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Summary
- Wine in the Bible stands above all for joy and blessing, for the covenant sealed in Christ’s blood, and for God’s judgment.
- Psalm 104:15 praises “wine that maketh glad the heart of man”, and grain, wine and oil together mark a harvest God has blessed (Deuteronomy 7:13), yet Scripture condemns drunkenness: “Wine is a mocker” (Proverbs 20:1).
- At the Last Supper Jesus said over the cup, “this is my blood of the new testament”; testament there means covenant, and Moses had sealed God’s covenant with Israel with “the blood of the covenant” (Exodus 24:8).
- The prophets picture judgment as a cup of wine the guilty must drink, “the wine cup of this fury” (Jeremiah 25:15), and Revelation 14:10 takes up the image.
- Jesus’ first miracle, at a wedding in Cana, turned water into wine, and the ruler of the feast said, “thou hast kept the good wine until now” (John 2:10).
- Catholic, Orthodox, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Anglican and Baptist teaching differ on what the cup of Communion is, from transubstantiation to a symbolic act of remembrance.
Bibliography (Click to show)
- Scripture is quoted from the King James Version (public domain), from BibleGateway: Genesis 9:20–21, 27:28, 49:11; Exodus 24:8, 29:39–41; Deuteronomy 7:13, 32:14; Psalms 75:8, 104:15; Proverbs 20:1, 23:29–32; Ecclesiastes 9:7; Isaiah 5:11, 25:6, 51:17, 51:22, 63:1–3; Jeremiah 25:15–16, 31:31; Amos 9:13–14; Matthew 26:17–19, 26:27–29, 26:39; Luke 10:34, 22:17–20; John 2:1–11, 18:11; Acts 2:4, 2:13–17; 1 Corinthians 10:16, 11:25–26; Galatians 5:19–21; Ephesians 5:18; Hebrews 8:8, 9:15, 9:20; Revelation 14:10, 14:19.
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 1333 and 1335 (the signs of bread and wine; Cana) and paragraph 1376 (the Council of Trent on transubstantiation).
- Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 62, to Caecilius, section 13, trans. Robert Ernest Wallis, Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 5 (1886), New Advent (numbered Letter 63 in modern editions); and John Chapman, St. Cyprian of Carthage, The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 4 (1908).
- Orthodox Church in America, The Orthodox Faith, Volume II: Holy Eucharist.
- Martin Luther, Small Catechism: The Sacrament of the Altar, Book of Concord.
- The Westminster Confession of Faith, chapter 29, “Of the Lord’s Supper”, section 7, Orthodox Presbyterian Church.
- The Church of England, Articles of Religion, Article XXVIII, “Of the Lord’s Supper”.
- Southern Baptist Convention, The Baptist Faith and Message 2000, Article VII, “Baptism and the Lord’s Supper”.
- Mishnah Pesachim 10:1, William Davidson Edition (Koren Noé Talmud, commentary by Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz), Sefaria; on its date, My Jewish Learning, The Mishnah.
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