What Does the Bible Say About Marijuana? An Exhaustive Study Part 1: Introduction

Question: Is it wrong for a Christian to use marijuana for recreational purposes?

Part 1: Introduction

Welcome to the first installment in a series of posts that will study everything the Bible has to say about marijuana. For the purposes of this series, we will focus primarily on the question of recreational marijuana use, specifically referred to hereafter as Christian Recreational Cannabis Use (CRCU).

Assertions

1. Our goal for this discussion is to discover what the Bible teaches regarding Christian Recreational Cannabis Use, not to promote or defend a particular opinion of CRCU.
2. The Bible makes no explicit mention of cannabis.
3. The Bible teaches that drinking alcohol is not sinful but that drunkenness is, and therefore recreational intoxication is not categorically sinful.
4. CRCU does not require smoking or any other dangerous consumption method.
5. Recreational Cannabis is legal to possess, consume, and be intoxicated by.

These assertions must be agreed upon as a foundation for further investigation into this issue. If these assertions require discussion, those discussions must precede this one. This series moves forward under the assumption that we have agreement on these assertions. Commenters who wish to debate the aforementioned assertions will be politely directed to and/or reminded of this post.

Outline

Although debated by a small minority of scholars, we have agreed for this discussion that the Bible makes no explicit mention of cannabis. So the question "What does the Bible say about marijuana?" seems easily answered. "Nothing!" And some would be content to end the discussion right there. But if we truly desire to know what the Bible says about marijuana, we must ask if there are any Biblical principles which could be applied to the question.

There are four principles we can draw upon to make a case against CRCU. They are drunkenness, sobriety, intention, and stumbling. The next several posts of this series will address these principles in depth, seeking to understand each one of them as fully as possible.

After examining the arguments against CRCU, we will look at the Biblical principles that lend positive support to CRCU, including the principle of creation and the principle of compassion. In the end, I hope to have created an exhaustive review of all that the Bible has to say about marijuana.

Along the way, I hope to benefit from your comments. Please read the Comments section on the About Theologise page and then be sure to leave a comment!

Up next, the first argument against CRCU, from the principle of drunkenness.

AHEAD to Part 2