Wine was considered a good thing (Psalm 104:15).
Wine was used for celebration (John 2:1-11).
Wine was medicinal (Prov. 31:6; Luke 10:34; 1 Tim. 5:23).
Wine was dangerous (Prov. 20:1).
New wine — juice freshly made from grapes
Mixed wine — mixed with water: Homer, 20:1; Pliny, 8:1; Athenaeus, 3:2
Strong drink — unmixed; similar to today’s alcoholic beverages
What should a Christian think about today’s wine?
Drinking today’s wine is dangerous (Prov. 23:31-33).
Drinking today’s wine can replace the Spirit’s control (Eph. 5:18).
Drinking today’s wine can lead others to sin (Rom. 14:21).
Resources:
“Abstaining from Intoxicants” by Paul W. Downey, in More Than Spectators
“Seven Good Reasons Christians Should Not Drink” by David L. Brown
“Should Christians Drink Alcohol?” by Dan Greenfield
“The Christian and Alcohol” by Mark Perry
In addition to these links, Scott Aniol recently posted a couple more helpful resources.
“New wine — juice freshly made from grapes”
I was working at OCLC one summer many, many years ago. I worked with a man who was going through a New Testament Greek class at Cedarville College (now “University”). We were discussing that particular text about “water into wine”. I told him when Jesus turned the water into wine, it was “juice”. He said, “No, you need to look at the Greek”, and proceeded to show me the Greek word (he had his Greek New Testament dictionary with him at work). After he showed me the Greek word, I was somewhat taken aback. It was alcohol in the “new wine”. He said it may not be as strong as the % of alcohol in the wine sold today, but it still was alcohol.