Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1863-04-03
DELAWARE, OHIO, APRIL 8, 1868.

straight. It is well known that alcohol is tbC
active principle Of all Intoxicating liquors
and this Is produced in wine by fermentation
/ 1t Is question of chemistry how soon leImen
tation ordinarily takes place. in tie expressed
1 juice of the grape, and how rapidly it pro
ceeds. With this We have nothing 10 do
/ The Bible does not deal ia chemistry It's
rules and principles are formed On a broader
basis 1t deals with things more outward and
palpabe. II does not ask, nor do we, whether
The wine contains single drop of alcohol Ur
not, but does il intOxcate, is in Injurious to
The bodies and souls Of men, is it sought AMI
used for unlawful purposes? This is the real
distinction and on this we take cur stand,
that scripture commentators Of wine are Of
Misunderstanding wine, while its condemnatiops
are of Intoxicating wine
Must ii not be presumed that if there was
two kinds OF wine, good and a oad, as has
been already shown, that the scriptures wou5
commend the good and condemn the bad p
Is not this precisely what we should expect
beforehand? But we are not left to mere
presumption, however strong. There IS "A
sufficient proof within our reach For oar
present purpose the proof will be viewed as
consisting OF two parts. First, the proof a.
rising from an examination of scripture usage
iu reference to the lermented and uniermented
wines and second The proof arising from an
examination Of Tie Hebrew words a-ed. To
make the first proof completely exhaustive il
would be necessary to examine all the texts Ia
the Bible in which wine is mentioned To do
this will be impossible in the narrow limits
Of single serRIUn. Enough can be done
however to indicate the rule. For such an
examination Scripture texts are divided sinto
three classes. First-Those in which aeu
1eins is referred to expressly, or by implca-
cation. Second Those in which ferHleAted
and Indicating aCine is referred To express
ly or by implication. Third-Those in which
there is nothing, either in the text Itself or in
the context, to determine wheIher the wins
was !ermeuted or not. With these last we are
not concerned, as they give no evidence for or
against. As a specimen Of The first class take
the following Joel 2 "a. " And the floors
shall be iuli Of wheat and the vlls shall over
flow with wine" Hos. g, 9,I2, The fl ,or and
the wine press shall not feed them, and iew
wine shall fail in her" Is, 65, 8, Thus
$ nth the Lord, as the new wiue is found in The
cluster, ard one saith. destroy it rot for a
blessing Is IL ii so will do for my servants
sake, that l may not destroy them ALL
joel ?, 10, Behold | Will send you corn aud
wine and oil, and We shall be satisfied there
with" Hos. ,, 9, Therefore will ! return
ard take away my Germ in tue time thereof
and my wihe n the season thereof" Ps. 4, Z,
- Ihou shalt put goodness in my Leart, more
than in he lime that their cJra a.3d heir wine
incre&sed." Prov. 3, TO- so shall Inv barns
be flied with plenty, and thy pressts burst ca;
with new vine" Many More tex:s cf the
same class might be cited but tkese are slfIici-
ent. In all these wine is spoken Of as a oiess-
ing aud is eon,mendc,l, and how plain it iss,iso
in cye:3 ease, that new wins is sneaat i IS
spoken Of being in the Caf, us running from
the press. and when as eXi-ting in The ciostr,
II is cailrd wine in The season thereof. and new
wine, and is s ociaicd with corn aud oil. and
with the time O. harvest. THUS is it peI fcclly
clear ,hal new wine, and rot fyrmented and liz
toxicating wine, is a blessing
As specimen Of the sec1ad class take the
following. Deut. 81. 33. Their wine is the
poison Of dragons and The cruel venom Of
asps." Ps. co. 3, Thou hast made rs TO
drink the wine of astoniSAmcnt" Ps 75. s.
g In the hand Of the Lord there Is cup, aed
lhe wine is red it is full Of mix ure anI ne
p"urrih ont the same but the dgegs thereof
AL the wicked of The earth shall wiring them
out, and drink them" Is >. IL, Woe unto
them that rise up carly in the morning thai
hey may follow strong drink" Is. 5, %
-" Woe unto them that are mighty to drink
vine and men Of strength To mingle strong
drink" Hos. Z, 5, In the day of our king
the princes have mad him sick with bottles OF
wine he stretcI ed out his hand with scorn-
ers." Is. %, 7, " But they have aso erred
through wire, and through strong drink are
out of the way" Prov. %, 81 > Look not
,hou upon the wine when it is red, when he
gizeih bis color iE the cup when it movelh
Itself Alright. Al the last it bi,eth like a ser
pent, and st;ngeth like an adder" Prov 90, l.
:" Wine is mocker aud strong drink is ra-
giag, and whosoevrr is deceived thereby is uOl
wise" large number Of texts of the same
class might be cited, but these are quite
enough. Here we find wine condemned aud
reprobated, aud here i'll many instances how
clear it is that Intoxicating wine is meant. Il
is spoken Of as being in bottles 1t is called
strong drink, and mixed wine, referring to a
mixture wi h drugs. I is spoken OF as red
and as moving itself Alright, evidently referring
20 the clear sparkling red, and peculiar eff r
veScense. produced by advanced fermentation.
IN short, it is clearly Intoxicating wine, known
certainly 10 be such, from the very effect Ii
produced The proof then is complete. An
cx ended examina' ion Of every text in the
Bible will only serve still further to establish
the same concIusion,-thai where wine is cont
mendfd, Misunderstanding wine is meant, and
where it is CONDEMNED, intoxicating wine is
meant.
To BE CONTINUED.