Good day, friends! Many of us, no matter how sad it may sound, love to drink alcohol and sometimes think about it. Is it a sin for an Orthodox Christian to drink? Is drunkenness itself considered a sin or not? Is there a sin of drunkenness?
Drunkenness or alcoholism is a serious problem in modern society and a matter of concern for the Russian Orthodox Church.
The Orthodox Church classifies this vice as one of the varieties of sinful passions that destroy the human soul. By succumbing to sin, a Christian distorts his original spiritual image, given by the Lord.
Drunkenness is a sin or what the holy fathers say about drunkenness
Drunkenness is a sin that destroys and destroys the soul.
This opinion is shared by many priests and holy fathers. What is drunkenness from the point of view of church ministers, and why is it a great sin? From ancient times, recipes for making wine have reached the present day - a popular alcoholic drink, the consumption of which cheers the soul and eases the hardships of life.
There is no place on Earth where wine is not used as a means of entertainment, without which not a single celebration of any significant date takes place.
There are no official sources that would mention the date of creation and the name of the creator of such a popular drink. It can even be assumed that wine and similar products have existed since the very beginning of the human era.
Attention!
The same can be said about drunkenness - drinking alcohol beyond the prescribed limit. Many holy fathers treat drinking alcohol with contempt, saying that it is a sin. What should be understood by the word “drunkenness”, and how to treat it?
Alcoholism through the eyes of believers
Alcohol addiction has destroyed millions of human lives over its entire period of existence. But among those killed there are many who were not addicted to alcohol at all, but died due to the fault of drunks.
History remembers many cases of global infection of people with deadly diseases, such as:
- plague;
- smallpox;
- typhus;
- malaria;
- tuberculosis.
Humanity has found the strength to overcome the above ailments. However, alcoholism was and remains the most terrible epidemic, from which an average of 3 million people die annually - the population of a small city.
Saint Basil the Great said that the sin of drunkenness is nothing more than a demon that inhabits a person at his own will, caused by voluptuousness. This statement gives the most accurate description of alcohol addiction as a mental vice. “Drunkenness does not make room for the Lord, drunkenness drives away the Holy Spirit,” wrote St. Basil the Great in his teachings.
A person who voluntarily chooses alcohol as a means to hide problems induces evil spirits on himself. Under the influence of intoxicating drinks, your mood rises, and creatures from another world often appear before your eyes. It’s not for nothing that people say: “I got drunk as hell.” Almost all holy fathers have a negative attitude towards alcoholism.
For example, the Apostle Paul recommended that Timothy, his disciple, henceforth not drink only water, but drink a little alcohol (in this case wine) in order to get rid of stomach problems. Turning to the materials written by ancient clergy, there are many opinions about both the dangers and benefits of intoxicating drinks.
Thus, Saint John Chrysostom put forward the idea of a unique way of treating diseases with the help of small daily doses of alcohol. However, the line between benefit and harm from intoxicating drinks is very thin. And alcohol addiction certainly destroys a person. This is evidenced by numerous facts from life.
Therefore, we can say with confidence that alcoholism is a sin.
How and why addiction occurs
At all times, versions of the emergence of alcohol addiction have been different. For example, during the Soviet period, alcoholism was of an everyday nature, and it was believed that both external factors and genetically endowed personal qualities contributed to its occurrence.
- Basically, the reasons were as follows:
- poor human environment;
- drastic changes in life;
- constant being in a stressful state;
- unstable economic situation in the country;
- hereditary predisposition.
As you can see, the opinions were quite subjective and scattered, which is typical for the times of the Soviet Union. However, those relative versions are not enough to fully explain the reason for the appearance of such a terrible vice as drunkenness.
In Orthodoxy, turning this problem to the ancient teachings of church ministers, one can find many answers to the question posed.
Thus, the Monk Abba Dorotheos believed that the main source of all weaknesses, including dependence on alcohol, of a person lies in three of his moral qualities:
- Popularity.
- Love of money.
- Voluptuousness.
The last quality is stronger than all the others, and therefore it is it that influences a person radically. In a nutshell, voluptuousness implies the desire to live better than others and to be famous. There is nothing wrong with this, for man was created by God for eternal blissful life. But this life requires close proximity to God, since He is its source.
Without immediate proximity to God, there is no and cannot be eternal bliss. But it can be replaced by some kind of “surrogate pleasure” intended to satisfy the human need for happiness. One of these surrogates is alcohol, the consumption of which does not bring one closer to God and does not make a person truly happy.
However, the drunkard does not know about this, continuing to have fun with wine.
Ultimately, this leads him to sin - alcohol addiction, false bliss, in which there is no place for real happiness. Wine, or other alcohol, in this case acts as a fruit of paradise, which brings only troubles and troubles to its taster.
According to the holy fathers, the real, non-fictional reason for drunkenness is nothing more than a person’s inability to correctly use his need for happiness. This inability arises from voluptuousness, since for a voluptuous person there is no measure of wine, which ultimately causes outright torment and anger in the body of such a person.
How to get rid of addiction
Important!
How to find the strength to overcome the great sin of drunkenness? Is there such a possibility? Eat! But complete and unconditional victory over addiction requires a huge amount of physical and spiritual work on oneself, as the holy fathers believe.
There is a way back, but it is lined on all sides with difficult obstacles that must be overcome. The first difficult obstacle is to establish a connection with the Lord, to pay attention to the commandments, prayers, fasting, and sincere repentance. We must regain our faith.
The Lord does not love the proud and forgives all those who have repented, so it is necessary to humble your pride and honestly admit to yourself your sin.
The second stage of recovery from drunkenness involves admitting to yourself your mistakes, and also that the problem lies in the person himself, and not in those around him. To overcome addiction, one way or another you will have to realize your love for alcohol.
A lie has never saved anyone.
It is necessary that admitting to yourself an alcohol addiction is not empty, meaningless words. It must be sincere and vital. This is the only way to create an irresistible desire to live life to the fullest.
It will be better if, during healing after drunkenness, those close to the former drunkard do not abandon their relative and support him in the following way:
- encourage in every possible way, set up for a life in which there is no alcohol;
- pay attention to his failures and successes;
- try with all your might to show him that he is not alone;
- Going to church and reading special prayers will also be beneficial.
Joint participation in solving a problem always brings good results. By helping a person in difficult times, we show him that his fate is not indifferent, and that he has something to live for. Free love and sincere desire can atone for even such a sin as drunkenness.
Lies and lies are of no use here. They destroy a person, and according to the holy fathers, God forgives the sins only of those who confessed and repented of everything. Getting rid of the vices associated with alcohol abuse will require titanic efforts and maximum patience from the addict.
Without them there is no way back.
Saint Basil the Great. Just as water resists fire, so wine drowns intelligent thoughts. Just as smoke drives away bees, so drunkenness removes spiritual gifts. When wine controls a drunk, he is like a horse without a bridle.
Saint Gregory the Theologian. Drunkenness, carnal love, jealousy and the demon are equal. Whoever they come to will destroy his mind. Water is a wonderful drink; it does not disturb the clarity of thoughts, but drinking a cup of wine clouds the mind.
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Saint John Chrysostom. The devil loves no one more than drunkards, because no one fulfills his evil will like a drunkard. Run away from wine like from a serpent.
The drunk is more pitiful than the dead: he lies unconscious and does neither good nor evil, but this one is capable of doing evil. A drunk is worse than a demoniac, because it is his own fault that he becomes possessed.
Saint John Chrysostom back in the 4th century AD. wrote: “So, I beg you, do not become infected with this disease, but snatch those who have already become infected out of trouble, so that there are no people among you who are worse than dumb. For cattle do not require anything more than what is needed; and these become more senseless than them, transgressing the boundaries of moderation.
All animals in general - whether they eat or drink - know the limit of contentment and do not extend beyond need, and even if they are forced, they will never allow themselves to reach immoderation. So, the intemperate are worse than the dumb in this respect. And not only on the day when you are drunk, you suffer from drunkenness, but also after that day.
Just as by taming the excitement during a storm, traces of its destructive action remain, so here. Just like goods there, almost everything good is thrown away here. Whether someone has acquired chastity, modesty, meekness, humility - all this drunkenness plunges into a sea of wickedness. And what else drunkenness does after that cannot be compared with anything.
Treatment of alcoholism in Orthodoxy
The Church always cares about the spiritual health of the people and promotes the fair promotion of sobriety, as well as the prevention of alcohol addiction. However, the passion for drinking wine is a chronic illness, and it is cured by working on oneself, by heroic efforts of will.
- First you need to recognize your own problem and accept it. It is not easy to get rid of alcohol; a person overcomes addiction with great difficulty and faith in the Almighty.
- A person must show extreme determination in the fight against his enemy. You must believe in success and constantly ask for mercy from the Lord. It is difficult for everyone to part with an old sin that brought pleasure. In the minds of alcoholics, incorrect thoughts arise that the struggle is in vain and there will be no cure. This position is disastrous.
- Alcoholic drinks allow a person to easily achieve a state of euphoria and escape from external problems. True happiness requires a lot of effort. Problems must be solved in sober and honest ways, without hiding behind the imaginary barrier of alcoholic euphoria. Friendly conversations, conversations about love and God, prayers and finding new interests are good for therapy.
- A person should not make long-term plans to fight the demon of drunkenness. It is necessary to concentrate on the present day, gathering strength into a fist. In the morning, a prayer is read asking for healing. Setting time limits is a significant mistake that puts psychological pressure on a person. It must be remembered that the complete extermination of passionate vice should be a priority. Instead, the opposite virtue is established in the soul.
More prayers for drunkenness:
- Prayer to Nicholas the Wonderworker
- Prayer to John of Kronstadt
- Prayer to Matrona of Moscow
Disease history
“I tried alcohol for the first time at school, when I was 15-16 years old - it was wine. And until I was 30, I didn’t have any problems with drinking – I drank like everyone else. I drank and the next day my body somehow compensated for it. And it’s unlikely that anyone will say exactly how his alcoholism began. This probably happens differently for each person. Some people have certain events, others have an accumulation of alcohol in their bodies and a need for it. I, most likely, have accumulated too.
And if earlier I didn’t need time for rehabilitation after drinking, then later I needed it after each regular binge. The next day I could no longer feel normal or go to work. But, most likely, I didn’t pay much attention to it then. Although sometimes, of course, it was scary. Because problems began at work, where I didn’t go for several days, and in the family, naturally, too. All this was already alarming.
I began to struggle with alcoholism somewhere in the early 90s - I was then 33-34 years old. Then for the first time my mother and I flew to Sochi to see a famous psychotherapist - I forgot his last name. My mother, may the Kingdom of Heaven be hers, actively participated in my treatment - all my life. And the psychotherapist was an ordinary one and was engaged in simple coding - he penetrated the human brain. I don’t know what he was doing there, of course. I don't think he himself knew what he was doing there.
Unfortunately, this coding greatly destroyed, as I believe, the body’s natural defenses - it opened some kind of gap. My binges became even greater, more frequent and longer. After coding, I didn’t even last a year. Although my uncle, who flew with me to this psychotherapist, lasted ten years - the period that he set for him.
It cannot be said that alcoholism in my family is hereditary. And there is no need to look for the reason in someone - I made this conclusion for myself. You only need to look for the reason in yourself. Over the years, many priests gave different advice: they said that I need to go to the elders, they will help, because I am suffering due to some kind of generational curse.
I traveled so much to different priests - both parish and monastery. And they often told me about the family curse in the fourth generation. But none of this is true, none of this is true. Each person is responsible for himself - first of all. And if he thinks that he is suffering because of someone, his pride is inflamed even more - he is so chosen that he is responsible for his family. And because of this, the drinking gets worse. Now from the “chosenness” of suffering.
I was coded many times - seven or eight times, now I don’t remember exactly. And I can say that with this coding some kind of hole is made in the consciousness, a part of it is destroyed. Let it be veiled with all sorts of acupuncture, IVs, injections - all the same, first of all, this is an effect on the human psyche.
I went through all this, so I know. The acupuncture or injection during this “treatment” takes five to ten minutes, and the preparation for it lasts two hours. It is clear that a person is prepared before this, his psyche is influenced. And the injection can contain plain water. But a person is subjected to someone else’s will and thus forced to resist alcohol.
In fact, they make another hole in the psyche and break it even more. Roughly the same thing is happening in Katyuzhanka, where Father Alexander allegedly conducts proofreading. Veiled. And for every good deed, a person must work hard. And it cannot be so simple to come, stand for an hour or two at the service, listen to proofreading and leave healed. You didn’t do anything - you just arrived at some place at a certain time to see a priest, a doctor or a psychic. It doesn't happen that way.
In order for the Lord to send you some kind of healing, you need to work hard. Work hard not only in prayer, which is obligatory. It’s simple to work: for the glory of God, physically – all this is somehow complex. But without prayer, nothing will happen - that’s for sure, I experienced it myself. When I left the monastery five years ago, I began to have such spiritual warfare! The prayer either weakened or disappeared completely. And as a result - more frequent binges.
In the monastery, every day I made sure to read the morning and evening Rules, a chapter from the Gospel and one kathisma from the Psalter. Then I got tired, started reading the Psalter for “glory” only, and then stopped completely.
When you pray yourself and when they pray for you, these are two different things. My late wife began to pray for me in the late 90s. We came to faith with her help, and I am very grateful to her for that. And I have been trying to pray for myself since 2000. And only when he came to the monastery in 2007, he began to actively pray to the martyr Boniface, read the akathist to the Mother of God at Her icon “The Inexhaustible Chalice,” the Gospel, and the Psalter.
If I stop praying and working on myself, keeping myself within limits, then I go back to where I was. I'm going on a binge. And when I control myself, I pray, when I am on the same wavelength with the prayer that is served in the monastery and church, then I really control myself. This is work. Daily, every minute work.
I returned to the monastery, but now I don’t turn to the Mother of God at the “Inexhaustible Chalice” icon so often. And more - “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.” I have a rosary “for ten”, for my finger. This helps a lot - you find spiritual balance and peace.
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Without prayer, I am nothing - such an amorphous state. And with prayer you feel protected - you are not afraid. You pray to Jesus Christ or the Mother of God and know that there will definitely be help.
In my 20 years of becoming a church member, I am still just learning and still becoming a church member. There is such a book “Prologue in Teachings” - reading for every day of the year. Here is for May 16: “Listen to good teaching from everyone, no matter who offers it.” That is, there is reading for every day, and it somehow guides you.
I usually read in the evenings the next day. Because prayer work protects and ennobles a person. If your brains and hands are busy with something else, then all this will be of no use. All this leads away from prayer and God—it leads into sins and passions.”
The Bible distinguishes between drinking wine in moderation and drunkenness
The Bible has a fairly clear distinction between moderate consumption of alcohol (wine) and drunkenness - systematic, uncontrolled, harmful use of strong alcoholic beverages, which is caused by complete or partial dependence on them.
Here are some Scripture quotes:
“Feasts are given for pleasure, and wine makes life merry.”
(Eccl. 10:19)
"Don't be among those who get drunk on wine"
(Prov. 23:20)
“Take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be burdened with overeating and drunkenness.”
(Luke 21:34)
The Church's attitude towards drunkenness is negative. The Church lists among its reasons, for example, a person’s desire for glorification and enrichment, but achieving this goal entails many substitutions. One of these substitutions is a passion for wine or “surrogate contentment.”
A person has a constant need for joy.
Not finding positive emotions for the soul and body, a person tries to “drown” their absence in wine.
Christian attitude towards drunkenness
“Wine is not good, but drunkenness is cursed” (Prov. 20:1)
One of the main threats to human health is the abuse of alcoholic beverages. Today, the problem of alcoholism is unresolved both in the world and in Belarus, which takes it from the number of private, local problems to the realm of state problems; the problem of alcoholism has long turned into a large-scale medical and social threat.
The Holy Fathers write that each of us has within us the seeds of all passions. And if we have not yet become addicted to something or fallen into some sin, then this is not because we are so strong or virtuous, but because the Lord protects us. And you should always be careful and not rely on your own strength, that is, be humble. But true humility can only be acquired in the Orthodox Church.
The Holy Scriptures do not prohibit Christians from drinking alcoholic beverages. Alcohol itself is not a sin. But addiction to wine, alcoholism, cannot be present in the life of a Christian (Eph 5:18; 1 Cor 6:12) Christians are called not to allow anything to “dominate” their body (1 Cor 6:12; 2nd Fri, 2:19
A sober person’s conscience prevents him from committing dissolute acts, and after drinking wine, the conscience becomes dull, opening the way for sinful lusts and desires
Sin does not nest in a substance (whatever it may be), but in the heart of a person: “For out of the heart of man come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, blasphemy: these defile a person...” (Matthew 15:19 ,20).
The Holy Fathers say that drunkenness is the mother of all shameful deeds, the sister of lust and the shipwreck of chastity. Drunkenness is the beginning of atheism, for it darkens the mind, by which God is usually best known.
Saint John Chrysostom defines drunkenness as: “... - a misfortune that is laughed at, a disease that is mocked; voluntary madness, which is worse than insanity.” And St. Basil the Great claims that “drunkenness is a voluntarily summoned demon that invades the soul through voluptuousness.”
Attention!
In the Orthodox understanding, according to the teachings of the Holy Scriptures and the Holy Fathers, sobriety is “Christian moderation in the consumption of food and drink, as well as special, constant vigilance over oneself in protecting the soul and body from all unclean and sinful thoughts, desires and deeds.”
“Be sober and watchful, because your adversary the devil walks around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour,” warns the apostle (1 Peter 5:8). “Sobriety is guarding the mind and purity of the heart,” explain the holy fathers of St. Hesychius and Abba Evagrius: “The fear of God preserves the soul; sobriety confirms it.”
Today, drunkenness is one of the main reasons for the high level of mortality, morbidity, injury and crime, as well as the crisis of the family, the decline in the level of morality and culture, and the loss of respect for work. According to the definition of Metropolitan Anthony Khrapovitsky: “Drunkenness (alcoholism) is a derivative phenomenon of other passions, sometimes not fully known to its victim...”
It has long been known in Orthodoxy that the cause of alcoholism is a spiritual disease - pride. One of its manifestations in human nature is considered to be such a quality as self-will.
His mind is closed to the perception of other ideas, statements, knowledge.
Alcoholism is not only a disease, it is also a way of life. And the person himself must firmly decide to get rid of the addiction
Alcoholism itself is a person’s damage on several levels at once:
- Spiritual - because it is passion
- Psychological - since a psychological dependence on alcohol is formed, you want to have fun, and this feeds the sin of drunkenness
- Medical (biological) - since with long periods and amounts of alcohol consumption, alcohol enters the metabolism
- Social - because a person becomes a complete egoist and doesn’t care what happens around him if there is no alcohol
Constant consumption of alcohol leads to a serious illness - alcoholism or alcohol dependence, which is based on chronic poisoning of the body with alcohol.
This chronic poisoning gradually forms mental and physical dependence on alcohol and causes pathology of internal organs, metabolic disorders, central and peripheral nervous systems, mental and personal degradation.
There are three stages of alcoholism.
The first is the stage of mental dependence. At this stage, it becomes habitual for a person to drink alcohol in order to forget about troubles and adversities, facilitate contact with others, and relax.
In addition, at this stage, a person’s threshold of sensitivity to alcohol decreases, that is, in order to achieve the desired level of intoxication, he needs a dose 2-3 times larger than before.
Important!
The gag reflex, which is the body’s defense mechanism during alcohol poisoning, disappears.
The second is the stage of physical dependence.
Regular alcohol abuse leads to changes in the biochemical processes of the body, as a result of which the regular intake of alcohol into the body becomes necessary for its normal functioning.
In the absence of alcohol entering the body, a person experiences mental disorders, headache, thirst, loss of appetite, muscle tremors, irritability, and aggression.
The third is the stage of personality degradation. A person becomes indifferent to family and friends, neglects the most basic rules of morality and ethics, and is indifferent to his behavior. His memory is deteriorating and his intelligence is decreasing.
The special danger of alcoholism is that even the Lord cannot make a person abstinent - after all, a person is endowed with free will. Therefore, only the person himself can stop drinking.
It’s not for nothing that people who belong to the Alcoholics Anonymous group, even after they have completely stopped drinking, still call themselves alcoholics. The famous actor Dmitry Kharatyan, having quit drinking, also says to himself: “I am a non-drinking alcoholic.”
When in the second half of the 19th century, due to the expansion of industrial production and the widespread sale of vodka, drunkenness turned into a social disaster in Russia, the Church blessed the adoption of vows of sobriety and supported the creation of sobriety societies.
The Holy Synod in 1859, by its decree, blessed the clergy with “the living example of their own lives and frequent preaching in the Church of God about the benefits of abstinence to promote the determination that has arisen in some urban and rural classes to abstain from drinking wine.”
Advice!
The Church considers caring for a person’s spiritual health to be its duty and promotes sobriety in society and the prevention of alcoholism. In 1913, on the initiative of the ministers of the Orthodox Church, the first Russian Day of Sobriety was held. By decision of the Holy Synod of March 1914, the annual celebration of the All-Russian Temperance Day was adopted - September 11 (new style).
It is on this day that Orthodox Christians celebrate the day of the Beheading of the Holy Prophet John the Baptist, during which strict fasting should be observed.
In Russia on these days, all wine shops were closed and the sale of alcoholic beverages stopped.
In Orthodox churches, religious processions were held and proclamations were read about the importance and significance of a sober lifestyle, and then a prayer service was held to John the Baptist. Anyone could take a vow of sobriety, which was blessed by the priest.
Currently, churches are holding events “Light a candle for the healing of those suffering from the disease of drunkenness,” and those who wish to receive recovery from the misfortune offer prayers to the “Inexhaustible Chalice” icon, which grants healing from diseases, alcoholism and drug addiction. Priests recommend spending this day in action - going to church, lighting a candle and praying for everyone suffering from the disease of drunkenness.
An important means of combating drunkenness, as with any sin, is the participation of those who suffer in church life, the Sacraments of the Church, daily personal prayer, fasting, reading the Holy Scriptures and the works of saints.
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On July 25, 2014, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church adopted the Concept of the Russian Orthodox Church for the promotion of sobriety and the prevention of alcoholism.
At the same time, cooperation is possible only with those organizations and movements whose activities do not contradict the doctrine of the Orthodox Church and current legislation.
The Bible teaches us that “everything that possesses” a person is sinful (cf. Rev. 22:15).
The temple of God - be it our body and our soul - is holy, and contact with the unclean can desecrate it. “Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God lives in you? If anyone destroys the temple of God, God will punish him: for the temple of God is holy; and this temple is you” (1 Cor. 3:16-17).
Attention!
And, perhaps, the most terrible thing is what St. John Chrysostom warns us about, saying: “The main evil of drunkenness is this. that it makes Heaven inaccessible to the drunkard and does not allow him to achieve eternal blessings, so that along with shame on earth, those suffering from this illness will also face the most severe punishment in Heaven.”
The essence of drunkenness in the Orthodox tradition
In today's world, alcoholism is the cause of high rates of crime, disease and injury. It reduces the overall level of morality, cultural heritage and love of work.
- Drunkenness gives rise to quarrels and bloody fights, as well as murders.
- Alcoholics indulge in excessive foul language, blasphemous behavior and blasphemy.
- Alcohol abuse teaches you to lie, flattery, and robbery.
- People driven by the demon of drunkenness try to achieve their own whims in any way. They often do not respond to the comments of sober people and quickly become angry.
- Alcoholics often wallow in the mud, because alcohol makes an animal out of a person. They change not only the internal, but also the external state. The devil first of all pays attention to those who have given themselves over to the passion of wine.
The Orthodox tradition states: the cause of drunkenness is excessive pride, which manifests itself through vicious self-will. People suffering from alcohol addiction commit careless and lawless acts. They are unable to examine their own behavior from the outside.
The sin of drunkenness and alcoholism
In his soul, the drunkard cannot stand control, instructions and divine will. For him, alcohol becomes the argument that makes him think about self-will. Such a mind is closed to rational statements and useful knowledge.
Alcoholism is not only a serious disease, but also a habitual way of life. A person must gather his strength and try to expel this demon from the hidden corners of his own mind.
Interesting! In the mid-19th century, Magnus Huss coined the term “Chronic alcoholism.” The scientist noted that the disease progressed in countries where they moved away from religious traditions. Peoples with primitive and pagan cults are almost completely susceptible to the sin of drunkenness. This suggests a certain pattern between the denial of God and the emergence of alcoholism.
You can drink alcohol in moderation
Drinking alcohol in moderation is not prohibited. For example, in the Holy Scriptures: The Lord Jesus Christ visited a wedding in Cana of Galilee and performed a miracle of turning water into wine, thus increasing the joy of the wedding (John 2: 1–11).
The Apostle Paul advised his disciple Timothy to eat a little wine for the sake of stomach illness (see: 1 Tim. 5:23).
Dionysius. Marriage in Cana of Galilee. Jesus turned water into wine
Regarding alcohol to improve health, it is important to remember such an important parameter of alcohol - its quality. With today's production volumes and sales markets, it is extremely important to take it into account, as it can cause irreparable harm to health.
To summarize, we can say that drunkenness is the self-destruction of a person as an individual and an unbearable cross for himself and his loved ones. The Church reminds us that drunkenness is:
- addiction. Remember that it is very difficult to get rid of;
- consequences. The damage done to an alcoholic’s body is irreparable.
Here are some paths for healing and rehabilitation offered by the Church:
- environment. It is recommended to distance yourself or completely protect yourself from bad companies;
- treatment. The path of deliverance lies through drug treatment, and through spiritual treatment, namely the manifestation of willpower;
- family. Family support for a drinker is the best medicine for soul and body.
