much wine<\/em>,” that is, not given to using large quantities of wine. (i.e. not a drunkard.) The “much” modifies “wine” in the Greek.<\/p>\nRegarding this phrase, Albert Barnes notes, “It is not affirmed that it would be proper for the deacon, any more than the bishop, to indulge in the use of wine in small quantities, but it is affirmed that a man who is much given to the use of wine, ought not, on any consideration, to be a deacon.” In other words, what he is saying is that a prohibition against using large quantities or frequent consumption of wine by a man considered for a deacon cannot necessarily be reversed to imply approval for small quantities or infrequent consumption. The reason is simple, there are times when small quantities of alcohol do have appropriate uses, such as in medicine. If the prohibition was against all use of alcohol, then deacons could never take any alcohol-based medicine.<\/p>\n
What you wish to assume is that casual drinking is also an appropriate use. This verse cannot prove that casual drinking is an acceptable use. You would need to prove it in another manner, which I don’t think is possible from the New Testament.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: I really appreciated your “New Testament Beverages.” However, how does one answer the question relating to deacons must not be given to much wine? This seems to allow for a casual drink. If this was merely grape juice, should we not ask prospective deacons how much grape juice they drink? Answer: “Likewise deacons must…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[371,1568],"class_list":["post-20514","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-alcohol","tag-deacons"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":41456,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/elders-deacons-timothy-and-wine\/","url_meta":{"origin":20514,"position":0},"title":"Elders, Deacons, Timothy, and Wine","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 5, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Dave Miller, Ph.D. via Apologetics Press Paul's instructions pertaining to the qualifications of elders and deacons have created misunderstandings regarding the use of alcoholic beverages. Elders are not to be \"given to wine\" (I Timothy 3:3), while deacons are not to be \"given to much wine\" (I Timothy 3:8).\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":32400,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-is-the-qualification-for-deacons-not-given-to-much-wine\/","url_meta":{"origin":20514,"position":1},"title":"Why is the qualification for deacons “not given to much wine?”","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 3, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I scanned through the topics on your website about drinking, but I still have a question about I Timothy 3:8. I'm not trying to argue that drinking is OK or trying to reword the Scripture to allow it. I do like a beer with a meal on occasion, but\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":18280,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-fermented-grape-juice-wine-be-used-in-the-lords-supper\/","url_meta":{"origin":20514,"position":2},"title":"Can fermented grape juice (wine) be used in the Lord’s Supper?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 2, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Please answer me with biblical texts the following questions or doubts I have: Which kind of wine (intoxicating fermented wine or non-fermented wine) should be used during Lord's Supper celebration? Can we commit sin by using fermented or alcoholic wine during the Lord's Supper celebration? It is alleged that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16612,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-do-you-say-that-the-wine-at-the-marriage-feast-in-cana-was-grape-juice\/","url_meta":{"origin":20514,"position":3},"title":"Why do you say that the wine at the marriage feast in Cana was grape juice?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 14, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I read your web site. Why do you tell Christians that the wine at the marriage feast at Cana was grape juice? Read my book. You don't need to protect the Gospel from its own truth.\u00a0 The wine at the marriage feast at Cana contained alcohol and you cannot\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":86675,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/much-wine\/","url_meta":{"origin":20514,"position":4},"title":"Much Wine?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 17, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Tracy Dugger In giving the qualifications of elders, the Holy Spirit inspired Paul to write that an elder is not to be, \"\u2026given to wine\u2026\" (I Timothy 3:3). Then in I Timothy 3:6, Paul stated of deacons, \"Likewise must the deacons be grave, not double tongued, not given to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14621,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-ran-into-an-argument-that-every-lexicon-defines-oinos-as-a-fermented-drink-do-you-have-sources-to-disprove-this\/","url_meta":{"origin":20514,"position":5},"title":"I ran into an argument that “every lexicon” defines oinos as a fermented drink. Do you have sources to disprove this?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 10, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I really appreciate the work you do as a Gospel preacher and a brother in Christ. I am in the process of studying the subject of moderate drinking with a brother in Christ, and also for myself. I have no doubt the Bible condemns it and I agree with\u00a0your\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20514","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20514"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20514\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20514"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20514"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20514"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}