“Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder<\/em>” (Proverbs 23:31-32).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n “For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings<\/em>…” (I Peter 4:3).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Advocates for social drinking will cry out, “See, ‘excess of wine’ is condemned.” While that is true, they need to consider the word “banquetings.” Clearly distinguished from “excess of wine,” this word refers to drinking parties or social drinking. Those who practice such are fulfilling a lust of the flesh and disobeying the will of God.<\/p>\n Social Drinking . . . You can defend it or you can defend the Bible, but you cannot defend both.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by David McPherson Most folks are clear on the fact that drunkenness is condemned throughout the pages of the Bible. What some are not as clear on is that social drinking is also condemned. “Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth…<\/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_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[371,1319],"class_list":["post-89164","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-alcohol","tag-drinking"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":62293,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/drinking\/","url_meta":{"origin":89164,"position":0},"title":"Drinking","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 22, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Drunkenness is an old problem among men \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The earliest record is Genesis 9:21 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Noah was acquainted with the effects of wine - Matt 24:38 II.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The effects of alcohol \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Prov 20:1 - It deceives the mind. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Isa. 28:1-3,7-8 - It causes errors in judgement \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0C.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Hab 2:15 -\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":25182,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/social-drinking\/","url_meta":{"origin":89164,"position":1},"title":"Social Drinking (Spears)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 23, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"by Dudley Ross Spears We live in a world where social drinking is accepted by over two-thirds of our entire population.\u00a0 That segment also accepts just about any other kind of drinking.\u00a0 But social drinking has been elevated a few steps above ordinary honkey-tonk or bar room drinking.\u00a0 No matter\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/social-drinking-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":51397,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-value-of-taking-a-drink\/","url_meta":{"origin":89164,"position":2},"title":"The Value of Taking a Drink","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 15, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"by Kent Heaton Alcohol has always been a demon that plagues man with its sparkle and alluring appeal to the desires of the flesh. Noah planted a vineyard and \"drank of the wine and was drunk, and became uncovered in his tent\" (Genesis 9:21). The children of Israel did not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/wineBottles.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":68364,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/when-the-guests-are-drunk\/","url_meta":{"origin":89164,"position":3},"title":"When the Guests are Drunk?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 15, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton Does John 2:10 say and mean \"when the guests are drunk\" as the NET so renders, or does the verse have a different connotation? My Interlinear renders this \"have well drunk,\" which is a far different meaning than \"are drunk.\" The interlinear rendering means only that\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":91551,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-risk-of-small-amounts-of-alcohol\/","url_meta":{"origin":89164,"position":4},"title":"The Risk of Small Amounts of Alcohol","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 25, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Drinking in Moderation Is Not Harmless by Andy Sochor via Plain Bible Teaching for Today It is not uncommon to hear or see debates on whether it is permissible for Christians to drink alcohol in moderation. That is an important discussion. However, it is also interesting to take note of\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":2618,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-the-words-carousing-or-reveling-condemn-social-drinking\/","url_meta":{"origin":89164,"position":5},"title":"Do the words “carousing” or “reveling” condemn social drinking?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 5, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My preacher said that the words \"carousing\" and \"reveling\" are often misused today. Some have associated these words with social drinking. However, carousing and reveling refer to parties where drunkenness is either the goal or by-product of the party. I tried to discuss\u00a0I Peter 4:3\u00a0with him, suggesting that \"tippling\"\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\/89164","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=89164"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89164\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89164"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89164"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/social-drinking-300x200.jpg\")
Those who try to justify social drinking emphasize that the biting and the stinging have reference to drunkenness. They fail, however, to note the commandment in the first part of the verse, “Look not thou upon the wine<\/em>…” Certainly, the effects of alcohol are stressed in the biting and stinging statement. Thus, the command is: Don’t you even look at it (much less drink it) when it seems innocent, wholesome, and good.<\/p>\n