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In 1958, CT pushed evangelicals to engage important moral issues even when they seemed old-fashioned.

Christianity Today took a moment in 1958 to reassess the repeal of prohibition after 25 years. Was the relegalization of alcohol good for America? Or had the teetotal Christians and fundamentalist moral crusaders of the 1920s been right to try to ban beer and liquor?

Alcohol industry leaders didn’t think there was any question that Americans should celebrate their quarter-century of accomplishments.

This year the brewing industry proudly notes many of its accomplishments since the time of its rebirth, 25 years ago. The distilling industry also joins with the brewers in celebration of the repeal of the 18th Amendment, an occasion “which should be meaningful not only to brewers (and distillers) but also to millions of others who have benefited from relegalization.” So spoke the president and chairman of the U. S. Brewers Foundation, E. V. Lahey, a few months ago.

He pointed out that the national economy at the time of repeal in 1933 was suffering the “deepest depression of the century” and that relegalization of the liquor traffic had brought billions of new taxes to the government, and billions of dollars to American farmers and workers. Beyond this, he implied, the industry should be grateful that 22 per cent of the beer customers are women, that the tavern is now a respectable place, that the tavern operator is “a good citizen and a credit to his community,” and that “a good job has been done in keeping the public sold on the premise that the operation of breweries and taverns is compatible with the American way of life.”

CT thought a biblically informed evaluation of the impact on American life would lead to a very different conclusion.

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