Is smoking a sin?

[Ziggy]

For the record “Mormons” don’t consider smoking or caffeine to be inherently sinful. We do promise Christ to abstain from smoking and coffee, and when a person strays from that promise its wrong because they are breaking a promise. Such a person is not excommunicated, but rather urged to repent and in the future to keep their promises to God

I believe if people believe that something is a sin to them, like drinking coffee or smoking cigarettes, and they make an oath to the Lord to quit,
by all means they should strive to keep that oath. Nothing wrong with that.
And there are those that concentrate more on the improvement of the inner man moreso than the outer man.
And perhaps in time those things will fall away as well.
But to make a promise that I personally would have trouble keeping, is better not to make in the first place.
I may pray about smoking, but I don't see how coffee is a sin. God created everything including tobacco and coffee.
It's kind of like pork and shellfish.

1Ti 4:3 Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.


1Ti 4:7 But refuse profane and old wives' fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness.
1Ti 4:8 For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.
1Ti 4:9 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation.
1Ti 4:10 For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.

Hugs

 

[dev553344]

For the record “Mormons” don’t consider smoking or caffeine to be inherently sinful. We do promise Christ to abstain from smoking and coffee, and when a person strays from that promise its wrong because they are breaking a promise. Such a person is not excommunicated, but rather urged to repent and in the future to keep their promises to God

The question then becomes, what's wrong with coffee? I have a medical condition that I take meds for and the doctor recommended that I drink coffee to compensate for the drowsiness that the meds cause. Also I recently read a medical article where they found that coffee had no harmful effect.

 

[Grailhunter]

The Seventh-day Adventist church is the fastest-growing protestant denomination in the world. It has over 20,000,000 members. The word "cult" is highly subjective. But, alas, I'm used to it.

Those dang gum Seventh-day Adventists! Every time I get with them it nothing but fun! Are the guys teaching those ladies to cook?
I am not to concerned about their beliefs but the people are good. I would expect them to be more gloomy than they are.

 

[Jane_Doe22]

The question then becomes, what's wrong with coffee? I have a medical condition that I take meds for and the doctor recommended that I drink coffee to compensate for the drowsiness that the meds cause. Also I recently read a medical article where they found that coffee had no harmful effect.

Again, it's not about coffee being inherently sinful or harmful (though I do know a ton of coffee slaves).

Rather it's about one keeping their promises with the Lord.

 

[dev553344]

Again, it's not about coffee being inherently sinful or harmful (though I do know a ton of coffee slaves).

Rather it's about one keeping their promises with the Lord.

Eating is addictive also, if you're worried about being a slave to something you still can't rule out food though. So if coffee makes one a slave, who cares? I think the spirit of that revelation is damning and judgmental. Which is what I think of mormons.

 

[Jane_Doe22]

Eating is addictive also, if you're worried about being a slave to something you still can't rule out food though. So if coffee makes one a slave, who cares? I think the spirit of that revelation is damning and judgmental. Which is what I think of mormons.

I acknowledge your view there, though I passionately understand thing differently.

 

[dev553344]

I acknowledge your view there, though I passionately understand thing differently.

Did you read the news, they found ice age footprints in New Mexico which disproves the book of Mormon idea that Israelites inhabited the American continent: Ice age foot prints in New Mexico show man here early on...

 

[Grailhunter]

There are people that give up chocolate because it is from the cocoa plant. Not me!

Part of this topic should be....should I do this?

When I was six I was on a Farmall tractor with a 95 year old fellow. He cut off a piece of "Days work" tobacco and gave me a piece and I have been chewing most of my life. He had chewed ever since he was young and still could out work most men.

I heard a story of a man that use to be on his father to stop smoking. It came between them and he would make him go outside and smoke when he came to visit. And after he died he said he told him so. He did technically die of a heart attack but he was nearly 100 years old.

People have a hard time believing me when I tell them that I have slapped the snot out of friends. Well this one of those times. I had a fiend in the Navy that would make his elderly parents go outside to smoke. Groton, Connecticut, I go over to his house and he has his parents out in the snow smoking. So I asked him, do you want me to slap the snot out of you now or later?

It was not that long ago that doctors were prescribing cigarettes instead of tranquilizers....the way physic medications are today I wonder what would be better.

What should we be talking about? Should we advise against mountain climbing and parachuting?
Should religion get into how we eat....pyramid or vegan?
What exercise program?
Breast feeding or bottle?
Wearing a helmet on a motorcycle?
Wearing safety belts?

Smoking and drinking are not for everybody.
How do you tell if you are not the kind of person that needs to be drinking?
How do you know if you are not the kind of person that needs to be smoking?
I told my kids that vaping was only considered safer because they did not know the harmful effects of vaping yet. Voila!
How much is too much?

 

[Jane_Doe22]

Did you read the news, they found ice age footprints in New Mexico which disproves the book of Mormon idea that Israelites inhabited the American continent: Ice age foot prints in New Mexico show man here early on...

I did see that news story and found it quite interesting. I also find it having nothing to do with the Book of Mormon (either proving or disproving). We see into the glasswork darkly and so much of this world & history we know only a glimmer about.

 

[dev553344]

There are people that give up chocolate because it is from the cocoa plant. Not me!

Part of this topic should be....should I do this?

When I was six I was on a Farmall tractor with a 95 year old fellow. He cut off a piece of "Day work" tobacco and gave me a piece and I have been chewing most of my life. He had chewed ever since he was young and still could out work most men.

I heard a story of a man that use to be on his father to stop smoking. It came between them and he would make him go outside and smoke when he came to visit. And after he died he said he told him so. He did technically die of a heart attack but he was nearly 100 years old.

People have a hard time believing me when I tell them that I have slapped the snot out of friends. Well this one of those times. I had a fiend in the Navy that would make his elderly parents go outside to smoke. Groton, Connecticut, I go over to his house and he has his parents out in the snow smoking. So I asked him, do you want me to slap the snot out of you now or later?

It was not that long ago that doctors were prescribing cigarettes instead of tranquilizers....the way physic medications are today I wonder what would be better.

What should we be talking about? Should we advise against mountain climbing and parachuting?
Should religion get into how we eat....pyramid or vegan?
What exercise program?
Breast feeding or bottle?
Wearing a helmet on a motorcycle?
Wearing safety belts?

Smoking and drinking are not for everybody.
How do you tell if you are not the kind of person that needs to be drinking?
How do you know if you are not the kind of person that needs to be smoking?
I told my kids that vaping was only considered safer because they did not know the harmful effects of vaping yet. Voila!
How much is too much?

I've heard similar stories. I think they push that tobacco is dangerous just so they can tax it for medical reasons. It's a big money thing.

 

[farouk]

I believe if people believe that something is a sin to them, like drinking coffee or smoking cigarettes, and they make an oath to the Lord to quit,
by all means they should strive to keep that oath. Nothing wrong with that.
And there are those that concentrate more on the improvement of the inner man moreso than the outer man.
And perhaps in time those things will fall away as well.
But to make a promise that I personally would have trouble keeping, is better not to make in the first place.
I may pray about smoking, but I don't see how coffee is a sin. God created everything including tobacco and coffee.
It's kind of like pork and shellfish.

1Ti 4:3 Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.


1Ti 4:7 But refuse profane and old wives' fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness.
1Ti 4:8 For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.
1Ti 4:9 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation.
1Ti 4:10 For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.

Hugs

@Ziggy Good verses there...

 

[farouk]

I had my cigarette when I was 10 years old and been smoking ever since. ..
I live on coffee and cigarettes.

@Ziggy Ppl usually start in their teens. In many places you have to be in your teens before you can buy cigarettes.

@VictoryinJesus said:

I have smoked since I was sixteen years old. ..
There is victory in Jesus… The victory is not mine, but His. If I leave this post and go smoke an entire pack of cigarettes or go save orphans from a burning building… It still adds nothing to Christ’s imputed righteousness. Neither does it take away from His righteousness. And that is grace!

 

[Ziggy]

@Ziggy Ppl usually start in their teens. In many places you have to be in your teens before you can buy cigarettes.

@VictoryinJesus said:

Somewhere in this forum, I don't know where, but it's not in this thread..

It was my 10th birthday. And this girl who was a couple years older than me came over and offered me a cigarette.
And most the kids that hung on my block were a couple years older and they were smoking.
So, I figured in order to "fit in" ....
and that's how it all began.
I never did fit in though. I guess I've always been a loner.
It was a good group of kids for the most part, but when they started getting into drinking, I bowed out.
My dad was an alcoholic until I was about 3. I have some very faint memories of not so good times.
Sometimes I don't know if they are real memories or dreams. I can't tell anymore.
All I know is I don't like the smell of beer. So when that became the "in" thing, I went out.
But the smoking stayed. It made me feel cool. Like my brothers.
My parents smoked, my grandparents smoked.. everybody smoked..
And so it was. And so it is.

Hugs

 

[Truman]

Somewhere in this forum, I don't know where, but it's not in this thread..

It was my 10th birthday. And this girl who was a couple years older than me came over and offered me a cigarette.
And most the kids that hung on my block were a couple years older and they were smoking.
So, I figured in order to "fit in" ....
and that's how it all began.
I never did fit in though. I guess I've always been a loner.
It was a good group of kids for the most part, but when they started getting into drinking, I bowed out.
My dad was an alcoholic until I was about 3. I have some very faint memories of not so good times.
Sometimes I don't know if they are real memories or dreams. I can't tell anymore.
All I know is I don't like the smell of beer. So when that became the "in" thing, I went out.
But the smoking stayed. It made me feel cool. Like my brothers.
My parents smoked, my grandparents smoked.. everybody smoked..
And so it was. And so it is.

Hugs

I remember hanging out the second-floor door of a building on the Patchette farm, puffing on an Export 'A'. It made me feel green. I was 8. My buddies liked it. I didn't start smoking until I was 15. I also remember swigging Rum 'n' Coke with my buddy in the schoolyard during recess while in grade 3. We all turned into alcoholics.

 

[n2thelight]

The Bible does not mention smoking, or other means of using tobacco. However, it contains principles showing that God does not approve of unhealthy and unclean habits and thus views smoking as a sin.

Respect for life. “God . . . gives to all people life and breath.” (Acts 17:24, 25) Since life is a gift from God, we should not do anything that would shorten our life, such as smoking. Smoking is one of the main causes of preventable death worldwide.

Love of neighbor. “You must love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:39) Smoking around others does not show love. Those who are routinely subjected to secondhand smoke are at higher risk of some of the same diseases that smokers often suffer from.

The need to be holy. “Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.” (Romans 12:1) “Let us cleanse ourselves of every defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” (2 Corinthians 7:1) Smoking is unnatural and incompatible with being holy—that is, clean and pure—because tobacco users intentionally consume toxins that seriously damage their body.

How do you feel about it?

I don't believe so , it's like the health laws, do it at your own risk

 

[farouk]

Like my brothers.
My parents smoked, my grandparents smoked.. everybody smoked..
And so it was. And so it is.

Hugs

@Ziggy

I think of dear old C H Spurgeon, the Godly preacher, puffing away in the 19th century.

Whatever ppl think - and they are entitled to their thoughts and views - smoking didn't hinder a mighty ministry for God, the effects of which are still felt today.

If ppl can quit, then great, but a sense of proportion also is good.

Similar cultural stuff can give rise to reflection; some Fundamentalists seem to persist in saying it's not ladylike to smoke; but that's probably nonsense.

I suppose a bit like tattoos; some Fundamentalists seem to persist in saying that it's not ladylike to get tattoos, but again that's nonsense.

Like it was posted a while ago:

Pearl said: ↑

Funny how things change over the year,take tattoos. ...
Now a days it is excepted as normal for both sexes to have them

Same with smoking, really. I honestly think that if ppl can quit, then more power to them; but I just don't buy the 'not ladylike to smoke' thing.

 

[Robert Gwin]

Dittoes.

Live and let live within the law of God, I say.

Now, if any had personal distaste for smoking, even in my own house, then I would be hospital and not smoke while they are my guest.

And if I were invited to a smokers home, and I knew it, then I would decide beforehand not to show distaste, if I accepted.

It's called adult courtesies.

There is no courtesy in making one's own conscience or sect's religious rule into law of God, with which to judge and condemn good believers by.

I commend you for that Rob

 

[Robert Gwin]

It's pretty much the same in the Seventh-day Adventist church. It's considered to be a violation of the commandment not to kill as well as the concept of destroying the temple of the Holy Spirit.

I do not disagree with that, but we base it on 2 Cor 7:1. At any rate it is a lack of respect for God given life. Keep in mind, overeating is just as much a sin as well, in fact it is in print in the Bible

 

[Robert Gwin]

I agree with your biblical analysis. That said, I'm not sure an occasional smoke is wrong, either. The issue is if it's habitual it causes poor health. But then again, those who would condemn smoking may very well be overly fat (gluttony) while not touching a drop of alcohol (that's permitted). So anything overdone is a form of gluttony. Native Americans would live long and yet smoke tobacco because it was sacred. But they had restraint. They were not out on break every 5 minutes smoking a proverbial peacepipe the way you see some people at work. In short, one has to discern if they are smoking because they feel they need it or are they just enjoying life? If they need it then they are in bondage to it. If one wants to smoke, I'd recommend giving up over-the-counter cigarettes which is processed tobacco and much like food, get natural and make your own pipe or whatever. But that's costly some may protest. Well, if one is smoking that much that they feel that way, then they are in the "Need" category. It's not too costly if it's once in awhile.

Thanks for your honest input sir

 

[MatthewG]

Smoking is not sin.

What sin is however involves greed, hate, anything that is against the Holy Spirit, even that of unbelief. According to the Bible unbelief is an unforgivable sin, though if a person believes they will he set free from the bondage of sin and death by the spirit. It’s a choice.