Is drinking coffee a sin?

[juhothenero]

Hey, I learned from some evangelicals in my country to drinking coffee is a bad action, I am especially coffee addicted, drink about 4 cups a day, although i can keep myself from drinking it, i just like to drink it. It seems to me that this is not a real sin and i am a sin in much more horrible ways then this. I am a Lutheran and turning Catholic on my “trial” period and just wanting to know how strict these moral issues in reality are for catholics?

Does any Catholic ever do a sin?

 

[maize]

coffee is not a sin.

of course catholics sin, all people do.

if you start skipping eucharist for coffee, you might have a problem.

 

[Ted_in_Charlott]

Coffee is a stimulant and drinking too much can cause you to get the shakes and it will affect your sleep habits. Almost anything done to excess is a sin, even drinking too much coffee. But small quantities like a cup or two in the morning is not sinful. God bless you.

 

[LilyM]

Coffee is a stimulant and drinking too much can cause you to get the shakes and it will affect your sleep habits. Almost anything done to excess is a sin, even drinking too much coffee. But small quantities like a cup or two in the morning is not sinful. God bless you.

There’s nothing sinful at all about coffee per se. It is like alcohol, a drug that used in moderation is good for your health, lots of antioxidants, but which can be abused by some.

4 cups a day, as long as they’re not strong, is a high intake, but I think still within acceptable limits, you might want to have the doctor check things like your bloodpressure to make sure your body is coping ok with it. Try having just one cup a day less to be safe.

 

[juhothenero]

o’ my body seems to be fine with it. Just where i live 4 cups is quite regular for people. For example what I’ve discussed with doctor 7 cups of alcohol at one day a week or two to three per day, they say body can cope with it. Some alcohol threads earlier posted i notice catholics have a very strong attitude towards such issues as these kinds of drugs like coffee and alcohol, being a northern European alcohol as an example is a social drug and it is used a lot, something like 20 bottles of beer a weekend is quite regular.

I know such an amount is wrong because of being drunk is a sin but what i am wondering is how much affect culture has on sin? There are some topics which are cultural, some are not (like birth control, killing etc are non-cultural), so how much weight can culture put on the issue of sin

 

[Ted_in_Charlott]

Most studies show the amount of caffeine in two American cups of coffee (about 8 ounces each) can raise your systolic blood pressure 3 to 14 mm Hg and diastolic blood pressure 4 to 13 mm Hg, at least in the short term. One study does show much lower numbers, but an increase is associated nonetheless.

ineedcoffee.com/07/coffee-blood-pressure/

In a long-term study of more than 1,000 men, drinking a daily cup of regular coffee raised systolic pressure (the upper number) by 0.19 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure (the lower number) by 0.27 mmHg. Coffee drinkers also had a greater incidence of hypertension (28 percent) than their non-coffee drinking counterparts (19 percent).

hopkinsmedicine.org/press/2002/MARCH/020324.htm

Clearly, if you do something that hurts your body to excess, it is sin. It is like asking how many times can I poke myself in the arm with an icepick before I bleed to death?

 

[LilyM]

o’ my body seems to be fine with it. Just where i live 4 cups is quite regular for people. For example what I’ve discussed with doctor 7 cups of alcohol at one day a week or two to three per day, they say body can cope with it. Some alcohol threads earlier posted i notice catholics have a very strong attitude towards such issues as these kinds of drugs like coffee and alcohol, being a northern European alcohol as an example is a social drug and it is used a lot, something like 20 bottles of beer a weekend is quite regular.

I know such an amount is wrong because of being drunk is a sin but what i am wondering is how much affect culture has on sin? There are some topics which are cultural, some are not (like birth control, killing etc are non-cultural), so how much weight can culture put on the issue of sin

7 alcoholic drinks in a sitting? No way - latest health guidelines here in Australia are that you can’t have more than 3 or 4 in one sitting without compromising health, and even men shouldn’t have more than 2 a day.

 

[happyseppy]

My goodness, if coffee drinking is a sin, then I’m doomed.

I do think that different cultures approach many areas of life in such wildly varying ways ( food, drink, modes of dress, etc…) that it is very difficult to pin down every action as being sinful or not.

Each area of the world has it’s own norms and Catholic leadership to guide them.

That said , one thing to consider is that “People look at the flesh, but God looks upon the heart.” ( A very loose qoute, but the correct meaning is there. ) The intentions of our heart can determine the level of sinfulness or not, of an action. So saying, cultural practices can fall into that realm.

That is to say, that wherever you are from, you pretty much know in your heart if you are crossing the line from normal consumption of coffee or alcohol to a sinful range. God is gracious to give us a sense of such things.

Now I believe it is time for my second cup of coffee…:yawn:

God Bless you,
Peace,
Kelly

 

[juhothenero]

7 alcoholic drinks in a sitting? No way - latest health guidelines here in Australia are that you can’t have more than 3 or 4 in one sitting without compromising health, and even men shouldn’t have more than 2 a day.

I do not know in Australia but maybe this is also cultural, In north-east Europe, such as Russia, Estonia, Lithuania, Finland (where i am from) people drink a lot and maybe health studies are affected by it. But i did go to a doctors office here and also find information about it. The bad thing is you cannot read Finnish i suppose so that is not useful to post a link here. But they say in one sitting or gathering 7 bottles is OK.

do you drink pints there? 7 bottles in our standards means about 3-4 pints. One bottle 0.33, one pint 0.5 litter.

I suppose American cups might be bigger too, can somebody say in litter? Because i have know idea how much is that 8 ounces?

Anything that harms you is a sin? That would mean that for east-north European it is not a sin to drink more then Japanese since Japanese persons liver doesn’t chop alcohol as well as ours, so we can drink more without getting into trouble…

There seems to be a lot of variance

 

[juhothenero]

My goodness, if coffee drinking is a sin, then I’m doomed.

I do think that different cultures approach many areas of life in such wildly varying ways ( food, drink, modes of dress, etc…) that it is very difficult to pin down every action as being sinful or not.

Each area of the world has it’s own norms and Catholic leadership to guide them.

That said , one thing to consider is that “People look at the flesh, but God looks upon the heart.” ( A very loose qoute, but the correct meaning is there. ) The intentions of our heart can determine the level of sinfulness or not, of an action. So saying, cultural practices can fall into that realm.

That is to say, that wherever you are from, you pretty much know in your heart if you are crossing the line from normal consumption of coffee or alcohol to a sinful range. God is gracious to give us a sense of such things.

Now I believe it is time for my second cup of coffee…:yawn:

God Bless you,
Peace,
Kelly

This i must say is very well said, Thanks

 

[goofyjim]

Simply put, no. Neither is eating transfat but the government now wants to step in and control that.

 

[Will_B]

Hey, I learned from some evangelicals in my country to drinking coffee is a bad action, I am especially coffee addicted, drink about 4 cups a day, although i can keep myself from drinking it, i just like to drink it. It seems to me that this is not a real sin and i am a sin in much more horrible ways then this. I am a Lutheran and turning Catholic on my “trial” period and just wanting to know how strict these moral issues in reality are for catholics?

Does any Catholic ever do a sin?

Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, therefore any abuse of that body is a sin… Are you abusing your body by drinking 4 cups a day? I really think that is between you and the Holy Spirit… If in doubt, ask a priest at your next confession.

Blessing

Will B.

 

[puzzleannie]

Hey, I learned from some evangelicals in my country to drinking coffee is a bad action, I am especially coffee addicted, drink about 4 cups a day, although i can keep myself from drinking it, i just like to drink it. It seems to me that this is not a real sin and i am a sin in much more horrible ways then this. I am a Lutheran and turning Catholic on my “trial” period and just wanting to know how strict these moral issues in reality are for catholics?

Does any Catholic ever do a sin?

Oh boy just when I thought I was to old for serious sinning any more, you throw this at me. Please ask your friends, since they are of course sola scriptura in outlook, to find the specific prohibition in the bible. Until then, pass the cream, please. 4 cups of coffee a day is not an addiction it is a habit.

Does any Catholic ever do a sin? as the old rabbi said, the just man sins seven times a day, for the rest of us that figure is a lot higher, but coffee drinking does not make the cut.

If you are looking for a church full of sinless perfect people, keep on walking you won’t find it here.

you certainly cannot have 7 drinks and get behind the wheel of a car. and BTW drinking coffee after alcohol is not going to act fast enough or be effective in lowering blood alcohol level, that is a myth.

4 cups might be just average in a lot of places where the coffee pot is on all day and evening. My parents’ generation drank a lot more regularly, and in quantity than we do in general, but we also had alcoholism in the family (not my parents thank God) so I never developed that habit, but that is a personal not spiritual choice.

If anything, even something objectively good, causes a health problem for an individual it should be avoided. As a diabetic I cannot drink red wine, something otherwise good for the heart, nor can I drink straight orange, pomegranate or grape juice, also good foods. Since coffee’s effect on blood sugar is hotly debated and latest research discounts it I still drink coffee, but cut down a lot for the sake of my stomach.

A flagrant, blatant disregard for ones health could verge on being sinful depending on knowledge, freedom of action, motive etc.

 

[juhothenero]

Oh boy just when I thought I was to old for serious sinning any more, you throw this at me. Please ask your friends, since they are of course sola scriptura in outlook, to find the specific prohibition in the bible. Until then, pass the cream, please. 4 cups of coffee a day is not an addiction it is a habit.

Does any Catholic ever do a sin? as the old rabbi said, the just man sins seven times a day, for the rest of us that figure is a lot higher, but coffee drinking does not make the cut.

Actually i was looking for a church full of sinners since those who claim to be without sin seem a bit untrustworthy. And also those who claim every sin is basically OK, such as Lutherans at least here in Finland.

Of course after seven beers one cannot drive, it is already dangerous after one beer. It would be better to not to drink and drive at all. But since i don’t have nor need a car that is not my problem to begin with.

Sola Scriptura has never worked for me since reading the bible always directs me towards catholic church and not towards evangelicals. Maybe if one is honest Catholic church has the highest basis on scripture, at least Lutheran, pentecostal or any other denominations here don’t.

Anyway thanks for your answer.

juhou

 

[Glorfindel]

This is not an answer, BUT I thought it was pretty interesting, in the US, Catholics consume more coffee than Protestants. (Again, the question was about whether drinking coffee was a sin or not, I just thought it was a cool little fact.:coffeeread: )

 

[Julianna]

Hey, I learned from some evangelicals in my country to drinking coffee is a bad action, I am especially coffee addicted, drink about 4 cups a day, although i can keep myself from drinking it, i just like to drink it. It seems to me that this is not a real sin and i am a sin in much more horrible ways then this. I am a Lutheran and turning Catholic on my “trial” period and just wanting to know how strict these moral issues in reality are for catholics?

Does any Catholic ever do a sin?

this can not be real, am I dreaming