Democratic messenger., 1888-03-03
Wine or Water in the Com
munion.
Mfssrs. Eiiifnrs =

MessTs EuUOIS -.
In order To inform those who do not
know the position Of the =. +. Church,
upon the use Of 1crmented wine, In the
Holy Communion. !, with all due respect
for the cause Of temperance desire you 10
publish the following articles; the first
of which cmb0dies the views of the late
Bishop Stephens. Of Pennsylvania. upon
the subject. and the second is clipped
from The Churchman Of the lith., ult.
The substitution Of water or untsrmeased
wine for Jermented wine, isa comparative
ly new idea, probably the result OF tenn
pcrancc enthusiasm. but in my humble
opinion the +. + Church holds the proper
ground, based upon the teachings Of
Christ and his immediate followers.
"Our Blessed Lord used the or,linaiy y
wine of the country, even as lie used the
ordinary bread Of the country at the in.
s,ituiion OF the Lords Supper. In Ills
Divine omniscience lie looked through all
the future, and saw every possible conse-
quence Of such an art. Yet lie deliber-
ately chose the blood Of the grape. when
lie would symbolic the Blood of the
Cross. and. in Ills infinite wisdom which
can do no wrong. ordained that il should
be used in all places and ages, and among
all conditions Of men as the one Divine
way Of celebrating the Lords Supper
ITO hesitate at taking small sip Ot
wine from the chalice. because IL Is used
by Others for Intoxicating purposes. is TO
reflect on our Blessed Lords wisdom and
l l.,,... .uI af.
feet 10 be purer and hOlier team lie.
'The Lord Jesus-if you take the wine
in Ills strength and that His com
qucnccs To yourself and others whereas.
dis0bedience 10 His command dishonors
| Him. insults Him.. sets up your judgment
against Ills. and will put your own self
will above the positive command, drink
ye all Of this.
.M,thaiisis. Unitarions and Romanists ; "
\ congregation oi unitarians has taken
the decided step of substituting water for
wine IN their celebration of the Lords
Supper. \ Methodist Conference has
tried To do the same thing. and only failed
by couple Of votes OF doing the same
thing. but did vote to petition the General
Conference to take the matter up and
determine il by general regulation. The
reason of this Is, of course, they wish to
maintain temperance principles. But II
is difficult To see how plain direction Of
oui Lord can be set aside.
We can understand that the notion Of
temperance consistency should weigh
heavily with those who believe that the
Use of wine under any circumstances is n
sin. per- @. lIu, an the contrary the rcvcr'
cnt Use of IL ~ Christ commanded l. the
suresi safeguard against abuse.
There is precedent for this proceeding
an the part ofihc Mcthodisl's and Cnitar.
ians. hut we fancy that neither of these
bodies will care To lay great stress upon
II. The Romisl Church has denied the
cup To the lai,y, hut on the ground of the
danger of prolnnaliun. AMI has taken the
ground that the sacrament is administer
c,l entire under either species. But. even
Rome has never yenturcd TO say that the
sacrament is rightly consccnicl without,
the Use Of the cup. We have no hcsi,a'
lion In saying that the total abstinence
from Intoxicating drinks would he in no
wise promoted by the change in the Holy
Communion Of water for wine. In fact
the stronger the sense of the sacramcnial
purpose Of wine aud its association with
the thought of the Eucharist, the less will
he the danger Of sensual and immoder.
ate use of IL. 4 CmURCuNAN.