FROM:

[The Kookmin Ilbo] Article by Jeon Byeong Seon

“The Church Must Address the Dangers of Alcohol Intake and Smoking”

“A fetus that is exposed to alcohol in the womb is at risk of various birth defects, such as brain damage, respiratory diseases, and deformation. Once born, the child is highly likely to suffer with cerebral palsy, facial deformities, growth retardation, and other serious illnesses. Such severe risks can be prevented if only women would practice total abstinence from drinking alcohol. Unfortunately, most women remain unaware of the dangers of alcohol intake and continue to drink. I urge the church to take on an active role in spreading awareness of the dangers of alcohol intake.”

Dr. Jung Joo Kim, vice-president of the World Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WWCTU) will be speaking about the dangers of alcohol intake and smoking at the 12th women’s retreat, which will be organized by the association of Christian pastors and held from the 20th to 22nd. Dr. Kim believes that the church must take on the vital task of promoting temperance movements and education on issues such as alcohol, smoking, and premarital abstinence.

To the question addressed by a believer, “where in the Bible does it command us not to drink alcohol?” Dr. Kim remembers responding most resolutely, “It is written in Proverbs 23:31-32, ‘Do not gaze at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly! In the end it bites like a snake and poisons like a viper.’ Let me ask you, to which do you hold closer, our urging you not to drink, or the Bible’s command not to even gaze at alcohol?”

The believer who asked the question to Dr. Kim, who is also a professor at Yonsei University, was a female student. “Her father was an elder in the church and her mother a deaconess. After the student looked up the verse in the Bible, she began to repent of her drinking habits and later, through discipleship training, sowed many seeds of evangelism.”