I will be reviewing the book from which this comes The Radical Reformission very shortly. But this comes from his chapter The Sin of Light Beer which seems appropriate in light of the SBC’s re-affirmed stance prohibiting the use of alcohol.
He is illustrating “the pitfalls of syncretism and sectarianism.” He gives some history of repeatedly hearing both before and after his conversion that “alcohol consumption unfit for God’s people and a measure of one’s lack of piety.” Mark did not drink until he was 30.
“About that time, I was studying the Scriptures for a sermon about Jesus’ first miracle of turning water into wine, as reported in John’s gospel, a miracle that Jesus performed when he was about my age. My Bible study convinced me of my sin of abstinence from alcohol. So in repentance I drank a hard cider over lunch with our worship pastor.”
He recounts some the famous leaders of the church and their enjoyment of alcohol. Calvin’s salary package included 250 gallons of wine/year- no doubt to entertain. Luther loved the beer his wife Katy brewed. The Pilgrim’s built a brewery at Plymouth.
He ties the abstinence movement to feminine piety. They were certainly contemporaneous, but beyond that I cannot say. Methodist Pastor Thomas Welch “cursed us” with grape juice, so now we could celebrate communion without wine.
Prohibition put all but the largest brewers out of business. They “were able to survive on near beer (beer without the alcohol, which is nowhere near beer) and root beer. This horror explains why today American beer is largely mass produced, watered down, light on calories, and feminine compared with rich, dark, heavy and more ‘biblical’ European beers.
“Prohibitionism began as a syncretistic liberalism that took away alcohol and the Christian freedom to drink. This happened because churches aligned themselves with a non-Christian feminism that attempted to eliminate the pub as a gathering place for men to do theology, politics and business. … Over time the prohibitionist mindset became so entrenched in evangelical and fundamentalist thinking that it is now a sectarian belief intended to keep God’s people out of the pubs, clubs, and dinner parties where sinners gather to make friendships and memories- the very places where Jesus was often found. Heresy happens when the truth is taken too far, as is the case with drunkenness, and/or is not taken far enough, as is the case with prohibition. Confusion about the gospel is truly at the root of this issue. While we are called to abstain from sin, that does not mean that we must abstain from culture to do so.”
In short- syncretism embraces drunkenness, which is sinful. Sectarianism embraces legalism, which is also sinful. It rejects God’s good gift (Psalm 104:14-15), which is also sinful (Sorry God, I don’t want Your gift. It was thoughtful and all, but it really isn’t good for me.)
Cavman Considers 
Leave a Reply