CHRISTIANITY AND THE PROHIBITION SCHISM.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1289, 12 November 1896, Page 35

CHRISTIANITY AND THE PROHIBITION SCHISM.

TO THE EDITOR. Sib, —In the first chapter of G-enesis, twenty-ninth verse, we find, " And God said, behold I have given you every herbbearing- seed which is upon the face of all the earth, and.' every tree in which is the fruit of a tree-yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat, and it was so." And in | the 30th verse of the same chapter it says, " And God saw everything that He had made, and behold it was very good." And after the flood, in the 9th chapter, 9fch verse, " God said, beheld I establish My covenant with you, and with your seed after you." And in the 20th verse it is written, "And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard, and he drank wine and was drunken, and was not reproved for it." Yet in the 6th chapter and the 9th verse it says, " Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations ; and Noah walked with God." Now, it is obvious from these excerpts that the grape tree was one of the trees €rod blessed, and said was very good ; and ( He must have known that the juice of the grape would make Noah drunk, and I do not see that God warned Noah against it, though he walked aid talked with Him. Yet in our day has arisen a people who, without any authority, would subvert the wisdom of the Creator and teach all men and women to do so, and would curse what God has created and blessed and called - (rood. Noah, the just man, that vm t y ' ' God, planted that tree of the walk-ecTwnji* - coincidence that vine, and it k ft ou*~- "—H had been this should happen AUQt J* ~'' v e surrounded in the ark with tlie desfcriY*waters for many days. At least it mowk us one thing, that that good man preferred goodjwine to bad water,- and so do I. Now, let us turn to the New Testament and there see whether the Son of God confirmed His Father's words and works. In the second chapter of John, the most , beloved disciple of Jesus Christ, it is set forth in the plainest language-.—" And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Je3us was there, and both Jesus and His disciples were called to the marriage. And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto Him, 'They have no wine 5 ; and Jesus saith unto her, ' Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come.' His mother saith unto the servants, ' Whatsoever He saithjunto you, do it/ And there were set there six waterpots of stone, containing two firkins or three firkins each. Jesus saith unto them, f Fill the waterpots with water,' and they filled them up to the brim; and He saith unto them, ' Draw out now and bear unto the governor of the feast/ and they bare it. When the governor of the feast tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was (but the servants knew) ; the governor of the feast called the bridegroom, and saith unto him, ' Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine, and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse ; but thou hast kept the good wine unto now. This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth His glory, and His disciples believed in Him." Now, these two stories, which all who believe in God and Jesus Christ accept and which have never been gainsaid, are peculiar in many ways. First, because Noah was a preacher of righteousness and walked with God, and the record of his first work is that he planted the vine and drank too much of the juice of the grape, and was not punished for doing it, nor even reproved. The second and more important question is that the Son of God in His first miracle turned water into wine, and it is recorded by His beloved disciple John to manifest the glory of God in His Son. In the 14th chapter of Mark it is written in the 23rd verse." And He took the cup and when He had given thanks He gave it to them (His disciples), and they all drank of it, and He said unto them, ' This ' is My blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many. Verily I say unto you I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine until that day that I drink it new in My Father's Kingdom." If wine was made out of water by Christ himself, and if it is to be drunk in Heaven in His Father's Kingdom, I cannot see any reason why it may not be drunk by all Christians on earth in moderation. If a man drinks more than is good fur him it is not the fault of the wine, but the greediness of the man. If a glutton eats more than is good for him, it is his greediness too. lb is the same in all good thing;;. They may be turned to an evil purpose. There is more mischief done by over-feed-ing than by over-drinking, and with far greater fatality. Let us compare the experience of Christ's teaching and Mahomet's, and mark the effect of the comparison. England, whom the Prohibitionists condemn as a drunken nation, proteoses to be Christian, and is the greatest and most enlightened nation on earth. And why? Because God has blessed it. Turkey, which is Mahommedan, is the wickedest and the most tyrannous nation on tho face of the globe. Women have no place and no souls with them, and their race is nearly run. And why ? Because \ God hates wickedness and tyranny. —1 am, John Pliitiier. to the editor. Sir, —The recent deliverence of General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Otago indicates a remarkable change of front on the part of that august and reverend body in its advocacy of Prohibition. The reverend gentlemen now propose to advocate their pet fad on the ground of " Christian expediency." It has at last occurred to the minds of these worthies that Prohibition cannot be defended on Scriptural grounds. The general public knew this long ago, and the

thinking part of the community wondered greatly how clergymen, with the open Bible before them, could deal out anathemas against all who indulged in the moderate use of wine and strong drink. For, sir, there can be no possible doubt that their use is mentioned both by the Old and New Testaments. They are sanctioned by the practice of the patriarchs and prophets under the old dispensations, and by Christ and His apostles in the new. Further, their use has received the unqualified sanction of the Christian Church from the days of the Messiah until now. Strange, indeed, that these gentlemen, whose business it is to study Holy Scripture and make themselves acquainted with Church history, should for so long a time have overlooked these important facts, facts which, as against the pretensions of Prohibition, stand out "Bright as the sun, clear as the moon, and terrible as an army with banners."—l am, &c, LIBERTAS. TO THE EDITOR. Sir, —Your correspondent G. Hirsch, in his letter to you re Prohibition, touches on one point of very great importance, viz., the development of individual charactei\ The late Bishop of Peterborough said, "Better England free than England sober." There is great truth in that. By the disposition of a wiser and greater Power than ourselves we are born and live in a world of temptation and struggle. This state of temptation and struggle seems to be nece?sary to the development of individual character. In this country every man is free and deserving of equal consideration. The State is bound to give every man equal consideration, and therefore has only right to interfere with the individual for the general good, so far as equal considera- .. is dealt out to every man. tion Prohibition, by three-fifths or Therefore, -- '*-*. is utterly wrong any other iimJoT*,.,,. -•'•tic society, as aftd subversive o£ a flfffliottu. individual it destroys tho freedom of fch# - "- ho in that which is his right aitd does no harm to hid felloW-rrtah.• &&&> this development of individual character is of very great importance to the carrymgon of the work of the State and of all business whatever; and tho logical result of the Prohibition system would be an emasculated people, weak in character and resources, and the prey to any " stronger man " who should come " to take the house.' The Temperance Party is doing the right thing so long as it trains the children in Bands of Hope and otherwise, but deserves only the stoutest opposition from all men who love their country and freedom to its political efforts after Prohibition. For 28 years I was among the teetotallers, and still wish them well, but I am convinced that freedom and temptation is not only far better than Prohibition, but absolutely necessary for a people which would survive.—l am, &c, Jas. Nicholas. Nireaha.