Greetings Stranger
Abstain to me means : when a product of any kind is being offered or presented for personal use you would abstain from it by declining to give it consideration because you have already came to the conclusion that you are not gonna consume or use it in any form or fashion.
Abstain and its synonyms (Refrain, forbear, etc.) negate action. The fundamental meaning is, "...to keep or prevent oneself from doing or saying something" as in, "Abstained from smoking" or "Refrained from commenting." (I'm quoting from the American Heritage Dictionary.)
When the action in question is easily deducible, it is common in casual, conversational English to use the word, "abstain" in connection with a noun instead of finite verb as in "Abstain from wine" or "Abstain from fatty foods" but what's actually happening here is the listener is mentally filling in the blank based on the nature of the object. These are therefore phrases, not complete sentences.
I appreciate the scriptural reference, but "εἴδους πονηροῦ" is an adjectival expression and as such, makes a moral statement in and of itself. (In this case, it is evil disease, degeneracy, mischief malice and facinorousness which are all pretty bad things.) This is not analogous to simple noun, which is morally neutral in and of itself.
