The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1906-06-28
SENSE OF SCRIPTURE
ON INTOXICATING DRINK

because they appeal to reason and COM
mon sense and accord with the teaching
of modern science regarding the effect
. of alcohol.
| 1t is not for kings O Lemuel, it is
not for kings to drink wine nor for
princes strong drink: Lest they drink
and forget the law and pervert the
judgment of any of the afflicted" But,
Mr.. Editor. Anti-Fanattc says the ex-
ample OF Christ and of Paul, His great
follower and apostle, settles the matter
the other way. Is this true? Can this
intOlerable tangIe be unraveled? Has
it not been unraveled, unraVeled by
the untiring energy and masterfuI APP
plicatiOn of great Iinguists and biblical |
scholars? Let US see.
Did Christ make intoxicating wine?
Only if We are compelled to give answer |
in the affirmative, has the fact of His
making wine" any force as an argu- /
ment against His total abstinence pr:n- /
cipIes and practice. Are we SO COMPEL /
ed to answer? No. and again no. In /
the old and new Testaments there are
thirteen different words in the Hebrew ,
and Greek which in the authorized
versions are rendered by tie one gem
terms in the Old Testament and four
others in the new, nine in all which
refer to the juice of the grape or of .
other fruits in some form. with the
exception of one Hebrew and one Greek
word which designate a beverage that ,
has entered the acetic stage of fermen-
tatiOn, there is no term in the Old Tes-
lament or in the new which inVarfa bly, /
indicates a fermented liquor, while !
there are nine which signify an un-
fermented article, and six others, the
most important and by far the most
frequently used which leave US abso-
lutely free to decide, by reference to
the context or circumstances of the .
case. whether or not a fermented wine !
is intended" (Oinos-Field & Warren,
BpD
Max Muller says: 1T is chiefly by
taking so many words on trust that
we find ourselves entangled in so many
difficulties, so many contradictions, or,
to use a Kantian phrase, so many an
tinomies of thought 1t is chiefly.
if not entirely. language that has
thrown the apple of discord among US.
We call the same thing by different
names, and different things by the
same name and then wonder we
do not understand one another's
speech"
Twenty years ago nearly. I felt
urged to answer a violent and unfair
attack by much read and influential
journal published in California, on the
Prohibitionists, even as 1 now feel COM
PEELED to reply to Anti-Fanatic. l then
wrote: The Editor + does not in
rank himself superior to Christ
who wrought the miracles of the mar
riage feast, nor in wisdom consider
himself the peer of St. Paul, who was
the first to recognize that Christianity
and religious sentiment depended
largely upon the condition OF the Ston-
ach. The editor sees fit to introduce
the religious element into the question,
in the rather peculiar way of telling US
he is not the superior of Christ or the
peer of st. Paul! While admitting his
it must be remembered that.
whatever is believed regarding the
miracle of the marriage feast. the truth
remains unalterable. That truth may
be difficult to find. but by seeking at
sources nearest the fountain head. is it
not more likely to be realized than
when simply accepting ordinarily ex-
pressed views, too often adopted with
out proper investigation? If the editor
: believes that at Cana Christ turn
ed water into intoxicating wine. that
is his affair. I would rather understand
that the miracle resulted in a wine
considered the best, the very best. Such
as kings drank. Cand Pharaoh's cup,
vas in my hand. and I took the grapes
md pressed them into Pharaoh's cup,
md I gave the cup into Pharaoh's
landD and not such that which
Holy V'rtt says is not for kings Of
vine, whereof Chrysostom the golden 4
wrote, and of which Angus
inc (4th Century, said CTractus Evang.
Toannis) for He Jesus, on that mar d
iage day made wine of the water with q
which He ordered the six jars to be 81
illed. He who now makes it every p
ear in the vines Such wine as Cy- 81
,rian speaks of in Epistle VII ad mag
nm. where he refers 20 Christ's calling fl
wine squeezed out from punches of CT
,rapes. His blood such wine of which n
'liny wrote 'ut.Ilssimum vinum Omni- 81