The Weekly Kansas chief. [volume] (Troy, Kan.) 1872-1918, 1881-04-14
Now. This is scandalous.

Here is rather an interesting paragraph for
the perusal of religious people:
The N. T. Church directs that mono but the pure,
unfrrmented juice Of the grape bu used in a.iminis
tsriny the Lords supper, Whenever practieable
If the Stewards will bave little Thought about the
matter, il he always practicable TO observe TINS
direction. II il 10 mpraeticabie, then use pure
water, which We have no douht wouia DE iar n"f
called wine. We cannot think il necessary to the
validity of the Lords supper tina yiilainous com
pound made out Of whisksy; e9cepiIs, siryehnne' m
logwood, opium. sugar Of lead, beilad"nna- etc.,
called vine should be Used
The foregoing is not from Bob Ingersoll, or an
Iniidel paper, or even an irreverent sheet like
the Chief, but it is frum the hsHsas Methodist,
the organ of that church in this State. Chris;
himself directed the drinking Of wine, as a rep
rerntation of his blood, and it has been done foi
centuries There cannot he the slightest doubt
that intoxicating wine the kind recommend
ed. II was the kind that Noah got drunk on,
and Lot drank when lie made a beast Of himself.
1t is the only kind Of wine that is referred to all
through the Scriptures. Christ referred to IT,
when he advised that old wine he not put into new
bottles, or new wine into old bottles. He meant
ferIuented wine, and that is the kind he directed
should represent his blood, in the sacrament.
The churches have always 50 regarded it-some
of them, we believe, even hold that the wine,
when 50 used, actually becomes the real blood OF
Christ. Yet here We find the organ of the larg'
est church in Kansas denouncing the blood OF
Christ as a vile compound, strychnine, bug5juice,
and all that sort Of thing.
But when fanaticism runs wild on any snb-
ject, il results in some good. The temperance
craze in Kansas has brought the virtual admis
sion from several of the churches that the sacra-
ment is a mere form, piece of mummery. 1t is
fun for unbelieyers; but how does it strike the
firm adherents of time -honored religious usages'
Here, a committee from the churches have re-
vised the Word Of God, and abolished He'll; and
now comes church organ, and denounces the
blood Of Christ as a villainous compound, stryeh
nine, tobacco-juice!
This reminds us, that a correspondent, last
week, advanced very gauzy argument to whiI
the devil around the stump, and prove thai
church wine -guzzling cannot be prohibited under
the temperance law. He says the church ad
ministers the sacrament, and the members ar,
tine church, it cannot he punished for giving
wine to itself. Can the law he cvailed by a lo
of people uniting themselves in church or !
corporation, indulging in forbidden liquor, and
setting up the claim that the association is moi
giving it to others, but is administering it Il
itselfi On the same principle, the drinking mel
might join a saloon, with whiskey as the prinei
pie article of faith, and claim immunity npor
the ground that the saloon only administer
ing liquor to itself! If the Legislature did moi
intend TO prohibit fermented wine at sacrament
why did it refuse to except it. the laws, whei
a hot fight was made for that very purposef
We insist, since the church people have put
this thing upon the statute books, that they b'
not the first ones to make it ridiculous, and in
vent excuses for violating it. They are not en
titled to privileges over other people. If they
want to ridicue and bring into contempt theil
own church forms and nsagcs, it is their Owl
business; hut let them obey the laws that they
ask others to obey.