Believe it or not, someone did arrive on Churchmouse Campanologist recently searching for an answer to this question. The response below is from a Catholic and a Calvinist perspective.
First, for my Catholic readers. When I was growing up, most of the priests I knew smoked — cigars, mainly, although they had the occasional cigarette. Then, as I recall, sometime in the 1990s, John Paul II said that smoking was a sin. Well, despite the best efforts of ASH, WHO and Tobacco Control, Catholic Answers tells us:
Smoking in moderation is not a sin at all (CCC 2290).
Those who smoke heavily (how much is unspecified) may wish (but are not obliged) to discuss the matter with their confessor. Confessing venial sins of excess brings grace.
I would add that underage smokers are sinning — although not mortally — because they are breaking the law. Whilst they can still receive Holy Communion, they should stop smoking illegally.
The About.com Catholic forum tells us that Pope Paul VI smoked. At Catholicism Pure, Fr Cumanus tells us that St Teresa of Avila, St Alphonsus Liguori and St John Vianney (the Cure d’Ars) took snuff, which was ‘the appropriate form of tobacco consumption for distinguished ecclesiastics’.
Now, to readers of a Calvinist persuasion. The Nicotine Theological Journal editors, John R. Muether and Darryl G. Hart, explain why their publication is so-called (emphases mine):
Now about our name. Vice President Gore’s sanctimonious and tearful pledge to fight the wicked weed that produced part of his family fortune is but the latest example of the fierce public hostility to tobacco in our day. And it is another reminder of the necessity to explain why we employ the metaphor of tobacco for the purposes of this publication. We should begin by clarifying what we are not. This is not a Reformed version of Cigar Aficionado…
Then why nicotine? First, in order to affirm the social utility of tobacco. As Wendell Berry writes, “Tobacco is fragrant, and smoking at its best is convivial or ceremonious and pleasant.” Smoke and drink are conversation stimulants and together they suggest the relaxed and engaging atmosphere that we want to establish for the arguments and topics you will find here. We also want to suggest that the kind of conversation that accompanies the moderate use of tobacco and alcohol is very important for sustaining us on our pilgrimage this side of glory. It may even be a foretaste of the fellowship we will enjoy when our Lord returns.
Second, tobacco exposes the hypocrisy with which people, including Reformed believers, treat the matter of health and well-being. The anti-tobacco crusade can be a convenient way to overlook the many other distractions of modern life — from sports, to entertainment, money, politics and sex. We have reduced health to mere physical health, but physical health is not man’s chief end. So the modern obsession with physical fitness and material well-being is often unhealthy. In this connection, we can hardly improve on the words of Garrison Keiller (whom we promise not to quote often), “nonsmokers live longer, but they live dumber.”
Third, the cultural antagonism toward tobacco mirrors well the evangelical dismissiveness toward confessional Presbyterianism. Our commitments to things like Sabbath and psalms can’t even gain a hearing in most evangelical quarters. (Raise a question about holidays like Christmas and Advent and evangelicals think you just arrived from Mars.) Like most smokers, confessional Presbyterians are feisty and cantankerous because that is the only way one can take the Reformed confessions seriously in our day. In the light of the ascendency of mass-marketed evangelicalism, it is necessary for confessional Presbyterians to be resistance fighters. Our resistance will often take confrontational, dogmatic and sectarian forms — and we believe in the good senses of those words. But we will endeavor to avoid arrogance and narrow-mindedness. So, for example, along with offering reflections about the value of Sunday evening services, we will also recommend a good blend of Scotch every now and then. And while we have yet to be persuaded of exclusive psalmody, we also remain unconvinced about the virtues of chewing tobacco; nevertheless, we will entertain arguments for both.
Finally, our name sets a tone of lightheartedness that we want to characterize these pages. The NTJ will be occasional and occasionally serious. Along the way we hope to have fun, not least by poking fun at ourselves. Several friends have asked if smoking and drinking are requirements for membership in the Old Life Theological Society. Of course, the answer is no. One can be an Old School Presbyterian in spirit if not Old School in spirits (though there are some things we will expose as irredeemably New School, such as light beer or any alcohol-free pretender). As for smoking, to borrow a phrase from Richard John Neuhaus, we only ask those who refuse to light up that they at least strive to lighten up.
How much is advised? The Nicotine Theological Journal says:
Smoking two packs a day because you know you’re going to die anyway is not the best response to the blessings of this life (one pack should be sufficient).
So, to clarify, one pack a day to enjoy the blessings of this life.
Dr R Scott Clark at Heidelblog uncovered a poem by a pipe-smoking Church of Scotland minister, the Revd Ralph Erskine (1685-1752) of Dunfermline:
I hope that answers any question Catholics and Calvinists might have about tobacco and sin. For Methodists and Wesleyans, the answer may vary depending on how the doctrine of perfectionism is interpreted locally. Having said that, it should be noted that:
Wesley was clear that Christian perfection did not imply perfection of bodily health or an infallibility of judgment.
In closing, recommended are 1 Timothy 4:4-5 and 1 Corinthians 10:31, respectively:
For everything created by God is good, and nothing to be rejected, if it is received with thanksgiving: For it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
8 comments
July 30, 2010 at 8:21 am
mundabor
Beautifully politically incorrect post, Churchmouse!
Someway I can’t be surprised at JP II deciding that smoking was a sin. One of the main traits of the man was to take Catholic doctrine and distort it at his own pleasure, generally in order to say something acceptable to the masses.
Whilst this kind of exercises were never ex cathedra exercises and as such merely his personal opinions (and every priest will perforce have a different idea of where sinful behaviour begins or how to interpret a concrete situation) the example you make is typical of many excesses of JP II time.
I once heard a priest say that to eat when you haven’t hunger anymore is a sin of gluttony. Come on boy, to be a glutton is one thing, but if one simply enjoy his pasta even after the pangs of hunger have ceased he is doing perfectly fine. And what about red wine: water quenches one’s thirst wonderfully….
As the Calvinist commenter very intelligently points out, the modern trend of finding sinfulness in a politically correct way goes hand in hand with the inability to denounce sin when this makes one unpopular.
Mundabor
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July 30, 2010 at 8:55 am
churchmouse
Thanks for the kind message, Mundabor!
Yes, JPII said a few things that distorted doctrine in order to appeal to popularity. Thanks for that!
And, as you rightly point out, there is nothing wrong with good food and wine. God intends for us to enjoy His gifts. When a man is replete, he stops eating. That is how the body works.
This political correctness of secular ‘sin’ is an abomination. Think of all the perversion (not just sexual, but moral) our society allows. Yet, we are told we must be ‘tolerant’ and accept these abuses. If we do not, we are ‘dogmatic’ and ‘inflexible’.
Thanks again for your insight — much appreciated!
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August 4, 2010 at 4:03 pm
lleweton
Your blog is refreshing and much needed. See my comment (under my Christian name) about modern Pharisees, on Taking Liberties.
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August 4, 2010 at 8:53 pm
churchmouse
Thank you so much. I did reply on Taking Liberties with a comment prefaced by your Christian name:
‘Re the New Testament verses — thank you! That is just what is happening now — such a pharisaical attitude of the antis to smokers. Yes, I agree, Christ would have been outside in the wind, rain and snow with the smokers.’ July 31, 2010 at 21:20
Your blog is excellent. I can imagine walking those situations with you — the gardening ones as well as those with the church. Keep it going, please! Your posts will be insightful to read.
I’m delighted you commented here and hope that you will feel free to chime in whenever you wish. God bless you!
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August 7, 2010 at 11:03 am
lleweton
Many thanks for your encouragement. It is very timely for me, in areas where I have questioned my approach.
Incidentally, you may have seen Dick Puddlecote’s current Link Tank but if not, it has a reference to your blog.
Best wishes.
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August 7, 2010 at 9:28 pm
churchmouse
Thanks for that, lleweton — much appreciated! I logged on only a short while ago, so seeing Dick’s link has made my day!
What a depressing set of stories he has on offer today. When will this nonsensical healthism stop?
Enjoy your Sunday!
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September 28, 2010 at 10:29 pm
JP
Smoking as a “sin” does not come from God, it comes from material forces of evil planted here in this world in order to distract attention away from God, remove our attention from deadly sins that continue unabated and inflict false values of “good” versus “evil” that are coming from the mouths of anti-smokers, from men/women here on earth, who seek to establish the power of satan over that of God and claim control over the dust of this world, keeping others chained to them and enable their power over mankind, thus keeping us from releasing our spirits to move higher and closer to the eternal life promised by God, if we only learn to see and hear, with eyes to see and ears to hear, the reality of what the anti-smokers are on about.
Excellent blogsite and excellent article.
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September 28, 2010 at 10:57 pm
churchmouse
Wow — thank you so much, JP! Eloquently put and most original — please be sure to pass that wisdom along to your friends, because you are spot on.
Healthism is very much a false teaching and, for some people, their obsession with their own bodies becomes a form of idolatry.
We are justified by faith, not works (St Paul, Romans — several places). So, it doesn’t matter how many bowls of porridge we eat or how many miles we run. All that is secular legalism (obey law, tick box). There is nothing in the Bible about taking care of your health in the obsessive context we know of today, anyway.
If it is okay with you, I may borrow that for a future post and give you credit. That’s a prescient observation, one which I have not seen before.
Thank you also for the most kind words about the blog — much appreciated! Look forward to hearing from you again!
Enjoy the rest of your evening
Churchmouse
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