--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The church has a reputation for being…" description: "\"“The church has a reputation for being antipleasure. Many characterize Christians in general the way H. L. Mencken wryly described Puritans: people wit..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c3/tish-harrison-warren-12694_christianity_the-church-has-a-reputation-for-being-an_25688.jpg" --- # The church has a reputation for being antipleasure. Many… ![“The church has a reputation for being antipleasure. Many characterize Christians in general the way H. L. Mencken wryly described Puritans: people with a “haunting fear that someone, somewhere might be happy.”3 In reality, the church has led the way in the art of enjoyment and pleasure. New…” quote by Tish Harrison Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c3/tish-harrison-warren-12694_christianity_the-church-has-a-reputation-for-being-an_25688.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c3/tish-harrison-warren-12694_christianity_the-church-has-a-reputation-for-being-an_25688.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c3/tish-harrison-warren-12694_christianity_the-church-has-a-reputation-for-being-an_25688.jpg) > ““The church has a reputation for being antipleasure. Many characterize Christians in general the way H. L. Mencken wryly described Puritans: people with a “haunting fear that someone, somewhere might be happy.”3 In reality, the church has led the way in the art of enjoyment and pleasure. New Testament scholar Ben Witherington points out that it was the church, not Starbucks, that created coffee culture.4 Coffee was first invented by Ethiopian monks—the term cappuccino refers to the shade of brown used for the habits of the Capuchin monks of Italy. Coffee is born of extravagance, an extravagant God who formed an extravagant people, who formed a craft out of the pleasures of roasted beans and frothed milk.”” [Tish Harrison Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tish-harrison-warren/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The church historically contributed to cultural pleasures like coffee, contradicting stereotypes of asceticism. **In simple terms:** Church shaped coffee culture, defying austere image. Key Takeaway Religious institutions can foster enjoyment. Themes culture religion stereotype pleasure history Mood ironic thoughtful informative Type observational historical When to use this quote - historical analysis - cultural criticism - religious studies - social commentary Key Concepts coffee origins monastic innovation cultural influence Practical Applications - educational lectures - media articles Questions to Reflect On - How do stereotypes shape our view of religious groups? - What other pleasures have religious communities popularized? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Christianity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/christianity/) [Coffee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/coffee/) [New testament](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/new-testament/) ## Related quotes > [“In reality, the church has led the way in the art of enjoyment and pleasure. New Testament scholar Ben Witherington points out that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tish-harrison-warren/in-reality-the-church-has-led-the-way-in-the-art-of-enjoyment-and/) [Tish Harrison Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tish-harrison-warren/) > [“The Lord must have created coffee to reward humans for those bad times they sometimes have on Earth. Having charged your heart and brain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sahara-sanders/the-lord-must-have-created-coffee-to-reward-humans-for-those-bad/) [Sahara Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sahara-sanders/) > [“Is it any surprise that the current center of coffee culture, the city of Seattle, home to the Starbucks coffeehouse chain, is also where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-standage/is-it-any-surprise-that-the-current-center-of-coffee-culture-the-city/) [Tom Standage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-standage/) > [You can't have a decent food culture without a decent coffee culture: the two things grow up together.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-gopnik/you-can-t-have-a-decent-food-culture-without-a-decent-coffee-culture/) [Adam Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-gopnik/) > [You don't even really need a place. But you feel like you're doing something. That is what coffee is. And that is one of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-seinfeld/you-don-t-even-really-need-a-place-but-you-feel-like-you-re-doing/) [Jerry Seinfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-seinfeld/) > [Coffee has assumed a social meaning that goes far beyond the simple black brew in the cup. The worldwide coffee culture is more than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-pendergrast/coffee-has-assumed-a-social-meaning-that-goes-far-beyond-the-simple/) Mark Pendergrast > [I'm a New Testament Christian. I reject and throw out titles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bright/i-m-a-new-testament-christian-i-reject-and-throw-out-titles/) [Bill Bright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bright/) > [Who wrote the Bible? Current scholarship, to my knowledge, assumes that the material that constitutes the Old Testament was put together from various oral…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/who-wrote-the-bible-current-scholarship-to-my-knowledge-assumes-that/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [Someone gave me a New Testament. I had never before read it systematically. Some parts made sense, some parts shocked me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-blue/someone-gave-me-a-new-testament-i-had-never-before-read-it/) [Lionel Blue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-blue/) > [What is it the Bible teaches us? - raping, cruelty, and murder. What is it the New Testament teaches us? - to believe that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/what-is-it-the-bible-teaches-us-raping-cruelty-and-murder-what-is-it/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [“‎A careful reading of the Old and New Testaments shows that idolatry is nothing like the crude picture that springs to mind of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-keyes/a-careful-reading-of-the-old-and-new-testaments-shows-that-idolatry/) Richard Keyes > [“Intellectualism is a poor master over passion”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/twe-stephens/intellectualism-is-a-poor-master-over-passion/) Twe Stephens > [The definition of a Church is crystal clear in the New Testament. We see the picture of it. They came together the first day…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-macarthur/the-definition-of-a-church-is-crystal-clear-in-the-new-testament-we/) [John MacArthur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-macarthur/) > [“days of the earliest Church? I ask you: Do you want things to go on as usual, or do you want to see God…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-t-kendall/days-of-the-earliest-church-i-ask-you-do-you-want-things-to-go-on-as/) [R. T. Kendall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-t-kendall/) > [“While it is in one sense a result of God’s presence within us, the New Testament also describes a process involved in our “putting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dallas-willard/while-it-is-in-one-sense-a-result-of-god-s-presence-within-us-the-new/) [Dallas Willard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dallas-willard/) ## More by Tish Harrison Warren > [“We do not know this Messiah solely through the red letters in the gospel texts. We know him in his fullness because we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tish-harrison-warren/we-do-not-know-this-messiah-solely-through-the-red-letters-in-the/) [Tish Harrison Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tish-harrison-warren/) > [“Together as a church we are practicing, learning the strokes that teach us to live our lives.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tish-harrison-warren/together-as-a-church-we-are-practicing-learning-the-strokes-that/) [Tish Harrison Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tish-harrison-warren/) > [“We have everyday habits—formative practices—that constitute daily liturgies. By reaching for my smartphone every morning, I had developed a ritual that trained me toward…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tish-harrison-warren/we-have-everyday-habits-formative-practices-that-constitute-daily/) [Tish Harrison Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tish-harrison-warren/) > [“Annie Dillard famously writes, “How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.”6 I came across Dillard’s words a couple…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tish-harrison-warren/annie-dillard-famously-writes-how-we-spend-our-days-is-of-course-how/) [Tish Harrison Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tish-harrison-warren/) > [“Alfred Hitchcock said movies are “life with the dull bits cut out.”5 Car chases and first kisses, interesting plot lines and good conversations. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tish-harrison-warren/alfred-hitchcock-said-movies-are-life-with-the-dull-bits-cut-out-5/) [Tish Harrison Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tish-harrison-warren/) > [“We disdain limits. Wendell Berry warned, “It is easy . . . to imagine that the next great division of the world will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tish-harrison-warren/we-disdain-limits-wendell-berry-warned-it-is-easy-to-imagine-that-the/) [Tish Harrison Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tish-harrison-warren/) > [“In Jewish culture, days begin in the evening with the setting of the sun. (We see this in Genesis 1 with the repetition of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tish-harrison-warren/in-jewish-culture-days-begin-in-the-evening-with-the-setting-of-the/) [Tish Harrison Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tish-harrison-warren/) > [“And in the absence of control, feeling stuck and stressed, those parts of me that I prefer to keep hidden were momentarily unveiled.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tish-harrison-warren/and-in-the-absence-of-control-feeling-stuck-and-stressed-those-parts/) [Tish Harrison Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tish-harrison-warren/) > [“Without realizing it, I had slowly built a habit: a steady resistance to and dread of boredom.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tish-harrison-warren/without-realizing-it-i-had-slowly-built-a-habit-a-steady-resistance/) [Tish Harrison Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tish-harrison-warren/) > [“But here's the thing: pretty good people do not need Jesus. He came for the lost. He came for the broken. In his love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tish-harrison-warren/but-here-s-the-thing-pretty-good-people-do-not-need-jesus-he-came-for/) [Tish Harrison Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tish-harrison-warren/) > [“In his brief theology of sleep, Scottish pastor John Baillie writes that in Christ, we “wake up better men than when we went to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tish-harrison-warren/in-his-brief-theology-of-sleep-scottish-pastor-john-baillie-writes/) [Tish Harrison Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tish-harrison-warren/) > [“In the Christian faith it’s almost a philosophical principle that the universal is known through the particular and the abstract through the concrete. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tish-harrison-warren/in-the-christian-faith-it-s-almost-a-philosophical-principle-that-the/) [Tish Harrison Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tish-harrison-warren/) > [“Theologian Stanley Hauerwas argues that to truly learn a story, we can’t just hear it. We must also act it out. In our worship—and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tish-harrison-warren/theologian-stanley-hauerwas-argues-that-to-truly-learn-a-story-we-can/) [Tish Harrison Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tish-harrison-warren/) > [“The crucible of our formation is in the monotony of our daily routines.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tish-harrison-warren/the-crucible-of-our-formation-is-in-the-monotony-of-our-daily-routines/) [Tish Harrison Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tish-harrison-warren/) > [“The habit of praying before my meal trains me in a way of being-in-the-world. It reminds me that my personal experience is not what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tish-harrison-warren/the-habit-of-praying-before-my-meal-trains-me-in-a-way-of-being-in/) [Tish Harrison Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tish-harrison-warren/) [Explore all 53 Tish Harrison Warren quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tish-harrison-warren/) ## More Christianity quotes > [Christianity was never meant to be defined by its disciplines, but by its passions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-johnson/christianity-was-never-meant-to-be-defined-by-its-disciplines-but-by/) [Bill Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-johnson/) > [I think, here's what I've realized from interviewing people, and I've been very open about my Catholicism and my love of Christ and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-mohr/i-think-here-s-what-i-ve-realized-from-interviewing-people-and-i-ve/) [Jay Mohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-mohr/) > [“God hates Hell. He hates the idea of people going there. He hates it so much that He was willing to take on human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evan-minton/god-hates-hell-he-hates-the-idea-of-people-going-there-he-hates-it-so/) [Evan Minton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evan-minton/) > [“some of my good Baptist brethren in Georgia had done a little preaching from the pulpit against the KKK, I would have a little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-moss/some-of-my-good-baptist-brethren-in-georgia-had-done-a-little/) [Norman Moss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-moss/) > [I pray that wherever we are and whatever duties we have in the priesthood of God, we will be united in the cause to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-b-eyring/i-pray-that-wherever-we-are-and-whatever-duties-we-have-in-the/) [Henry B. Eyring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-b-eyring/) > [Why do Christians sing when they are together? 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Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-r-holland/) > [“A question for Christians who accept evolution: When did we gain a "soul"? Did Homo habilis have a soul? Homo ergaster? Did God only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-g-mcafee/a-question-for-christians-who-accept-evolution-when-did-we-gain-a/) [David G. McAfee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-g-mcafee/) > [The notion of a non-religious Christmas is ridiculous. But so is the insistence on the part of Christians that politicians and retailers carry out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-campos-duffy/the-notion-of-a-non-religious-christmas-is-ridiculous-but-so-is-the/) [Rachel Campos-Duffy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-campos-duffy/) > [A real Christian in an odd number anyway. He feels supreme love for One whom he has never seen, talks familiarly every day to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-real-christian-in-an-odd-number-anyway-he-feels-supreme-love-for/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Because the truth is that gossip is as good as gospel in this town. 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Then I went to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mandy-patinkin/i-grew-up-in-synagogue-in-the-boys-choir-we-didn-t-listen-to-music-in/) [Mandy Patinkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mandy-patinkin/) [Browse all 14,385 Christianity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/christianity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The church has a reputation for being antipleasure. Many characterize Christians in general the way H. L. Mencken wryly described Puritans: people with a “haunting fear that someone, somewhere might be happy.”3 In reality, the church has led the way in the art of enjoyment and pleasure. New Testament scholar Ben Witherington points out that it was the church, not Starbucks, that created coffee culture.4 Coffee was first invented by Ethiopian monks—the term cappuccino refers to the shade of brown used for the habits of the Capuchin monks of Italy. 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