Tertullian, Against Marcion Supporting witness

(The apostle says further:) Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess, Ephesians 5:18 — a precept which is suggested by the passage (of the prophet), where the seducers of the consecrated (Nazarites) to drunkenness are rebuked: You gave wine to my holy ones to drink.

Ignatius, Epistles of Ignatius Supporting witness

Do not altogether abstain from wine and flesh, for these things are not to be viewed with abhorrence, since [the Scripture] saith, “Ye shall eat the good things of the earth.” And again, “Ye shall eat flesh even as herbs.” And again, “Wine maketh glad the heart of man, and oil exhilarates, and bread strengthens him.” But all are to be used with moderation, as being the gifts of God.

Ephesians 5:18 Background

And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,

Proverbs 23:31 Background

Do not look at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly.

Cyprian, Epistles Direct teaching

...sm. But by the example of His own authority, He also taught that the cup should be mixed by joining wine and water together. For when He took the cup on the night before His passion, He blessed it and gave it to His disciples, saying, "Drink all of this; for this is my blood of the New Testament, which shall be shed for many, for the remission of sins. I say to you, I will not drink from now on of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I shall drink new wine with you in the kingdom of my Father." Matthew 26:28-29 In this passage we find that the cup which the Lord offered was mixed, and that what He called His blood was wine. From this it is clear that the blood of Christ is not offered if there is no wine in the cup, nor is the Lord's sacrifice celebrated with a proper consecration unless our offering and sacrifice correspond to His passion. But how shall we drink the new wine of the fruit of the vine with Christ in the kingdom of His Father, if in the sacrifice to God the Father and of Christ we do not offer wine, nor mix the cup of the Lord according to the Lord's own tradition?

Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor (Paedagogus) Direct teaching

...y and proper conduct? Was it not done with self-control? For be sure of this: He Himself also drank wine, because He too was man. And He blessed the wine, saying, "Take, drink: this is my blood"—the blood of the vine. In a figurative way, he calls the Word poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins the holy stream of gladness. And He clearly showed that a person who drinks should use moderation by what He taught at meals. For He did not teach while under the influence of wine. And He showed again that the thing He blessed was wine when He said to His disciples, "I will not drink of the fruit of this vine until I drink it with you in the kingdom of my Father." But He tells us again that what the Lord drank was wine when He spoke about Himself and reproached the Jews for their hardness of heart: "For the Son of Man," He says, "came, and they say, 'Behold, a glutton and a wine-drinker, a friend of tax collectors.'" Matthew 11:19 Let us hold firmly to this against those who are called Encratites.

Cyprian, Epistles Supporting witness

...'s suffering, saying, "Why are Your garments red, and Your clothing like that of one who treads the winepress, full and well trodden?" Isaiah 63:2 Can water make garments red? Or is it water in the winepress that is trodden by the feet, or squeezed out by the press? Certainly, then, wine is mentioned so that the Lord's blood may be understood, and so that what was later revealed in the cup of the Lord might be foretold by the prophets who announced it. The treading and pressing of the winepress are also spoken of again and again, because just as wine cannot be drunk unless the cluster of grapes is first trodden and pressed, so we also could not drink the blood of Christ unless Christ had first been trampled and pressed, and had first drunk the cup from which He would also give believers to drink.

Cyprian, Epistles Supporting witness

...Christ bore all of us, since He also bore our sins, we see that the water means the people, and the wine shows the blood of Christ. But when the water is mixed with wine in the cup, the people are made one with Christ, and the assembly of believers is joined and united with Him in whom it believes. This union and joining of water and wine is so mixed in the Lord's cup that the mixture can no longer be separated. Therefore, nothing can separate the Church—that is, the people established in the Church, faithfully and firmly continuing in what they have believed—from Christ, so as to keep their undivided love from always remaining and clinging to Him. Thus, in consecrating the cup of the Lord, water alone cannot be offered, just as wine alone cannot be offered. For if anyone offers only wine, the blood of Christ is separated from us. But if the water is alone, the people are separated from Christ. But when both are mixed and joined to one another in close union, a spiritual and heavenly sacrament is completed. Thus the cup of the Lord is not water alone, nor wine alone, unless each is mixed with the other. In the same way, the body of the Lord cannot be flour alone or water alone,

Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book III Supporting witness

That wine, which God produced in a vineyard and was initially consumed, was good. None of those who drank it found any fault with it, and the Lord also drank it. But the wine that the Word made from water, instantly and just for the use of those invited to the wedding, was better. Although the Lord had the power to provide wine for the feast without needing any created substance and to feed the hungry, He did not choose to do so. Instead, by taking the loaves that the earth produced, giving thanks, and on another occasion turning water into wine, He satisfied those reclining at the table and gave drink to the wedding guests. This demonstrated that the God who made the earth and commanded it to bring forth fruit, who established the waters and brought forth the fountains, is the one who in these last times bestowed upon humanity, through His Son, the blessing of food and the favor of drink: the Incomprehensible acting through the comprehensible, and the Invisible through the visible, as there is none beyond Him, and He exists in the bosom of the Father.

Cyprian, Epistles Supporting witness

...ows beforehand the pattern of the Lord's sacrifice. He mentions the slain victim, and the bread and wine, and also the altar and the apostles, and says, "Wisdom has built her house; she has set up her seven pillars. She has killed her victims. She has mixed her wine in the cup. She has also prepared her table. And she has sent out her servants, calling with a lofty proclamation to her cup, saying, 'Whoever is simple, let him turn to me.' And to those who lack understanding she has said, 'Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I have mixed for you.'" He declares the wine mixed. That is, he foretells with a prophetic voice the cup of the Lord mixed with water and wine, so that it may be clear that in our Lord's passion, what had been predicted before was done.

Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book V Supporting witness

...ad given thanks while holding the cup, drank from it and gave it to the disciples, saying to them: “Drink all of it: this is My blood of the new covenant, which will be shed for many for the remission of sins. But I tell you, I will not drink from this vine again until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.” Thus, He will renew the inheritance of the earth and reorganize the mystery of the glory of His sons, as David says, “He who has renewed the face of the earth.” He promised to drink from the fruit of the vine with His disciples, indicating both the inheritance of the earth, in which the new fruit of the vine is consumed, and the resurrection of His disciples in the flesh. For the new flesh that rises again is the same that also received the new cup. He cannot be understood as drinking from the fruit of the vine while settled with His disciples above in a super-celestial place; nor are those who drink it without flesh, for drinking what flows from the vine pertains to flesh, not spirit.

Cyprian, Epistles Supporting witness

...inebriating cup, how excellent it is!" Now the cup that causes intoxication is certainly mixed with wine, for water cannot intoxicate anyone. And the Lord's cup intoxicates in the same way that Noah also was intoxicated by drinking wine, in Genesis. But the intoxication of the Lord's cup and blood is not like the intoxication of the wine of this world. Since the Holy Spirit said in the Psalm, "Your inebriating cup," He added, "how excellent it is," because without doubt the Lord's cup so intoxicates those who drink it that it makes them sober. It restores their minds to spiritual wisdom. Each one is brought back from that worldly taste to the understanding of God. And just as, by ordinary wine, the mind is loosened, the soul is relaxed, and all sadness is put away, so also, when the blood of the Lord and the cup of salvation have been drunk, the memory of the old man is put away. There arises a forgetting of one's former worldly way of life, and the sorrowful and grieving heart, which before was weighed down by tormenting sins, is relieved by the joy of the divine mercy. For only that can bring joy to the one who drinks in the Church which, when it is drunk, keeps the Lord's tru

1 Corinthians 10:4 Background

and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ.

Mark 14:25 Background

Assuredly, I say to you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

Tertullian, On Fasting Direct teaching

...ad, that is, bread dry and foul like ashes, and mixing his drink with weeping, of course instead of wine. For abstinence from wine also has honorable marks of its own. It had dedicated Samuel and consecrated Aaron to God. For Samuel’s mother said, "He shall drink neither wine nor anything intoxicating," for this was also her own condition while praying to God. And the Lord said to Aaron, "You and your sons after you shall not drink wine or strong drink whenever you enter the tabernacle, or ascend to the sacrificial altar, and you shall not die." So true is it that those who minister in the Church, not being sober, shall die. So also, in more recent times, He rebukes Israel: "And you used to give my sanctified ones wine to drink." And this limit on drink is also part of xerophagy. In any case, wherever abstinence from wine is either required by God or vowed by man, there we should also understand a restriction of food, providing a formal pattern for drink. For the quality of the drink corresponds to that of the food. It is not likely that a man would offer God only half his appetite, being moderate in water but excessive in food. Moreover, whether the apostle knew anything of xer

Tertullian, On Fasting Supporting witness

And the Lord said to Aaron: Wine and spirituous liquor shall you not drink, you and your son after you, whenever you shall enter the tabernacle, or ascend unto the sacrificial altar;

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Supporting witness

But let them not drink wine, lest by drinking they forget wisdom, and are not able to judge aright.

Novatian, On the Jewish Meats Supporting witness

...ng, they drink early in the morning. They do not think it Christian to drink after food, unless the wine poured into their empty and idle veins has gone down immediately after sleep. For they seem to enjoy what they drink less if food is mixed with the wine. So you may see such people in a new condition: still fasting, yet already drunk; not running to the tavern, but carrying the tavern around with them. And if one of them offers a greeting, he does not give a kiss, but drinks a health. What can they do after food, when food finds them intoxicated? Or in what condition does the sun at its setting leave them, when at its rising it sees them already dull with wine? But things that are detestable are not to be taken as our examples. Only those things are to be followed by which our soul may be made better. And although in the Gospel the use of foods is given to us generally, it is still understood to be given to us only with the law of frugality and self-control. For these things are especially fitting for the faithful, that is, for those who are about to pray to God and give Him thanks, not only by day but also by night. This cannot happen if the mind, made dull by food and wine,

Numbers 6:3 Background

he shall separate himself from wine and strong drink. He shall drink no vinegar made from wine or strong drink and shall not drink any juice of grapes or eat grapes, fresh or dried.

Leviticus 10:9 Background

“Drink no wine or strong drink, you or your sons with you, when you go into the tent of meeting, lest you die. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations.

Ezekiel 44:21 Background

No priest shall drink wine when he enters the inner court.