, 1874-04-23
THE BIBLE AND WINE.

AutlEllks VAALE6 \ 4toVIs
oa1oAao, April az, 1874.
THE BIBLE AND VINE.
10 The Etitor a} Tho Chicago Tribune:
Srn: A communication by mo in last Thura-
days TRIBUNE has boon ropllod to by tho Roy.
Dr.. McChosnoy, in sermon which find report
cd In your Issue Of Sunday. AB DR.. McOhosnoy
has choaun l1is toxt, I would also take the lib
erty to quote toxt, aud to recommend It to tho
Doctors consideration. "Every creature Of
God Is good, and nothing to 10 refused, 1t 1t be
received with thanksgiving. II thou
put tho broshron In remembrance Of these things
thou nhalt bon good minister of Jesus Christ,
nouriBl,od up III tho words Of faitla and Of good
doctrine.'' I. Tim., IT,: 4, G. and now lot us
come to the examination OF tho PASTORS Harmon;
lot us enloayor to meet poipt BY point, statement
by statement.
i. In lis toxt even, DR.. NIoC. gives occasion
for corrections. Tho children Of Ieraal who
love 1agona Of wiuo,'-ao ho guoteh from Hosea
ill.,, !. It is truo that such Is tho TRANSLATION in
tho common Eng1lah ycralon. But tho original
does not speak Of wine ut oil. Ashfshcy anabina
means not tlugonB Of vino. but cakes Of grapes.
The prophet intonlB to say that his laraelitiah
contemporaries run aftor tho idols and thu saori-
fetal grape-cakes offered In thoir tomplos. II,
In quoting this text, a siur is to be intondod
upon tho modern Israelites, because not ono OF
them In to lie found who would Join and applaud
the fanntioai total abstinence movement now
raging in tho land, thon tho Doctor Ia perhaps
not aware TINT in regard to temperance the
jews, as q claHH, compare most fayorably with
any other olaaB of people. A drllnknrd among
the Jews is a very rare and very exceptional
person.
fft.f1n f~.+ -, tu
toned in tho Bible, tho context shows that for
meuted wine, aud only fermonted Wiue. can be
monnt, thora iB not ono passage in which " wine"
must mean necessarily unfermentod wine. DR..
McO. says that Whenever the Diblo speaks Of
vino. Ia this moro than . nero subjective
whim, without tho teust objootiye basis.- whim
carried into the Ulb1o, but not drawn from, and
supported by tho Biblo7 Lot mo, however, otto
passage which decidedly approves formented
vino. After kings aud princos nre admonished
that 1t is not fitting for them to drink wino, Lost
they might forgot the Inv and might peryert tho
Judgment Of tue afflicted, tho Bible continues
,'aive atrong, drink (shcchar) to tho un-.
arc Of hoavy heart; lot such one drink, that
he may forget his poverty, and remon,ber hls
misery no more" (proy. xsxi.,. G. ~ What
kind Of wlno,. would ask, has tho quality to
Ia it tho fermontol or tho untormentod7 Even
it the admonition to kings and princes to abstain
from wiuo, taken by itself and out OF the COIL
text, tho right to uso vino must bo taken for
granted; but tho danger is roooguizsd incident
70 it's use. Yot no prohibition and no total
abstinence law is to bn mot with, only against
e1ceBses in using wine the people were cautioned
and repeatedly exported. 30 were thu people re-
paatedly cautioned against o1coEseB in eating,
aganat gntt9n ssoy resa9r Of tha nbe il
that money for whatsoever thy soul longoth
after . >. :. for vino (yayih), Or for strong
drink Notwithstanding drink, or for what
soever thy soul desires. =. Aud thou al!alt
rejoice, thou and thy household" (Deut. XIV,
q. The asaortion tint "tirosh was uniformly
spoken Of az bleHaing, and shec1dr aY a CURSE"
ts also untenahe. I cannot conceive upon what
rotten orotchets Or. htcO. relied whel. ho uttered
these words from bis pulpit Hosea (iy:, \
take away tho heart. Is tl,'osh horo blossing7
As to shechaf, we haya already given two liz
stancos whore 1t IL not spoken of aa curse, but
whero the use Of it IL rather recommended. On
my former communication, 1nHtead Of Deut.
xiv, 20, tho typcs nlado mo say: Dout. xiv,
26.l Twill add one Instance more. In Isaall
xiv. the prophet pictures tho dosolatlon OF the
and, In doing go, he aays, amongst other things
wv. 7-o( that tho new wine (tirosh) mournotl',
the VINO languishea !. ), thoro is no noro
drinaing ot wing (yayin} amidst singing; bitter
III hLTOub utlAA &StiEGfN1 W kllDho tunt uflQK IT,
nnd 10 forth. Any unbiaaod reader will admit
that here hrosh and yayln and shechar are mon
toned as blessings, Of which the desolato land
and the punished pooplo WlIi be deprived BY
Gods Judgment.
anco. and against intemporancn, rs any QUO.
But differ in tho means would like to see eta-
ploycd for tho purpose OF bringing about tho
result wo all desire. AB for NC, could easily
miss all kinds Of fcrmontoa drinks and I por-
" r,3nl n thai, cf
Yet am of Tho opinion that the planters and
producers Of good and pure grape wine, and the
brewers Of good and unadulteratoQ hoer, and
tue Legislators and executive oiilcers who Beo to
It that 20 wine and beer are brought III tho mar
ket which are poisoned byvillainous concoctions,
do more for tho CAUSE Of truo temperance thar,
Thousands who, in pulpits and from tho stroot-
cornors, and in ao.ca]led religious papers, thun-
der against WING, etc. Paradox W It may sound,
the deI1na.s i'll this country aro tho most clfect
abominnble whisky yguz2ing is unlor Hocinl ban,
| as, III ganoral. all drnllkonneas. They, by thcr
beer, and wine, aud singing societies, and Turn.
nd yGGss II and s social aond o IN IN eSsraoy es ta %a
tho highest culture and the most rigorous othleH
can be combined with enjoyment Of llfo and III
life. But DR.. McO. thinks tint tho cup, oven OF
moderate drlnkor, transforms mon into beastA.
schiller. aud Bryant, aud Longfellow, or tho
other poets who drank vino md sang tho praise
Of vino, beasts? Or was the inepircl singer q
beast, who eald Psalm CIV, I'D that witlo glad
dcns ma1l's cart7 or the aatlor Of tho song Of
Solomon, WHO said ", y Drink, 70 frients,
drink abl,ndantly7 Or was Inthcrr boast.. WIG 9
Blid that lnan who liHllkoA wine III u fool Z
Yes lot us tght yaliautly tho evil foe Of intcn.-
peralsco le. lis come out strongly againat tho 10.
hnBing abuse Of Gods giftBl but lot uH employ
In this warfare the proper weapons. Do not
force foreign monAhll spirit into tho Holy
Scriptures, nor mo,k ktsh spirit upon tho people,
6. Tho roforonco to Dnnlol In not furtu.
nato. Daniel would not dolllo himself by uatiug
OF tho Kiug'H food, or BY drinking OF the Kings
vino; not because tue lattcr was formonted, but
only bocauso food aud drink cano from q
| 4oathens table.
Whilo Dr.; A1cO. thought llo oonld qloto tho Of,
ample Of p!oIa Daniel ln support Of total abatl'
e1amp'lo g.yon by tAho p,olta patrlarallH Alba,
ham, on the day hia son laaao was weanod, made
great feast (afshtey, drluklng: bout, from tEo
root shatah; ten. XXI. 81, lHaao made a
,,.ishtey to King Abimoleoh aud his friends, and
they dla cat anl ariuA (Oou. xxvl., 30),. Jaoo1