The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1899-05-11
A REPLY TO "READER."

which Mr.. Patton's sermon on the ma
! ture of the wine made by Christ, of
water, at Cana of Galilee, is criticised.
Having long been of the opinion that
the so-called 1.-TWO wine" theory Of the
Scriptures is untenable, took the lib
erty, without Mr.. Patton's knowledge
| or. consent, of making a synopsis Of
this discourse for publication, in order
to show the attitudes of the Presbyte-
rian church on the question OF the kind
of wine which should be- used, for sac
ramental purposes, as this body has
been falsely represented as using the
unfermented article. Mr.. Patton de-
clines to answer the piece Of Reader"
and as was the cause OF drawing it
forth, shall attempt to do so.
Reader" asserts that "The most
leminent Hebrew and Greek scholars
smile Mt the idea that Christ made
alcoholic wine at the wedding feast. ;"
Indeed All the eminent critics" that
have examined, Dr. Kitto and Others
equally well known, being OF the num-
Der, are of the opinion that the wine of
the wedding feast was Intoxicating in
its nature, and just such one as not
only critics but ordinary people as well,
instead of smiling at the idea" of,
| would delight in smiling" in, its
sparkling depths. l have nothing to
say concerning the kind of wine made
by expressing the juice of the grape in
Pharoah's cup. That daughty old
monarch believe to have been Judge
of what was good and if he drank plain
grape juice at any time, it was as we
drink water-a liquid without exhila-
rating effects and which serves only to
quench thirst. Grapes do not grow all
the year round in Egypt. l have seen
the book from which the substance of
Readers" argument is taken, and it
reminds me of character, Mr..
Worldly -wise-Man,"' / believe, in the
Pilgrims Progress, who alleges, of
theorist that "when he takes 'asfancy
by the end he is wiser in his own con-
ceit than two who can give reason"
To sustain theory, the author. has
has perverted and misstated the facts
Of the Scriptures. esasn
..'Reader" further says that g Yayifr
which is the Hewbrew equivalent of
"oinos" the Greek word denoting the
kind of wine made by Christ at Cana,
lis generic word and stands for wine
in general. The one hundred and forty
times where this Word occurs shows
that it is used with favor and disfavor
and not intended to denote the nature
of the commodity" The following
definition of "yayon" is given in
Gesenius' Hebrew lexicon, which is a
standard text book on the subject:
wine, so called from its fermenting,
wine for drunkenness, intoxication. 7"
Hence the word is not generic, but
specific as to the quality of the wine
represented by it; and if intoxication
is sense in which it is used with dis
favor, the word must be confined to
that meaning In Liddell and Scott's
Greek laxicon, standard work,
"oinos" is defined as 1.-THE fermented
juice of apples" etc, and other fruits.
The following are some of the cases
in which "oinos" is employed: John
20 water made wine at Cana. In verse
no the governor Of the feast said, "Ev-
cry man at the beginning doth set forth
good wine [oinosl and when men have
well drunk [drunk deeply or to intoxi-
cation so that they would not know the
bad from the good then that which is
worse; but thou hast kept the good
wine foinosl until now" If "oinos"
here means new or unfermented wine
OF uniform quality why does the gov
ernor of the feast make distinction
in it, calling the last article the good
wine?" In Luke 5:39, Christ speaks Of
the good wine" as "old wine" DR..
Clarke in his Commentaries, vol. 5,
p. 527, assumes that the wine was alco-
holic. In non-airtight, leathern YES
sells such as the ancients used, of course
this meant that the liquid fermented
and became alcoholic; Ephesians 5:lS,
be not drunk with wine [oinosl wherein
is excess" | Tim. 5:23, Drink no
+, longer water, but use little wine
loniosl for thy stomach's sake and thine
Ioften infirmities." Paul here tells
TfInothy to use "a little wine" for il
he drank too much he would become
intoxicated. In the name of common
sense, l should like to know if the wine
of the New Testament was harmless. as
is claimed, like water and milk, why
should restrictions be placed upon its
use as was done in this case and in the
others which are to follow? l Tim. 8 %,
'Notgiven to wine" [oinosl; Titus / 4,
Not given TO wine" [oinosl Titus 2:3,
Not given to much wine" [oinos.l In
the face of all this and the express dec
laration of Eph. 5:1S, BE not drunk
with wine" [oinos Reader" asserts
that ''in not one of the passages is
'oinos' used in bad sense!
A certain minister lately in Marietta