Devoted to the Propagation and Defense of New Testament Christianity
VOLUME 14
March 28, 1963
NUMBER 46, PAGE 2,11a

Some Facts About Smoking

Jimmy Thomas

"In 1930, there were only 2400 deaths from lung cancer recorded in the United States; in 1961, 37,500 persons died of the disease. At this rate, according to American Public Health Association statistics, a million children now in school will die of lung cancer before they reach the age of 70." (Changing Times, via. the Readers Digest, Feb., 1963.)

"Most of the scientists who have given thought and study to the matter appear to agree that an association between cigarette smoking and cancer of the lung does exist." (Charles S. Cameron, M. D., The Atlantic Monthly, Jan., 1956; via These Times, Aug., 1956.)

"Since 1953 at least 23 investigations in nine different countries have reported on the relationship between lung cancer and smoking. 'All these studies.... have shown that death rates from lung cancer increase steeply with increasing consumption of cigarettes. Heavy cigarette smokers are much more affected than pipe or cigar smokers (who do not inhale) and that the group which had given up smoking at the start of the survey had a lower death rate than those who had continued to smoke." (Report of Britain's 444-year-old Royal College of Physicians; Readers Digest, June, 1062.)

....non-smokers have one chance in 270 of developing lung cancer while the person who smokes 40 or more cigarettes per day has one chance in 10." (Dr. Oscar Auerbach, senior investigator at Vt. Adm. Hosp. In East Orange, N. J.; quoted by Dr. Hollis E. Johnson of Nashville.)

"Cigarette smoking is a cause of lung cancer and bronchitis, and probably contributes to the development of coronary heart disease and various less common diseases." (Royal College report; Readers Digest, June 1962.)

"Those who smoked more than 25 cigarettes a day had a death rate from bronchitis six times greater than that of non-smokers." (Ibid.)

"It seems reasonable at present to agree with the recent statement of the committee on smoking and cardiovascular disease of the American Heart Association, that present evidence 'strongly suggests that heavy cigarette smoking may contribute to or accelerate the development of coronary disease or its complication,' at least in men under the age of 55." (Ibid.)

"Smoking does not appear to be a cause of ulcers in the stomach and duodenum but probably exacerbates and perpetuates them" (Ibid.)

"Nearly two-thirds of the 6,203 deaths of tobacco users studied were attributed to diseases of the heart, blood vessels and kidneys. The death rate from coronary disease was found to be 63 percent greater for regular cigarette-only smokers than for non-smokers." (Associated Press dispatch, July 5, 1958; via. Gospel Digest. Nov., 1959.)

"Regular cigarette smokers also had greater death rates from certain respiratory disease such as bronchitis, pleurisy and emphysema, from ulcers of the stomach and duodenum, and from cirrhosis of the liver." (Ibid.)

"The Mayo Foundation examined 90 smokers and learned that when one cigarette is smoked, the temperature of the hands and feet dropped on a average of 5.3 degrees. It was also learned that coronary heart disease is six times as prevalent among smokers as in non-smokers, and the death rates between 30-50 are twice as great among heavy smokers than among non-smokers. Also found was that 92% of mouth cancers are among heavy smokers." (B. E. Russell, via. Gospel Guardian, Dec. 21, 1961.)

"We know that smoking can cause spasm of small arteries thus impairing circulation and sometimes resulting in cramps of feet and legs, coldness of the extremities, and the like.... As to the heart itself, smoking can cause changes in electrocardiograms. All of which certainly is adequate proof to me. Isn't it to you?" (Dr. Joseph G. Molner, The Daily Herald, Columbia, Tenn., Jan. 31, 1963.)

"Smoking dries out the nose and throat and lung surfaces. It irritates. It causes discharges and cough. It interferes to a real degree with efficiency of breathing. It dulls the taste for food. It causes spasm of small arteries. It quickens heart rate. It stains the teeth and makes the breath smell bad to non-smokers." (Ibid., Nov. 1, 1962.)

"It has been my experience in more than forty years of active obstetrical and general practice that most mothers who smoke have decidedly fewer babies than mothers who do not smoke. More of the smokers have no babies at all. I have seen that pregnancy in smokers is much more stormy with discomforts, dangers and complications than in non-smokers. These complications are nausea, vomiting, indigestion, bronchial trouble, spontaneous abortion, premature birth, and failure to gain weight normally." (Frank Leighton Wood, M. D., Life and Health, Nov., 1954, via Gospel Digest, June, 1955.)

"In 1949, a German researcher Dr. Paul Bernard, reported on a 20-year study of 458 women who did not smoke. Doctor Bernard found that disorders of the thyroid were nearly seven times as frequent in smokers as in non-smokers. Menstrual disorders were present in over 36 percent of the smokers as compared to slightly over 13 percent of the non-smokers. Premature menopause occurred in more than 20 percent of the smokers compared with less than 2 percent of the non-smokers." (Ann Usher, Better Homes and Gardens, Jan., 1958.)

"In 1931, researcher Mgalobeli of Germany reported that among women workers in Tobacco factories there were fewer pregnancies, more miscarriages, and a greater death rate for their infants during the first 3 years of life." (Ibid.)

"For many years now the number-one cause of fires has been smoking carelessness' says Edward F. Cavanaugh, fire commissioner of New York City...." According to the National Safety Council: "Cigarettes are responsible for more than 100,000 fires annually in buildings and an equal number outdoors in rubbish and trash, brush and forest areas. These fires cause hundreds of fatalities, thousands of injuries, and a loss of tens of millions of dollars." (Christian Herald, June, 1959.)

"The Agriculture Department estimates that there are '70 million tobacco smokers in the United States.... Tobacco is the fourth ranking crop in value, including livestock. Growers got over $1.3 billion from the sale of tobacco in 1981." (Drew Pearson, The Nashville Tennessean, Nashville, Tenn.)

'The magazine Advertising Age estimates that in 1981 alone the six major tobacco companies spent more than 144 million dollars in advertising." (The Readers Digest, Feb., 1983.)

It is a fact that many church members not only spend more for cigarettes and other tobacco products than they give unto the Lord; but they also pay greatly for medicine, doctor and hospital bills because of illnesses caused by smoking, as well as shortening their life span and usefulness in the Master's kingdom on an average of seven years.

Since cigarette smoking was 'unknown during the first century, it is not specifically condemned, but in principle smoking is forbidden. "Or know ye not that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which ye have from God? and ye are not your own; for ye were bought with a price: glorify God therefore in your body." (1 Cor. 8:19, 20; cf. 3:18-18; 1 Pet. 2:9; 1:14-18; Matt. 5:8; Rom. 12:1, 2; 1 Thess. 5:21, 22.)

Will you keep on smoking regardless of the facts presented in this article or will you give up the filthy smoking habit NOW and encourage others to do the same?

— Columbia, Tennessee