REVIEW: Alcohol Today by Peter Lumpkins

Dr. Peter Lumpkins has hit a home run.  Alcohol Today: Abstinence in an Age of Indulgence is a book which is long overdue for our churches and our culture.  This debate seems to have fallen on hard times.  Anyone who would dare assert that a biblical world view should include total abstinence is quickly lampooned and often mercilessly ridiculed.

If anyone is a candidate to take up this trumpet and sound the call of alarm, Peter Lumpkins is definitely such a person.  Along with his trademark, colloquial manner, Peter has infused this work with cogent historical scholarship which makes the convictions expressed in this book both accessible and formidable. He astutely outlines the issue and presents an accurate characterization of all possible points of view concerning the matter of intoxicating beverages and Christian morality while arguing decisively for his assertion that Christians ought not have anything to do with intoxicants, specifically the drug of alcohol.

In a relatively short work (166 pages), Peter manages to convincingly set forth his case.  In fact, as I read it, I was amazed at the wealth of material compacted into this book.  That fact alone should be an encouragement to one and all to pick up this book and read it.  The book is divided into three parts.  In Part 1, Peter outlines the necessity of a book on the issue of Christian belief/living and the use of fermented beverage alcohol.  In Part 2, Peter discusses the five possible positions one could take regarding this issue.  In Part 3, Peter takes up a specific discussion of biblical passages central to the debate between libertines, moderationists, and abstentionists concerning alcohol.  This is not to say that Part 3 is the only place in which scriptural truth is brought to bear on this discussion.  In fact, the whole book is infused with the foundation and reiteration of the authority of God’s inerrant and infallible Word.

If there be any weakness in this book, I could see only one.  In his argument for total abstinence in Chapter 9, I found the discussion of total abstinence from alcohol, the abstinence of fasting, and the abstinence of self-denial to be a little confusing.  I can see the point he is trying to make, but I believe the point is weakened through the analogy of abstinence from otherwise permissible things versus convictional abstinence from something prohibited altogether.  I believe that the argument could better be made by making a comparison of this conviction to the prohibition of such immoral acts as slavery (which is tacitly mentioned in another portion of the book).

Alcohol Today is certainly worth your time.  Pick it up today!  (The picture above is a link to Amazon.com where you can purchase this book.)

[Discussion of this review is hosted at my blog, SolaGratia!]