Direct Answer: The most widely-known Christian religious groups that are not allowed to consume coffee are The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS, or Mormons) and the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
For Latter-day Saints, the restriction is rooted in a health code written in 1833 and called the “Word of Wisdom” that prohibits “hot drinks.” Modern church leaders have officially interpreted this as coffee and tea (and that includes the leaves of the tea plant), whether hot or iced.
In the case of Seventh-day Adventists, the prohibition is founded upon the belief that “the body is a temple of the Holy Spirit.” They’re promoting something they call a “wholesome” health mode, free of drugs and stimulants. Not all Adventists avoid coffee, but the church “encourages members to avoid” the use of it and other drugs including tobacco & alcohol) on the basis that these substances are harmful to their body.
For The Culturally Curious: The Logic and The Loophole
The Deeper Context:
For most outside observers, it’s all about caffeine. This is inaccurate, especially about LDS church. If it were just about caffeine, then chocolate and soda should also be prohibited. But when it comes to caffeinated sodas, the LDS Church itself has made an explicit exception. The limitation is especially categorical: it is to the coffee bean and tea leaf (Camellia sinensis).
The “Hot Drinks” Paradox:
The “Word of Wisdom” (Doctrine and Covenants 89) text itself prohibits “hot drinks.” Medical theories of the 19th century held that hot liquids were damaging to the stomach. Over time, this evolved.
The Logic: Iced coffee is not allowed today, but hot chocolate makes the cut. The rule has gone from temperature to the actual substance.
The Difference:
- LDS: This is a test of obedience to contemporary prophetic counseling. The health benefits are gravy to the spiritual discipline of keeping the rule.
- SDA: It’s a health-based requirement. Frequently, they point out studies indicating the correlation between their way of life and their status as a “Blue Zone” population (those who live extraordinarily long lives).
For The Thoughtful Host: The Etiquette of Hospitality
If you have a Mormon or Adventist guest, you won’t ask “Do you want coffee? have the potential to produce a slight social tiff. Here’s a logic flow to help you be a gracious host without thinking about it too much.
Step 1: Determine Which Drink Tier You’re In
- The Red Zone (Avoid): Coffee (though some Mormons also avoid decaf, since it’s still the “bean”), Black Tea, Green Tea, White Tea, Matcha.
- The Gray Zone (Ask First): Caffeinated Soda (OKAY for many LDS, typically not drunk by SDA), Decaf Coffee (Some Seventh Day Adventists partake of it; the majority of Latter-day Saints do not).
- The Green Zone (Safe): Herbal Teas (Peppermint, Chamomile, Rooibos), Cocoa, Water, 100% Fruit Juice, Postum or Pero (grain-based coffee substitutes).
Step 2: The “Herbal” Trap
Hosts often assume that serving “tea” is safe.
*Technicality: To the Latter Day Saint, “Tea” is to be understood as tea leaf. “Herbal tea” is legally not a tea; it is an infusion (tisane).
Israel There is a solution: Don’t say “Do you want tea?” Say, “Would you like an herbal infusion, like peppermint or chamomile? That means you get the difference.”
Step 3: The Hot Chocolate Way
For a group of mixed palates, only the best hot chocolate will do as common ground. It’s a treat, it fits the social ritual of a “warm mug,” and is embraced by 99% of adherents in both groups.
For The Religious Seeker Transitioning Lifestyles
If you are exploring those faiths, many people have a hard time breaking the habit of coffee. It’s not so much theology as chemical dependency.
The Theology of Sacrifice:
You must reframe the withdrawal. In these traditions, the physical pain of quitting is seen as a sort of corporeal sacrifice demonstrating your dedication. It is a form of fasting.
- LDS View: You’re not quitting coffee for health reasons; you are because it’s what is required to carry a “temple recommend” (a card that grants access to sacred spaces). It is a toggle: Coffee = NO in/out.
- SDA View: You are emptying the mind to be more receptive to the Holy Spirit. A brain hijacked by chemicals is considered less available to spiritual inspiration.
The Strategy of Taper (Physiological Approach):
Pray for the ability and discipline to not go “cold turkey” on your baptism/confirmation day. The headaches will link the religious experience with pain.
- Week 1: Cut your coffee grounds with decaf Pour 50 percent regular coffee and 50 percent decaffeinated into a bowl and mix.
- Week 2: Switch to 100% decaf. (This cures the caffeine-fueled addiction while preserving the ritual.)
- Week 3: Try an alternative like roasted barley tea, a nice grain-based substitute, or chicory root. (That preserves the bitterness of the flavor profile without the bean.)
- Week 4: Transition to herbal tea or hot water and lemon.
The “Temple” – Healthy Believers’ Perspective
You may be a Baptist, Methodist or non-denominational Christian asking yourself: “Should I be drinking this?”
The Counter-Intuitive Health Data:
Even though SDAs forgo coffee on health grounds, today’s nutritional science provides a complex image that counters the “coffee is bad” motif.
- Liver support: Many studies confirm that people who drink coffee are much less likely to suffer from cirrhosis and liver fibrosis.
- Live Longer: Studies show people who drink 2-3 cups of coffee per day have a lower risk of all cause death.
However, the “Mastery” Argument:
For most general Christians, the biblical argument against coffee isn’t really about the liquid, but about 1 Corinthians 6:12: “I will not be brought under the power of any.”
The Self-Test: If you can·t function in the morning or minister effectively when you haven’t consumed caffeine, you are by definition “under its power.”
The Critical Thinking Application: It’s not the substance, it is the dependency that is a sin.
Actionable Step: If you were convicted by this, consider a “Caffeine Fast. Even being able to give it up for 30 days — not to banish it forever but in order to demonstrate unlike a slave, and that you are the boss not of the mood but of what is altering your mood.
Historical Context:
And priests actually begged Pope Clement VIII to outlaw coffee in 1600, because it was then associated with Islam and he dubbed is a “bitter invention of Satan.” The Pope tried it, liked its taste so much that he quipped, “We will cheat Satan by baptizing it.” This would imply that virtually throughout much of Christian history coffee has been considered acceptable.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which two Christian branches of Christianity mainly do not allow drinking coffee?
The two main sects are the LDS/Mormons and the SDA. LDS members refrain because of their “Word of Wisdom,” a health code that teaches obedience; Adventists push away the beverage to honor the body as a temple and eschew stimulants.
Are you limited to only consuming black coffee because of the caffeine content?
No, particularly for Latter-day Saints. The LDS Church’s official position is that the ban is on “coffee and tea, not caffeine”, and this interpretation is reprinted in their church educational materials. But in general, Seventh-day Adventists “discourage drinking coffee more because of the caffeine and its addictiveness.”
May I serve tea to a Latter-day Saint (Mormon) guest?
Then you should avoid serving tea of the tea plant (Camellia sinensis) like black, green or white tea. But “herbal teas” (infusions) such as peppermint, chamomile or rooibos are allowed. To be a gracious host, do serve them by explicitly calling them “Herbal Infusions” to emphasize they are made with no tea leaves in reality.
What does the “hot drinks” rule mean for Mormons when it comes to iced coffee?
No. Although the text of the 1833 version proscribed “hot drinks,” current leaders of the LDS church have interpreted this in terms of the substance rather than temperature. So no iced coffee yet hot chocolate is totes fine.
What do people think about Christians (not Latter-Day Saints or Seventh Day Adventists) that drink coffee?
In most other Christian traditions, coffee is permitted or seen as harmless, and for some it was encouraged, such as when Pope Clement VIII “baptized” coffee in the seventeenth century. But some Christian health buffs may choose to abstain in the name of exercise (1 Corinthians 6:12), desiring not to be physically reliant on anything.
References
- LDS Church Policy Clarification: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. (2019, August 15). United Order and Word of Wisdom. Makes it clear that “hot drinks” refer to tea and coffee, specifically lists vaping and the green tea ban.
- Adventist Health and Lifestyle: Fraser, G. E. (2009). Vegetarian diets: what do we know of their effects on common chronic diseases? The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. (Background: the health and longevity of SDA “Blue Zone”)
- Coffee and Risk of Death: Simon, J., et al. (2022). Coffee drinking could improve life expectancy: Study based on the UK Biobank. European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.
- LDS ClearCaffeine: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. (2012). Newsroom Statement: Mormonism and Caffeine. Corroborates that the church does not forbid caffeine outright, only “hot drink” (tea/coffee).
- Ukers, W. H. (1922) Historical Papal Anecdote: All About Coffee. The Tea and Coffee Trade Journal Company. (Source regarding Pope Clement VIII).
