Los Angeles herald., 1905-05-29
DR.. BOWERS HOLDS TO
HIS ENUNCIATED VIEWS
ANSWERS HIS CRITICS ON BIB
LlcAL USE OF "WlNE"
Declares That the Hebralo Terms
Mean the Unfermented Fruit Of the
Vlne-Wine Made From Water Is
Approved-Offers More Proof

W lily dIlltlb vi fNlDit WlIltS DubliSiiGu
in The Herald of May Is. My argu-
ments on the generic character of yayin,
oinos, and other words, stand unim-
peached and unimpeachable, for they
are founded upon the word of God.
This also applies with equal force to
the meaning of tirosh. which occurs
thirty-eight times In the old testament
and means unfermented wine, as /
clearly showed. Yet in the face of
overwhelming proof, which l produced
from the scriptures, that it covered
every kind of wine. he adheres to his
former statement that yayin always
means fermented Intoxicating wine.
We demonstrated as clearly as the most
lucid mathematical problem that yayin
is generic term, and we leave the in
telligent reader to judge between de-
monstrated fact and mere assertion.
This rejoinder makes me say that
Christ committed a crime by turning
water into wine. I said nothing of
the kind, for we have no objection to
wine that is made out of water, What
we object to is the charge that Christ
made intoxicating wine, or in any man
ner sanctioned the use of alcoholic
drinks, which have proved the greatest
curse that has befallen mankind since
the expulsion of the Adamic pair from
the garden of Eden. Yes, l accept the
syllogism that Jesus was too good to
make intoxicating wine. At the sacred
feast he drank the fruit of the vine, "
not the alcohol that is produced by
the dead and decayed grape.
Water Turned to Wine
The statement that it was not more
"abhorrent" for Jesus to turn water
into fermented wine than for God the
Father to have produced the grape
from which it was made, and that in
toxicating wine is one of Gods bless
ings," and that we are commanded to
use his good creatures" etc. Carry
such reasoning as this to its last
analysis and where will it lead to? The
alcohol obtained from the decayed
grape is no more Gods good creature"
than the juice of the poppy, when
manufactured into deadly drug, or
the alkaloid morphine, is his good
creature" All are poisons and lead to
fatal results in thousands of cases.
1t is asked: Where has Jesus for
bade the use of fermented wine?" 1
might with equal propriety ask where
has He forbade the use of opium or
morphine, both vegetable alkaloids,
made from his good creatures"-the
poppy. Jesus has in substance forbid
Gen the use of alcoholic drinks in scores
of places in his word. In I. Thes. 5:22,
through his apostle, he says: "Ab-
stain from all appearance of evil" The
history of our race from the time of the
deluge clearly shows that the use of
Intoxicating wine is an evil, that it has
broken untold multitudes of loving
hearts, wrecked thousands of homes,
debauched millions of lives and has
slain millions of human beings.
Fermented Wine "Urged"
Perhaps they can "cite verse after
verse where the use of fermented wine
is urged" I suggest that we kindly be
furnished them, and if the editor of
The Herald will grant the space each
shall be considered, after which I will
"cite verse after verse" when the use
of wine is forbidden. If our kind Heav-
emily Father has urged" his children,
yea commanded" them, to use intoXi-
eating beverages the world should no
longer remain in ignorance of the fact.
To disobey Gods commands is sin, and
if the Interpretation is correct many
Of us who have counted ourselves his
children are yet in our sins when we
refuse to drink Intoxicating wine at
the eucharist and elsewhere.
There is certainly misfortune in the
naming of this list of supporters, es-
pecially Bishop Potter and DR.. Rains
ford. Bishop Potter who quarreled
with the custom officers at the port of
New York for refusing to admit free
of duty a barrel of Scotch whisky, on
the plea that it was for his own use,
and has since dedicated a drinking
saloon in that city, where men and
women go down and drink and die, is
not esteemed the best authority on
Bible wines. This is equally true of
DR.. Rainsford, who believes the saloon
is the poor mans club"
DIR. Rainsford, who is quoted approv-
ingly, says he believes in great and
crowded city Oike New York; drinking
is a necessary evil" Where in Gods
holy word are we taught that a man
indulging in an unbridled appetite
is doing a necessary" thing? If
drinking is a necessary evil so is any
other crime. CLOSING saloons will
simply drive drinking to cover" That
is the old and fallacious plea Of the
drinker who tries to find an excuse for
indulging his appetite, Closing the
saloons in Los Angeles or in any other
city may not save all the present crop
of drunkards from destruction, but it
will remove the temptation from weak
men and women, and from the rising
generation, and greatly lessen the crop
In the future.