A Thought From Machen

Instead of notes from the Shepherd's Conference I would like to share this quote from J. Gresham Machen:


"The fellows are in my room now on the last Sunday night, smoking the cigars and eating the oranges which it has been the greatest delight I ever had to provide whenever possible. My idea of delight is a Princeton room full of fellows smoking. When I think what a wonderful aid tobacco is to friendship and Christian patience, I have sometimes regretted that I never began to smoke."1



I am sure that this was before modern medicine figured out the dangers of smoking. Was there even a "surgeon general" back then to let people know how dangerous everything is for them? Or, maybe the vitamin c in the oranges helps with the smoke inhalation.





*Thanks to Joel Kent for finding this quote and sending it my way.*

1. Ned. B. Stonehouse, J. Gresham Machen: A Biographical Memoir
(Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1987, originally published in 1954, 17 years after Machen's death), p. 506.