Letter: Wine is chosen to represent the sacrifice of Our Lord when Holy Communion is celebrated, and wine speaks to us about the goodness in creation too

Ben Lowry (‘Abstaining from wine every year has shown me the value of Lent, which begins today,’ February 22, see link below) calls to mind famous lines from the Bible including Psalm 34:

"Taste and see that the Lord is good."

The gospel message in the New Testament is compared to a fine, fresh and expanding "new wine".

Wine is also chosen to represent the sacrifice of Our Lord on the Easter Cross, remembered each time Holy Communion is celebrated.

Wine speaks to us, too, about the goodness expressed in creation, when sun and soil are combined with human labour and ingenuity, to produce the blessing of wine.

Our incredible earth, solar system and cosmos, are fingerprint evidence of a creator God, as is the human mind and brain: the greatest computer device constructed to date.

Bottles of fine wine never arise spontaneously from explosions at bottle banks, and computers never drop from the sky when meteors collide or molten lava from a volcano hardens.

The Bible uses wine production to speak metaphorically about life after death, when a wine press represents divine judgement. This points us to the reality of human conscience and moral responsibility, plus awareness of our many life failures.

The evidence of Science-Psychology-History screams out the truth of the Easter message, when any person calmly takes the time to explore the evidences within creation, conscience and the life of Christ. 'But they did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it' was the reaction of the Lord's disciples when they were warned about the Messiah's coming death and resurrection.

Many people, today, across Northern Ireland, are paralysed by fear and afraid to explore the robust evidence for faith, or to examine what response is required.

Ben Lowry deserves commendation for following the age old practice of Lenten abstinence from alcohol. But what about also taking some time to meticulously study the evidence for The Suffering Servant Prophecy or The Resurrection?

'Your Verdict on the Empty Tomb' is a wonderful 75 page paperback, written by a cynical Oxford law student and atheist sceptic, whose life was radically changed when he explored the evidence for Easter.

Dr James Hardy, Belfast BT5

Abstaining from wine every year has shown me the value of Lent, which begins today