, 1874-05-03

To the Editor Of The Chscaao Tribune:
SIN: As the subject involved in the abovl
beading has been discussed pretty extensively O.
late, I beg the privilege OF saying q few word,
upon it. notice that most writer's speak dog
maica1ly, and give no authorities for the opin
ions which they advance. Some OF them refer
generally, to "scholarship'' as sustaining thei1
positions, but give US no clue IS to what that
scholarship is, Of who is behind it. I quote ar
example from the Alliance:
That there are two kinds Of wine spoken OF IN the
Bble-a ferneated and uufeEmented kind, the for
Of which is denounced as beverage, while tbs
latter is occasionally spproEod-is fatty denied BY tho
best scholarship Of tho age. And to persist In the
faee q .his tat n a5mng TINT tho Bbs
wreckug its divine authority upon plain inconatst
ensy. is undermine the credbility Of seho1ars in al
their conclusions, and thus spread net by which in
fidelity shall bring IN great haul.
There is something substantially the same in
tho Interior. Aid quite number Of the cor
respondents Of TIE TRIBUNE have advanced
similar sentiments, a scholarship which
ignores contemporaneous history and proceeds
to its conclusions from speculative hypothesis
is not to say the least. conclusiye authority
upon the matter in dispute.
I propose to Elvo somo authorities to show
that the proposition that there wera two kinds
Of wine known in Old Testament times is sup
ported by an abundance OF evidence, both in
ferential and direct. would premise By saying
that it is 3 generally recognized truism that
" God Is the came yesterday, to-day, and for
ever" And it is wcll-known that wine is the
Same now that it WAS 4, 900 years ago and that.
feS0'd nSoS it S S pF9aass he ans o9 eset' ges
or any one else, during the jewish
dispenBation. The relative position OF God and
wine is, therefore, unchanged Il God then mp
proved the uso Of Intoxicating alcoholic wine, He
approves it now. Aud, further, as alcohol Ii the
atr;r Ia
more sinful Or harmful in tho sight OF God to
become Intoxicated On whisky than on wine.
Let ns now quote from authorities to show
that there are two kinds Of wine recognized in
tho Bible, promising that there are nine words
in the original translated into the English word
wine:
DR.. Mott, whose scholarship is beyond ques-
ton, says: "That intoxicating wines existed from
remote antiquity. aud we're held in high estima-
ton BY the wise and good, there eau be no rea-
sonabe doubt. The evidence is unequirocal and
plenary."
Prof. Moses Stuart enyB: "Facts show that
the. anclents not only preserved vino unfer-
mented, but regarded it as OF higher favor md
finer quality than fermented wine"
Homer, in the Odyssey. speaks OF a wine
sweet as honey, impe1ishablo, Which was drank
coiurne11a, aristotle, Horace, Ataennus, n aud nad
other writer's Of Old and Now Testament times.
speak OF boiled, s1ect and Notwithstanding
they could not ferment. This fact will DO
found recognized in all, or nearly all, s'Bible
Dictionaries" and "Greek and Roman Antiqui~
ties for tho last ten hundred yea1s.-tho
authors merely chronicing facts Of history, with
out any reference to other questions. The re-
National Encyclopedias" IN it's
article on ''Wnes," SAYS Among the Greeks
and Romans the sweet wines we're those most
in use- And, in preparing their
wines, the ancieats often lnspissated them until
a hfc1 ~ hn of