when was it discovered that the intoxicating spirtual effect of wine was from alcohol not a communication with God

Administrator — Fri, 26 Dec 2025 11:51:11 -0500

The understanding that the intoxicating effect of wine was due to a natural substance, alcohol, rather than divine communication, developed with the rise of modern science and chemistry in the

18th and 19th centuries.

For millennia, the process of fermentation and its mind-altering effects were not understood scientifically and were often attributed to supernatural or divine causes. The ancient Greeks, for example, associated intoxication from wine with the god Dionysus, viewing it as a form of possession by the god's spirit.

The shift to a scientific understanding happened in stages:

18th Century: Chemists began analytical studies of substances. In 1789, French chemist Antoine Lavoisier performed quantitative studies on fermentation, determining that sugars broke down into alcohol and carbon dioxide, but the role of yeast remained a mystery.
Early-to-mid 19th Century: Microscopes allowed scientists to observe microorganisms more clearly. In 1835, Charles Cagniard de la Tour, and independently Theodor Schwann and Friedrich Kützing, concluded that yeast were living organisms responsible for fermentation.
Late 19th Century: Louis Pasteur solidified this understanding. In the 1850s and 1860s, he conducted experiments that demonstrated fermentation was the result of living yeast converting sugar into ethanol in the absence of oxygen. He published his key findings in 1857 and 1860, transforming fermentation from an ancient art into a science and laying the foundation for modern microbiology.
Early 20th Century: In 1897, Eduard Buchner further showed that fermentation could occur using yeast extracts free of living cells (zymase, a collection of enzymes), proving it was a chemical process catalyzed by enzymes produced by the microorganisms. He won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for this discovery in 1907.

This scientific progress provided a concrete, biological explanation for an effect previously ascribed to spiritual or mystical forces.

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when was it discovered that the intoxicating spirtual effect of wine was from alcohol not a communication with God