Saturday, July 22, 2006

Dr. Rogers; Dr. Criswell; Studies on Alcohol and More

“Study: Even one drink can be dangerous
SEATTLE, June 30 (UPI) -- A University of Washington study warns that even a single strong drink can make a person "blind drunk" and impair the drinker's driving abilities.
The study, appearing in Friday's issue of the Journal of Applied Cognitive Psychology, found that those who were mildly intoxicated -- which is half the legal intoxication limit -- were heavily compromised in their ability to notice an unexpected visual object while being focused on another simple task.
It has been known that the so-called "inattentional blindness" phenomenon causes salient objects appearing in the visual field to go undetected. But the current study seeks to show these visual errors become even more likely under the influence of alcohol.
The research did not directly test driving aptitude but noted implications for driving could be serious.
"We rely on our ability to perceive a multitude of information when we drive (speed limit, road signs, other cars)," said Seema Clifasefi, the study's lead author. "If even a mild dose of alcohol compromises our ability to take in some of this information ... then it seems likely that our driving ability may also be compromised."
UPI - United Press International” (available: http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20060630-105043-1132r)

“In Australia Dr. L. A. Cala and associates have for many years studied the effects of alcohol and the brain and its ability to function. To determine the point at which alcohol consumption begins brain damage, Cala examined heavy drinkers, using CAT scans, and found brain shrinkage already in progress. Using the same CAT scan procedure, she then examined a group of individuals considered to be moderate to light drinkers. Of thirty-nine drinkers tested, thirty were found to have some brain shrinkage, with frontal lobes bearing the first signs.
The reference to the frontal lobes is significant for it has been proved that decision making and moral value centers of the human character reside in the frontal lobes of the brain.
This confirms what Proverbs 31:4-5 had already told Bible believers, that alcoholic drinks (and as nothing is said of great quantities we may understand small amounts of alcohol) cause forgetfulness of the law and perverse judgments.” (Available: http://www.alcoholandthebible.org/biblical_approach.htm)

“The Israelites thought they had a better idea. They rationalized by saying, "There's no reason to drive these Canaanites out. We can make them pay tribute to us. We can tax them and make slaves out of them. Rather than driving them out, we will domesticate them, and they will be good for us."
Many of us have done that. We have favored certain sins. There are vices that we actually think we can somehow tame and get benefit from. Some people view alcohol and gambling in this way.” (Adrian Rogers)

“Alcohol knocks the blood corpuscles out of business so that it takes eight to ten to do what one ought to do. There's a man who drinks. Here's a fellow who drives a beer wagon. Look how sissy he is. He's full of rotten tissue. He says he's healthy. Smell his breath. You punch your finger in that healthy flesh he talks about and the dent will be there a half an hour afterwards…. I've stood for more sneers and scoffs and insults and had my life threatened from one end of the land to the other by this God-forsaken gang of thugs and cutthroats because I have come out uncompromisingly against them.” (Billy Sunday).

“And Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the king’s wine which he drank and he said: Give me pulse to eat and water to drink.”…Young fella, the world and the devil persuade you that you have to do this. That’s a lie. And a vicious one. At the 8:15 o’clock service this morning, as I was closing, there came to me a man who belongs to this church, and said, “Pastor, I want to reconsecrate and recommit my life to the Lord God.”…Well, I said, “Why have you come?”…And he said, “I had given myself over to moderate drinking. I had just decided that it was all right to be a moderate drinker.” “But,” he said, “After listening to you this morning, I just want to recommit my life to the Lord. I will not do it.”…My brother, it will bless your family, it will bless your home, it will bless your children, it will bless your business, it will bless your life, if you will not drink.” (WA Criswell).

“Be it resolved, that we…call Southern Baptists to an exemplary Christian lifestyle of abstinence from beverage alcohol and all other harmful drugs.” (SBC resolution – 1984).



For those interested, Dr. James Merritt, past president of the SBC, has responded to Ben Cole’s Dallas Morning News article – you can find the response at sbcwitness.com

We will continue our research study Monday.
BR

9 comments:

Jeremy Green said...

I really appreciate the simple, yet profound, way that Dr. Rogers had of communicating the truth:

"We have favored certain sins. There are vices that we actually think we can somehow tame and get benefit from. Some people view alcohol and gambling in this way."

I miss Dr. Rogers, "the prince of preachers," and look forward to seeing him again… in glory!

Southern Baptists have spoken out against the sin / vice of drinking alcoholic beverages approximately 60 times over the past 100 years. Why have moderationists chosen to place their "reason" over God's "revelation?" I believe that Dr. Rogers may have already answered that question:

"We have favored certain sins. There are vices that we actually think we can somehow tame and get benefit from. Some people view alcohol and gambling in this way."

God bless!!!

In Christ,
JLG

Cliff4JC said...

May I hijack?

Wow...glory to God we had a wonderful time on our church planting mission trip to Chicago. It was a challenging trip. We were working in the 3rd most diverse neighborhood in the US. It was rare to find an Anglo! We through a block party in the parking lot; of the 350 people who came, we counted 21 different countries represented! It is a hard work! Pray for the Good Samaritian Church! If any of you are looking for church plants to support; this one is definatly worth while. Even though they are an SBC plant; NAMB won't support them. They say Chicago is too hard of feild and they don't get return on their investment. (Good thing Paul didn't use their reasoning)

I'm off again tommorro to head to NC for my brother's wedding. I'll be gone for a couple of weeks. I hate I've been out of touch and unable to take part in the discussions. The vows I'm using are the classic ones that talk about Jesus first mircle at the wedding! LOL Kind of ironic considering this discussion.

Joy,
Cliff

brad reynolds said...

JLG

The SBC misses Dr. Rogers. A close friend of his told me had he been there this summer a lot of what took place wouldn't have. He had a presence that exuded purity.

May we honor his memory and look forward to seeing him again. He has finished his race, but we haven't yet. May we run to the glory of God.
BR

brad reynolds said...

Cliff
Speaking of the glory of God.
Praise God. Great to hear what God can do, even through Calvinist :) when we share the gospel.

Thanks for your faithfulness.

Hope your girls are doing well
BR

Jeremy Green said...

Brad,

I am sure you are right. God's hand was upon him in a mighty way. God bless!!!

In Christ,
JLG

Wayne Smith said...

Brad,
Being you didn't answer this question; I will ask it here as Dr. Criswell was the Editor, of the Believer Study BIBLE.

Brad, and now Peter,

Do You Agree with these Statements???

THE BELIEVER;S STUDY BIBLE
Managing Editor
Paige Patterson, Th.D.

Deuteronomy 4
Deu_4:2 In this comparatively early era of Judaism, one finds more than the seed for the doctrine of “the Word of God.” Yahweh does not want anyone to add to or take from His “commandments” or Word (Mat_5:17, Mat_5:18; Rev_22:18, Rev_22:19).

Deu_12:32 This verse is Deu_13:1 in the Hebrew text and acts as an introduction to the following section on false prophets.


Proverbs
Harry B. Hunt, Jr. Southwestern Seminary Disciple's Study Bible

Pro_30:5-6
Holy Scripture, Canonization — The declared wisdom of God, oral and written, is pure. God is a Lord of no deception, and what He reveals has no flaw. It can be counted on to sustain the believer. The reader is admonished not to add or subtract from what God has made known and called His people to follow. See note on Deu_4:2.

Awaiting you answer, so you can be inlightened...

A Brother in CHRIST FOR TRUTH...

brad reynolds said...

In His Name
Yes.

Not sure how that relates to our discussion. But of course I agree.
BR

Cliff4JC said...

Ha! Your developing a sense of blog humor. I like it! I heard from the church in Chi town last night. They had been averaging around 30. Yesterday they broke a record with 62! Praise God! My girls are doing well...I'm looking forward to a long vacation with them.

BTW: A good friend of our youth ministry in my current church graduated from High School with Dr. Rodgers. She has her senior year book. It is a hoot to see him as an 18 year old football player! LOL She won't answer questions about her dating history with him however! LOL

brad reynolds said...

Concernedsbcer’s ad-hominal statements will be ignored.

I believe he is doing his best to address these issues from his understanding of Scripture. And should be applauded for studying the Word.

However, his refusal to address the questions in my post “Alcohol Abstinence: Bias or biblical” is deafening. As long as one tries to attack another’s position rather than defend their own, then their defense is suspect. Therefore, I will defend my position. I look forward to hearing his defense concerning the issues I raised, but as I said in my last response “I’m not holding my breath.”

Further, his continued anonymity implies he must not hold too strongly to this position…which places all his comments in the category of something other than true strong beliefs.

But to address some of his thoughts for those honestly searching:

Much of his response in “conundrums abound” is intoxicating for the moderationist, but I will address one of his errors.

The implication that the strong drink offering poured out to God in Numbers was otherwise drank without dilution by the Hebrews is astounding. As Dr. Roberts points out: “Surprisingly, even in strictly pagan contexts, alcohol was always diluted except in the most raucous and debauched of circumstances.”

He also does this with Deut. 14:26 by equating the command “to purchase whatever your heart desires” of food or drink with the idea that Hebrews were commanded to drink strong drink without diluting it. Again, something even the pagan world looked down upon.

Concerning his posts “Is Shekar Forbidden” he says “Notice that Reynolds has shifted his ground. He initially claimed that Deuteronomy 14:26 is "a very difficult passage in the Hebrew." However, he doesn't point out where the passage is subject to any translation difficulties.”

If you read my comments I said, “The difficulty in the passage is not always a result of the language sometimes it is a result of an apparent contradiction in Scripture.”

He continues:
“To begin with, why should the proverbial genre lay any great claim to being, in general, clearer than straightforward historical narrative? I don't know of any reputable exegete who thinks this. Does Reynolds? But perhaps we ought not to interpret this section of Deuteronomy as historical narrative. Perhaps it is an ethical section embedded within an historical narrative. (That seems likely; God's commands about the tithe [14:22-29] come sandwiched in between God's commands about clean and unclean animals [14:3-21] and God's commands about the Sabbatic year [ch. 15].) But if so, then we are simply in the position of comparing one ethical section of Scripture with another ethical section of Scripture, that is, of comparing divine commands revealed in Deuteronomy 14:26 with divine commands revealed in Proverbs.”

The hermeneutic principle continued to be ignored is: using a verse in the context or the discussion of a the subject which the verse addresses to shed light on an apparent contradiction of a verse in the context or discussion of a subject which the verse does not address (ie – a verse in the context of a discussion on alcohol to shed light on an apparent contradictory verse in the context of a discussion on tithing).

Or perhaps he didn’t ignore the principle but just denies it:

For He states: “Reynolds thinks he has an answer here: Proverbs is "dealing with alcohol" whereas Deuteronomy is "dealing with tithing." But why is this at all relevant?”


On Prov. 23:29-35 He says
“Obviously, the person described by (b)-(i) above should not look upon a glass of wine! He's a drunk and he needs help! Indeed, if the drunk does look at a glass of wine, the text says his problem will only intensify, and he'll end up as described in (j)-(p).”

Dr. Stephen Reynolds has already addressed this, by making it clear that the context that this passage is found in, is addressing every individual not the drunkard…it is addressing the individual and what will happen to him if he does begin thirsting for and looking on the intoxicating drink.

ConcernedSBCer also states:
“Here's another implausibility in Reynolds' view. So the text says we are not to "look on the wine when it is red." But according to Reynolds, "wine" in the OT was normally greatly diluted, perhaps even at the rate of 20 parts water to 1 part wine.”

His error is to assume that my position insists that “yayin” cannot be translated as an intoxicating drink. Quiet the contrary, my position is that “Oinos” or “yayin” in OT was normally diluted, as has been shown time and time again, and should be translated as such, UNLESS the text demands otherwise, as in Prov. 23 and Prov. 20.

This is quiet different from his apparent assumption that “yayin” or “oinos” must ALWAYS be translated as intoxicating drink, contrary to it’s normal use and meaning.

I look forward to Concerned SBCer addressing the concerns I raised in “Alcohol Abstinence: Bias or Biblical” and affirming he holds strongly to his beliefs by placing his name by them.
BR