The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1910-07-02
ION TIE PEOPLE

wine to make a man drunk would rep
resent a haif-mouth : wages. The |
liquor interests OF Christ 5 dav were /
wholly uHorganized. They had not vet |
learned to corrupt municipalities ana |
buy legislatures. They had no political |
Influences
These things must be remembered
when we wonder why the Bible does
not say more about the drink evil. 1t
certainly says enough to convince every
open-minded man. that it is an unmiti-
gated source of trouble.
The Bible recognizes that there were
two kinds of wine-one harmful and
one harmIess-one fermentcd. the other
unfermented The former is referred
to when the wise man SAYS: AT last
1t bIteth like serpent and stjngeth
like an adder -; and ''Woe unto him
who giveth his neighbor drink. =
W hen Christ performed the first mira
Gle IN Cana, He changed the water into
untermented wine. And what is more
refreshing than the pure fresh Juice of
the grape, God never intended man to
leave His delicious fruits to sour and
to terment IN order to kill men and not
save them. 1t is the unfermented wine
the fsalmIst refers to when he speaks
OF the wine that maketh glad the
heart of man
If any man wants to take the time to
study the Bible and its teachings on
this question, he viii find sad story
He viii first note the picture of drunk
en- Noah exposing his nakedness to his
sons.
In Genesis 10 we read of Lots
daughters making their father drink
wine and thus melting him to incest.
Jacob was able to deceive Isaac. not
because he was old and blind, but be
! cause he first brought him fermented
| wine, which the old man drunk and
thus his judgment was clouded. He
would have known his sons voice if he
| did not recognize his person, had he
not been drunk. God S first command
| TO abstain from strong drink was Civ
en- 10 Aaron and his sons, the priests
The first temperance pledge was the
Nazarite 5, taken by Samson: "He
shall separate himself from wine and
strong drink
Nabal (meaning " Fool'') was drunk
| " htH Ht neatly ItSt Ms ilIt titAou2 II
his churIish treatment of David 5 men,
and was saved only by the interce~sion
of his wife, Abigail
Before David committed his great
crime. he made Uriah drunk. Absa-
| lom 5 command to his followers was:
when Ammon ; heart is merry with
wine. then kill him - Ahasuerns drank
himself drunk before he deposed his no
ole wife Nasht. Hannah was wise
enough to make the King drunk before
he proposed his wicked plot to destroy
all the Jews.
The New Testament is Just a strong
in its teaching on this vital subject.
But the New Testament is a book of
principles-not minute rules. There
fore it SAYS: aye who are strong ought
to bear the burdens of the weak
When Paul wrote to hi, young friend
Timothy: "Take little vine for thy
stomach 5 sake he was addressing a
/ lifelong total abstainer and he was
prescribing a tonic. If Timothy had
been a drinking man, no amount OF
wine as tonic could have done them
fanny good. Paul advice in this case
was by no means general. He was ad
dressing an individual.
The Apostle Paul's whole attitude on
this vital subject was this: off meat
make my brother 10 offend, J. e., tC
stumble. / Will eat no flesh while the
world standeth.''
In the light of what the Bible really
teaches on the subject Of liquor drink
ing, it is impossible for any Christian
to pay further heed to the cheap argu
ments Of the drink advocates.
The Christians of this Territory have
the plebiscite IN their own hands. II
they stand together they viii carry the
election, by a large majority If they
refuse to unite. they will have only
themselves to blame. Remember that
THE SALOON WOULD ABOLISE
THE CHURCH IF IT COULD.
THE CHURCH COULD ABOLISI
THE SALOON IF IT WOULD.
E. B. TURNER.