[extropy-chat] Re: drunken fish

[BillK]

On Mon Mar 22 00:08:41 MST 2004 Spike wrote:
> To sharpen the question:
> who first suggested that oinos could mean either fermented
> wine or grape juice, in the face of counterevidence in the
> form of the wedding guests comments about the wine?

Ah, this is known as "the two wines theory".
Most scholars support "the one wine theory" where oinos in the Greek New
Testament always refers to fermented wine.
IMHO the 'one wine' team has more credence.

Some scholars try to bring the Septuagint into the discussion. This is a
Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament. IMHO this (while
interesting) is not helpful. It brings another level of distortion into
the argument because 'oinos' is used here rather loosely to translate a
selection of ancient Hebrew words whose meaning is none too clear to
start with.

I think the "two wines" school started with the temperance movement who
wanted to avoid any suggestion that alcohol could have been acceptable
in Jesus' times, or to early Christians.
(i.e. trying to turn the wine at Cana back into water again ;) )

As always with Bible queries, it is very difficult for modern
researchers to put themselves into a different time and culture and see
things as they were then, without putting a layer of modern assumptions
on top.

In New Testament times it would have been very difficult in such a hot
climate to avoid fermentation. Grapes on the vine could have already
started fermenting. Even newly-pressed wine is likely to have had traces
of alcohol. If it was drunk quickly, it would have had little alcohol
content. But this drink would only have been available for a short time
after the grape harvest. Fermentation leads to the problem of the wine
going 'off' and turning into vinegar. To solve this problem wine was
often stored in large jars as a thick, syrupy-like substance which was
expected to be diluted with water before drinking. The more water added,
the more the alcohol would be diluted.

In these days they did not have to deal with spirits. The distillation
process was not available to them. Water was often polluted, hygiene and
sewage systems unusual. They did have a selection of wines containing
various strengths of alcohol.

But practically speaking, almost everybody drank fermented wine every
day. Yes, even children. In the case of children, the wine would be
diluted with water. And if a cold well or stream was available, the
adults also would mix cold water with the wine for a refreshing drink.

There are many warnings (direct and indirect) about the evils of too
much 'oinos'. They were well aware of the problem of drunks. But, wine
with meals was a common practice - and still is today in Mediterranean
countries. One or two glasses of wine with dinner does not make the
whole population into alcoholics.

BillK