Article November 11, 1996 Issue

Turning down alcohol without a second thought

Robert J. Adler

The foundation I received in Sunday School stood me in good stead as I was growing up during the years of the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. This amendment prohibited the production and sale of alcoholic beverages. The period during which this amendment was in effect is known as Prohibition.

During Prohibition, there were ways of getting liquor by illegal means—and some of my friends did just that. The temptation to be part of the crowd and join in was right there in front of me. But I remembered the Bible account of how Jesus was tempted and was promised all sorts of things by the devil, or Satan, if he would worship the ways of evil (see Matt. 4:1–11). Jesus had an answer from God in resisting each of the temptations, finally saying, "Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." The Bible account ends, "Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him."

Angels are thoughts from God, good. In Science and Health part of the description of angels is "... spiritual intuitions, pure and perfect; the inspiration of goodness, purity, and immortality, counteracting all evil, sensuality, and mortality" (p. 581). In my experience as a young man, seeing some of my friends drinking—and illegally at that!—I had no difficulty in resisting the temptation to drink with them. Angel thoughts helped me.

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What is morality, anyway, and who decides—and why should anyone care?
November 11, 1996
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