The Carbon advocate. [volume] (Lehighton, Pa.) 1872-1924, 1874-08-29
Intoxicating Wine at the
LORDS Supper.
BY T. r. WEIGH, NJ. D.

htb iuo hSk my UIeJuItu W pOnutt
the following, to my mind serious OBJ.
jeciions to the use of intoxicating wine
at the celebration of the Lords Sup.
per. believe they will then earnestly
seek to dispense with 1t, and use the
simple, p4re, unfermented "fruit of
the vine"-the innocent, unvitiated,
unintoxicating ''blood Of the grape"
1. Intoxicating wine at the Sacra-
ment of the Lords Supper is certainly
an offense to those whose taste Is un-
prevented. How many / have heard
complain of its disgusting taste and
smell, and declare that they take 1t
only as they take noxious medicine
because they think it dutyl Should
we thus needlessly offend?
2. 1t prevents the taste, so that this
repugnance TO it is sgradually overco me,
till finally liking is engendered that
Is abnormal, pernicious, unsafe, some
times causing drunkenness and destroy
ing body and soul. Brethren, is this
wise?
3. 1t is imminently dangerous to the
reformed inebriate-especially IL he
still locks arms with its bosom compan-
ion, tohacco-his appetite for alcohol is
not destroyed; 1t sleeps. The very
taste, or even smell, Of this deadly
poison will therefore, sometimes irressti.
bly, arouse the appetite, and lead the
victim to destruction. We have sad
instances of this, and also of many
who, from fear of, this avoid the sacre-
ment as dangerous place, Brethren,
is this right?
4. 1t tends to make intoxicating wine
respectable. The association of whis
key, ram and gin with bar rooms aud
vulgar revelings degrades these to the
level of obscenity and crime, so that
they are repuisive to the Christians
very instinct; but the association of
wine (Which is just as truly intoxica-
ting) with the House OF God and the
Holy Sacrement elevates 1t to some-
thing, akin to sacredness, aud thus
tends to give it respectability as COM
mon beverage. Brethren is not this
so.
8. 1t cripples the influence of the
Church IN the temperance cause; for It
is inconsistent for Christians to exhort
sinners to ''abstain from all that can
intoxica te," upon the plea that all in
toxicants are a.poison and curse, and
yet, at the same time, invite every man
woman and child Of, the Church to
drink one of the most popular and
therefore the-most dangerous of them
ALL And this as religious dutyi How
can we meet this glaring inconsist-
ency? ...
6. 1t is making sacred use of a
wine which God has cursed. 1t must
be clear that there are two very dist
nict classes of wine described in the
Bible, though both are translated by
the same name, one unfermented, non :
alcoholic, and therefore innocent and
approved; and the other fermented, or
alcoholic. and therefore poisonous and
condemned,-one used as the emblem
of Gods blessing, the other of his
wrath. Brethren is the latter the wine
for the Lords table?
7. Fermented wine, when used to typi.
fy the shed blood of the Crucfied One,
is false in its character. The process
of fermentation is the process of putre.
faction; the result is the poisonous cup
of death. 1t is not this, but the wine
as taken from the fresh ripe grape,
that is made typical of the pure, living
blood of the Lamb of God, the drinking
of which imparts life eternal. Breth-
rem, is 1t not revoltlng-nigh blasphem.
Ouo-t W BiNC W MN lnhb WOuIu sup
with his Lord "the cup of His wrath, -
in place of ''the cup of His bless
ing?''
s. The use of fermented wine as
com memorative of our Savlour's last
Passover Supper, is inconsistent, both
as to the nature of the wine and the
character of the occasion it Is used to
celebrate. For fifteen hundred years
ago the'Jews had symbolized the eat.
ing the body aud drinking the blood of
the Lamb of God. using at this feast
only that which was unleavened. How
could Christ then have used any other
than the unfermented. fresh "fruit OF
the vine?" Brethren, should we moi
now symbolic the fresh, flowing life.
giving blood of the Son of God by
using the wine as handed us by His
Father in the pure "blood fthe grape, -
unvltiated by the poisonous process OF
putrefactiOnP
8. 1t is unnecessary TO use fermen.