Good Beer = Good Theology?

March 1, 2007 | 7 Comments

In his excellent article on the church, Richard Phillips, senior minister of First Presbyterian Church in Coral Springs/Margate, Florida (PCA), asks an interesting question about the intersection between beer and theology. “Why is it that so much great theology has been produced by drinkers of beer?”

His answer is very insightful:

The answer is found in the origins of beer, in its medieval version. It turns out that in the Middle Ages, the brewing of beer was dominated by monasteries. The monks took a keen interest in beer, mainly because they needed nutritious sustenance for their protracted periods of fasting. The consumption of liquids was permitted during fasts, so the monks specialized in liquid bread. Over the years they perfected its taste, along with their own capacity to imbibe at astounding levels. Perhaps it was in his Augustinian monastery that Martin Luther gained his love of beer. His wife, Katherina von Bora was a noted brewer; there is a famous letter in which Luther, who had been long absent from home and family, wrote to her, “Oh my dear Katie, I miss you so much—and especially your beer!”

If so much great theology is produced by beer drinkers, could it be that so much bad theology is produced by non-beer drinkers? Charles Finney, one of the great champions of bad theology, was in fact a prohibitionist. He wrote,

I SHALL STATE MY PROPOSITION, WHICH IS SIMPLY THIS:–THE MANUFACTURE, SALE, AND USE OF INTOXICATING DRINKS, AS A BEVERAGE, OR AS AN ARTICLE OF LUXURY OR OF DIET–OR TO PROVIDE THEM, AS SUCH, FOR OTHERS–IS NEITHER BENEVOLENT, NOR EXPEDIENT, AND IS, THEREFORE, WRONG.

I guess if you forget that Jesus himself turned water into wine - and very good wine at that - then you’re probably much more likely to forget many other things Jesus did as well.

Posted by Aaron | Filed Under Blog, Church and Culture, Theology