Snake in a Bottle
| by | Kyle Butt, M.Div. |
Collaborative evidence, by itself, stands unable to prove a case, yet when combined with other evidence, can be quite convincing. So it is with certain arguments for the Bible’s inspiration. Suppose it could be shown that the Bible, time and again, documents certain grains of wisdom that hold true today? Undoubtedly, if the Bible were the Word of God, it would exhibit such wisdom.
Consider the case of getting drunk by consuming alcohol. On numerous occasions, the Bible mentions the negative effects of drunkenness. Proverbs 23:29-32 gives a lengthy description of what happens to those who “linger long at the wine.” They have woe, sorrow, complaints and wounds without cause. Those who get drunk “will see strange things,” and the alcohol will bite them “like a serpent” and sting them “like a viper.” In chapter 20 of the same book, the Proverbs writer observed: “Wine is a mocker, intoxicating drink arouses brawling, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise.”
Indeed, the negative effects of drunkenness in our society, and globally, cannot even begin to be measured. In an insightful book titled None of These Diseases, medical doctors S.I. McMillen and David E. Stern brought to light the fact (which is well known in the medical community) that drunkenness does terrible damage to the body and the spirit. On pages 43-54, they provided a litany of drastic consequences related to alcohol. Not the least of them are nerve damage, brain damage, heart damage, damage done to the unborn, and sexual disorders. Furthermore, it can be shown that alcohol plays a part approximately 53 percent of murders, 57 percent of rapes, up to 80 percent of suicides, and 47 percent of robberies. All of this does not even include the 17,000 lives lost on the highways every year caused by drunk driving. Neither does it come close to putting into words the pain of children abused by drunken fathers, or the destruction of countless homes.
Not only does the Bible’s stance on drunkenness add credence to its divine inspiration, but it also offers a practical solution to solving many of the ills of our society—that solution being to stop getting drunk! How long, O nation, will we continue to ignore the Bible’s warnings about alcohol. Will we wait until it is too late?
REFERENCES
McMillen, S.I. and David Stern (2000), None of These Diseases (Grand Rapids, MI: Revell), third edition.