ABSTEMII (a Latin word, from abs, away from, temetum, intoxicating liquor, from which is derived the

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• ENGLISH

English " abstemious " or temperate)  , a name formerly given to such persons as could not partake of the cup of the Eucharist on account of their natural aversion to wine . Calvinists allowed these to communicate in the species of bread only, touching the cup with their lip; a course which was deemed a profanation by the Lutherans . Among several Protestant sects, both in Great Britain and America, abstemii on a somewhat different principle have appeared in modem times . These are total abstainers, who maintain that the use of stimulants is essentially sinful, and allege that the wine used by Christ and his disciples at the supper was unfermented .