Jesus drank wine, can it really be that bad?

[Gameface]

Many believe that the wine Jesus drank was not an alcoholic beverage but simply the juice of grapes, or other fruits. Stewed fruit drinks like compote, sherbet or lemonade which are common drinks consumed with food in Middle East.

If you were to squash grapes and place the juice in a container at room temp you would soon have wine. Maybe a pretty terrible tasting wine, but it would have alcohol in it. Wild yeast are everywhere, especially on the skin of fruit. Without pasteurizing the juice and keeping it refrigerated in a container that had been sanitized the yeast would have gone to work. In Jesus' day they didn't know what yeast were. They didn't know what pasteurization was. They didn't have refrigeration. If any amount of grape juice was stored for any significant amount of time it would have either gone bad due to a bacterial infection or it would turn to wine as the yeast went to work. Yeast quickly edge out bacteria in surgery, slightly acidic liquids. Once the alcohol level increases the yeast have yet another defense against their mortal foe.

Beer and wine both probably occurred naturally or by accident. Back in the day it would have been difficult to NOT make grape juice into an alcoholic beverage. Any grape juice consumed would have had to have been consumed when it was very freshly produced and I imagine would have been quite the luxury. Wine with alcohol would by far be the predominate drink, would have been easy to preserve, easy to store, easy to transport. It may have been just a few percent alcohol, but it most likely had alcohol in it to some extent.

 

[Jazz Spazz]

If you were to squash grapes and place the juice in a container at room temp you would soon have wine. Maybe a pretty terrible tasting wine, but it would have alcohol in it. Wild yeast are everywhere, especially on the skin of fruit. Without pasteurizing the juice and keeping it refrigerated in a container that had been sanitized the yeast would have gone to work. In Jesus' day they didn't know what yeast were. They didn't know what pasteurization was. They didn't have refrigeration. If any amount of grape juice was stored for any significant amount of time it would have either gone bad due to a bacterial infection or it would turn to wine as the yeast went to work. Yeast quickly edge out bacteria in surgery, slightly acidic liquids. Once the alcohol level increases the yeast have yet another defense against their mortal foe.

Beer and wine both probably occurred naturally or by accident. Back in the day it would have been difficult to NOT make grape juice into an alcoholic beverage. Any grape juice consumed would have had to have been consumed when it was very freshly produced and I imagine would have been quite the luxury. Wine with alcohol would by far be the predominate drink, would have been easy to preserve, easy to store, easy to transport. It may have been just a few percent alcohol, but it most likely had alcohol in it to some extent.

They also grew grapes in that area. How easy is it to get the grapes and make non alcoholic wine if you wanted to? I remember a scripture about new wine not being put in old containers. I see what you are trying to get at, but I believe there are flaws in your thinking. You are trying to make it sound like it is "inconceivable" that there would be non alcoholic wine in their day because they were cavemen. I don't think that is the case. It's okay if we disagree on this because I know how strongly you feel about your brew, and what you've learned by brewing your own stuff... and I don't care enough to really argue this much.

 

[asian_roger]

If Jesus is down to drink some wine, then I would be too.

Serious question though, if Jesus floated down from the heavens and really came back as a black person and drank the "hardest" wine in front of everyone to see (and it was truly proven to be him), What would happen to all christian-based religions and their perceptions of him? Would they be in denial?

 

[Gameface]

They also grew grapes in that area. How easy is it to get the grapes and make non alcoholic wine if you wanted to? I remember a scripture about new wine not being put in old containers. I see what you are trying to get at, but I believe there are flaws in your thinking. You are trying to make it sound like it is "inconceivable" that there would be non alcoholic wine in their day because they were cavemen. I don't think that is the case. It's okay if we disagree on this because I know how strongly you feel about your brew, and what you've learned by brewing your own stuff... and I don't care enough to really argue this much.

It is likely that people drank non-alcoholic wine. It is also possible that's all Jesus ever drank. However, non-alcoholic wine wouldn't store very well. That's one of the great (life saving) qualities of alcoholic beverages. They stay good even without refrigeration.

No pathogens can live in wine or beer (I'm talking about the variety with alcohol). None. If you were drinking wine you'd know for certain that it would not make you sick. That's arguably the primary reason wine was produced. Grapes require prime soil in prime regions. It's production was of the utmost importance to the people at that time. I doubt much of their efforts went to producing non-alcoholic wine. At the time the world was split into areas where people drank wine and others where people drank beer. If you lived in a place where good grapes could be grown you'd drink wine. If you lived in a place where the soil wasn't good enough to grow grapes you'd drink beer. Table beers at the time were around 2% alcohol. The whole family drank beer down to the littlest kids.