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Spurgeon and his defense of his love of cigars

BBAS 64

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Good day

I story is often told about how CHS was challenged by someone with regard to his smoking of cigars (being sinful). The story goes on to say that based upon this challenge CHS quit smoking his cigars. I heard this so many times and no one could give me a primary source for this story, come to find out it is just that a story with no basis in historical facts.

Phil Johnson's 2021 presentation on the question first (13 mins)


And the web site with the source information that he points to:

Spurgeon's Love of Fine Cigars

In Him

Bill
 

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I don’t see that it matters that much; I do urge clergy not to smoke, and some Orthodox churches prohibit it, for example the Romanians, the second largest Eastern Orthodox church (I met a Romanian Orthodox priest, who was scandalized to discover that several Bulgarian Orthodox seminarians, who narrowly beat the Romanians in a Byzantine Chant competition, smoked).
 
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ViaCrucis

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Smoking, while unhealthy and unwise, isn't sinful. We need to make that distinction crystal clear, otherwise we're just degenerating into empty moralism. Drinking soda is also unhealthy and unwise, but most of us would easily recognize that calling it sinful would be ridiculous, an act of just making up sins for fun.
 
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DragonFox91

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This is the first I heard he quit but I haven't read much on his life. I think it's bizarre he was a heavy smoker. Even in those days a lot of people knew smoking isn't right. I don't know his biography about it, but I'm guessing it was just something he tried once & it became a 'habit' he couldn't break. I'll have to listen to the video.

I do believe it is morally not right. I believe it brings in attitudes that are unrighteous. The 2 are linked.

I suspect the depression he struggled w/, his cigar smoking, & his love for Christ are linked, those just didn't happen in a void
 
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