Clint,

The main reason I wound up concluding, after being raised as a teetotaler, that alcoholic beverages in and of themselves are not sinful is that we know our Lord never sinned, yet he turned water into wine at Cana and drank wine at the Last Supper. If he never sinned, those could not have been sinful acts. I agree with John C that DRUNKENESS is what is sinful.

And in the Old Testament, well, Psalm 104 thanks God for wine:

14 He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth;

15 And wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengtheneth man's heart.

So I honestly don't see how wine or other alcoholic drink could be sinful in and of itself. ( I realize some argue that the wine of Biblical times was not the same as what we call wine, but I don't think that is a very convincing argument, for why else would the Scriptures warn against drunkeness?)

Theo