If you want to be a good Christian, you should drink carelessly.
“In so far as drinking is really a sin it is not because drinking is wild, but because drinking is tame; not in so far as it is anarchy, but in so far as it is slavery.
Probably the worst way to drink is to drink medicinally. Certainly the safest way to drink is to drink carelessly; that is, without caring much for anything, and especially not caring for the drink. In such things to be careless is to be sane: for neither drunkards nor Moslems can be careless about drink.” G. K. Chesterton, Wine when it is Red.
Chesterton gets it exactly right where both our culture-of-excess and the puritans get it so very wrong. Pop-culture has become a slave to drink. Puritans are enslaved by their reaction to it.
Our temptation as Christians, then, is to engage in moderation. All things in moderation, they say. Yet most things that we are to be moderate in were not meant to be moderated. Not directly anyway.
It’s like the fool in love worrying about the looking foolish part. Or a married couple setting up a specific number of times for relations each month. Or, upon hearing exciting news, moderating exactly how high you will jump. The very moderation of the thing spoils the heart of it. The mechanics of life begin to spoil the spirit of it.
The common wisdom to “drink responsibly” really reads like a prescription. Feeling stressed? Need to unwind? Take 6 beers, some water before bed and a Tylenol in the morning. Do not mix with liquor. Just make sure you do so responsibly. This is the worst kind of drinking. An abuse of the drink. Not because it is too wild, but because it is too tame. Not because it is careless, but because it is too careful. Not because it is anarchy, but because it is slavery.
Some rules for drinking:
“The sound rule in the matter would appear to be like many other sound rules – a paradox. Drink because you are happy, but never because you are miserable. Never drink when you are wretched without it, or you will be like the grey-faced gin-drinker in the slum; but drink when you would be happy without it, and you will be like the laughing peasant of Italy. Never drink because you need it, for this is rational drinking, and the way to death and hell. But drink because you do not need it, for this is irrational drinking, and the ancient health of the world.” – G. K. Chesterton
He also said “We should thank God for beer and burgundy by not drinking too much of them.” But we should drink them (because we do not need them)…and we should most certainly do so with good company and glad hearts.
The virtue of temperance is surely the key. But such temperance is not practiced in the excess of license, nor is it promoted in the restriction of a measured cup. It lives in the fulfillment of the legitimate desires of a healthy, disciplined soul set free to live as it should. Set free to live carelessly.
(This post of mine originally appeared on CatholicDrinkie.com. And a h/t to Kevin from MonkRock.com for sharing this Chertertonian wisdom with me over a careless beer.)
[photo credit]
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Thanks for the pointer to Catholicdrinkie. The spirit of our faith is not about alcohol it’s about being human and God’s love is always greater than our desires and weaknesses. We don’t need to be puritanical and fearful that one wrong move or extra drink will take us to perdition. We can be careless because we are care-less when we are free to love.
I like the way you drink…er, think. :)
I have just discovered your blog site because I was looking for something about Jesus and alcohol. I am happy to see so much on the site that defends the Catholic faith. However, I am one of those nasty “puritans” who believes that drinking alcohol can never be morally justified. Alcohol clouds a person’s reason and renders him less capable or incapable of making sound moral decisions. It only leads to great harm for the drinker and those around him.
I am angered by my fellow Catholics who speak of drinking alcohol as “celebrating the gifts of God” or “the good things of the earth.” Many things grow in nature–that is, were created by God–that would be fatal if consumed.
Furthermore, I am tired of friends who seem to think that all the sharing we’ve done in conversation doesn’t really count because we weren’t getting intoxicated together. Alcohol is NOT necessary for bonding and building community. Of course people feel closer when they get high or intoxicated together. That does not make it a good thing to do.
Alcohol is indeed a drug, a depressant. People take it for recreation. To drink beer is to do drugs for recreation. This is a logical conclusion.
I acknowledge that I come up against a serious objection to my beliefs: Jesus, the sinless Son of God, drank alcohol. Therefore, drinking alcohol cannot be a sin. Furthermore, because it was part of the Passover Meal, He used it at the Last Supper, changing it into His very blood. If drinking alcohol were evil, why would He make it part of our most sacred act of worship, in which His sacrifice on the cross becomes present?
I acknowledge all this and admit I have no way to reconcile all this with my view that drinking alcohol–i.e. doing recreational drugs–is intrinsically evil. That is how I found your blog. I was hoping to find some way to resolve this dilemma. Instead, I found myself condemned as a “puritan,” together with the usual assumption that drinking this drug together is a way to celebrate.
I don’t think you’ve been “condemned” as a puritan (it’s just a way of describing a mindset or perspective). I just disagree with you. And so does Jesus, the Saints, the apostles and the entirety of traditional Christianity.
Alcohol in itself is not good or evil. If somebody abuses it, then it becomes sinful. But the fact that it physiologically changes one’s body does not make it inherently evil, nor always sinful to consume it.
ALL food/drink physiologically changes our body. Sugar and caffeine are stimulants. Others calm you down. That doesn’t make them recreational drugs. If we followed your logic it would end up sinful to consume just about anything. That’s a good sign that your logical conclusion is missing something.
If somebody abuses food in any way (i.e. gluttony, bulimia, etc.) it is sinful. But when it is used in its proper order for its proper purpose and appreciated as a gift from God that nourishes our bodies and where the pleasures of their tastes are appreciated as an acknowledgement and sign of the infinite pleasures/joy/satisfaction offered to us in eternity, then that’s a good, healthy thing. When they lift us up spiritually, that’s good.
That’s not at all a promotion of any kind of hedonism! Once such pleasures are abused or used as an end in themselves, they become sinful. But in their proper place, they can be very good.
God bless you.
Joseph, check out this link, I think it will clear up a lot of confusion. I found it very helpful.
http://godsbreath.wordpress.com/2011/05/20/did-jesus-drink-wine/
Jesus did not drink “fermented” wine. The wine today is not the same wine that is spoken of in the bible.
Blessings!
Stacey – thanks for the link. But I don’t find their position very compelling at all and still think the most compelling points are the ones made here in both the post and in the comments that support Jesus most certainly drinking alcoholic wine.
God bless!
Your response to my conclusion is missing something. You say that all food and drink bring abou physiological changes. True. You do not address my main point: drinking alcohol clouds a person’s reasoning and makes him less capable, or perhaps incapable, of making responsible moral choices. Does food or coffee do that?
However much I eat, or however much coffee I drink, it is not likely to lead to my hurting another person by what I say or do.
Could you address this point, please?
The more I read your response to my statements on the evils of alcohol, the more I see that you, in fact, did not respond to ANYTHING I wrote. I did not write about the effects of alcohol on the body, but on the mind, the free will, etc.
You also write about the pleasures of the taste of alcohol being a sign of the joy to come in the next life. Do people really drink alcohol for the taste? Many drinkers have told me they don’t like the taste. They like its intoxicating effect. Am I stretching things when I say that people drink alcohol precisely FOR reacreation and especially for the sense of pleasure derived from being under the influence?
It is possible to bond with friends and celebrate life without doing drugs.
Joseph M. Latham
Joseph, thanks for the response.
You have a false premise. Drinking limited amounts of alcohol does not cloud my reasoning at all. Nor does it necessarily make me less capable. In fact, in some states, a little alcohol may make me MORE capable in some ways. If I’m extremely stressed, tense, etc. the effects of alcohol, just like the effects of a massage or other muscle relaxants or stress relievers, etc. may help somebody feel better and actually be more capable of loving others, making decisions, enjoying the moment, etc.
Additionally, if you have kids, then you know that alcohol and recreational drugs are not the only things that can render the human body incapable of acting rational. Try loading up a 3 year old on sugar and you’ll learn what I mean.
Another place your logic falls apart is that just because something when taken to an extreme is bad or potentially hurtful to others, does not mean doing it in a small amount is therefore sinful. So you can’t make a distinction there either. If we applied that to all things in life, we couldn’t, for example, feed people. If you feed people too much (for instance, your kids) then it will eventually hurt them by hurting their health, etc. So the basis you are using to determine whether or not alcohol is sinful in any amount is not a sound one.
Finally, oh goodness yes alcohol tastes good. I can understand how a lot of young people who are just drinking for the first time (and who usually are abusing it) do not like the taste and only do it for the feeling they get. But as you get older you realize that most people (at least most people I know) drink it primarily for the taste – not to cloud their memory. And most people I know don’t drink it to the point that it affects their judgment, reasoning, etc.
You are missing out, my friend! Just like coffee, it can be an acquired taste. But the alcohol enhances the taste of food and when put together properly makes a meal a whole different kind of experience (in a good way!). I very often crave the taste of a cold beer or a red wine depending on what I am eating. And it makes the meal a whole lot better. I promise. I didn’t always think that until I acquired more of a taste for it. But I’m glad I did. And it has absolutely nothing to do with getting buzzed or drunk or feeling any hazardous effects of the alcohol.
And I never once suggested that it wasn’t possible to enjoy life and bond with friends without doing drugs (or alcohol). Not sure why you keep bringing that up. Anyone who requires drink or drug to bond with their friends or enjoy life is clearly abusing the drink or drug and probably their friends, too.
Dumbest thing i’ve ever read.
Wine has a benefits if you drink on occasion but is not meant to be overused. Marijuana is fine for a medicinal drug but we’ve seen the effects if you overuse. Food is obviously a necessity but what happens when you overconsume?
Your logic makes absolutely no sense. Hard liquor and beer virtually provide no health benefits compared to standard wine. To “live carelessly” is to what? Have several beers and go drive and kill someone? No.
I’m not upset at Jesus for drinking, as he is showing many things here. First, he is showing his discipline and that he is truly the son of God. Never did it say Jesus “got drunk”, Jesus actually condemned those who do get drunk. Jesus also ate food, of course, but Jesus condemns those who over-eat and gluttony.
Wine is proven to help health benefit wise if you consume in moderation. Same with good foods. But in an easy to understand example, if you commit gluttony on vegetables what is the effect? You still become fat. Don’t believe me? You can eat the healthiest food in the world, but overconsuming still effects you negatively.
I am not fully understanding in beer and if some have the same benefits of wine, okay, but you still should drink in moderation. Being drunk helps no one, not your body and not others.
Brad – I’m confused. I think you missed the point of the entire post. The post even says that drunkards *can’t* really drink carelessly in the sense that I’m using it here. This post does not AT ALL advocate for getting drunk or any form of gluttony (which is always a sin). Sorry if that wasn’t clear. God bless you.
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