After the example of others, Mr. Brunot, in his pamphlet Wine and Truth, rings changes on the expression the pure blood of the grape, which he finds in Deut. Wine as a Symbol of Fellowship and Celebration As the traditional table drink at the time, wine was a symbol of fellowship, which is part of what the Lord's Supper represents for us. In his epistle to Nepotian, Whatever inebriates and upsets the mind, flee in like manner as wine. 10:4). However, while many Presbyterians refrain from the use of alcohol in church, some drink it in . This matter has now assumed an importance which demands that the exact truth should be known. 199203), professes to set forth what Clement has taught on the natural and revealed law as to wines, and actually adduces him as a witness that intoxicating wine was not used by Christ, or introduced at the Lords Supper in the early church! D. Edward, of Breslau, is another esteemed Jewish missionary from the Free Church of Scotland to whom we wrote. Buxtorf (Lex. The one rule they insist upon since the captivity, is that the Jews beware of nesekh (), wine prepared by Christians. A. Alexander (on Isa. Their wine must be gathered and prepared by Jews, and have a certificate as ceremonially clean. Nor do I say this, as if a creature of God may be condemned by us; since both our Lord was called a drinker of wine, and Timothy was allowed to imbibe wine moderately when suffering in the stomach; but we require that drinking should be regulated according to age, health, and the physical constitution. In the Temperance Bible Commentary (p. 281) we find these words, which, painful as it is to read them, we are compelled in the interest of truth to quote: We here reach the last pinch of the argument. A reward has been offered for the discovery of an unfermented wine in use in Bible lands. See, I am beginning to bring disaster on the city that bears my Name, and will you indeed go unpunished? But we will not stop with the Westminster Divines. But we can appeal to one consideration which he advances, as showing the nature of the clement exhibited in the communion to represent the blood of Christ. And we will give no quarter to falsehood and misrepresentation, no matter what may be the cause in support of which they are employed. Why I'm wondering if others understand why some churches still serve only wine for communion. 104:15 set forth as a gift of the Creator for which He is praised. 28:7 (where it is translated strong wine), Deut. The church does not have an official stance on the use of grape juice wine, but many congregations do use it during Communion. 26:26). As we learned Latin, the words of Jerome adduced by Dr. S. can have only this meaning: We knew that wine is both consecrated into the blood of Christ and was prescribed by Paul to Timothy to drink. Jerome nowhere indicates that he had any idea of the two-wine theory.. What does a plain man need more than the record of the abuse that prevailed at Corinth in connection with the celebration of the Supper: Another is drunken[11] (1 Cor. But, says the great preacher, this place (the text) is also useful against the heretics who blame the creature of God. In reply to our note of inquiry addressed to him he sent us a valuable paper which we regret we cannot reproduce in full. Written by Daniel Isaiah Joseph in denominations Last Updated May 2, 2023 Bible readers agree that Jesus Christ established the practice of routinely eating bread and wine to commemorate his death as an atonement for sin. This last example shows that the name of a drink may be derived from a root denoting a sweet substance, while that name invariably designates an intoxicating drink. Thus they also buy sugar, coffee, and many other things under the same rabbinical guarantee. The last mentioned, in his letter to Nepotian, tells us: Sikera Hebro sermone omnis potio, qu inebriare potest, sive illa qu frumento conficitur, sive pomorum succo; aut cum favi decoquuntur in dulcem et barbaram potionem; aut palmarum fructus exprimuntur in liquorem, coctis que frugibus aqua pinguior coloratur. Whatever may be the origin of the word shekhar, it can denote nothing but an intoxicating drink. rev2023.6.27.43513. Furthermore, there is positively no authority for interpreting the expression fruit of the vine to mean the fresh juice of the grape. Now, since the Last Supper occurred during Chag ha-Matzot, and thus no leaven could have been in the homes of Jews, we could likely assume that yes, the bread used during the Last Supper was unleavened. They may use wine or non-alcoholic wine (grape juice) which may be served in a communal cup or in individual cups. When they drink it, they will stagger and go mad because of the sword I will send among them." But as the version, Thou didst drink the blood of the grape, red wine, would sound tautological (the redness of the wine being involved in the designation the blood of the grape), they seem to have thought that chemer would be adequately represented by prefixing the epithet pure to the expression blood of the grape. If we give to chemer the meaning of red wine (and this signification is etymologically justifiable) it would denote a fermented drink, as we have seen that the red color of wine, when not artificially produced, results from the grape-juice fermenting with the husks. His object in this ridiculous rendering was to teach that Jerome makes the wine approved by our Lord and Paul different from ordinary wine. What do Presbyterians say when serving Communion? - YouTube No strict Jew drinks any other than wine, (pesach) at the Passover; but this simply means that the wine has been manufactured under Jewish supervision from the bruising of the grapes, so as to keep it free from all impurities, and especially from leaven. The use of grape juice, while not sinful, deviates from Biblical practice. We can never consent to an impeachment of the morality of the New Testament, or to a disfiguration or mutilation of the blessed sacrament of the Supper in the supposed interest of temperance. 32:14 with anything but a fermented wine. First, we need to focus on the elements of communionbread and wine. Lightfoot again (Vol. B. Ehrlich, of New York, who has the reputation of being one of the best Talmudical scholars in this country. And yet, contrary to the habit of most Presbyterian churches in our country, Gainesville Presbyterian Church serves wine in the Lords Supper. 825. We conclude this part of our inquiry with a quotation from the Christian poet Prudentius, born in Spain in the year 348. 5. Communion | Presbyterian Mission Agency So, too, in the Bab. The vinous smell does not belong to unfermented grape-juice, but is produced by the fermentation of the must. New wine, or grape-juice, before it has, by completing its fermentation, become proper yayin, is, as we have seen, in wine-producing countries, an abundant source of intoxication. Bib. It was troubled by Judaizing teachers. We take up, as the most important, the first three expositors professedly quoted, Clement of Alexandria, Chrysostom, and Bengel. Prof. M. Stuart (Bib. There is no more certain fact in the Hebrew language than that shekhar denotes an intoxicating drink. [18], We would, in conclusion, remind those who may think the two-wine theory a valuable auxiliary to the cause of temperance, of the just remark of Trench in his Notes on the ParablesHow oft has that which bore the worst fruit in the end, appeared at first like a higher form of good!. We can never consent to an impeachment of the morality of the New Testament, or to a disfiguration or mutilation of the blessed sacrament of the Supper in the supposed interest of temperance. Red wine is the blood of the grape. But in the blessing, bread is said by a figure to grow out of the earth; and by a like figure wine is called the fruit of the vine which God creates. 8). In his Apologeticus, or Defence of Christians against the Heathen, Chapter xxxix., while describing the, We next take up Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, born about the year 200. 10:32). 5. We give Chrysostoms comment on 1 Cor. So, also, yeast is mixed with flour and this becomes the true body of our Lord Jesus Christ.. It is somewhat long, but it does not bear abridgment: In what manner do you think the Lord drank when He became man for our sakes? ." These words from "A Brief Statement of Faith" reiterate the importance of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper for Presbyterians. The testimony of Dr. Schauffler, late of Constantinople, that the Jews of Turkey use fermented wine, is so well known as not to need to be repeated. In his present position he has constant intercourse with Jews from all parts of the world. WHAT in the view of the compilers of the standards of the Presbyterian Church was the wine which ought to be used in the Lord's Supper can be ascertained by consulting the Assembly's Annotations. Is.63:6 I trampled the nations in my anger; in my wrath I made them drunk., Jer. Its members were enjoined to be careful to give no offence to the Jews (1 Cor. "We can," they answered. McCauls Old Paths, p. 580). The Lord's Supper is not defined by any of this. In Isa. 16:12, 31). So I took the cup from the Lord's hand and made all the nations to whom he sent me drink it: Jerusalem and the towns of Judah, its kings and officials, to make them a ruin and an object of horror and scorn and cursing, as they are today; Pharaoh king of Egypt, his attendants, his officials and all his people, and all the foreign people there; all the kings of Uz; all the kings of the Philistines (those of Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the people left at Ashdod); Edom, Moab and Ammon; all the kings of Tyre and Sidon; the kings of the coastlands across the sea; Dedan, Tema, Buz and all who are in distant places; all the kings of Arabia and all the kings of the foreign people who live in the desert; all the kings of Zimri, Elam and Media; and all the kings of the north, near and far, one after the other--all the kingdoms on the face of the earth. Yet its use of fermented wine in the communion passed unchallenged, and this custom prevailed in the churches without exciting controversy. Where there is no wine the Jews take mead instead, which is, In all my intercourse and negotiations with Jews for nearly forty years, and in all my acquaintance with their literature, I have never met an allusion to any such practice as the use of unfermented wine at their feasts, or in the temple libations. Presbyterians may use any kind of bread commonly used by the people where the church is located. But if fermented wine is a cursed drink, and the use of it absolutely forbidden in Scripture, how could it have been thought possible by the churches in general that our Saviour employed it? To subscribe to this RSS feed, copy and paste this URL into your RSS reader. Some Presbyterians take communion every Sunday during their church services; other Presbyterian churches practice communion less often. 49:26). It is a sound principle for lexicographers and commentators to hold fast that the meanings of a term are not to be multiplied without necessity; and there is no necessity for assigning to yayin any other sense than that which it bears where we first meet with it in Scripture. How to exactly find shift beween two functions? The Last Supper was not the Passover seder. The Pauline use of and related words supports the E. V. Philo (De Plant. Sacraments: Lord's Supper - Presbyterian Mission Agency In his treatise Against Heresies he has occasion to speak of the, Our next witness is Jerome, who was an ardent advocate of abstinence from wine. The distinction between grain and fruit is here one of capital importance, and is scrupulously observed by conscientious Jews. Certain persons seem to take for granted that when any one speaks of wine as the fruit of the vine he must mean the fresh juice of the grape. (Menzels Christliche Symbolik, Vol. When Jesus then uses the cup of wine at the Last Supper to represent His death, it is hard to imagine that He is not connecting it with the cup of wine (i.e. Can any one doubt that Clement wrote for readers to whom the term wine necessarily suggested an exhilarating, stimulating drink, that could be abused so as to produce intoxication? September 27, 2022 by Rosamie Wine and grape juice are both made from grapes, but they are used for different purposes. The Gentile churches did not know the peculiar scruples of the Jews, says Professor Stuart. Unfermented is permitted in case the former cannot be obtained, or is forbidden from sanitary reasons. Here is the scriptural explanation of the meaning of the word translated in the A. V., unleavened bread. If matzoth did not refer specifically to bread or cakes, it would not have been said that Gideon made ready matzoth of an ephah of flour (Judges 6:19). [12] The drinks sold as unfermented wines often contain little or none of the juice of the grape. As in Latin vinum stands intermediate between mustum and acetum (see Pliny, Nat. [3], About Augustines opinion of Bible wine it is enough to say that the Temperance Bible Commentary (p. 305) accuses him and Dr. Trench of falsely ascribing to the wine of miracle the properties which are solely generated in the fermenting vat.. Was that last act a violation of the law under which He was made? But only new skins could bear its strain. Do Presbyterians Use Wine For Communion | Visit A Winery - Dom'Vino The point is that it's not so clear that Jesus celebrated the Last Supper with unleavened breads. We have now to discuss, with a due regard to brevity, the principal terms employed in the Old and New Testaments to denote wine, new wine, and strong drink, is in the O.T. Regula generalis haec est quicquid est speciebus frumenti, ecce propter hoc transgreditur Pascha. We need not append the original Hebrew. Above all, we maintain the sinless character of our Redeemer, and it is just as certain that He drank and miraculously created wine in the common and proper sense of the term, and used it in the institution of the Supper, as that He was born in Bethlehem. From these statements the conclusion is unavoidable that the wine used at the Agap, which was doubtless the same as the wine of the communion, was capable of producing inebriation. [5] The color of the wine is dependent on the mode in which the fermentation is effected. If yayin does not mean wine in the strict sense of the term, then the Hebrew language would present the strange anomaly of having two specific words and to designate must, and one, to designate vinegar, while it would have no specific term to denote the drink which stands between them, which has been in more common use than either of the others, and which has distinctive properties peculiarly fitted to attract attention! Do Protestants have communion every week? Sac., 1843, p. 508) is disposed to believe that the original precept of Moses had reference only to the bread of the Passover and not to any drink that might be used. He justly remarks that not one word is said about any drink on that occasion when it was first instituted. But while making this admission, he ventures the astounding assertion that the Jewish custom of excluding fermented wine from the Passover is very ancient, and is even now almost universal. Others go further than Professor Stuart, and make the prohibition of wine at the Passover a part of the original Mosaic legislation. As an Episcopalian myself, however, my pragmatic analysis is that this is primarily because they like the taste better (silly 'Episcopalians). So J. Sac. We are to remember that water in the proportion of three-fourth parts water to one-fourth part of wine could be mingled in the Passover cup. So drunkenness comes to represent the divinely-ordained consequences of living for oneself instead of for Him.). In support of our position, we offer the following: Wine, properly used, is a blessing from God ii., p. 66). The notes on such a passage as Eph. World Communion Sunday 2022 Pcusa00:23 - What do Presbyterians say when serving Communion?00:41 - Does the Presbyterian Church use wine for communion?01:07 -. Communion - Sacraments and ordinances - CCEA - BBC But toward evening, about supper time, wine may be used, when we are no longer engaged in more serious readings. At the Last Supper what would the disciples make of what Jesus said about partaking of the bread and the wine? [14] Shekhar has no connection with the Sanskrit sarkar and the Indo-Germanic words derived from it. It is often affirmed that the Mosaic law relative to the prohibition of leaven at the Passover applied to all fermented drinks, and consequently excluded the use of fermented wine. Should wine or grape juice be used for communion? You can edit the text in this area, and change where the contact form on the right submits to, by entering edit mode using the modes on the bottom right. I cannot doubt that the joint testimony of Drs. He clearly knew of no wine that could not be misused by the intemperate. (We might wonder why this image of drunkenness is used to symbolize the judgment of God. We now approach a subject regarding which much confusion and misapprehension and misrepresentation have prevailed: we mean the wine used in the time of our Lord in the observance of the Passover, and still used by Jews throughout the world in the celebration of that ordinance. These physical components are sensible signs; that is, they appeal to our senses (touch, taste, smell), and remind us of spiritual truths. I noticed in it a certain smoky taste, and he stated that it had been subjected to heat to prevent the fermentation. It is hard to imagine that the cup in the Lords Supper is not supposed to symbolize both the celebrative aspect of Jesus conquering sin for us and the identificational aspect of His suffering for us. If you have no doubt on your mind that the judgment which you have expressed in regard to the wines of Jerusalem and Lebanon is correct, may I beg you in that case to have the goodness to tell me where you tasted those wines. Until 1986 when our church began to serve wine in the Lords Supper, I didnt drink at all. The statue probably formed the sign of a wine-shop. Rise up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the Lord the cup of his wrath, you who have drained to its dregs the goblet that makes men stagger. The Encratit, as Epiphanius (l. c.) tells us, argued in support of their condemnation of wine from what happened to Noah and to Lot; and they were in the habit of quoting the words in Proverbs, chap. For if it belonged to the prohibited things, Paul would not have permitted it, would not have said to use wine. Though I have been already called out on this subject two or three years ago, and have sufficiently answered in the New York Observer, I will repeat the statement, much as I am disinclined to be drawn into the debate. Paschal wine is fermented grape-juice which has been carefully kept from contact with leaven. Learn more about Stack Overflow the company, and our products. It was, not because it was a thick syrup or jelly, but because it was very strong. On such testimonies comment is needless. The physical nature of the bread and the wine does not change. But with Episcopalians and many others, we strongly believe that nevertheless, in the taking, blessing, breaking and giving, Christ is really . But we venture to think that no Jews will ever cast against Jesus this, It strikingly illustrates the prevalent ignorance of Jewish antiquities, when men of reputation, such as Moses Stuart, could proclaim to the world that Jewish traditional law excluded the pure fermented juice of the grape from the Passover. We do not know how Lightfoot came to put the fourth part of a quarter of a hin as the measure of each of the Passover cups. At Beirut I was the guest of the well-known American Consul, J. Hosford Smith, Esq., whom I had already known as my neighbor in Brooklyn, before his appointment to that post. But the judicious reader can determine for himself from the following correspondence whether the positive declaration of Dr. Jacobus should be deemed sufficient to outweigh a mountain mass of evidence to the contrary from those most competent to testify on such a question: Reverend and Dear Sir:In your Notes on the Gospel of John (Ch. It was to. When yayin is described as dangerous, or an occasion of evil, no such epithet as intoxicating or fermented is ever associated with it. For intincture, leavened bread provides a better 'cup'--though that seems a trivial factor. Why do LDS use water and leavened bread in communion when the Jews used wine and unleavened bread? Stanley (The Roman Catacombs) has the expression the life-giving grape for wine. Calvin argues that the miracle is unnecessary, because Jesus' bestowing of the blessing of salvation is the true miracle. They held that both the Bible and Christian tradition taught that alcohol is a gift from God that makes life more joyous, but that . The wine of the Passover was, . So, too, in the Bab. 20:1; 23:29-35; 31:4-5; Deut.21:18-21; Luke 21:34; Rom.13:13; 1Cor.6:9-10; Eph.5:18). We have, moreover, definite testimonies of Jewish authors that red wine was not only held by the Jews to be the more excellent, but was also required in preference to any other for the Passover. And we will be faithful in following the example of our Presbyterian fathers in contending for the kingly authority of Christ as Head of the Church, and for His sole prerogative to appoint its ordinances. text 4:18), represents this same sis as a blessing which God will bestow plentifully on His people. I., 966). The companions of Alexander the Great became first acquainted with sugar in India. Should Wine or Grape Juice Be Used for Communion? To the foregoing letter Dr. Jacobus sent the following reply: My Dear Sir:I have this moment your letter of inquiry calling for my authority in regard to an unintoxicating wine of Lebanon referred to in my Notes on John, Ch. (The unleavened bread was also a part of the Passover feast, and was used by Jesus in the institution of the Lords Supper.) I know that Scripture contains many warnings about its use (e.g. We shall give another quotation from Clement. Here is an extract from it: What Moses Stuart writes in the Bib. If we should deal with the word for bread as the word for wine has been treated, we might exhibit on O.T. authority the following distinct meanings of 1. Along with Baptists and Methodists, Presbyterians have long substituted grape juice for this particular ceremony. Food made into loaves (1 Sam. In addition to this, the case for the proper use of wine in communion can be made from an examination of drunkenness as a symbol of the judgment of God in the Bible. As we believe in the perfection of Christs character, we reject with abhorrence this shameful misinterpretation of the Mosaic law. They condemned marriage and the use of animal food and of wine. At least some Presbyterians use leavened bread--two PCUSA churches did while I was there and on PCA church did sometimes (my current PCA church does not--and provides grape juice as an option "for reasons of conscience or health"); Presbyterian elders generally are not ignorant on basic theology. ), so in Hebrew takes its place between and . We have now to discuss, with a due regard to brevity, the principal terms employed in the Old and New Testaments to denote wine, new wine, and strong drink, is in the O.T. 11:11. 6:2, 3; and also Prov. There is, on the contrary, an addition made to them which justifies the unrestricted acceptation of the terms: Thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after,[15] for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink (yayin or shekhar), or for whatsoever thy soul desireth. There is no sanction of either gluttony or drunkenness in the passage, but there is full permission accorded to use yayin or shekhar as well as beef or mutton. For a display (not distributed) loaf, unleavened bread might be more easily visible. Meyer in loc). Why Wine in Communion The session of Michiana Covenant Church holds that the use of wine in communion, having been instituted by Christ, is fitting and proper. Comty. it is affirmed that the great mass of expositors agree in understanding the original word not of intoxication, but of repletion (p. 341). Let Moab wallow in her vomit; let her be an object of ridicule., Ezek. Our Lord employed at a sacred feast the expression for wine used in the Jewish religious ceremonies from the earliest times, and still in use in their prayer-book. [6] Mr. Noahs famous recipe for Passover wine, furnished in answer to Mr. Delevan, would actually yield a fermented drink! One might imagine that no one could mistake the obvious sense of the passage. The special excellence that was to justify his commercial enterprise for its export, was precisely this, that it did not intoxicate. But we would remember, too, the doctrine that balances these passages, that no man is to judge his Christian brother in regard to eating and drinking (Col. 2:16; Rom. How do I store enormous amounts of mechanical energy? On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine -- the best of meats and the finest of wines. (Is.25:6). We will now proceed to show that the fermented juice of the grape is still held to be the proper wine for that feast, and is still used by the Jews where they can readily obtain it pure. Theologically, Episcopalians liken the leaven to the power of the Holy Spirit giving lift and rise to the loaf. The Christian Sacrament Of Communion: Wine Or Grape Juice? That the sacramental wine was not different from the only wine with which Christ is known to have been familiar is evident from 1 Cor. The one rule they insist upon since the captivity, is that the Jews beware of, ), wine prepared by Christians. 28:7, shekhar forms a drink-offering poured unto the Lord; and in Deut. It was to the learned rabbi a puzzle how the question which now occupies us could ever have been raised, and he only repeated what previous witnesses have testified. The gospels portray the Last Supper as a Passover meal. How often do Presbyterians take communion? Uniform usage is decisive as to this signification. The wine of the Passover has at all times been fermented wine, which, according to the prevalent custom, was mixed with water.. The interests of religion require that this question as to the present wines of Syria should be settled beyond further controversy. We earnestly recommend our readers to compare it with Clements whole chapter on drinking, which occupies little more than ten pages in Clarks translation. Grape-juice soon begins to ferment; its first fermentation takes place in the vat before it is poured into vessels; and it can intoxicate long before its fermentation is completed, before the tirosh has become yayin, and so ripe for use. "Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price." Isaiah 55:1b Tenth Presbyterian is re-introducing wine in communion along with the choice of grape juice. BCO - PCA Historical Center Confession and assurance of pardon are not what enables God to forgive us, but rather what enables us to . This is what your Sovereign Lord says, your God, who defends his people: "See, I have taken out of your hand the cup that made you stagger; from that cup, the goblet of my wrath, you will never drink again. [17] and are regularly associated, and so are and . Wine does not make drunkenness, but excess (, ) makes drunkenness. It still makes sense to show some respect for the elements, the way we do for lots of special items that we use in church. He urges (irrelevantly enough, we admit, but this does not affect our argument) that Noah drank not water, but wine, and thus expressed the figure of the Lords passion (non aquam sed vinum biberit, et sic imaginem Dominic passionis expresserit). Wine such as that which Noah drank of was the only wine of which Christians in the age of Cyprian had any idea.
How To Make Device Tree From Scratch,
Olea Europaea Medicinal Uses,
Mayfield School Curriculum,
Black Churches In Irving, Tx,
Directions To Route 28 North,
Articles D
