BSFL: Ephesians 5:8-21

AN BR AL A . N J C Y H

B Drunkenness, Excess, and Bacchanalia ISTOCK PHOTO

LIFEWAY.COM/BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR 67 at leastby thefifth century bc,con cult dedicated to Dionysus originated iegvn moisture.’ life-giving vineyards, wineand‘every type of was thedeity underwhosepowers camethefertility of of Zeusandamortal woman namedSemele.“Dionysus According to Greek mythology, Dionysus was theson of wineanddebauchery, ritual madness, andthetheatre. 68 BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR /SUMMER 2020 ILLUSTRATOR PHOTO/BRENTBRUCE/WALTERS ART MUSEUM/BALTIMORE (75/0004) restraint. Usually, thesewere heldonly terized by abandonment of moral period ofRome (27 agi were common intheimperial and Dionysiac scenes onsarcoph Dionysus withhopefor anafterlife, closely associated theworship of out the Mediterranean world. People fathers, andwas widespread through tinued untilthetimeofchurch E festivals andsacred rites charac Dionysus worship were Bacchanalia, Paul’s command inEphesians5:18. in banquetsantiquity, andthencontrasting thesewith worship of the pagan god Dionysus, the nature of meals pagan moral licentiousness. Thiscanbeseenby examining to acounter-cultural ethicofgodly restraint instead of being filled withtheHolySpirit.Christianswere called the dissipation ofbeingunderthecontrol ofwinewith The mostfamous aspectof Dionysus (Bacchus to the Romans) was theGreek god nents inGreco-Roman life, andPaul contrasted tion anddrunkenness were common compo but befilled by theSpirit.” drunk with wine,whichleadsto reckless living, PHESIANS 5:18 SAYS, “AND DON’T GET bc

– ” ad 2 A mystery 476). 3 - - - - 1 Alcohol consump counter-cultural ethicofgodly Christians were called toa - - or “madness.” followers were calledmaenads,from theGreek wordmania, tions of Dionysus were so orgiastic andecstatic that his at to region. Onescholardescribedthe variety: (59 most famous depiction of such events is from Livy’s Livy summarized heterosexual andhomosexual abandonment andorgies. hard to suppress andcontinued inpopularity. Thecelebra prohibiting the Bacchanalia. Nonetheless, the cult was theRomandescription, Senate hadpassed alaw in186bc While modern historians question the accuracy of Livy’s as impiousorcriminalwas thevery sumoftheirreligion.” particular The forms ofBacchic initiation probably varied a Expressions of bc– ad 17)History of Rome . Hedescribedalcohol-fueled timesoftheyear andfor briefperiods.The 5 restraint instead Dionysiac worship Dionysiac worship: Many oftheani even a giraffe. elephants, and including lions, and exotic animals, of hisfollowers him isaprocession thers. Preceding pulled bypan rides in achariot the left,Dionysus of Bacchus.At triumphal march depicting the Left: Sarcophagus of pagan moral licentiousness. licentiousness. - - differed from region “To regard nothing wine. the Greek god of with Dionysus, was associated rim, the donkey painted on the Like the maenad be set down. before itcould had to be emptied cup of this type lacking a foot, about 480 BC; head; dated to of a donkey’s cup in the shape Athens, a ceramic Upper left:From nymphs. his reception by of Dionysusand the lidisbirth of Dionysus.On in the mystery cult special significance mals depictedhad 4 -

ILLUSTRATOR PHOTO/ G.B. HOWELL/ BOSTON MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS (64/2418) ILLUSTRATOR PHOTO/ G.B. HOWELL/ BOSTON MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS (64/2103) PHOTO/ G.B. HOWELL/ BOSTON MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS ILLUSTRATOR

Above: From idyllic outdoor Carrara in north- banquet, holding central Italy, a garland of flow- marble relief ers and a wine dated AD 50 cup (kantharos) in depicts a his left hand. The man reclin- relief may have ing under been a votive gift a tree at an to Dionysus.

ILLUSTRATOR PHOTO/ BRENT BRUCE/ NAPLES ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM (173/B/2376) cultural background in Greco- Above: Fresco covered mountain followers Roman antiquity in which alco- painting from is probably Mount (known as the House of Vesuvius, before its Bacchantes) hol consumption and drunkenness the Centenary in eruption. and creatures were common. Greek dinner parties, Pompeii; dated AD that were part called symposiums, were limited to 62-79. To the left, Right: Marble por- human and center is Dionysus, trait of Bacchus part animal, men except for female entertainers. The his body covered with a grapevine mostly satyrs feasts included extensive wine drinking with bunches of headpiece; AD and fauns. They after the meal and often singing hymns grapes to evoke 1st cent; Roman. represented the his being the god Bacchus was often unfettered, some- to a pagan god. Roman dinner parties were of the vine and depicted as hav- times bawdy, con- similar, but were called a convivium, and allowed respectable wine. In the back- ing a retinue of duct brought on by ground, a vine- uninhibited female wine. women to be present. Though not always opportunities for sexual immorality, dinner parties sometimes turned into

ILLUSTRATOR PHOTO/ G.B. HOWELL/ ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO (65/4762) PHOTO/ G.B. HOWELL/ ART ILLUSTRATOR great deal from group to group, and from period to orgies. “Greek and Roman literature is filled with illus- period, with the extent of these variations stretching trations of symposia devolving into drunkenness, sexual from outdoor picnics to an existential turning-point excess, and violence.”7 in life, from sublime symbolism to downright orgies.6 The sexual use of dining couches . . . is widely por- Nonetheless, drunkenness and sexual immorality were trayed on stone, pottery, and gems in museums common. A house at Pompeii known as the Villa of the throughout Greece. In many of these depictions Mysteries contains several frescoes depicting Dionysus food is shown on nearby dining tables, perhaps indi- worship, including impious sexual imagery. cating that the sensual pleasures of eating and sexual Worship of Dionysus formed part of the broader intercourse may commonly have been combined.8

LIFEWAY.COM/BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR 69 70 BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR /SUMMER 2020 able lifestyle ofsomany intheculture around them.” for [Paul] to callto mind thedestructive andunaccept “To write against drunkenness was aconvenient way with Christianethics.KlyneSnodgrass rightlysays, associated with drunkenness is in complete contrast ity oftheirthoughts” (Eph.4:17). Thevulgar behavior should nolongerlive astheGentileslive, inthefutil ers, “Therefore, Isay thisandtestify intheLord: You hand. Incontext, Paul hadalready reminded hisread drunkenness, andsexual immorality went handin Roman culture was oneinwhichpagan devotion, gered into Paul’s day. Themoral atmosphere inGreco- do know that at leastshadows ofthosepractices lin ship orancientdinnerbanquetsinEphesians5:18, we on cushions;likely queters reclining scene of five ban- Right: Limestone of furniture apiece ly adorned AD. The piece like- Roman, 1st cent. lower of Bacchus; or femalefol- mask of a maenad Below: Bronze god. Paul amplified themoral vulgarity ofpaganism being under the control of either alcohol or a pagan Paul was specifically attacking eitherDionysus wor Being filled withtheHolySpiritisopposite of While modern readers cannot know for certain if using straws. would have drunk, the banqueters bowl from which a crater, a large would have held been a table that center would have cent. BC.Inthe the end of the6th Cyprus; datedto at Golgoion from thetemple 9 - - - - -

ILLUSTRATOR PHOTO/ BRITISH MUSEUM/ LONDON (31/23/23) words, it is wild living. especially asexhibited inconvivial gatherings. Inother less debauchery, abandon, dissipation, orprofligacy, which generally denotes wastefulness, andthusreck Greek word translated “reckless living” isasotia, when hesaidsuchbehavior is“reckless living.” The City, Missouri. Midwestern Baptist TheologicalSeminaryinKansas J. AlanBranch isprofessor ofChristianethicsat of ChicagoPress, 2000),148. and OtherEarlyChristianLiterature, ed.Frederick WilliamDanker, 3rd ed.(Chicago: Univ. Zondervan, 1996),289. Quarterly vol.47(Fall-Winter2017):87. Challenges ofMoralInstructionatGreco-Roman Banquets,”LexingtonTheological Press, 1985),292. Drama,” vol. 6(London:J. Biblotheca Sacra136(July-September1979):250–51. 2013), 854,andCleonL.Rogers,Jr., “The DionysianBackground ofEphesians5:18,” ed. SebastianFuhrmann,GaryS.Helft,andAnne-KathrinRunte,vol.6(Berlin:DeGruyter, 1991), 317. Bible (CSB). which leadsto reckless living, but befilled by theSpirit.” I stance ofEphesians5:18, “And don’t getdrunkwithwine, ruled by moral autonomy should follow the non-conforming culture. Inthesameway, modern Christiansinaday andage with “loose[asotos] living” (Luke 15:13,nasb). son which says the young mansquandered his wealth form oftheword isusedinthestory oftheprodigal lifestyle implied by asotiaisseen in that theadverbial “ (asotia,wastefulness)inAGreek-English10. “aÓswti÷a LexiconoftheNewTestament 9. KlyneSnodgrass,Ephesians,TheNIVApplicationCommentary(GrandRapids: 8. JohnMcRay, Archeology andtheNewTestament , 317. 7. Richard A. Wright, “Drinking, Teaching, and Singing: Ephesians 5:18-19 and the 6. Walter Burkert,Greek, trans.JohnRaffan Religion (Cambridge,MA:Harvard Univ. 5. Britt-MariNasstrom, “TheRitesintheMysteriesofDionysus:TheBirth 4. Livy, TheHistoryofRome 39.13inTheHistoryofRome,trans.Rev. Canon Roberts, 3. Trevor W. Thompson,“Dionysus,”inEncyclopediaoftheBibleandItsReception , 2. JohnMcRay, Archeology andtheNewTestament (GrandRapids:BakerAcademic, 1. Unlessindicatedotherwise,allScripture quotationsare from theChristianStandard Paul calledEphesianChristiansto moral purity inavulgar Scripta InstitutiDonnerianiAboensis18(January1,2003):139,141. M. Dent&Sons,1905). 10 Some sense of the destructive -

ILLUSTRATOR PHOTO/ BRENT BRUCE/ METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART/ NEW YORK CITY (60/7710)