The Wine of the Bible, of Bible Lands, and of the Lord's Supper [pp. 564-595]

1871.] of Bibule Lands, and of the Lord's Supper.
ings of God's word than to wrest one scripture in favor of what
some might deem the most telling arguments. The temperance
reformation cannot afford to meet the terrible reaction that must
inevitably follow such a course. Even on the low ground of
expediency it is not wise to place the cause in antagonism with
a book which is moulding the character of the world, and every
day exercises a mightier and more extensive sway; a book, too,
that never requires the use of wine except at the communion
table, or as a medicine prescribed by another than the party
who is to use it.
"Is it needful to sum up the argument? Has it not been
shown from the established meaning of the word, from the customs of Bible lands, and from the testimony of holy Scripture,
that wine is the fermented juice of the grape, and that such is
the element appointed by the Saviour to be the memorial of
his blood in the sacrament of the supper?"
Wines of Bible Lands.
We now quote from the testimonies he adduces of several
eminent missionaries in Bible lands as to what is meant by the
word wine, or the Scriptural words translated into it there. For
he justly observes: "We have no accounts of the customs of
Bible lands so reliable as those of missionaries familiar with
biblical literature, and equally so with the daily life of the people among whom they dwell."
Dr. Justin Perkins says: "Inquiries have often been made
of me on the subject of the wines of Persia, and I may here
state the facts in the case. The juice of the grape is used in
three ways in Persia. When simply expressed it is called
'sweet,' i.e. sweet liquor. It is not drunk in that state, nor
regarded as fit for use, any more than new unsettled cider at
the press in America; nor is it even called wine till it is fer mented. A second and very extensive use of the grape is the
syrup made from boiling it from this sweet state, which resem bles our molasses, and is used in the same way for sweetening,
but is never used as a drink. This is in fact neither more nor
less than Oriental molasses. The third use of the juice is the
distillation of it into arrak, or Asiatic brandy. The wines of
Persia are in general much lighter than those of Europe, but
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