Reiterating and thus reemphasizing what is said in vv. 13b-15, the idea of causing one to “stumble” is expressed here with the noun πρόσκομμα (as in v. 13b) and its verbal form προσκόπτω (as in 9:32), meaning to cause hurtful offense and/or induce to sin.2 Though not the same word used earlier to describe a weaker brother’s spiritual demise (v. 15), here the term “destroy” [καταλύω], lit. “tear down,”3 is the opposite of the “upbuilding” image of the previous verse.
Abstaining from Meat
While “food” [βρῶμα] (cf. v. 15)4 is generically applicable to whatever is eaten or abstained from, the modifier “clean” [καθαρός] would be more relevant to “meat” [κρέας]5 in the context of Jewish ceremonial protocol (cf. v. 14). Under Christ’s new covenant system, the eating of certain types of food or abstaining therefrom is neither enjoined nor forbidden. However, anything can be “wrong” or “evil” [κακός]6 if it causes unnecessary spiritual harm to oneself or to another. Therefore, “not only is lawful food sometimes bad, but abstinence from lawful food is sometimes good.”7
Whether an individual or the entire community is in view, the seriousness of the matter is magnified by the fact that “the work [ἔργον] of God” is impacted,8 especially when righteousness, peace, and joy are robbed from his kingdom (vv. 17, 19). Even though giving up something that injures others is an abstract principle easy enough to comprehend,9 it “can never be the rule of Christian conduct…. It does not define his duty, but only makes clear his responsibility …. looking with love at other Christians, and the effect of any given line of conduct on them, he has to define his duty for himself. All meat is clean, but not all eating.”10 It is necessary to appreciate, of course, the difference between radically coercive asceticism (e.g., 1 Tim. 4:3-4) and voluntary abstinence (e.g., 1 Cor. 7:1; 8:13).
Abstaining from Wine
To illustrate the avoidance of “anything”11 that causes a brother to stumble, Paul uses the examples of “meat” [κρέας] and “wine” [οἶνος], probably as hypotheticals, given that both were part of the normal dietary habits of many Jews and non-Jews alike. Since forgoing meat could be related to the kosher laws of Judaism (v. 14) or to association with pagan sacrifices,12 aversion to wine may similarly be motivated by non-Christian religious practices.13 However, the current circumstances under consideration are perhaps more complicated.
With the prohibition against drunkenness [μέθαι] understood (13:13),14 there is a distinction in the NT between “wine” [οἶνος] that is “new” [νέος], prior to fermentation, and fermented “wine” [οἶνος].15 Abstention from either is not unprecedented in the biblical record.16
Jesus and his disciples engaged in eating and drinking,17 so when they drank “wine” [οἶνος],18 was it fermented or not? The Lord had table fellowship with sinners in order to lead them to repentance,19 whereas he condemned eating and drinking in drunken environments.20 When he therefore turned 120-180 gallons (450-490 liters) of water into “wine” [οἶνος] for those who had already “drunk freely,”21 the “good wine” [καλὸν οἶνον] that he made appears to have been new and fresh, without having undergone the process of fermentation (John 2:1-10).22
But what about the consumption of fermented wine in antiquity? A fair assessment begins with recognizing the common “apples-and-oranges” fallacy of comparing the English word “wine” and its modern connotation with that of the ancient Mediterranean world.23 As noted above, the so-called “wine” of biblical accounts was not always fermented,24 and when it was, the alcohol concentration was significantly less than today’s standards. The alcohol content of modern wines, with added boosting agents (inoculation), is much more potent than the product of natural fermentation of the distant past.
The sugar of grape juice can only ferment to 3 or 4% alcohol with wild yeast — airborne yeast. For grape juice to exceed 4% alcohol, then the winemaker must add yeast. The yeast added to ancient wines produced between 4-11% alcohol. Alcohol kills these yeast cells and prevents levels of alcohol from exceeding ~10%. Today, wines average 12-20% alcohol due to modern fermentation by adding sulfur dioxide and Saccharomyces (a cultured GMO yeast) to a late harvest of ripened grapes with higher fructose.25
Reducing the alcohol concentration to avoid intoxication, the ancients routinely diluted fermented wine with water, sometimes as much as twenty parts water to one part wine.26 The Greek rhetorician Athenaus of Naucratis (early third century), citing nearly 800 ancient authors and 2500 separate works in his fifteen volumes entitled Deipnosophistae (“Scholars at the Dinner Table”), documents the common practice, among society’s more sophisticated, of drinking wine diluted with water (of various water-to-wine ratios ranging from 1:1 to 20:1), regarding it uncultured to drink full-strength undiluted wine characteristic of barbaric Scythians.27 The first-century Greco-Roman historian Plutarch speaks of recommended proportions of 3:2, 2:1, and 3:1, the greater part water making it harder to get drunk (Symposiacs 3.9).
Concerning the Lord’s Supper, Justin Martyr (ca. 100-165) spoke of “bread [ἄρτος] and a cup (of wine) [ποτήριον] mixed with water [ὕδωρ] …. deacons give to each of those present to partake of the bread [ἄρτος] and wine [οἶνος] mixed with water [ὕδωρ] over which the thanksgiving was pronounced …” (First Apology 65).
Among the Jews of the intertestamental period, 2 Maccabees 15:39 states: “Just as it is unpleasant to drink wine by itself or just water, whereas wine mixed with water makes a delightful and pleasing drink, so a skillfully composed story delights the ears of those who read the work …”28 In Talmudic times (post-70 to fifth century AD),29 the normal dilution rate was three parts water to one part wine (Pesaḥim 108b), while 2:1 was considered “impure” (Niddah 2.7). According to rabbi Rava, “Any wine that does not hold one part wine diluted by three parts water is not wine. Wine must be sufficiently potent to be capable of being diluted with water three times its measure” (Shabbath 77a).30 Moreover, grape juice was often boiled down to a concentrate before adding water.31
Mixing fermented wine with water may also have had a purifying effect, making water safer to drink,32 although the well-known practices of boiling and filtering were commonly used for this purpose.33 At the same time, contrary to what is often assumed and alleged, clean water was readily available for drinking.34 In fact, while extoling the merits of drinking only water, Athenaus observes, “He who has been accustomed from his earliest upbringing to drink water takes no pleasure in the cup” (Deipnosophistae 2:40-46).35
Unless historical context is ignored, the recreational drinking of full-strength, fortified, ethyl alcohol is not biblically maintainable.36 Paul’s allusion to “meat” or “wine,” notwithstanding the likely hypothetical nature of his point, is simply illustrative of whatever may cause a fellow-Christian to stumble and ought to be relinquished by considerate, loving brethren. “While freedom is a right, it is not a guide for conduct. Love serves that purpose. Rights are to be laid aside in the interest of love.”37
Personal Faith
“The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin” (Romans 14:22-23).
The second person singular pronoun “you” [σύ], with which v. 22 begins (cf. also vv. 4, 10), indirectly and emphatically identifies the convictions or personal “faith” [πίστις] each Christian has concerning matters that should not challenge or unsettle the objective faith all believers mutually share.38 If a legitimate activity (related to the issues at hand) has the potential of adversely affecting the unity of the church or the spiritual well-being of a brother or sister in Christ, it is to be kept private “between yourself and God.”39 No need to flaunt your religious freedom (cf. vv. 4-12). “For faith is in itself so good that we can afford to forego some points of its outward manifestation, and be satisfied to enjoy it in our own hearts and in the presence of God.”40
Note the repetition of κριν- (assessment-making) words: “pass judgment” [κρίνω], “has doubts” [διακρίνω], “is condemned” [κατακρίνω]. The unacceptable judging of others (vv. 1-4, 10-13) extends to self-condemnatory “judging” [κρίνω] (cf. v. 5a). “Blessed” [μακάριος]41 (cf. 4:7, 8) or “happy” (ASV, NASB, N/KJV) is the one who avoids this pitfall. Otherwise, one is fraught by needless misgivings, uncertainty, and “doubting” [διακρίνω] – the opposite of a solid Abraham-like faith (4:20).42 If not fully convinced, one is “weak in the faith” (v. 1), trying to function as a Christian on tenuous footing, and “is condemned” [κατακρίνω] (cf. 2:1; 8:3, 34)43 if engaging in an uncertain activity (like “eating” something about which one is unsure) that is “not from faith” [οὐκ ἐκ πίστεως]. This is in contrast to one “having faith” [πιστεύει] to eat anything (v. 2).
The eating in itself is not the problem. Rather, eating when one thinks it may be wrong or when one is unconvinced it is right in the sight of God (vv. 14, 20) constitutes “sin.” This is the final occurrence of the word “sin” [ἁμαρτία] in the letter that has been thoroughly discussed, in both its noun and verbal forms, since chapter 2.44 “For a Christian not a single decision and action can be good which he does not think he can justify on the ground of his Christian conviction and his liberty before God in Christ.”45
In chapter 14 Paul seems to be using the noun “faith” [πίστις] and its verbal form (vv. 1, 2, 22, 23) in reference to “the confidence that one’s Christian faith permits one to do a particular thing, an inward liberty with reference to it.”46 Yet here he establishes a general principle exceeding the representative samples he has noted thus far, applicable to “whatever” [πᾶν] is not “from faith” [ἐκ πίστεως], including “other matters in which believers might act contrary to what they believe is true.”47
--Kevin L. Moore
Endnotes:
1 The Byzantine Majority Text and Textus Receptus have the added, “or is offended or is made weak” (NKJV) [ἢ σκανδαλίζεται ἢ ἀσθενεῖ]. While many believe this is “a Western expansion … which gained wide circulation” (B. M. Metzger, Textual Commentary on the Greek NT [2nd ed.] 469), it is attested quite early and both readings “have good documentary support; either reading could be original” (P. W. Comfort, A Commentary on the Manuscripts and Text of the NT 310). Based on the longer reading, John Calvin observed a descending order of “falling” [προσκόπτω], “stumbling” [σκανδαλίζω], and “weakening” [ἀσθενέω], as Paul proscribes instigating the latter to avoid the more serious leading to the most serious (Commentary on Romans 433).
2 Compare 1 Cor. 8:7-13.
3 Cf. 2 Cor. 5:1; Gal. 2:18.
4 1 Cor. 6:13; 8:8, 13; 1 Tim. 4:3; Heb. 9:10 (incl. drink); 13:9.
5 The only other occurrence of this word in the NT is 1 Cor. 8:13.
6 Cf. 1:30; 2:9; 3:8; 7:19, 21; 12:17, 21; 13:3, 4, 10; 16:10.
7 J. A. Beet, Romans 358.
8 Cf. 1 Cor. 3:9-17; Eph. 2:10.
9 Cf. 1 Cor. 8:13; 9:12, 15, 19; 10:27-33; Gal. 5:13-15, 26; Phil. 2:1-4.
10 J. Denney, “Romans” 2:706.
11 To complete the thought, the English pronoun “anything” is added by translators to the triple negative μή … μηδέ … μηδέ, which normally expresses a sense of urgency.
12 Acts 15:20, 29; 1 Cor. 8–10; Col. 2:20-22.
13 Wine was used in Jewish drink offerings (Lev. 23:13; Num. 15:5), and pouring out a libation of wine to the gods was a common practice among the Greeks, both in drinking wine and accompanying sacrifices (see W. Burkert, Greek Religion 70-73; L. B. Zaidman and P. S. Pantel, Religion in the Ancient Greek City 28-40). The Greek verb μεθύω (to “get drunk”), according to Aristotle, is derived “from the use of wine after sacrifice” (as reported by Athenaus of Naucratis, Deipnosophistae 2:40).
14 Cf. Luke 21:34; Gal. 5:21; also 1 Cor. 6:10; Eph. 5:18; 1 Pet. 4:3. The noun κώμοι in Rom. 13:13, translated “orgies” in the ESV and NAB, is more closely related to drunkenness in the sense of “reveling” (ASV, NRSV) or “carousing” (NASB, NIV).
15 Matt. 9:17; Mark 2:22; Luke 5:37-38.
16 Num. 6:1-4; Jer. 35:6-14; Dan. 1:8; Luke 1:14; 7:33.
17 Matt. 11:19; Luke 5:30, 33; 10:7.
18 Luke 7:33-34; John 2:1-11; 4:46. In the NT the word “wine” [οἶνος] is never used with reference to the Passover meal or the Lord’s Supper, notwithstanding some modern English paraphrastic versions. Rather, the terminology used is simply “cup” [ποτήριον = “drinking vessel”] as a metonymy (Matt. 26:27; Mark 14:23; Luke 22:17, 20), and “the fruit of the vine” [τοῦ γενήματος τῆς ἀμπέλου] (Matt. 26:29; Mark 14:25; Luke 22:18).
19 Luke 5:29-32; cf. Matt. 9:10-12; Mark 2:15-17.
20 Matt. 24:48-51; Luke 12:45-46; cf. Prov. 23:19-21; Eccl. 10:17; 1 Pet. 4:3-5.
21 The verb μεθύω and its transitive form μεθύσκω mean to “get drunk” only when intoxicants are involved (Luke 12:45; Eph. 5:18; 1 Thess. 5:7). Otherwise, the sense of “indulging” or “overindulging” (cf. Rev. 17:2, 6) would include excessive eating (1 Cor. 11:21), as well as drinking “freely” or “fully” without inebriation (John 2:10).
22 The description “good” does not imply fermentation, although “old” [παλαιός] (fermented) wine, as opposed to “new” [νέος] (unfermented) wine, is usually preferred by those who have developed a taste for it (Luke 5:37-39), especially when addicted (cf. Prov. 23:29-35). See also Prov. 20:1; Hab. 2:15. Elsewhere in John’s Gospel, the adj. “good” [καλός] always applies to Jesus (10:11, 14, 32, 33); note also the comparable ἀγαθός (1:46; 5:29; 7:12).
23 The Greek word οἶνος reportedly came from Oineus, the name of the first person to have used the term for what he squeezed into cups from the clusters of grapevines, according to Hecataeus of Miletus (6th-5th century BC Greek historian and geographer), Melanippides of Melos (5th century BC Greek poet), and Nicander of Colophon (2nd century BC Greek poet, grammarian, and physician); reported in Deipnosophistae 2:35 by Athenaus of Naucratis (ca. 228).
24 Cf. Gen. 49:11-12; Num. 18:12; Deut. 11:14; 32:14; 2 Chron. 31:5; 32:28; Neh. 10:37; Prov. 3:10; Isa. 16:10; 27:2; 62:8-9; 65:8; Jer. 40:10, 12; 48:33; Joel 1:10-12; Amos 9:13.
25 S. J. Shifferd, “What Kind of Wine Did Jesus Drink?” The Breath of God (retrieved 29 March 2024), <Link>; cf. J. Chorniak, “Wild Yeast: The Pros and Cons of Spontaneous Fermentation,” WineMaker (retrieved 29 March 2024), <Link>; J. L. Jacobson, “Upsides of Wild Fermentation,” Wines & Vines (April 2012), <Link>; “Wine Alcohol Content,” Alcohol Content Database (retrieved 29 March 2024), <Link>.
26 See E. Ferguson, “Wine as a Table-Drink in the Ancient World,” RQ 13 (1970): 141-53.
27 See The Deipnosophistae of Athenaus, LCL Vol. 4; also available online. On the reputation of the Scythians as uncultured barbarians and drunkards, see B. Cunliffe, The Scythians: Nomad Warriors of the Steppe 52-54.
28 USCCB translation, © 2019-2024.
29 Granted, the rabbinic teachings were recorded after the earliest period of the Christ movement, but since undiluted wine became commonplace in later Jewish tradition, greater moderation in earlier times is assumed.
30 From the William Davidson edition of the Babylonian Talmud, trans. A. Even-Israel Steinsaltz. On the question of using unfermented grape juice for the cup of blessing at Passover, R. Rava affirms: “One can squeeze a cluster of grapes and say Kiddush over [the juice]” (Bava Batra 97b).
31 J. Kulp, Mishnah Yomit: English Explanation of Mishnah Pesachim, USCJ Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem (retrieved 21 March 2020), <Web>.
32 E. Ferguson, “Wine as a Table-Drink” 146.
33 Athenaus, Deipnosophistae 2:45. “The Greeks and Romans used different methods to improve the quality of the water if it did not satisfy their quality requirements. From written sources and archaeological excavations, we know that using settling tanks, sieves, filters and the boiling of water were methods used during antiquity. At least boiling of water, which was widely recommended by the medical authors during antiquity, would have diminished the biological risks of poor quality water” (P. S. Juuti, T. S. Katko, and H. S. Vuorinen, eds. “A Brief History of Water and Health from Ancient Civilizations,” IWA Publishing [retrieved 30 March 2024], <Link>).
34 See Mark 9:41; John 4:7-13; 1 Tim. 5:23a; Jas. 3:11-12.
35 In 1 Tim. 5:22b-23, prompted by the reminder to “keep yourself pure,” Paul inserts the parenthetical comment: “No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.” The present active imperative verb ὑδροπότει (from ὑδροποτέω, to “drink water”), is suggestive of Timothy’s ordinary means of hydration, drinking water exclusively and total abstinence from wine. The young evangelist is therefore encouraged to alter his customary routine to address his digestive problems and other “frequent ailments.” He is not instructed to imbibe or indulge but to “use” [χράομαι] (cf. 1:8), for medicinal purposes, a small amount [ὀλίγος] (cf. 4:8) of “wine” [οἶνος], the only explicit exception to the apostle’s earlier stance against “much wine” (3:8).
36 See K. L. Moore, “Here’s Why I Don’t Drink Beverage Alcohol,” Moore Perspective (28 Sept. 2013), <Link>.
37 R. Mounce, Romans 257-58.
38 As per Rom. 1:5, 8, 12; 3:28; 5:1-2; 10:17; et al.; cf. also 1 Cor. 1:10; Eph. 4:4-6, 13; Phil. 1:27; Col. 1:23.
39 Lit. “before” [ἐνώπιον] God: cf. Luke 1:74-75; 12:6-7; 16:15; Acts 7:46; 10:31; 1 Cor. 1:29; 2 Cor. 4:2; 8:21; Gal. 1:20; 1 Tim. 2:3; 6:13; Heb. 4:13; 13:20-21; Jas. 4:10; 1 Pet. 3:4; 1 John 3:18-21. Note also 1 Cor. 14:28.
40 J. A. Beet, Romans 358.
41 The adj. μακάριος means “blessed, fortunate, happy, usu[ally] in the sense privileged recipient of divine favor” (BAGD 486). While the Latin beatus, from which the English term “beatitude” is derived, means “fortunate,” “blissful,” or “happy,” the word “blessed” is probably the better sense in most biblical texts, wherein the focus is directed upward and implicitly acknowledges God from whom the blessings proceed (cf. Matt. 5:3-11; Col. 3:2; Jas. 1:12, 17, 25).
42 Compare Matt. 21:21; Mark 11:23; Acts 10:20; 11:12; Jas. 1:6; Jude 22-23.
43 As Paul consistently uses the expression (cf. also 1 Cor. 11:32), this is not merely self-condemnation but divine condemnation.
44 Verb ἁμαρτάνω, Rom. 2:12; 3:23; 5:12, 14, 16; 6:15. Noun ἁμαρτία, 3:9, 20; 4:7, 8; 5:12, 13, 20, 21; 6:1, 2, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 20, 22, 23; 7:5, 7, 8, 9, 11, 13, 14, 17, 20, 23, 25; 8:2, 3, 10; 11:27; 14:23.
45 H. N. Ridderbos, Paul: An Outline of His Theology 291.
46 C. E. B. Cranfield, Romans 2:728-29. Cranfield also speaks of the word’s “limited applicability,” which he says contextually “refers only to matters which have been under discussion, the matters at issue between the weak and the strong …” (ibid.); cf. also 697-700.
47 C. Kruse, Paul’s Letter to the Romans 526.
Related Posts: The Weak and Strong: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 6, Part 7
Related articles: Patrick Swayne, Was Jesus a Drunkard?
