The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1899-06-01
An Answersto Subscriber
+ and YReader." ~ &

& In recent Issue of the JOURNAL a
correspondent signipg himself or her.
self Subscriber" .propounds to me sew
eral Questions relative to the wine con-
troversy, which I herewith answer
"Subscriber' asks, "What are we to un-
defstahd from the drift of this discus
sion e far IS it argued that Christ
p[ecep1, 81 example, taught the use
jnEpx ientiflS vines as beverage ?
W. II einade sixty gallons of in
tof|cating wines Tor one wedding feast,
SwasHenot encouraging, yea promoting,
drunkenness Never before nor
ssince was winel made like this. 1t was
ret, distill&d from grapes, and SO you
scsEnot corhpareit with our modern
argue that like causes
produce like effects. There is no evil
denceA that any one at this feast be-
came Intoxicated. *** The Gov
ernor of this feast did not become in
toxicated or he would not have known
whether the new [sicl wine was good
or bad. Isit argued that the miracle
OF Cana is authority fore the general
use OF intoxicating wines And for
I that reason they are to be commend
ed 2"
Replying seriatim, I assert that
Christ taught both by precept and ex-
ample that wine with the alcoholic
. principle, may be rightfully and prop
erly imbibed if not carried to the point
of excess. I make this assertion on the
authority of Paul and the other apos-
ties who spoke from personal knowl-
edge of our Lord or from inspiration by
God as well as from actssand declara-
tions of the Savior Himself. But "Sub-
scrlber" can be best answered in the
words of DR.. Clarke, the great COM
mentator. He says, Commentaries
vol. 5 page 537,) "A question has been
asked, Did our Lord turn all the water
into wine which the six measures con-
tanned p To which l answer: There
is no proof that he did ; and l take il
for granted that he did not. 1t may
he asked, How could part be turned
/. into wine, and not the whole p re
(which l answer: The water, in all
likelihood, was changed into wine as il
was drawn out, and not otherwise
But did not our Lord by this miracle
minister to vice, by producing an ex-
cess of inebriating liquor p No; fol
the following reasons: |. The company
was select and holy company, where
no excess could be permitted. And, 2
Our Lord does not appear to have fur
nished an extra quantity, but only
what was necessary But it is init
mated in the text that the guests were
nearly intoxicated before this miracu
lous addition to their wine took place
for the evangelist says when the,
have become intoxicated. | answer
l. 1t is not intimated even in the mos
indirect manner that these.guests wer,
at all intoxicated. 2. The words ar,
not spoken of the persons at that wed
ding at all the governor of the feas
only states that such was the common
custom at feasts of this nature; with
out intimating that any such custom
prevailed there" When it is remem
bered that in ancient times wedding
were periods of great rejoicings, o
long duration, and, if the parties wer
wealthy and of high position, were at
tended by great concourses~ of peopl
numbering perhaps hundreds, sixt
gallons was an exceedingly REASONABLE
amount to be drank without bad effects
byAsuch an assembly. Many ancien
!. lletions ate from five to eight meals
day and drank in proportion, withou
harm 20 themselves, something tina
would be'impossible with the physica
degenerates of the present time. The
were the highest types of bodily vigol
and quart of wine to one of then
would have been no more than gil
to one of, us.
AS | stated in my first article
Christ, in Luke $3.50, defines ''goo
wine" such as was spoken of by tn
governor of the feast at Cana. as "ol
Wine" Old wine, in non-airtight yes
sells such as the ancients used, must {
necessity have been fermented wine
and the governor of the feast, afte
tasting it and recognizing the alcohol
flavor, pronounced it good"
The Bible enjoins temperance in a
things, but does not command tots
abstinence except in comparativel
few things. 1t is the abuse of man
things and not their use that render
them sinful. Drunkenness in thoS
days prevailed the same as it does now
yet we hear no words from Christ cor
demning the imbibing of this liquor u
a beverage on the contrary we fin
Him furnishing it to Others as He di
at Cana, and drinking it probably Him
self. There can be no temperance i
drinking if total abstinence in regar
to it, is practiced. One of the most ad
miral things about Christ, considers
as man. was His symmetrical char
acter. He laid down general rule
and left it to the common sense c
mankind to decide what things are o
or are not right. Yet there are pee
pie to day who insist that the use c
obacco is deadly sin, that coffee, te
and coca-cola are instruments of tn
devil to lead men to worse habits, an,