Are there any beverages that are sinful for humans to ever drink in any quantity? Biblical teaching from both Testaments shows us what the correct answer to this question is.
Divine Prohibitions against Consuming Blood
In the Old Testament, God repeatedly prohibited consuming any blood:
Gen. 9:4 But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.
Lev. 3:17 It shall be a perpetual statute for your generations throughout all your dwellings, that ye eat neither fat nor blood.
Lev. 7:26 Moreover ye shall eat no manner of blood, whether it be of fowl or of beast, in any of your dwellings.
Lev. 17:10 And whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, that eateth any manner of blood; I will even set my face against that soul that eateth blood, and will cut him off from among his people. 11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.
Lev. 17:12 Therefore I said unto the children of Israel, No soul of you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger that sojourneth among you eat blood.
Lev. 17:13 And whatsoever man there be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, which hunteth and catcheth any beast or fowl that may be eaten; he shall even pour out the blood thereof, and cover it with dust. 14 For it is the life of all flesh; the blood of it is for the life thereof: therefore I said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh: for the life of all flesh is the blood thereof: whosoever eateth it shall be cut off.
Lev. 19:26 Ye shall not eat any thing with the blood: neither shall ye use enchantment, nor observe times.
Deut. 12:16 Only ye shall not eat the blood; ye shall pour it upon the earth as water.
Deut. 12:23 Only be sure that thou eat not the blood: for the blood is the life; and thou mayest not eat the life with the flesh.
Deut. 15:23 Only thou shalt not eat the blood thereof; thou shalt pour it upon the ground as water.
1 Sam. 14:33 Then they told Saul, saying, Behold, the people sin against the LORD, in that they eat with the blood. And he said, Ye have transgressed: roll a great stone unto me this day.
In full agreement with all the prohibitions against consuming blood in the Old Testament, the apostolic decree from the Jerusalem Council shows that the New Testament similarly prohibits any consumption of blood:
Acts 15:20 But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood.
Acts 15:29 That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well.
Acts 21:25 As touching the Gentiles which believe, we have written and concluded that they observe no such thing, save only that they keep themselves from things offered to idols, and from blood, and from strangled, and from fornication.
The relevance of giving attention to these repeated prohibitions against the consumption of blood for the question of whether any sinful beverages exist is clear, as the following treatment shows.
A Sinful Beverage
Certain sinful humans have created and drunk beverages that are sinful to ever drink in any quantity because they contain animal blood:
“Music and dance are fundamental elements of Candomblé.[290] . . . In some rituals, practitioners will drink a concoction containing jurema, a mildly hallucinogenic plant, sometimes mixed with the blood of sacrificed animals.[296]”1
It should go without saying that any beverages that contain human blood instead of or in addition to animal blood would also be sinful to ever drink in any quantity.
Conclusion and Application
By creating beverages that contain animal blood, certain sinful humans have made a beverage that is sinful to ever drink in any quantity. No righteous person can ever have anything to do with any such beverage.
In spite of being made in the image of God and being recipients of common grace, sinful humans can and have made things that are sinful for humans to ever use in any manner for any purpose. Understanding and accepting this truth has profound applications for many important issues concerning Christian living and worship that is pleasing to God.2
- From Candomblé – Wikipedia; accessed 3/8/26 10:21 pm. ↩︎
- See my posts Can Music (without Lyrics) or a Photograph Ever Be Inherently Sinful?, How “Inventors of Evil Things” (Rom. 1:30) Applies to Our Assessment of Certain Musical Styles, “Why Human Skull Drums Matter,” and Is There Earthly, Sensual, and Devilish Wisdom about Musical Instruments and Instrumental Music? ↩︎
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