photo credit: Lance McCord
Baptists are going to insist that the proper mode of baptism is immersion; however, when it comes to the taking of communion, we are not equally insistent on the mode. Grape juice is often taken in place of wine despite the biblical usage of wine.
I guess one could argue, as is often done in matters of teetotalism, that first century “wine” was more akin to juice anyways, but I don’t really wish to go that route and honestly find that apologia silly. Juice doesn’t inebriate. Wine watered down is still wine. (On an interesting note, Justin Martyr points to a tradition of diluting the wine with water representing God, the pure wine, mixing/having communion with the faithful, the water.)
Concerning communion, have we baptists trumped a scriptural precedence of a communion with the fermented fruit of the vine with communion of fermented tradition? Does a cultural prohibition-driven aversion to alcohol prevent biblical communion? Does it even matter? Or should we, more consistently it seems, insist on a scriptural mode of communion as we insist on a scriptural mode of baptism? Or is juice scriptural and this string of questions silly?
Or, shall we just stick with the Welch’s? Welch’s is cheaper after all, isn’t it? But so might be sprinking or pouring compared with filling up a baptistry.
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