Coffee and religion, a deep rooted story

Coffee is the favorite habit of millions of people. Can you imagine that there were historical periods that coffee was closely related to our religious beliefs?

As odd as it may seem strange today, coffee has become entangled with religion in its history. From his discovery and spread to the Muslim world, to the baptism of the Papal Lips and his adoption of a Christian doctrine in his generation, our favorite drink has often been a concern for both religious leaders and believers. We leave banning coffee for religious reasons aside, in order to stand at three stations in the relationship of coffee and religion, from its origins to the Renaissance.

Coffee's Islamic Origins

Although coffee appeared as a plant in Ethiopia, coffee as a drink owes its existence to the Arabs. One of the reasons why coffee has been rapidly spreading to the Arab world is the fact of banning alcohol consumption by the Muslim religion. In the absence of alcohol, coffee replaced wine or beer in terms of the social dimension of beverages: Muslims could enjoy a drink by chatting with friends without violating Islamic law. In addition, the old coffee name, qahwah, means "wine". In the first years of his spread, coffee is widely used by Muslim Sufi monks as a means of keeping them awake in their tiring religious wakefulness.

Coffee conquers christendom by... baptism

Both its Arabic past and his association with Islam created mistrust among Christians for the new drink, coffee, during the time of itsintroduction to Europe - we are talking about the time when the Ottoman Empire is the greatest threat to European territories. When coffee arrives on Italian territory, the Pope's advisors persistently push him publicly to renounce the "satan drink": it is dark, bitter, popular among Muslims, and affects human mood. Luckily, Pope Clement the Eighth tastes a cup of coffee  and decides that "the new drink remains delicious to give it to the unbelievers." So, with a modest ceremony, coffee is baptized  a Christian beverage. Although this story touches the limits of the legend, many claim that Pope Clement saw an opportunity to drastically reduce alcohol in his flock through the Christian coffee. The fact is, however, that from this moment onwards, the spread of coffee in the Christian world has been very rapid.

Coffee and Protestantism, parallel lines

In the 16th century, a movement within Christianity was to become the second largest Christian community in the world. Taking the form of Martin Luther's words and gaining ground among the faithful of the German-speaking countries, Protestantism will become a very popular Christian doctrine in Central and Northern Europe. Among his other characteristics, Protestantism is characterized by a strict, often rigid moral and hard work ethic - it was therefore immediately to embrace the tonic properties of coffee.

At a time when alcoholism was a huge wound for the workforce, and drinking was often a one-way street because of contaminated and inappropriate water, coffee was an excellent alternative to traditional German beer. Coffee helped the believers to stay sober, abstaining from alcohol but also improving their productivity and appetite for work, virtues that Protestantism is particularly honored. The new - for Europe - beverage has quickly become a beloved habit for an up-to-date religious doctrine, though this may seem strange or distant today.

Coffee and religion nowadays

Coffee today, of course, concerns the whole world and has fanatic friends in every corner of the earth without being connected to any religious faith. Last churches associated with coffee are located in the USA: it's small congregations, giving large base on the social dimension of coffee, handing itfree in their sermons or organizing a church service with copious amounts of coffee. Typically, these churches connect coffee with a more virtuous and restrained way of life, as opposed to alcohol or psychotropic substances.

 

Religious belief is something deep, personal and spiritual, of course not related to mundane and daily, such as coffee. This, of course, does not prevent us from thanking God for the delicious and tasty drink you have given us!