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Show H MR. M'KAY ANSWERED. m All because the distinguished schol- fl r, Dr. Eliot, former president of Har- M aid college, chose to voico his Bentl- H nents before a meeting of the XJnl- H .arian Temperance society, declaring, H t Is wrong for any society to teach H mat drinking alcohol Is a aln. The M moderate use of alcohol Is not a sin, H according to the New Testament," H Apobtle D 0. McKay comes Into print H over his signature, attempting to prove H that nowhere In the Bible Is there H anything to justify the assertion of the H learned gentleman from Boston. He H proceeds to show with one or two iso- H laled, unexplained passages that the H Bible piohlbits the use of intoxicants. H Mr McKay Is unfair to begin with, H when he does not say that the statc- H ment above reforred to was not our H statement, but that of the dlstln- H guishcd scholar and thinker, Dr. Eliot, H to whom the credit should be given. H Let him argue tho question with the H author. We certainly agree with Dr. H Eliot, and put forth the statoment with H all sincerity and belief. It Mr. McKay H questions the veracity of the state- H ment, let him ask Dr. Eliot by wire of H its truthfulness. 1 If he desires to characterize Dr. M Eliot as a "saloon man" and "advo- M cate of saloon interests" in order to H win "Christian votes," that isr his H right and privilege. But because we H used the statement of Dr Eliot's, H which has never been disputed, we H are assailed. Mr. McKay is also un- H fair enough to characterize all men H who differ with the policy of prohibl- H tion as "saloon advocates," when as a M matter of fact, and he knows it as well M as we do, the saloon as an Institution is not and has not been defended in M these columns, but the sale of lntoxi- H cants under high licenso and H strictly regulation we prefer (know- B ing full well that prohibition does not H .prohibit) to the unlicensed, unrestrlct- H ed sale of intoxicants under conditions H that have been a disgrace to- every H community having tried the expert- H mient of prohibition. H Mr. McKay sas that "The Word of H tho Lord in all ages has been against H tho use of intoxicating liquor, and H --when a man attempts to teach other- H wise, he wilfully or ignorantly mis.con- M stmes the scriptures." This state- Hj ment, coming from such a source, is H the most surprising that has appeared H in tho "dry columns." Why the apos- H tie, supposedly a student of the scrip- H tures at least he ought to be, for he H is promulgating and construing them H dnv after day should lay himself ppon H to "such flagrant error is beyond ovir H comprehension He Lakes advantage H ' of our "ignorance" and our pagan in- H stincts, and feels sure that he is safe H in making statements with reference H to the Bible without fear of contradic- H tion. It is only because the prohlbl- H tlonlsts claim that they have a monop-' H oly on morals and garble, and mlsrep- H resent the Bible, that we are con- H strained to discuss the question at all. H We still believe, and we emphasize H that belief, that there is not in the H Bible one word in favqr of prohibition H or against the manufacture, sale and H uso of Intoxicating liquors. We shall H nttem.pt to prove it. H If prohibition meant temperance it H would have our hearty approval, but H when It assumes the garb of temper- H ance to catch the unwary, wh'lo its Hj purpose Is just the opposite to tem- H i perance, It must merit our strongest H .opposition When the "prohibition" leaders claim the Bible lb sanctioning M their movement, and the churches as H their allies, they arc in our Judgment H guilty of a great wrong. If, on the M contrary, they would teach tempor- H anco as It is taught in the Bible that M is, self-control and moderation and H always a virtue which must come from M within and cannot be exercised with- M out free acency they could with per- H feet propriety claim that they were H acting on the principles laid dov,n in H the Bible. We have not, or will we at H anv time, justify abuse In tho use of H alcoholic beverages. Now, Mr. McKay. H we shall proceed to enlighten 3011 with M not one. but five hundred instances, if we had the space to show, that the M Bible encourages the use and manufac M ture of alcoholic beverages, with par- ticular reference to tho Importance H of the Industry from a commeiclal H standpoint, if it may be so called j The passage you quote in support. H of prohibition was merely a command M to the priests for abstinence from tho M -uEr- of vine on a specific occasion, M There was the same specific command M against uncovering their heads or H rending their clothes lest they die. H You will no doubt admit the correct- H ness of the passages quoted below: H Genesis XIV, 18 "And Mclchlzedek', H king of Salem, lirought forth bread H and wine and he was the priest of the H most high God." H This was on the occasion when M Abraham succored his nephew, lot. H who had been made prisoner by Chc- M dorlaomor, king of El am H Genesis XXVI I, 25 "And ho said. M Bring it near me, and I will eat of my H son's venison, that ray soul may bless H thee. And he brought It near to him, Hj and he did eat: and ho brought him H ine and he drank." M Genecis XXVII, 28 "Therefore God H give thee of the dew of heaven, and H the fatness of the earth, and plenty of H corn and wine." 1 Genesis XXVII, 37 "And Isaac an- H swercd and said unto Esau, Behold I H have made him thy Lord, and all his H brethren have I given to him for ser- H vants: and with corn and wine have I H sustained him: and what shall I do H now unto theo, my son?" H This was the blessinc of Isaac on H his ton Jacob, showing that wine waB H looked upon as one of the great bless- H Genecis XLIX, 12 "His eyes shall l bc red with wine, and his teeth white H with milk." H This was Jacob's blessing on his son l Judah, Indicating that he should have l great profusion of wine H Exodus XXIX. 40 "And" "wJUi one H lamb a tenth deal of flour mingled l with the fourth part of.3ui-.hin of j bf-alrn oil; and the fourth part or an H r bin of wine for a drink offering." H An offering to God. H ' Levltlcua XXI 1 1, 13 "And the meat H 'offering thereof shalV be two-tenth deals of fine flour mingled with oil, an offering made by fire unto the Lord for a sweet savour; and the drink offering of-fering thereof shall bo of wine, the fourth part of an hln." This verso fully explains it&elf Numbers XV., 5 "And tho fourth part of an hin of wlno for a drink offering of-fering shalt thou prepare with tho burnt offering or sacrifice, for one Iamb." Numbers XV, 7 "And for a drink offering thou shalt offer tho third part of an hin of wine, for a sweet savour unto tho "Lord." Numbers XV, 10 "And thou shalt bring for a drink offeiing half an hln of wine, for an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord." Offerings to the Lord. At this point we refer you to: Numbers XVIII. 12. Numbers XXVIII, 7. Numbers XXVIII, 14. All offerings to God. Deuteronomy VII, 13 "And he will lovo thee and bless theo, and multiply thee: he will also bless the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy land, thy corn and thy wine, and thine oil, the increase of thy kino, and the Mocks of thy sheep, In the land which he swaro unto tin fathers to give theo." Deuteronomy XI, 14 "That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter lat-ter rain, that thou mayst gather In thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil." God's covenant with Israel contingent contin-gent on obedience to Him Deu-teronomy XVI, 13 "Thou shalt observe tho feast of tabernacles seven days, after that thou hast gathered In thy corn and thy wine." This refers to a speclnl feast expressive ex-pressive "of gratitude for rollef from Egyptian bondage and gratitude for God's blessIngB In the bestowal of corn and wine. Deuteronomy XXVIII, 39 "Thou shalt plant vineyards, and dress them, but shall neither drink of the wine, nor gather the grapes; for the worm shall eat them " This was one of the punishments the children of Israel should suffer should they fall to observe the commandments com-mandments and statutes of God. Deuteronomy XXVIII, 51 "And he shall eat the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruit of thv land, until thou be destroyed: which also shall not leavo thee either corn, wine, or oil, 07 the Increase of thy kine, or flocks of thy sheep, until he havo destroyed thee " ' Another prophecy of punishment for disobedience to God, showing how they would be treated by their enemies. en-emies. Deuteronomy XXIX 'Ye have not eaten bread, neither have ye drunk wine or strong drink that yo might, know that I am the Lord your God." This refers to the forty vears' sojourn so-journ of the children of Israel In the wilderness, where there was neither bread nor wine, and where they were miraculously sustained by manna and quail. Deuteronomy XXXII, 33 "Their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of asps." This refers to the time when the Israelites forsook God and sacrificed unto devils, wherefore God hid His face fiom them; said they should be burnt with hunger and devoured with burning heat and bitter destruction, therefore God said: "For their vino is of the vine of Sodom, and of tho fields of Gomorrah; their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter" bit-ter" hence was their "wine the poison poi-son of dragons and the cruel venom of asps." Deuteronomy XXXI I, 33 "Which did eat the fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine of their drink offerings? offer-ings? Let them rise up and help you and bo your protection." This refers to the false gods and is used to show tho folly of relying on them. Deuteronomy XXXIII, 28 "Israel then shall dwell In safety alone; the fountain of Jacob shall be upon a land of corn and wine; also his heavens shall drop down dew." A promise of blessing for obedience. Judges IX, 13 "And the vine said unto them, should I leave my wine, whiqh chcereth God and man, and go to bo promoted over the trees?" ,ThIs issued In a parabolic sonse and cpftalnly is no condemnation of wine. Judgcc XIX, 19 "Yet there is both, straw and provender for our asses; and there is bread and wine also tor me, apd for thy handmaid, and for the onng man which is with thy servants; ser-vants; there is no want for anything." A Lovlte, on a journej from Bethlehem Bethle-hem to Mt. Ephralm, went into Gibcah, a city of the tribe of Benjamin, to gpond the night. He received no invitation invi-tation to sojourn in any house until there came an old man from his work, who offered him the hospitality of his home, which was accepted with the statement contained In verse 19. A great tragedy took place In GIbeah that night The priest's wife was horribly hor-ribly mistreated, which resulted in a war between the tribe of Benjamin and tho eleven other tribes, the ultU I mate result o this war being about 65,000 men killed, Including almost the total annihilation of the men of the tribe of Benjamin The modern "prohibitionists" "pro-hibitionists" would doubtless like to claim that wine rather than the crime nainEt a woman was responsible for this loss of life. First Samuel I, 24 "And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with, three bullocks, and one ophah of flour, and a bottle of wine, and brought him unto tho houso of the Lord In Shiloh: and the child waa young." When Samuel, Hannah's child of pmmlso, was weaned, she took tho child and a bottlo of wine up to Shiloh to worship God thankfully and to dedicate dedi-cate her son to tho Lord. Second Samuel VI. 19 "And he dealt among all the people, oven among the whole multitude of Israel, as well to the women as men, to every one a cake of bread and a good pieco of flesh, and. a flaggn of wlno.. So all -the people departed- every -oriotcTTilB house," i J ri t David had brought the ark 'ofthe covenant from Kirjathjearim to the .tabernacle, at Jerusalem Burnt offer- 1 lags and peace offerings were made before the Lord, and David, having f. blessed tho people In the name of the Lord, distributed to them a grain. ty qa recorded in verso 19 " 1 Second Kings, XVIII, 32 "UntU I come and take 50U away to a land like your own land", a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, and a land of oil olive and of honey, that yo may live aud not die and hearken not untp Hezeklah, when He pcrsuaricth you saying, The Lord will deliver ub." An effort of Hab-shakeh, the servant of Sennacherib, to Induce the Jews to revole against tholr king, Hezeklah First Chronicles, IX, 29 "Some of them also wore appalnted to oversee the vessels and all the Instruments of the sanctuary, and tho fine flour and the wine and the oil, and tho frankincense, frankin-cense, and the spices" This verse is self-explanatory thn articles mentioned being for tabernacle taber-nacle service. First Chronicles XII, 40 "Moreover thoy were nigh them, even unto Issa-char Issa-char and Zebulun and Nathali, brought broad on asses, and on camels, and on mules, and on oxen, and meat, meal, cakes of figs and bunches of raisins, and wine, and oil, and oxen, and sheep abundantly, , for there was Joy In Israel " This was for a three-days' feast celebrating David's becoming king over all Israel. First Chronicles, XVI, 3 "And he dealt to every one of israel, both man and woman, to ever! one a loaf of bread, and a good piece of flesh, and a flagon of wine " An account of Day Id celebrating the restoration of the yrk of the covenant to tho Israviltes, Second Chronicles II, 10 "And behold, be-hold, I will give to thy servants, the hewers that cut timber, twenty thousand thou-sand measures of beaten wheat, and twenty thousand measures of barle3, and twenty thousand baths of wine and twenty thousand baths of oil " Second Chronicles, II, 15 "Now therefore the wheat, and the barley, the oil and the wine which my Lord hath spoken of, let him sond unto his servants." In preparing for the building of the great temple at Jerusalem, known ns Solomon's temple, Solomon sent to HI ram, "king of Tyre, an embassage to arrange for much material to be used in the building of tho temple, and also skilled workmen for this service Second Chronicles, XXXI, 5 "And as soon aB the commandment came abroad, the children of Israel brought In abundance of flr6t fruits of corn, wlnor-and oil, and honey, and of all tho increase of the field, and the tltho of all things brought thoy In abundantly." abundant-ly." Good Hczekiah, having worked a reformation in Judea and destroyed idolatry, appointed a feast and commanded com-manded tho people to give to the priests and Levites their portion that thev might be encouraged in the law of the Lord. Ezra VII, 22 "Unto an hundred talents of 9llver, and to an hundred measures of wheat, and to an hundred baths of wine, and to an hundred baths of oil, and salt without prescribing how much " This was the portion of the decree of Darius when the Jews were permitted per-mitted to return to Jerusalem from . their captivity This shows that wine was regarded as being as necessary as wheat, salt, money and oil. Nehemlah V 11 "Restore, I pray you, to them even this day their lands, their vineyards, their olive yards, and their houses, aiso the hundredth part of the money, and of the corn, the wine and the oil, that ye exact of them " This is Nehcmiah's rebuke to the usurers and commandment to them to make restitution. Nehemlah V, 18 "Now that which was prepared for mo daily was one ox, and six choice sheep; also fowls were prepared for me, and once In ten days store of all sorts of wine: yet for all this required not I the bread of the governor, because the bondage was heavv unon this people " ' This was the daily food prepared for Nehemlah's household, which was a very large one, consisting of 150 Jews and rulers In addition to visiting heathen. It should be noted that all sorts of wine were used without condemnation. con-demnation. We also beg to refer you to: Nehemlah X. 37. Nehemlah X. 39. Nehemlah XIII. 5. Nehemlah XIIT, 12. Nehemlah XIII. 15. Esther I, 7 "And they gave them drink In vessels of gold (the vessels being diverse one from another), and royal wine in abundance according to the state of the king." This was the feast given by King Ahasuerus, where evidently the best wine obtainable was used. The context con-text shows that the drinking was according ac-cording to the law, without compulsion and without restriction. We also bog to refer vou to: Esther. 10. Esther V. C. Esther VTI, 2. Esther VII, 7 Esther VII, S. Job I, 13 "And there was a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine In their eldest eld-est brother's house." The children of Job wore enjoying themselves as was customary with the good people of their station In life. Wo also beg to refer you to: Job I. 18. Job XXXII, 19. Proverbs 111. 10 "So shall thy. barns be filled with plenty and thy' presses shall burst out 'with new wine." This was a positive promlso of blessing bless-ing made by God for obedience to his laws. A number of the Proverbs refer to the excessive use of wine or strong drink. They are not in conflict with the multitude of other passages In the Bible by the same author, promising promis-ing great plenty of wine for obedience. obedi-ence. v We shall continue our list of references refer-ences tomorrow, completing the Old Testament and going into the Now ior proofs of our contention that the Scriptures do not prohibit the use of alcoholic stimulants. (Wo are indebted to Mr. George G. Brown, editor and publisher, of Louisville. Louis-ville. Ky, for much of the above information,) |