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Over the past few years it’s been my privilege to get to know Elijah Roberts CPG, a pipeman I quickly understood to embody that rare human quality, “the attitude of gratitude.”  When I eventually came to know he works really long hours and is the father of pre-schooler triplets (I can’t even imagine), often getting the chance for his pipe only on Sunday afternoons, I had to wonder where the gratitude came from.  In working with him on the restoration of his Patent 12B, I found we’re both what theologian N. T. Wright calls “Messiah-people” and so of course I was interested in how he understood the relationship of belief and pipe smoking.  Referring to that opus classicum, Charles Spurgeon’s “Smoking to the Glory of God,” I asked if he’d share his story as well as his reflections on it.  Whatever your own existential-ontological matrix, I hope you’ll find Elijah’s Pete pilgrimage profitable.

Pipe Smoking to God’s Glory in Jesus Christ
by Elijah Roberts 

I first began smoking a pipe in 2019. The year prior I had moved from Spokane Washington to Grand Rapids Michigan. There in Spokane I never had the slightest inclination to smoke anything, much less a pipe. Here in Grand Rapids, however, many of the friends I made were smokers, and one in particular smoked a pipe. Moreover, our commonly held highest esteemed Dutch Reformed theologian, Herman Hoeksema was an avid pipe smoker. Being one of the most gifted theologians the Reformed and Christian church has ever been pleased to profit from, I thought to myself, “Maybe there is a connection between great theology and pipe smoking. I should try it.” But more about that later.

Herman Hoeksema (1886-1965)

Not only did I have a friend that smoked pipes, but I had a soon to be father-in-law who at one point in his life (prior to major health problems) was also a big-time pipe smoker. Twenty years before I even knew him he sold all of his pipes, all except two.

An XL90 Spigot Natural, c. 2010

My soon to be father-in-law kept two Peterson Spigot XL90s, hallmarked 1998. One of the pipes had a natural blonde stain to it, the other a more orangey brown stain color to it. He called them his ‘twin’ pipes – the most expensive and high-quality pipes he ever owned. I was bedazzled by the look of those two Petersons. On the brink of coveting, I beheld them in an altogether unique way in my eyes. The sterling silver was particularly attractive. He offered me the chance to smoke one, to which I gladly acquiesed. It was an unforgettable experience. Though I knew nothing of Peterson at the time, this was the best smoke I had known up to this point.

Even though smoking my soon-to-be father in law’s Peterson was a noteworthy experience, I regarded the brand as far beyond my reach from a fiscal level and thought myself unworthy to own a pipe like this in my early pipe smoking career. So, I smoked a Savinelli Porto Cervo 925 in the meantime.

A 317 System Spigot

In April of 2021 I decided to take the next, long-awaited step: buying a Peterson of my own. I landed on the 317 System Spigot, which I bought brand new from Smokingpipes.   I had read an article by Andy Wike on the System Pipe and thought it worth a try. It was the worst smoke I ever had. The P-Lip was uncomfortable. The smoke tasted acrid. And I found it repulsive to go through the cleaning exercise afterward. So I ditched Peterson and vowed to never try a System pipe again.

Between Fall of 2021 and Winter of 2023, I was into Danish pipes, especially Stanwells. I really liked a variety of free-hand shapes and this is when I began buying more pipes and tobaccos. It was during this phase that I decided if I was going to be a true pipe collector I needed to have at least one Peterson in my collection, just not a System pipe (since my first go at that was a nightmare). I wanted a pipe that had a nice bend to it, so I settled on a brand-new smooth Sherlock Holmes Baskerville. I really enjoyed that pipe and it quickly became my best smoker. Moreover, it gave me second thoughts about the P-Lip, which to my surprise improved the flavor profile of the tobacco smoke quite substantially.

A Baskerville Gold Mount Supreme (this may not be Elijah’s exact pipe)

Having the Baskerville pipe made me reconsider Peterson pipes a little deeper, especially its history. So I began to do a little more research on Peterson which led me to Mark’s blog. You cannot get very far into any of Mark’s posts and not hear something about the System pipe. In fact, I quickly learned from reading his material, the Peterson pipe is the System pipe. Peterson would be nothing without it.

I thought to myself, if this is true, why did I have such a bad experience with my first System? Should I give it another try?

A Late Republic 307

At some point in the very early Spring of 2023 I began to ponder a little deeper into my bad memories about the System Spigot 317. Perhaps it was because it was a brand-new pipe I thought. Maybe I ought to try finding an estate System pipe on eBay. I went on eBay and typed in “Peterson System estate pipe.” The 307 was the one.

It is a common expression that ‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder’ and is in a certain sense subjective. It is hard to pinpoint why K&P holds such an attraction for me. Perhaps it is their rich history.  Maybe it’s their built-to-last construction I find peculiarly attractive. Or perhaps its their unique, easily distinguished appearance: the large billiard bowls, sterling or nickel mounts. It’s a combination of all of these things that makes K&P attractive to me, but I must admit subjectivity in my personal interest in the brand and quality of smoke that the pipe delivers.

The 1981 Mark Twain

My favorite shape is the 1981 version of the Mark Twain 14. These days, I only smoke System pipes, the older the better: I own eleven now. Two of them are Patent era, one a 12B and the other a 21A. Two Republic era 307s. One Pre-republic 308. One 1905 from the Antique collection. Two Mark Twains (one 1981 unsmoked in all-original packaging). One 1980 4S De Luxe (also unsmoked and in original packaging). A 1978 11S De Luxe, and a early Republic Rusticated 312 finish the lineup. I find myself most attracted to the Patent era pipes and smoke those the most. Someday I hope to own a Patent era House Pipe.

Smoking to the Glory of God

So I said I am in the Dutch Reformed tradition. When Mark found out, he wanted to know if I knew an article he’d always admired by the English Victorian preacher Charles Spurgeon, “Smoking to the Glory of God.” Spurgeon was Baptist, of course, but then Mark grew up Southern Baptist, and one thing led to another, and he asked me if I’d talk a little about pipe smoking from my own faith perspective, with Spurgeon’s article in mind.

The apostle Paul says that whether you eat or drink do all to the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31). Eating and drinking are creaturely necessities. But Paul is not speaking merely of the act of eating and drinking but the forbidding of eating and drinking certain things. In the context, Paul is dealing with legalism in the church of Corinth. Legalism is always a threat to true Christianity. Legalism imposes laws attempting to ground them in God’s law even though they are not. Legalism binds the consciences of believers, forcing them to judge something as sin which is really no sin.

Whether you eat or don’t eat, whether you drink or don’t drink, whether you smoke or don’t smoke – do all to the glory of God. Smoking therefore is a good creature of God to be received with thanksgiving in them that are sanctified. Jehovah, the everlasting God who created all things, created the tobacco leaf and intended it to serve a certain purpose. As with all things the Almighty God created, they must serve a purpose – nothing is arbitrary. Man may use God’s good gifts in the service of sin, which is his natural fixation. But the redeemed creature, the true people of God have been given to use the creation and the creature in the service of him that created all things. The Christian therefore presses all things into the service of the Lord (all things lawful according to his word). The God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ is pleased with the smoking of his people done to the glory of his name by faith.

Smoking to the Glory of God

Charles Spurgeon, known historically as “the Prince of Preachers,” shared this viewpoint. For Spurgeon, the main thing was not smoking per se, whether it is lawful to smoke or not smoke, but that it must be done to the glory of God.  Spurgeon also contended against his opponents’ legalistic doctrine, as is borne out in his comments from The Christian World. They regarded smoking as a sin and sought to bind the consciences of others who freely enjoyed the activity. Spurgeon writes in answer to one of his protesters,

“Why, a man may think it a sin to have his boots blacked. Well, then, let him give it up, and have them whitewashed. I wish to say that I’m not ashamed of anything whatever that I do, and I don’t feel that smoking makes me ashamed, and therefore I mean to smoke to the glory of God.”

Earlier in the article, Spurgeon refers to the fact that there is no commandment against smoking. Scripture neither condemns nor approves of the practice. Those who want to add to the law of God and impose their practice upon others make themselves guilty of legalism. On the other hand, those who take away from the law of God in order to justify sin are guilty of antinomianism. Both philosophies must be avoided at all costs and Spurgeon was sensitive of this error and not only opposed it by his pen, but with his actions as well.

It is established by scripture that smoking is no sin. But smoking is not merely no sin, which is only negative, but it is something to be received with thanksgiving, something to be used for a positive purpose. What positive purpose might that be? In the first place, thanksgiving. All true thanksgiving is from God and to God. It is the Lord, Jehovah, the God of the sacred Scriptures, that gives to men all things richly to enjoy (1 Tim. 6:17). In human relations when someone gives us a gift which is always undeserved the normal reaction is thanksgiving.

Ingratitude is the height of sin.

When God gives one of his children a pipe to smoke along with some good tobacco, the Christian naturally and spontaneously gives thanks to God. It is an inevitable fruit because God has given the pipe, created the tobacco and intended that it be used with thanksgiving to him. In this he is glorified. And this also is the positive goal of the Christian in all things, and that is to give God the glory.

What does it mean to give God glory? It means to acknowledge his weightiness, to exalt his goodness, to give him all the credit, to extol the greatness of his majesty, and to bend the knee in thanksgiving that through the Lord Jesus Christ all things have been made pure to him (Titus 1:15). In a word, we thank him that we may even be capable of thanking him. That we may even glorify him is a privilege, for God is God and he needs no glory from the creature. He is perfectly glorious of himself and in himself apart from anything or anyone else. He is the Triune God who has perfect, delightful, pleasant and blissful communion and fellowship with himself as Father, in the Son and through the Holy Spirit. The wonder of the gospel is that he causes his people to know him and taste and see that he alone is good! (Ps. 34:8)

The seldom regarded but highly spiritual James Beverlin Ramsey (1814-1871) bears this out when he writes,

“Without it [without God’s grace and peace in Jesus Christ] you may gather for yourself all that earth calls good, all that for which men put forth their mightiest energies, and the eager strife for which fills the earth with ‘the waves of human agitation billowed high,’ and you have gained only dust and ashes. Without it, the more you have gained of the world’s honours, pleasures and wealth, the greater the vexatious burden of vanity you have to bear, and the bitter the cup of sorrow mingled for you at the last. The want of it turns the best of earthly blessings into poison, and makes the only smooth your downward way to a deeper perdition. The possession of it, on the other hand, gives all earthly good its only real value, and transmutes its sorrows, pains, and tears into healing medicines for the soul and preparatives for eternal joy. It cannot do less; for it is called the ‘peace of God which passeth understanding,’ – the peace which God gives, and by which God is reconciled. What more can a creature want? It brings him into loving communion with God, his maker; it secures sweet serenity and harmony in the soul itself; it satisfies every desire. Nature, in all her thousand processes, Providence, in all its minutest, vastest and most complicated movements, and even the unseen host of angels, all range themselves as the ministering servants of the soul at peace with God. ‘All things are yours.’ Grace is the only source.^[1]

Without grace, all things are vanity and the means God uses for the damnation of those who spurn his goodness. With grace, all things receive new light and become a means to give God the glory.

Pipe photos courtesy Laudisi Enterprises and Chas. Mundungus

^[1] James Ramsey. Lectures on the First Eleven Chapters of Revelation. Banner of Truth Trust. 44.

NEXT WEEK:

Elijah’s Einstein Patent 12B

AI Video created by and courtesy of Nate Lynn CPG

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