, 1874-04-19


xo.lips is more faulty as method, or moro
i.,r-rous as Z practice. than earring @ theory
~ lie Ellle, az Z key to its interpretation. II
;b;s is to bo allowed, then We may provo any
.h;n- ne please b Scripture phrases: ce!ib:cy
~ No,n,o::is1n, monarchy or 1ed-republicauisna,
mo1opa!isa1 communism, ci,icu7canisna or
e4c;csz, Tlo only rational and safe procedure
Is 70 ;uqura, simply and honestly aud teacha-
hir, What does this book mculeatc!" Not
..;itat ceu I maize it say?" nor q What would
ike to laye it say:S but "Nhat does it
s,y." It is not strange that earnest ad-
r,,a;cs CT to.al abstinence should wish to
foTtifr tLcir position by Scripture authority.
Int ti,at some Of them hare very njrslicioa.ly y
1rdesyo-cd to Treat the Scriptures, with peril
o;s ;toloace, to77a1d this theory cannot be de-
mel. When they twist the meaning Ct words
nsed to EXPRESS tie ono fact OF vino so As to
make them discriminate where tho original
writer's intended no such discrimination, it is d
VICIOUS process Of Interpretations. no matter how
trcll-u,eaut It may be. That there arc two kinds
NJ T;uo spoken Of il the Bible, a fernented and
m uulermcntcd tind, the former OF Which is
Denounced Us beverage, whi]o the latter is
OCCASIONALLY app.ored. is fatty denied by
the best scholarship OF the ago. And to persist,
il tho face OF this fact, in affirming tAat the
Bblo cannot possibly allow the drinking of fer
nente3 wine without Urecking its divine
AUTHORITY upoa q plain inconsistency, is to
undermine tie c1edibility Of scholars in all
their conclusions. and thus spread net by
which intidelity shall bring in great haul.
61ch violence to the plain meaning OF Scripture,
eycn in the eoryico Of tho tcst cause. docs more
to distredit its teaclings than all the direct at
tscks that eau be made upon 1t. HE book IL
betrayed by Its friends.
1t is asserted. with much heat. that. Of course,
Jesus did not furnish vino with Intoxicating
moporties at the Wedding in Cana For tho
reason t!iat wine-dzinkillg is sin. But the
plain narrative Shows that lhe company had been
drinking wine for some time, perhaps days; and
shen the suppl; was exhausted, they havinE;
the most compcten: authority, to bo better
tlan en5 they lad yet draak. Hal it bsen
"la,i5t." OF the Juice fresh from :he pro5a,
it vou:d have lacked that flavor which age is
known to impart to THIS beverage, flavor priced
the world over "he:e wnla is used as d bey-
trace. To say that this miracle might not
1--we taken place; in othes words, WAS later iu-
:1pclsion, is rerrt=d by the best manuscript
cydencc. tits genuine: aud is referred to again
br the same Evangelist in subsequent rart OF
cell Eo lived, in His daily habits and customs,
t9 furnish some possibility for the slantierous
charge of being l. g.u1toa ind ''wine-bbber."
His accuaers meant iutemEerance, for this is
rhat the compound word used evidently eisul-
fes. Not that He drank VINE, but that he drank
it hatltually, just Us HIS neighbors did They
sould have been no better ploaeed with Him had
He ahstained totally. For JOHN tho Baptist,
II NaZa,ite, adopted that mode of
life, and the same faut-iinder5 charged him
With having a devil The plnin Inference is
Tint Jesus drank wine, according to the custom
Of that ago and locality. In the Old Testament,
as we'll as in the New, the warnings are against
excess: LtoA not upon the wino when it IS
red, ETC., occurs in vivid description OF tue
eyil effects Of inabriety.
But now, while conceiing, as raalor requires,
that the Bible uoes not enforce total 1bst!nepco
from wine-dFinhiEg, We lose nothiug at all, fur
the argument GEE i'e maintained upon another
basis It is not that Wine drinking is
Eat vo arc to abstain from it, for
tSe cake OF others, If not for ourselves. Ono
man rlav drink wine ell his life and not become
! truukard. His ueiGlncr. on tuo other hand
1,ay be 80 constituted. that for him to drink wine
viii be to fail Into inebriety. Now, to help this
weaker brother, By NY example, as Paul said OF
meet, may and ought, probably, to foreGo tue
use of uiue as O beverage. Here is tho tunda-
mental law Of love to my nelgubo1. And when
this is not sacred and obligatory enough upon
nc to mal&s me deny myself for others, then all
inferior considerations must be even less potent
And Wien to this you add the fact that our
be7erescs in this day arc most Tlll2lnoussy
edrIterated with p0isons every nan who regards
lds pT1 health will tild reason enough for keep
ing the injurious cmaound out of his stomach.
B11 egcn II VIC had pE7e wines from the grape,
there in sufficient reason foE a5stiucnce. III the
lone of saylng society from the fearful effects
otd1uuEennc.s. We accomplish tic same Oh
Jet, therefore, without nlisiuterprering the
Bible and We present to mankind, not simply 6
fact, but principle upon when their highest
manhood is to be built.