Whats up with the word of wisdom?

[twiztedseraph]

Sorry guys but I just don’t get the Word of Wisdom, I mean Jesus drank wine as did all the apostles and Church members. Even your beloved Prophet Joseph Smith drank and smoked. So how did it become a doctrine? Or is it just a discipline?

 

[majick275]

I would view it as similar to Old Testament dietary laws. The Lord had reasons back then for imposing certain restrictions on what the Israelites should eat. Later Jesus came and taught that these were no longer necessary but that there were higher laws that they should start living.

LDS belief is that the Word of Wisdom is Divine Wisdom regarding personal health that wasn’t made a commandment until God judged that man was ready for it.

They primarily teach that adherence to the WoW will as a minimum leave a person with a clearer head and thus enable greater capacity for spiritual learning.

 

[MEP]

Kosher law says you can’t have bacon. Personally, I’d find that a lot harder to give up than liquor. I’m not sure the Mormon church really considers alcohol to be necessarily wrong, but the spirit of the Word of Wisdom as I understand it is to be temperate in all things.

Their degree of temperance as far as alcohol is concerned is to completely abstain from it, but they’re hardly the first group of people to come up with that idea (In fact, temperance movements, both religious and secular, were fairly common at the time Joseph Smith was alive). Frankly, I think the Word of Wisdom is probably the easiest part of the Mormon church to make sense of even if it does seem a bit extreme at times. I am more surprised that coffee and tea made it on the list personally.

Of course, when you get into the sacrament of communion, problems start to arise. If you believe in a transubstantiation of the bread and wine as Catholics do, then wine is definitely better than water for the sacrament. But since that is not part of the Mormon faith (as I understand it, correct me if I’m wrong), that one conflict seems to be resolved for them.

Frankly, I’m surprised by people who can’t accept the Word of Wisdom. I’m not Mormon and I never will be, but of all the beliefs they have, this one seems the easiest to understand at face value.

 

[majick275]

MMMMM Bacon! Now that would definite result in a personal crisis of faith if that were prohibited.

 

[Vidar]

I know no mormon who actually keeps the word of wisdom. There is more to it than tobacco, alchohol and “hot drinks” (which is interpreted by current LDS leaders to mean coffee and tea).

*"*Yea, flesh also of beasts and of the fowls of the air, I, the Lord, have ordained for the use of man with thanksgiving; nevertheless they are to be used sparingly;
*And it is pleasing unto me that they should not be used, only in times of winter, or of cold, or famine." *(D&C 89:12-13)

I don’t know anybody who cares about that part…

Vidar

 

[majick275]

Good point. Atkins diet not good for man? an occasional cup of tea = no temple recommend…scarfing down a couple of pounds of flesh every day = OK?

I’m confused.

 

[Tmaque]

majick275:

Good point. Atkins diet not good for man? an occasional cup of tea = no temple recommend…scarfing down a couple of pounds of flesh every day = OK?

I’m confused.

The Word of Wisdom has simply become a doctrine of “do it because God said so”. Please don’t look for the logic in it because there is none.

 

[flameburns623]

twiztedseraph:

Sorry guys but I just don’t get the Word of Wisdom, I mean Jesus drank wine as did all the apostles and Church members. Even your beloved Prophet Joseph Smith drank and smoked. So how did it become a doctrine? Or is it just a discipline?

We spent a good deal of time clarifying these issues just a few weeks ago. The thread ‘Caffeine Question’ still appears on the front page of this sub-forum. Check it out here. The Word of Wisdom was originally given as ‘advice’ not as a commandment. It began to be treated as a commandment in the early 20th Century, as LDS General Authorities began to feel it was needful to exhort Latter-Day Saints to a higher level of holiness. Prior to this, I don’t believe that obedience to the WoW was even a pere-requisite of Temple Recommends.

 

[flameburns623]

Vidar:

I know no mormon who actually keeps the word of wisdom. There is more to it than tobacco, alchohol and “hot drinks” (which is interpreted by current LDS leaders to mean coffee and tea).

*"*Yea, flesh also of beasts and of the fowls of the air, I, the Lord, have ordained for the use of man with thanksgiving; nevertheless they are to be used sparingly;
And it is pleasing unto me that they should not be used, only in times of winter, or of cold, or famine." (D&C 89:12-13)

I don’t know anybody who cares about that part…

Vidar

Some LDS are in fact vegans or semi-vegetarians. Many LDS believe the emphasis on eating more ‘herbs’ (vegetables) was due to a much heavier reliance in the early 1800’s upon the consumption of flesh than is common these days.

 

[Tmaque]

flameburns623:

Some LDS are in fact vegans or semi-vegetarians. Many LDS believe the emphasis on eating more ‘herbs’ (vegetables) was due to a much heavier reliance in the early 1800’s upon the consumption of flesh than is common these days.

Very, very few LDS in Utah are vegan or semi-vegetarian. I don’t buy that there was more meat consumption in the 19th century. History tells us the exact opposite is true.

 

[flameburns623]

Tmaque:

Very, very few LDS in Utah are vegan or semi-vegetarian. I don’t buy that there was more meat consumption in the 19th century. History tells us the exact opposite is true.

Most wards I am aware of have several professed vegetarians–vastly outnumbered however by non-vegetarians.

I think I was stressing the beliefs about meat consumption, not necessarily how much was actually consumed. It was widely believed that meat, in the largest quantities possible, was extremely vital to good health, something which we would not ordinarily take for granted in contemporary society. Meat was of course more expensive and difficult to obtain in the 19th century. I think however that in the frontier states, many people relied almost exclusively upon seasonal fruits and vegetables, but throughout the winter were largely reliant exclusively upon meat trapped or raised, and the few things such as squash which would ‘winter’ well. It was possible but difficult to preserve many other sorts of vegetables. In such a context, encouraging people to take more effort to preserve and consume vegetables more regularly.

 

[honeybear]

flameburns623:

Some LDS are in fact vegans or semi-vegetarians. Many LDS believe the emphasis on eating more ‘herbs’ (vegetables) was due to a much heavier reliance in the early 1800’s upon the consumption of flesh than is common these days.

How does this fly with the New Testament Acts in which Paul states clearly not to refrain from certain foods considered sinful?

 

[flameburns623]

honeybear:

How does this fly with the New Testament Acts in which Paul states clearly not to refrain from certain foods considered sinful?

Again–the Word of Wisdom began as ‘advice’ and not as an obligation. It has become an obligation for obtaining a Temple Recommend only in the early 20th century, if I have my history correct.

In any case, Mormons don’t believe that keeping the Word of Wisdom, or failing to keep it affects one’s SALVATION. It affects, at worst, one’s EXALTATION in the highest levels of Heaven, the Celestial Kingdom (one cannot progress in the Celestial Kingdom if one does not attend to certain Temple ordinances, and LDS temples are today off-limits to anyone who does not keep the Word of Wisdom).

 

[Sherman63]

Vidar:

I know no mormon who actually keeps the word of wisdom. There is more to it than tobacco, alchohol and “hot drinks” (which is interpreted by current LDS leaders to mean coffee and tea).

*"*Yea, flesh also of beasts and of the fowls of the air, I, the Lord, have ordained for the use of man with thanksgiving; nevertheless they are to be used sparingly;
And it is pleasing unto me that they should not be used, only in times of winter, or of cold, or famine." (D&C 89:12-13)

I don’t know anybody who cares about that part…

Vidar

Greetings,

Re-read what you posted.

And it is pleasing unto me that they should not be used, only in times of winter, or of cold, or famine(D&C 89:12-13)

Put the emphisis on the word not, and that verse takes on a whole new meaning.

There were people advocating that meat should only be used in times of winter.

Used sparingly and not used at all are different concepts.