I'd like to correct you on something the Bible doesn't tell us not to drink alcohol. It tells us to not be drunkards. There's a huge difference. Jesus's first miracle was turning water into wine.
In fact we're instructed to drink alcohol every time we come together in God's name as a church through the Lord's supper.
And before anybody suggests that that was only grape juice that's an impossibility. Grape juice would require refrigeration which did not exist at that time.
The other argument is it was low percentage which... okay? You can still get drunk on 4% and not to mention if that was the highest at the time then tolerance wasn't what it is now.
When Jesus made that wine it was AFTER everyone had drank all the other wine and people said it was the best and the host was saving the best for last instead of serving it first which implies it was fantastic wine. Red wine is almost always 12% to 15% ABV. That hasn't changed. You can bet that the wine that Jesus made was the finest wine that ever existed.
Being intoxicated isn't being a drunkard. The Bible speaks favorably about the joy and pleasure of drinking wine in a few verses.
Alcohol was and is a positive thing unless you turn it into idolatry and abuse it. That's the position that is consistent with scripture.
I'd challenge someone to make wine using classical methods and no preservatives with an ABV of under 10%.
Jesus turned water into wine. Not water into water and water. This was a party, not a battlefield or a march where your example would be the norm. Scripture is clear.
Here's a slightly lengthy historical answer to the question, but the Greeks and Romans of the time generally drank diluted wine that would come out to around 3-6% alcohol content. So while the wine itself certainly stayed in the 12-16% range, they would dilute it with a ratio of water. This article says there's written evidence from the time that they would use two parts wine and three parts water to get a good mixture, while half and half was too strong for their liking.
Jesus turned water into wine. Not water into water and water. This was a party, not an environment or situation where the point of drinking was hydration with liquid that alcohol would help sterilize water like a battlefield or a march where your example would be the norm. Scripture is clear.
I'd like to correct you on something the Bible doesn't tell us not to drink alcohol. It tells us to not be drunkards. There's a huge difference. Jesus's first miracle was turning water into wine.
In fact we're instructed to drink alcohol every time we come together in God's name as a church through the Lord's supper.
And before anybody suggests that that was only grape juice that's an impossibility. Grape juice would require refrigeration which did not exist at that time.
The other argument is it was low percentage which... okay? You can still get drunk on 4% and not to mention if that was the highest at the time then tolerance wasn't what it is now.
When Jesus made that wine it was AFTER everyone had drank all the other wine and people said it was the best and the host was saving the best for last instead of serving it first which implies it was fantastic wine. Red wine is almost always 12% to 15% ABV. That hasn't changed. You can bet that the wine that Jesus made was the finest wine that ever existed.
Being intoxicated isn't being a drunkard. The Bible speaks favorably about the joy and pleasure of drinking wine in a few verses.
Alcohol was and is a positive thing unless you turn it into idolatry and abuse it. That's the position that is consistent with scripture.
I'd challenge someone to make wine using classical methods and no preservatives with an ABV of under 10%.
done that, have the recipe using classical methods and no preservatives but not measured ABV so that part is ... murky :)
As someone else pointed out, you are correct except for the fact that wine was typically diluted with water before consumption.
Jesus turned water into wine. Not water into water and water. This was a party, not a battlefield or a march where your example would be the norm. Scripture is clear.
Here's a slightly lengthy historical answer to the question, but the Greeks and Romans of the time generally drank diluted wine that would come out to around 3-6% alcohol content. So while the wine itself certainly stayed in the 12-16% range, they would dilute it with a ratio of water. This article says there's written evidence from the time that they would use two parts wine and three parts water to get a good mixture, while half and half was too strong for their liking.
https://history.stackexchange.com/questions/57158/how-alcoholic-were-ancient-greek-and-roman-wines-before-and-after-dilution
Jesus turned water into wine. Not water into water and water. This was a party, not an environment or situation where the point of drinking was hydration with liquid that alcohol would help sterilize water like a battlefield or a march where your example would be the norm. Scripture is clear.