WINE AT THE LORD'S SUPPER.
THE editor of the St. Louis Advocate, in answer to a correspondent, concludes that fermented wine was used in the supper, and its use sanctioned by the Saviour. To this the San Francisco Christian Advocate thus wisely replies:— Our contemporary must know that several terms are used in the Hebrew indicating different kinds of beverages made from the grape—all are called wine in our English Bible. There were wines the effects of which were fearful, and woes were pronounced on those who indulged in their use. The apostle speaks of "the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils." Every Bible student must have observed that wine is never mentioned in the New Testament in connection with the communion of the Lord's Supper. Jesus and the apostles speak of the "cup" and the "fruit of the vine," but of wine never! The presumption is strong that there was a design in omitting to use the term wine, which is generic, including all kinds of beverages made from grapes. To employ the word would seem to sanction the use of the intoxicating fluid in the communion. Dr. McAnally is certainly not warranted in the statement that the wine in the cup of thanksgiving "was the ordinary wine of the country" and that the "Master sanctioned the use of such wine." We have before us a volume written by a Jewish Rabbi, Rev. E. M. Myers, and published in 1879 in New York, entitled, "The Jews, their customs and ceremonies, with a full account of their Religious Observances," etc., etc. From the 27th page of that book we quote:— "The wine used for sanctification and for all other religious purposes, and made from the raisin itself, was always and is now mostly of domestic manufacture. Of later years, since its manufacture in Germany and Australia the wines from those countries are frequently used, and the old style of boiling down the raisins is retained only from religious scruples, or motives of economy!" The same writer (page 29) says: "The day on which the Passover commences is called Asav-Pasach, the eve of the Passover, and at an early hour in the forenoon, the house must be cleared from all leaven. . . . During the entire feast, no leavened food nor fermented liquors are permitted to be used, in accordance with scriptural injunction. [Ex. 12:15, 19 20; Deut. 16:3 4.]" Other eminent Hebrew divines have given the same testimony. Then, if Rabbi Myers is to be accepted as a worthy witness, "the wine in the cup of thanksgiving" was made by "boiling down raisins" and doing this from "religious scruples!" The law which excluded leaven from the sanctuary, would also exclude fermented liquors. The blood is the life—fermentation is death and rottenness! The blood of the grape in its pure and living state may very appropriately symbolize the precious blood which was shed for the remission of sins.