Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1900-05-25
The Local Option Question.
INTERyIEws-MR RICHARDS REPLY Con-
sTDERED


sTDERED.
Mr.. EtittOr Some days ago | met dis
tinguished preacher who said 81 am very
much interested 10 the local option discus
sion, but there are some points that have not
been developed. The New Testament teaches
temperance 10 all things, Lut It cannot be
construed to direct Or advocate Urott1i-
ton"
"The Sou VI Nau anne eating sui durE-
ing and hey say, behold q ma1 g.ltcuoGs
aud q " 1ebigler. Nah. IL: Luke 1884. So
Christ, bimse'l drank wine. st. Paul ad-
Tise Timothy Drink no longer water but
Use little wine for thy stomach's sake and
zine often in6rmities' Tim. 5;23. The
good Samaritan poured oil and wine into the
wounds Of him who had fallen among thieves,
Luke 1884 Not given to much wine, /
Tim. 3:8. BE not drunk with wine ,oheretn
is e5cess Eph. 5:ls Whether therefore ye
eat or drink or whatever ye do, do all TO the
glory OF God, / Cor, 1881. Temperance is
a feature of our religion, but il was not con-
sidered OF such relative Importance as to be
embraced in the ten commandments and yet
some people who are continually break ing
ne or the other of these fundamental Chris
tan laws are frequently foremost 10 crusades
for prohibition. There are unansWerable ar
guments for total abstinence, based upon
personal well.being and the good OF society {;
bat 10 claim for it express Scripture COM
mandment weakens otherwise proper efo TT.
To misrepresent God will bring him no
honor. Not what some think ought to have
been written, but what actually wr tte1 is the
only safe guide for Christians. The symmetri-
cal Christian will consider all evil things in
their proper relation to Christian life and
whether il be falsehood, theft, SANDER, back
biting, or intemperance, will seek to lessen
the evils according TO their Importance; but
the reli gious freak will be found giving all OF
bis or her energies to the eradication OF sim
gle evil, regardless OF its relative Importance,
aud often of the methods employed in ac-
complshing the result sought, frequently
going to extremes which are manifestly un-
christian 10 doing SO There is nothing in
the Bible to show that the disciples or apos-
lies endeavored to supplement their efforts to
lake ~ W0T- e.
ot6 temporal .4Fs. o4aeh los s,ugle ies-
tprs 81 NE ,fi Vi sod Of saoh relatively
small IS tem sraaoa Nor 4id
,bs b. OIL iH,ry-tgs &c one hea-
efeS, ss e SO Such movements have
U.s. aA'1 ~ ,as,1 mirc7 silh politics, aud
Is IS H0rthy havs ts CO.
evd with ihe dseu lav ..ta,.. s5a sr
e. "a
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tts 80 ...r ...t...
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,f.et 80 c,,o,et ,'...'.'" ~, -,
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80 ,s,,'.,r,,s tstiI@or 80 .i-s,',,.s
~, .gi IN, Nss,.~s5 .'.,,,.,t
49, "a. r. go Il, ..,,, .,s
,t3a8, ..,rs, .9go,,
-,pa ,rs !, sa.ss-
nal ,hs Uides, scone of nersonol i;hartv in
iii ling. consistan, vi,h ,ba -iab,s end
1;hsr,iss az o,bers whils i, 10 aps If he
cIrist;so duties of ,hs iodiv,dnsI n so l;vs
and exercise bis lihartv az no, IN sbnse
himself or hurry his talents ,hrongb anv kind
~ ;otemnsrance When Chris, ssid irandar
nnto Caesar the ,bings which are Caesars
and nn,o (iod The ,hings Thai arc lod'si he |
,;o,nIy maan, IN imnrass Inc ,ac, ,ha, evarv
man had Two graa, obIiga,;on. mon him
me 10 bis STATE and the other 40 HE God
rrna chris,iani,v oakas ,hs hiq,has, ordar Of
The nearer the cemmaudmeuts
are YEN, ~ the indivianals who make mn so-
lei, ne isas necessity will exist far temno-
mi laws rrna universal Ch,;s,;onitv wonId
4, sref"s@ la,se, rsa~ca e moi entirely do
nsve viii the ~, az - ii laws
Bgt ta,nuof.' .eyer Chris
tiaaitv one of .f,, tes u. g...a = tenn
t,erans.
peonie cesera1. a,.,,i..s.. f......l annroys
~ sgy law ,se,,t, GOD e. nnrnose
~ t,sgrait,,,t ~ v,eisas ,gb, are with
the propa.ty ~ oths r.pAls OIL ,tssfs. Such
laws are therefore easily aalorse3 But The
is invariably the case with laws
which curtail the liberties OF the individual
in matters of conscience Such laws are en-
croachments by the State upon the exclu-
sive jurisdiction Of God, and cause rebellion
or open or secret violations Of them and
have never been upheld by public sentiment
As a result there are often fauatical aud
tyrannical efforts made TO enforce
such laws by few people which results
only in friction and bad blood without do
ing any permanent good. Many good peo-
pie often place themselves in a position by
such foolish course which makes 1t impossi-
BILE Tor them to reach by moral suasion the
very men who most need the benefit of the
precept and example of wise Christian lead.
ers. Church people too often forget Bible
teachings Judge not that We be not Judged
Let no man therefore, Judge YOU in meat or
in drink, Col. 2:l6. Il know aud am per-
suaded by the Lord Jesus that there is
= ;,..tH MA. -,