Is it sinful for a Christian to drink alcohol?

This topic gets a lot of debate, and I'm open to anyone's argument and I actually hope that my posts generate good conversation from individuals who are willing to change their minds. I know I have a lot in the last few years. 

I used to believe it was absolutely sinful for any Christisn to have 1 drop of wine. The whole "1 drink drunk" idea. Over time and through deep study on the topic, I've simply changed my mind. This post will serve merely as an intro to this topic that I will continue later on. It's 5:00 in the morning and I haven't gotten a whole lot of sleep so I doubt I can go very deep to this without getting incoherent.

 But on this topic I have changed my mind simply because arguments against drinking alcohol have either come from bias study or are simply not cohesive with the rest of scriptures, so I would like to address some of them and argue that drinking in moderation is never condemned in the scriptures. Not once. 

"Wine is a mocker. Beer is a brawler." 

     Yes, it is. This verse comes from Proverbs 20:1. It also goes on to say "whoever is led astray by it is unwise." Other translations say that wine produces mockers. This verse serves as a warning against alcohol, showing it can be dangerous and cause you to be a mocker.  This isn't a very Christian attitude is it? Beer can make you a brawler. But to interpret this verse to mean that any alcohol is sin is to oversimplify and overlook the rest of Proverbs. The warning here is to not be led astray by alcohol, not to avoid it altogether. This comes from the same book that says "Give strong drink to the one who is perishing and wine to him whose life is bitter" (Proverbs 31:6). This book is full of great advice, but that's what this book is. Disobeying this book by co-signing for your family on a car is not advisable, but certainly not sinful. 

"There is no word for non-alcoholic wine in Greek" 

     This just isn't true. The word for grape juice is gleukos, or a phrase meaning new wine. Typically, "oinos" means wine. Wine is the same today as it was back then, if you wanted to refer to non-alcoholic wine, you would usually specify. In the first century there was a Jewish sect known as the Essenes. One of the things that they did that made them peculiar was that they only drank NEW wine. This was odd. Everyone else drank oinos, alcoholic wine. 

     There are, however, many words for beer, liquor, wine, etc. in Hebrew. The word, Yayin, can be used to mean alcoholic wine (some debate on this, but I don't see much room for it) or intoxication (I believe it literally means wine, but is an idiom for intoxication if I understand it correctly) in Genesis 14:18, we read of the high priest bringing out yayin and bread for Abraham to eat and serve the king. The common answer to this is "oh! Well he sinned." I cannot accept that answer as there is no criticism or condemnation for this action here or in the rest of the Torah. This is the case on other issues as well. I just can't accept that answer if it is not the Bible's answer. 

"The wine of the Bible was always diluted, or mixed with water."

    This is true, but first, by saying this, you admit that it still contained alcohol (you can't be a 1 dropper), and second, their wine was much stronger than what we drink. It had to be diluted to be drinkable. Moreover, the Greeks and Romans enjoyed having wine over conversation. The sooner they got drunk, the sooner their conversation would break down. Additionally, everyone in the Roman world began drinking in the morning as there was no pure water source for most people. They diluted it to avoid getting drunk quickly and for the young ones, to kill microbes in the water. Nevertheless, they drank alcohol in moderation. In evening meals, especially, they did not drink "basically water." They drank alcoholic wine. Culturally, this is the trend, so why 

"Drinking alcohol is harmful to the body." 

     The verdict is out on this one, but in this case, McDonalds is sin, Chinese food is sin, Barbecue is sin, French fries are sin, O'Charley's is definitely sin. OR, you can do all these things in moderation and not do great harm to your body. On another note, some research shows that alcohol is good for you. http://www.psmag.com/navigation/health-and-behavior/truth-wont-admit-drinking-healthy-87891/ . Interesting. 

"You create a stumblingblock." 

      For some, I'm sure I would. I'll just have to make sure that I don't drink in front of those people. I also will make sure that I don't eat meat in front of people that are offended by it. I'm not meaning to be sarcastic. I mean it. In Romans 14, it is not the strong but the weak who stumble over issues like this, so until a new Christian is strengthened, it is important not to set them up for failure. 

That's all I have time for now. There are plenty others that I will bring up in the future. Sorry for the lack of bibliography as well most of that was straight off this sleep deprived noggin, so if there are any errors please point them out and allow me to fix them. If you care to take up this topic and argue for the opposite side, I encourage it. Hopefully we can both be edified by friendly debate. On another note, I believe issues like this need discussing and not outright condemnation because that is a greater stumblingblock than alcohol. Thank you for reading.