Mr. World and Miss Church-Member: A Twentieth Century AllegoryHarris, W. S. (William Shuler)
Religion
Mr. World and Miss Church-Member: A Twentieth Century Allegory
Harris, W. S. (William Shuler)
Christian fiction
An aged man was speaking when the two comrades took seats near the
center of the room.
“We are not here,” explained the venerable man, “to prove that the
Bible is either false or true. We leave that question for other schools
to decide. It is our province to show what the Bible teaches on this
important theme. Temperance is a word so misused and so abused that
it becomes people of sound judgment to go to the rock bottom of the
question as viewed in the light of Scripture.”
Then, adjusting his green spectacles, the speaker opened the Bible and
offered to explain, or to have explained, any part of it that bore on
the subject of “Temperance from a Bible Standpoint.”
A breathless silence followed until a moderate-drinking church-member
arose with Bible in hand. “Did Christians, during the life of Christ,
drink wine?” he asked, in a self-righteous manner.
The speaker called upon Mr. Wine Expert who quickly stepped forward
from his chair on the stage.
“There can be no doubt,” he affirmed, “but that they drank wine freely.
They knew enough in that day not to discard a good thing.”
Hundreds of people sprang to their feet, but Mr. Venerable ordered
that one should speak at a time and that they all should be seated and
first listen to the questioner.
“Was that wine the same, in kind, that Noah drank, as related in Gen.
9:21?”
“Identical.”
“And the same that is used to-day in the commercial world?”
“It is the same as the good wine that is used to-day. There are many
modern adulterations.”
The questioner took his seat. A man from London then obtained the
floor. He also held a Bible as he spoke.
“I am a temperance worker in one of the districts of London, and would
like to know whether you conclude by your former assertion concerning
the early Christians that the Bible does not speak against wine
drinking?”
“Not in a single place. How could it do so consistently?” answered the
Devil’s expert.
“Will you please turn to Prov. 20:1. ‘Wine is a mocker, strong drink
is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.’ How do you
harmonize this passage with what you have just asserted?” The man from
London sat down.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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