The Early Church Fathers and Their Normal Use of Wine

The Early Church Fathers and Their Normal Use of Wine

When you look at the first generations of Christians, one thing becomes really clear. They did not argue about whether Communion should use wine. They simply used it because that is what Jesus handed down. It was the same drink used by the Old Testament saints in their covenant meals and the same drink the early church inherited through Scripture and tradition. Nobody tried to replace it. Nobody suggested alternatives. It was wine.

Irenaeus of Lyons, writing in the second century, speaks about Communion in a way that assumes everyone already knows the cup is real wine.
He says:
“For as the bread which comes from the earth receives the invocation of God and becomes the Eucharist, so also the cup which is from the earth, receiving the invocation of God, becomes the Eucharist of the blood of Christ.”
Against Heresies. Book Five Chapter Two.

In ancient writing, “the cup which is from the earth” always referred to fermented wine.

Justin Martyr, around AD 150, describes their worship service:
“There is then brought to the president of the brethren bread and a cup of wine mixed with water.”
First Apology. Chapter Sixty Five.

Mixing wine with water was the normal ancient practice. But it was still wine.

Cyprian of Carthage even rebuked people who tried to remove wine from the Table.
“How can we drink the new wine of Christ if in the sacrifice of the Lord the wine is absent.”
Epistle Sixty Two.

To him, removing wine was removing the symbol Christ Himself gave.

Clement of Alexandria taught Christians to avoid drunkenness but also taught them to use wine rightly.
“The cup is to be mixed with water. Wine is to be used as wine.”
The Instructor. Book Two.

The early fathers saw wine the same way Scripture does. A good gift that becomes dangerous only in excess.

Old Testament Saints and the Historic Use of Wine

Long before the church, wine had a central place in the worship life of the Old Testament saints. Wine offerings were part of the daily rhythm of the sacrificial system. It was not strange. It was not sinful. It was commanded by God Himself.

The Law gives specific instructions for wine offerings.
Numbers chapter fifteen verses five through ten lays out the exact measurements. Wine was poured out as an offering before the Lord.

The Mishnah, which records how Old Testament worship practices continued into the Second Temple era, notes:
“With every burnt offering and sacrifice there was a wine offering measured in the hin.”
Menachot. Chapter Eight.

The Talmud, which preserves commentary on those practices, describes priests pouring wine at the altar.
“The wine offering was poured by the priest on the altar as a soothing aroma.”
Sukkah 48a.

The only restriction was that priests were forbidden to drink wine while actively serving so they could remain clear minded. This was about sobriety in service, not abstinence from wine altogether.
See Leviticus chapter ten verse nine.

Even the seasonal feasts of the Old Testament saints included wine as a symbol of joy and blessing.
Philo of Alexandria, a first-century Jewish philosopher writing about the worship life of Israel, said:
“The grape harvest festival is celebrated with thanksgiving and with wine which gladdens both body and soul.”
The Special Laws. Book Two.

So when Jesus took the cup at the Last Supper, His disciples did not need an explanation. They had grown up in a world where wine belonged in covenant meals. Where wine symbolized joy, blessing, promise, and fellowship with God. The early church simply continued what the Old Testament saints had already practiced.

The Historical Witness Is Consistent

Once you look at the whole picture, the pattern is remarkably consistent.

Old Testament saints used wine in worship.
Jesus used wine at the Last Supper.
The early church used wine in Communion.
The church fathers defended the use of wine.
For nearly two thousand years nobody even imagined replacing wine with grape juice.

That shift only happened in the nineteenth century when the temperance movement invented pasteurized grape juice as an alternative to fermentation. Before that, no one across the entire history of God’s people argued that Communion should be anything other than wine.

The witness of Scripture and history says the same thing.
Wine is a good gift from God.
Wine is used in worship.
Drunkenness is a sin.
Wine is not.