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Originally Posted by CarolinaCalvinist  What's the difference between forbidding something and saying that any contact with it is "unwise"? I don't want to be unwise...I'm sure God doesn't want me to be unwise, either. Wisdom is to be sought after; it begins with the fear of the Lord. Hence, if any consumption of alcohol is "unwise," would it not follow that such a broad declaration would be equal to forbidding it to those who wish to be "wise"? |
That's a good question.
The difference is that to forbid it requires it to be a sin in itself - a clear violation of the mandates of Scripture. On the other hand, saying it is unwise is saying that in this cases it may be a sin. It may be a sin to drink if alcohol abuse is common in your family, or if you tend to overindulge. But simply saying (even as a general "rule of thumb" that something is unwise, is not the same as forbidding it. Rather, it is giving someone what one considers to be less than a strict law - like when Paul said he advised sexual abstinence, and he made it clear that this was not a matter of law, but an issue of liberty. Paul was still imparting wisdom, but not a matter of law.
bwsmith made her case that Christians today would be wise to abstain from drinking alcohol. She gave scripture and she gave the circumstances she believes warrant this "rule of thumb". The circumstances include the culture of today, the tendency towards excessive drinking, even the boosting of alcohol content in most alcoholic beverages.
Personally, I disagree with her. But I support her right to express her opinion. It still remains a matter of Christian liberty. We shouldn't confuse her making her case for the wisdom of abstinence from drink, with her mandating that all Christians must abstain from drink because it is forbidden by Scripture. She is saying that it may be wise for Christians today to avoid alcohol because of current circumstances. If she said that is was a matter of law, then she would have to say that any Christians supports some alcohol consumption are apostate.
All things are allowable, but not all things are profitable. Bwsmith was mere expressing the opinion that "as a rule of thumb", drinking is not profitable. Much of what she said has warrant, even if I disagree with her conclusion.
But we need to remember while we are not to set up laws in areas where we have been given liberty, equally so are we to be aware that in liberty there are opportunities to sin (by offense or by abuse of those liberty). There are circumstance where taking advantage of our liberties can be sinful. We are not antinomian.
So we must try to be wise in deciding when those circumstance occur. bwsmith believes that we are living under those circumstance. I disagree with her. But I might be wrong. And that's why we should discuss this and avoid personal attacks and accusations.