TEMPERANCE COLUMN.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20006, 25 January 1927, Page 3

TEMPERANCE COLUMN.

[The matter under this heading is published at the request oi. and is supplied by, the United Temperance Uetorm Council in pursuance of the desire to inculcate tho principles of temperance.] THE BIBLE AND WINE. By B. S. Lyons. There is no more important aspect of the temperance question than this. If t lie Bible, the book of God, is with us wo line the strongest possible support; if the 1,0 against us (lien wo are indeed on tho wrong path. The liquor men often iivwit that tho Scriptures recommend wine of the alcoholic kind, and that our Lord ouf m-eatest exemplar, was not a total abstainer. Alas, many scholarly men who ,night to know better have written as if Hie contentions of “(he trade’ were corlCl'or example, tho following very misleadjn,r statement in Schaff’s “Religious Encvelopa’dia.” is frequently quoted and by to., many it is believed—“ Tho theory of (wo kinds of wine—tho one fermented intoxicating. and unlawful, tho other unfermented, unintoxicatiug, and lawful, is a modern hypothesis devised during the proson ti (mnrtoonth) orntury, and has no loiindation in the Bible or in classical antiqU|l|l''ihe author of the article from which (!ii- extract, is taken had relied more on the available evidence and less on his prejudge- he would have written very differently. . . Both in the Bible and in the classical writers wo can see tho clearest indications that there were the two kinds of wine. Lot us consider the evidence of a few well-known ancient authors, who as witnesses are of great worth. Tho Roman writer, Pliny the elder, who died a.d. 79, was practically a contemporary of Christ, and knew the customs of that time in the near East. Pliny, in ms work ‘ •Natural History,” book xiy, describes various kinds of wine as known and used at that period. He mentions “semper mustum,” and says: “It is only made by using great precaution and taking care that it does not ferment. He also says: “The first of the artificial wines is ended atlynnmon (without strength).” He then describes how this is made by prolonged boiling, and in some cases by also mixing the grapejuice with sea-water, both of which processes would prevent fermentation and ho adds: “This beverage is given to invalids to whom it is apprehended > that (alcoholic) wine may prove injurious.” _ There is reason to believe that something of this kind was what Paul meant when ho recommended Timothy (I. Tim. 25) to lake “oinos oligos,” translated in the English Bible “a little wine,” for his stomach’s sake. Scholars know that tho Greek word “oligos” may ho either an adjective of quantity, moaning “a little,” or an adjective of quality, meaning “light’ (sec Bros Souter's Lexicon). So then the words of Paul may really be “use light wine” (like Pliny's adynamon and several others then well known) “for thy stomach s When we consider Paul’s advice in other places this seems to be the sense, unless the great apostle is to be charged with gross inconsistency. For example, he says, when we translate according to the strictly etymological meaning of the words {see Liddell and Scott’s Lexicon, or any other good authority) in I. Thes. v. 8, “Let ( us since we are of the day, drink no, wine,’’ — namely, no alcoholic wine. , Significant injunctions are given in I. Tim. chapter iii. A bishop must be “without, rep/oach, sober,” literally drinking no wine (Liddell and Scott). In the following verse, “not given to wine,” literally, “not near wine” (mee paroinon). As Timothy was one of the overseers or bishops of the Church, either Paul’s. advice to him refers to a different kind of wine, or the apostle contradicts himself. _ Yet we know too much of Paul to believe this, even though the liquor men ask us to interpret I. Tim. v. 23 in their way. One is often reminded of the negro preacher who said, “I reckon I put my own narrow notions into the Bible, and then proceed to think that they are inspired. To return to the matter of classical antiquity, we may mention that Columella, a Roman writer of the first century, refers to several modes of preserving the juice of tho grape in its unfermented state. He describes the method of treating it, and says: “This wine will be sweet, firm, or durable, and healthful to the body. It will remain sweet for a year.” Mr W. G. Brown, the traveller, writing in 1792. said: “The wines of Syria are most of them prepared by boiling after they are expressed from the grape.” He adds: “There is reason to believe that this mode of boiling was a general practice among the ancients.” E. W. G. Mastorman, M.D.. of Jerusalem, confirms this from close and comprehensive knowledge of Eastern customs, and says: “Of the vast quantities of grapes produced in ancient times, a large proportion was without doubt convened into ‘dibs” (anon-alcoholic preparation). “This,” he adds, “is still made in considerable quantities in Syria” (Hastings* One Vol. Diet. P. 959, pub. 1909). The Rev. Dr Jacobus said in 1870: “The present wines of Jerusalem and Lebanon as wo tasted them were commonly boiled and sweet, without intoxicating qualities. The bpiling prevents the fermentation. Those were esteemed tho best wines which were least strong.” All those witnesses cannot possibly bo wrong. Horace fB.C. 65-81 the famous Roman author, corroborates when he says; “There was no sweeter wine than Lesbian. It was harmless and would not produce intoxication.” The testimony of classical antiquity and of Eastern usage in later times supports the contention of tho temperance people as against the prejudiced contentions of men like the author of the Schaff Cyclopaedia article and certain writers in later Bible dictionaries, who evidently write cither without full knowledge of the subject or with a culpable lack of candour. Coming to the language of the Bible itself, a very significant fact is that 11 different Hebrew words and two Greek words are rendered “wine” in the Authorised Version. This has been a fruitful source of confusion in the minds of many, and the American Revised Version does a little to bring out the distinctions of - moaning in the original, though even that excellent edition does not go very far. For our purpose at present it will be sufficient to glance at tho meanings of three of the Old Testament words. “Yayin” is found 134- times in the Hebrew Bible. It is the generic word and includes all kinds of wine just as the word “fruit” includes figs, grapes, olives, apples, and all the others. “Yayin” is sometimes approved (Ps. civ. 15), and very frequently condemned (Prov. xx, 1). Wo need always to read the context to find out whether it is good or bad, alcoholic or nonalcoholic wine which is contemplated. The Hebrew word “chcnier” for wine occurs about nine times (c.g., Dan. v, 1, where it takes the Chaldee form “Chanter ’). It comes from a root signifying “to bo agitated,” “to bo red,” hence we may believe it to moan fermented wine. It may often have been mixed with some drug. Special attention should be paid to the word “tirosh,” “new wine,” “wine.” In Isa. Ixv., 8, it is distinctly applied to juice still in the cluster. But properly it is a liquor (Isa. Ixii). This is the unintoxicating juice of the grape, and in Scripture is is never said to intoxicate. It is, when mentioned along with harmless products, as corn, oil, etc., always spoken of as a blessing (e. g.. Gen. xxv, 28). and its use is never condemned. Inllosca iv, 11, it is said: “Whoredom and wine (yayin) and now wine (tirosh) take awav the heart.” A careful rending of (he whole prophecy, however, will show that this is a condemnation of impure heathen worship. Even the most harmless liquid in combination with whoredom and alcoholic excess, and as a part of idolatrous living, will steal awav tho heart from God, who is to bo the supreme object of affection (Dent, vi, 5) and of worship (Ex. x.:, 4). Professor A. It. S. Kennedy, in an article which liquor men sometimes quote (Encyclopaedia Btblica), and which is certainly not altogether on the side, of the temperance interpretation, is compelled to say: “Wo ought to regard tirosh as primarily the freshly expressed and still unformentod grape juice.’ The point to hear in mind is that this is not forbidden, or its general use condemned in Scriotnre.