Drinking alcohol recreationally is prohibited by the Lord in His Holy Bible. It is only culturally accepted in the West because Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxism were pagan cults that continued to use alcohol, and made a lot of money from it. while oppressing people for thousands of years. Jesus never drank alcohol or he would be in violation of Proverbs 31:4
“It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; Nor for princes strong drink.”
Proverbs 31:4
John the Baptist never drank wine or strong drink, after being filled with the Holy Ghost from his mother’s womb.
“For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb.”
Luke 1:15
“Awake, ye drunkards, and weep;
Joel 1:5
And howl, all ye drinkers of wine,
Because of the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth.”
In fact, when Hannah is mistaken for being drunken, she confirms the cultural values towards drinking wine or strong drink, it was associated with being a ‘child of Belial’ or a Reprobate.
And Hannah answered and said, No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit: I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the LORD.
Count not thine handmaid for a daughter of Belial: for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief have I spoken hitherto.
1 Samuel 1:15-16
Wine
Wine is defined as any fruit of the vine, i.e. fruit juice, it can be fermented or non-fermented. Wine is another word for juice. We can see this in Latin etymology and also the term ‘new wine’
But ye gave the Nazarites wine to drink; and commanded the prophets, saying, Prophesy not.
Amos 2:12
The Nazarites were not allowed to drink any grape juice at all, therefore this verse above shows that wine refers to both alcoholic and non-alcoholic grape juice, depending on the context. We can also see this explicitly in the Song of Solomon:
"I would lead thee, And bring thee into my mother's house, Who would instruct me: I would cause thee to drink of spiced wine of the juice of my pomegranate."
Song of Solomon 8:2
New wine is grape juice that has undergone none or negligible fermentation, it is completely non-alcoholic, as far as could be done before the invention of refrigeration. It is a delicacy. I myself have cultivated grape vines and new wine tastes incredible, I can imagine this would have been especially true before the availability of honey or sugar, it would have been very sweet and refreshing. It is a metaphor for the Holy Ghost.
Old wine is fermented wine. Fermentation or leaven is a metaphor for sin. As per the below verse, the wedding guests were already ‘well drunk’ and non-sobriety is sin, therefore it could not have been old wine and Jesus did not drink or turn water into alcoholic wine, but new wine, good wine, to represent the Holy Ghost.
“Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now.”
John 2:10
Drunkenness
As everyone agrees, being ‘drunk’ or not being sober, specifically revelling, is a sin. Galatians 5:21, 1 Peter 4:3, obviously if one drinks alcohol recreationally then one is drinking to not be sober, it doesn’t matter how much we consume or how ‘drunk’ we feel that we are.
envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
Galatians 5:21
“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, and abominable idolatries”
1 Peter 4:3
Someone can also take drugs as part of sorcery or communing with familiar spirits which again, is a sin: see 2 Chronicles 33:6. Selling drugs is tempting others to riot, and not be sober, therefore selling any kind of drug for this purpose, is a sin.
Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way.
Romans 14:13
As a response to common objections, I begin with Deuteronomy 14, however the text in this chapter does not say they were drinking the alcohol in the temple, and this is just a ‘begging the question’ fallacy to assume otherwise, when we know that pouring out a drink offering was a sin offering, see below.
And the drink offering thereof shall be the fourth part of an hin for the one lamb: in the holy place shalt thou cause the strong wine to be poured unto the LORD for a drink offering.
Numbers 28:7
Obviously, there’s nothing inherently wrong with alcohol and there probably are medicinal uses for a lot of chemical compounds in varying dosages and ways of taking the drugs. For example the common objection is 1 Timothy 5:23, which does not say drinking wine is always okay, but mixing in a little alcoholic wine to help with drinking water while travelling spreading the Gospel seems to me to be what is being referred to here:
"Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmities."
1 Timothy 5:23
Finally, this is not the same legalism as in Islam or Mormonism or any other cult, nothing entering the body can defile any man but what comes out of a man and his heart, an issue everyone knows is exacerbated by not being sober. By the same token, it is not possible for a Christian to lose their salvation by drunkenness. See my post on How to be saved and have eternal life to learn more about salvation. But we must not use this liberty as a license to promote anything that would cause anyone to stumble.