The Enlightenment

[WalkerW]

The Encyclopedia of Mormonism states,

Latter-day Saints believe that God prepared the intellectual, political, and spiritual environment prior to the restoration of the gospel through such cultural and religious movements as the Renaissance and the Reformation, particularly as these were manifested in Puritanism and the English Enlightenment.

Did God prepare the Enlightenment by the use of coffee?

Good thing the Word of Wisdom came along later, eh?

For more on the subject, see Steven Johnson, The Invention of Air: A Story of Science, Faith, Revolution, and the Birth of America (Riverhead Books, 2008).

[volgadon]

I remember visitng in England one of the first coffee houses, which was the alternative to drinking your life away. The coffee house provided a clean, moral environment, and intellectual discussion. It was a positive thing.

[WalkerW]

I remember visitng in England one of the first coffee houses, which was the alternative to drinking your life away. The coffee house provided a clean, moral environment, and intellectual discussion. It was a positive thing.

Most definitely. His book Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation (Riverhead Books, 2010) discusses the spaces that allow innovation to flourish.