Church of Christ Preacher Debates Bob on Wine

* Chris Peltz and Bob Enyart Talk about the Bible and Wine: An evangelist from a Denver Church of Christ, Chris Peltz, hosts a talk show that airs one hour before Bob Enyart Live. Bob and Chris discuss their opposing beliefs regarding what the Bible teaches about drinking alcohol. During their discussion Bob presented much of the material also available at KGOV.com/wine in the article, What Does the Bible Say About Wine? [Off air Chris gave Bob a gift, a book by a friend of his, Silenced Cries, A Study of Abortion by Aaron Erhardt. "Thanks Chris!" -Bob] Click on Part 2 for the conclusion of this debate.

Bob Retracts Concession: Bob retracted a concession he made to Chris during the debate. Chris attempted to refute Bob's argument that, "The repeated scriptural warnings against drunkenness, themselves, show that God permits drinking wine. God does not prohibit overdoing that which is a sin to do. God does not warn you about too much stealing, too much blasphemy, too much adultery..." To which Chris replied that Solomon warned of being overlyly wicked. Bob admitted that on the surface that phrase seems to undermine his point, but that with the Bible being such a large book, you can find all kinds of phrases that can easily be taken out of context as proof texts. However, Solomon's use becomes obvious immediately upon reading the passage in context: "Do not be overly righteous, nor be overly wise... Do not be overly wicked..." (Ecclesiastes 7:16-17). One cannot be overly good, nor overly wise. Solomon did not write prose but poetic verse (instead of justified margins translators use a ragged right margin in this passage and wherever they encounter poetry). His hyperbole instructs people to act neither to show how righteous nor how wicked they are.  So Chris using such a weak verse, and taking it so far out of context, to try to refute the point helps substantiate it, that the many warnings against drunkenness themselves show that God permits drinking alcohol, because He does not prohibit overdoing that which is a sin to do.
Hermeneutics: Tools for Studying the Bible

Today's Resource: You can join Bob's Hermeneutics seminar by way of MP3 download or CD. It's like you're there. Just click to get and enjoy our full-length Bible seminar including the same notes handed out to the attendees and also see the slides that Bob displayed during this great event at Denver's historic Brown Palace. So you're invited to try out Bob Enyart's Hermeneutics: Tools for Studying the Bible just by clicking or by calling the BEL studio at 1-800-8Enyart (836-9278)!