Topic: news Born Again: The Rise of Christianity in Modern China

Nobody's offended. :) The source you posted looks like it is a strongly fundamentally protestant one. Some Protestant fundamentalists think drinking is a sin. Except many of the passages quoted above suggest drinking to excess is not a good thing, but drinking in moderation is fine. And that's also the interpretation given to it by millions of people over the centuries. The Bible is a huge document with ambiguous and contradictory parts, and to claim you really know "the true" interpretation over certain ambiguities (without compelling evidence) seems rather dogmatic.

Personally, I find the claim that the parts in the Bible where people are drinking wine they are *really* drinking grape juice extremely unlikely, and frankly somewhat ridiculous. It's certainly one which I would not accept without significant evidence. Thus I find drinking is condoned in the Bible, but I certainly won't suggest that those who do not partake of wine as Jesus did are not "true Christians".

But ultimately, if there is a God out there, I'd hope He was less concerned with what I was cramming down my gullet, and rather more concerned with my treatment of my fellow human.