Once the Reformation kicked off, the view of alcohol consumption continued to remain favorable. Martin Luther — who began the Reformation by nailing his 95 theses to the door of a chapel in Wittenberg, Germany — had an extremely positive view of alcohol and strong ale. His wife, Katharina von Bora, was a brewer who used the proceeds to fund church projects and feed the poor. In a letter written to Jerome Weller in 1530, Luther goes so far as to say:

What other cause do you think that I have for drinking so much strong drink, talking so freely and making merry so often, except that I wish to mock and harass the devil who is wont to mock and harass me. [5]

Luther’s contemporary, John Calvin, also held similar views stating that those who enjoy wine “feel a livelier gratitude to God.” [6] These views continued unabated and even transferred to Colonial America and the Puritans.

Yep. Even the Puritans drank.

The Puritans Get a Bad Rap

While many remember the Puritans as uptight legalists from their grade school reading of The Scarlet Letter, they certainly weren’t uptight about alcohol. In fact, the Puritans drank freely and complained bitterly when the beer ran out. They also encouraged sexual intimacy between married couples. [7] In the 1700’s, the Puritans of Dorchester, MA opened a brewery (much like their Christian ancestors) and used the funds to educate and clothe needy children. [8] Puritan minister, Cotton Mather (of famed Salem Witch Trials), went so far as to bless the opening of an alehouse saying to it’s owner:

“It is an honest and a lawful … employment that you have undertaken: you may glorify God in your employment, if you will, and benefit the town considerably.” [9]

This historical view of alcohol in the church would continue unchallenged for the next hundred years until the Methodists decided to get involved.

And This is Where Things Get Weird

For 1800 years, the Christian church used wine for communion, brewed ale, and opened breweries to help the poor and needy. Most took to the view of moderation in consumption of alcohol, while others chose to refrain based on personal conviction. Nowhere in the history of the church was it taught that alcohol was a sin or needed for sanctification until the Methodists got involved.

John Wesley

The founder of the Methodist church, John Wesley, was one of the first to preach against alcohol and its consumption. Wesley was vehemently opposed to wine and strong liquors. He accused those that made alcoholic beverages of being nothing more than “poisoners and murderers accursed by God.” [10] Interestingly enough, his brother, Charles Wesley, was not opposed to alcohol and would drink ale from time to time. But to history goes the spoils. Wesley’s church would become known for its rally cry against alcohol and begin the first steps in the Temperance Movement. This only snowballed further when a Methodist deacon discovered how to create unfermented grape juice.

His name?

Thomas Bramwell Welch, who would become the founder of Welch’s Grape Juice. Using Louis Pasteur’s method, he successfully prevented the fermentation of grape juice.

One would think a small sect outside the norm wouldn’t have such a monumental influence on church history and culture, but here’s how it happened. Throughout history, there is a trend towards the most intolerant winning out that turns the public tide. [11] With Welch’s discovery, grape juice was quickly adopted by the Methodists as a substitute for communion. Most churches were slow to give up thousands of years of tradition by switching wine with grape juice, and for the first few years, Welch’s sold almost exclusively to churches. However, around the same time, the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union formed and began a grassroots movement towards the prohibition of alcohol. This was not their only cause. Linked directly to their opposition of alcohol was their right to vote. With the rising tide in women’s suffrage, the opposition of alcohol came along with it, and many Protestant denominations caved. Eventually, the Anti-Saloon League formed and quickly rose to become the most powerful prohibition lobby in the U.S. backed by Methodists, Baptists, Disciples of Christ, and Congregationalists. Liturgical churches and Mainline Protestant denominations, however, disapproved of its introduction. But the tide had already turned and soon the Eighteenth Amendment established the prohibition of alcoholic beverages in the United States by declaring the production, transport, and sale of alcohol illegal. The moralists had won their war.

Then They Started Making Things Up

With the rise of grape juice accepted as a sacrament, there began a growing trend that wine in the Bible had actually been grape juice. Historically and scientifically, this is completely illogical and intellectually dishonest. Science has proved that the process of pasteurization would be impossible during antiquity. Additionally, there is no indication from historical records, either in the culture of the day or in the Bible, that there was such a thing as unfermented wine. Wine is wine because it is fermented. And for the life of me, why would so many of the early church fathers rant against intoxication if wine was unfermented? Somehow this myth persists, championed by books using absurd mental gymnastics and (borderline) preposterous claims from history. [12] It’s a strange world.

Along with the acceptance of grape juice, alcohol promptly became demonized. Many evangelists blamed it for poverty, crime, and violence. Even tasting the substance quickly became synonymous with a cardinal sin. What many Christians don’t realize is that it gave way to increased crime and mental health issues. One study examining “mortality, mental health and crime statistics” found that alcohol consumption fell, at first, to approximately 30 percent of its pre-Prohibition level; but, over the next several years, increased to about 60–70 percent of its pre-prohibition level. [13] While Christians may have enjoyed the backing of the federal government and supposed increased morality during Prohibition, it gave a major boost to organized crime and the most notorious gangster ever, Al Capone.

America’s Binge Drinking Problem

The after effects of Prohibition and the church’s influence are perhaps most evident in today’s binge drinking culture. Many Christians grew up under the guise that alcohol was evil or taboo (depending on their denomination). Over the years, binge drinking has steadily been on the rise. Between 1993 and 2001, 18–20-year-olds experienced a 56% increase in binge drinking. Yet, in countries like France and Italy, drinking is common from a young age, and the concept of moderation taught early on. In many southern European countries roughly one in ten of all drinking occasions results in intoxication, while in the United States almost half of all drinking occasions result in intoxication. In these countries, the introduction of alcohol typically comes from parents. In the United States, where the drinking age is 21, parents are not legally afforded that opportunity, and as a result initiation to alcohol consumption is not responsibly controlled. [14]

Within the last hundred years, alcohol has become an increasingly controversial subject. Instead of a responsible introduction to its use — with the church advocating the historical view of temperance — we are seeing a culture swayed towards the normalization of hard drinking in the name of “fun.”

What’s the reason for this?

The State of Montana used to have no daytime speed limits or enforceable speed laws. That era was the safest period on Montana’s Interstate highway. However, when Montana implemented its new safety program complete with forcible low-speed limits and federal enforcement, fatal accidents doubled. This effect became known as the “No Speed Limit Safety Paradox.”

In the same line of thinking, one could conclude that once the church got involved with public policy and legislating morality, we experienced a rise in alcohol abuse. As stated earlier, countries like Italy who’ve had a long standing tradition with wine and Christianity, and were not affected by imposed piety or Prohibition, enjoy lower rates of alcohol abuse.

One tenet Christians universally agree on is that God’s grace changes hearts, therefore changing actions. Perhaps, Christians can learn from their own doctrine in this regard.

Parting Thoughts

In writing this, I worry that some people will forget to be gracious to those who disagree with their traditional stance on alcohol, causing further division when we need unity more than ever. Others may wrongly see it as a convincing argument to drink irresponsibly. My personal sentiment is that I’m perplexed and sad that we’ve uprooted 1800 years of tradition under the guise of piety in most mainline Protestant churches. I wonder if Luther is rolling over in his grave.

Ironically, some Protestant churches have looked to our forefather’s ideation and incorporated coffee shops within their sanctuaries, using the proceeds to help feed the needy and bless the poor. With the explosion of craft brewing, I have to wonder why the church continues to shirk its roots so we can continue to appease a lie all in the name of “not ruffling any feathers” or “tempting the weaker brother.” Just imagine the good we could do, the money we could raise, and the positive impact we could have instead? Our children could learn moderation so when they leave for college, the allure of “party till you puke” seems silly. A beer with Mom and Dad wouldn’t be taboo, but teaching of responsible boundaries with alcohol. Christians could once again become innovators like Michelangelo, Kierkegaard, and Copernicus, only this time creating some of the world’s greatest wines and craft beers. By looking to our roots, we could build breweries and ale houses once more and use them to cultivate generosity as an example to others. Suppose instead of inflaming the culture wars, we respected those who chose to drink in our churches and those who chose to abstain without looking down our nose at one another?

Of course, we could always take John Chrysostom’s advice and just punch each other in the mouth…but I suspect that in today’s environs and shouting matches, we might already be heading that way instead of having a balanced discussion.

But as for me? I think I’ll go have a beer. Prost!