Wine & The Holiness Tradition

I remember being in seminary and a colleague's spouse was having some very minor anxiety issues which she saw a Christian doctor about. He suggested she have a glass of wine occasionally. At the time I was shocked. No longer. My father had a heart attack a while back. His doctor suggested a regular glass of wine for his health. More and more doctors are recommending a medicinal does of wine. I've read some treatises recently by Wesleyan and Free Methodist pastors, scholars and lay people about alcohol abstinence. Many of them are thoughtful and balanced. They recognize Jesus drank wine, made wine and gave it to others. They recognize the Psalmist says wine is a gift from God. But they still have their reasons -- some good, some silly -- for abstaining. Here's a snippet from the Free Methodist Book of Discipline: 2. Our people abstain from the use of alcoholic beverages (Mark 12:30-31) because Christ admonishes us to love God with all our being and our neighbor as ourselves. Alcohol, a legalized drug, is damaging to individuals, families, and society. It is unpredictably addictive and its destructive effects cannot be fully measured. Where it is used, it leaves a trail of broken marriages, family violence, crime, industrial loss, ill health, injury, and death. As concerned Christians, our people practice abstinence for the sake of health, family, and neighbors. Moreover, we see the adverse social consequences as so pervasive that we seek by abstaining to make a united social witness to the freedom Christ gives. Almost all of the theological treatistes I read from the Holiness tradition still point to alcohol being bad for one's health. Yet research continues to pour out that wine in moderation is healthy. One article I read from a couple years back suggested the research recommending wine was somehow suspect or not very strong. But I keep seeing it. In the past week alone: The latest buzz on booze’s body benefits - Diet and nutrition- msnbc.com Wine may calm inflammation in blood vessels | Health | Reuters Deep Red Wines Best For Heart, Experts Say In some ways, it must be harder and harder to keep making the abstinence for health argument. They sound like Mormons arguing to abstain from caffeine. What's the internal experience of an older 'lifer' in the FM church who has a heart attack, goes to the doctor and s/he recommends a glass of wine for their health and has research to back it up? What's the internal experience of the new convert to the Wesleyan church which recommends abstinence when their doctor is recommending otherwise? I just wonder. However they are in luck. One researcher thinks he can get the benefits out of the wine and into a pill: Drink, er, Swallow Up: Red Wine Health Benefits Can Be Put Into a Pill For one more interesting perspective read a CNN article about: The health pros and cons of drinking. Enjoy the holidays but take care of yourself. Moderation is a good word for those of us who enjoy wine. But don't kid yourself that you're drinking in moderation with several drinks every day. Try two -- or less -- and not every day.