Why is old wine better than new (Luke 5:39)? and does not Prov. 31:6, 7 seem to teach that drunkenness is proper under certain circumstances? A. K. Read the context of the passage in Luke, and it will be seen that it is not to wine that our Lord has reference, but to doctrine and system. "No man putteth new wine into old wine-skins; else the new wine will burst the skins, and itself will be spilled, and the skins will perish. But new wine must be put into fresh wine-skins." The Jews had the old wine-skins and the old wine. They were willing to stay by the old traditional system. Our Lord likens His teaching to new wine. But the new wine must be put into the new bottles; or rather, the doctrine must be put into men who are made new by the power of the Lord Jesus. Old drinkers love old liquors. They claim they are mellowed by age. Just so old hearts, grown old in tradition, love the tradition still; but new hearts love the new wine. It is not Jesus that "saith the old is good," as in the Revised Version. It is not a comparison between the old and the new; they are simply satisfied with the old. The old is good; we do not care for anything new. And that is what millions are saying to-day regarding God's truth for this time, even as the Jews said it in that day,—"The old is good; we want nothing better." The passage in Proverbs has reference to those who are dying with pain and anguish upon them. If they are about to perish, ease their sufferings, if possible, by giving that which will allay the pain, just as people are given sedatives, narcotics, and powerful drugs, to relieve sufferings now.