By: Catherine Thomas
D&C 89
When the Prophet Joseph Smith recorded the revelation known as the Word of Wisdom, many members of the Church used tobacco, hard liquor, tea and coffee.1 Brigham Young described the situation that led to the revelation;
I think I am as well acquainted with the circumstances which led to the giving of the Word of Wisdom as any man in the church, although I was not present at the time to witness them. The first school of the prophets was held in a small room situated over the prophet Joseph’s kitchen, in a house, which belonged to bishop [Newel k.] Whitney, and which was attached to his store, which store probably might be about fifteen feet square. In the rear of this building was a kitchen, probably ten by fourteen feet, containing rooms and pantries. Over this kitchen was situated the room in which the Prophet received revelations and in which he instructed his brethren. The brethren came to that palace for hundreds of miles to attend school in a little room probably no larger than eleven by fourteen. When they assembled together in this room after breakfast, the first [thing] they did was to light their pipes, and, while smoking, talk about the great things of the kingdom, and spit all over the room, and as soon as the pipe was out of their mouths a large chew of tobacco would then be taken,. Often when the Prophet entered the room to give the school instructions he would find himself in a cloud of tobacco smoke. This, and the complaints of his wife at having to clean so filthy a floor, made the prophet think upon the matter, and he inquired of the Lord relating to the conduct of the Elders in using tobacco, and the revelation known as the Word of Wisdom was the result of his inquiry.2
Joseph Smith was not the only one teaching a health rule in the 1830s. Many Americans already recognized that these stimulants were harmful, and a temperance movement was escalating in parts of the United States, including in Ohio.3 Many reformers of the period taught their own health laws. Some critics have suggested that Joseph created a religion simply by copying from his contemporaries, but the prophet’s health law was distinctive then and is today: (1) it is a revelation from God; (2) it promises to the obedient not only physical and mental health, but spiritual development also; and (3) it warns prophetically of men who will foist upon the public things detrimental to health.4 Received in a smoke-screen of similar-sounding health codes, the Lord’s revelation to Joseph persists today largely substantiated by science.
Thus today the maturation of the Church as well as of medical science makes unnecessary a defense of the Latter-day Saint position on the elements of the Word of Wisdom. No longer need we cite statistics on the destructive consequences of smoking, drinking alcohol, coffee, tea, or using other harmful substances, nor do we need to have revealed the existence of the evil “hearts of conspiring men” (D&C 98:4). These facts are well known throughout the Church. But the history and content of section 89 suggest compelling related questions.
Two Questions
First, when the Lord revealed the Word of Wisdom, why did he not issue it as a commandment? Second, amid the varieties of the Word of Wisdom practice, how should section 89 be interpreted?
Not by Commandment or Constraint
Saints in the early days of the Church faced the need to make frequent revisions of their lives to harmonize with the prolific revelations of the Lord to the infant Church. Events surrounding section 89 disclose the mercifully gradual process by which members could embrace those teachings that required substantial change in their lives.5 The Saints understood early that strong drink meant alcoholic beverages, and that hot drinks were tea and coffee. From time to time, between 1834 and 1880, Church leaders exhorted the Saints to obey the Word of Wisdom, but they did not see fit to require obedience.6 However, in 1880 under john Taylor’s presidency, president George Q. Cannon presented to the Church membership a new edition of the Pearl of Great Price and the Doctrine and Covenants and declared: “It has been deemed wise to submit these books with their contents to the conference, to see whether the conference will vote to accept the books and their contents as from God, and binding upon us as a people and as a Church.” President Joseph F. Smith seconded the motion, and the conference sustained the proposition by unanimous vote.7 Here the Saints acknowledged to the Lord their desire to have his ‘order and will” become commandment. The Prophet Joseph remarked, “When God offers a blessing or knowledge to a man, and he refuses it, he will be damned.”8
In 1913 President Joseph F. Smith, reviewing the Church’s gradual compliance with the Word of Wisdom, wrote: “The reason undoubtedly why the Word of Wisdom was given – as not by ‘commandment or restraint’ [sic] was that at that time, at least, if it had been given as a commandment, it would have brought every man addicted to the use of these noxious things under condemnation; so the lord was merciful and gave them a chance to overcome, before he brought them under the law.”9 When the Lord’s timetable was fulfilled, it was Heber J. Grant who made this law once and for all binding on the Saints.10
Verses 2 and 4 indicate that the revelation is specifically for the Saints of the “last days.” Because of advanced techniques in water purification, refrigeration, and food preservation, members of the Church today may live in the only time when a sufficient number of Saints could apply the Word of Wisdom. This law functions very much today as the dietary portions of the Law of Moses did for the Old Testament Israel. Thus, in other dispensations, too, the lord required special dietary observances of the Saints, not only to raise their quality of living, but perhaps also to attract their contemporaries’ attention by setting the Saints apart – a valuable function of the Word of Wisdom in our day. In any event, we see that the lord works sensitively and patiently with his children, not requiring of them what they cannot yet give, nor wishing to lay a ‘greater burden” on them than necessary (Acts 15:280 In doing so he encourages and prepares them to step up to ever higher laws and development. The Lord does not change, but man’s conditions, capacities, and needs do.
Interpreting the Word of Wisdom
In interpreting section 89, the Latter-day Saint faces the challenge of harmonizing the scriptures, the emphasis of Church leaders, and the Lord’s confirmation of personal initiative (D&C 58:26-29). It is helpful to remember that the Church seeks to bring as many souls as possible into God’s kingdom and to help each member bear his responsibility in preparing for the Second Coming of the Savior. When these Church goals become individual goals, Latter-day Saints will understand better what the Lord expects of them. Individual compliance with gospel truths has vital implications for the Church’s success. The problems caused by one who cannot exercise enough faith to embrace the Word of Wisdom wholly or who is rebellious, are obvious. But another more subtle problem exists in the church member who feels that by doing more than the Lord has commanded, he can attain to greater spirituality. Small factions within the Church set up their own standards for worthiness, and in their anxiety to live the highest laws possible, they impede the Lord’s work. “Looking bey0nd the mark,” they suffer increasing spiritual blindness (Jacob 4:14); inventing new laws, they cause divisions in the church as the very time that the Saints are striving to become one for the Savior’s appearance.
Elder Mark E. Petersen warned against the “few teachers, who sow seeds of doubt by speculative and unsound doctrines.”11 He reminded the Latter-day Saints of the source of new doctrines: “There is only one man in all the world who has the right to introduce a new doctrine to this Church, and that man is the President of the Church. So, teachers, until you become the President of the Church, will you be willing to content yourselves with the officially accepted doctrines of the Church?”12 Elder Bruce R. McConkie warned:
It is…my experience that people who ride gospel hobbies, who try to qualify themselves as experts in some specialized field, who try to make the whole plan of salvation revolve around some field of particular interest to them – it is my experience that such persons are usually spiritually immature and spiritually unstable. This includes those who devote themselves – as though by divine appointment – to setting forth the signs of the times; or, to expounding about the Second Coming; or, to a faddist interpretation for the Word of Wisdom; or, to a twisted emphasis on temple work or any other doctrine or practice. The Jews of Jesus’ day made themselves hobbyist and extremists in the field of Sabbath observance, and it colored and blackened their whole way of worship. We would do well to have a sane, rounded, and balanced approach to the whole gospel and all of its doctrines.12
To those looking for secret knowledge not available to Latter-day Saints, he wrote:
All of the doctrines and practices of the Church are taught publically. There are no secret doctrines, no private practices no course of conduct approved for a few only. The blessings of the gospel are for all men. Do not be deceived into believing that the General Authorities believe any secret doctrines or have any private ways of living... Everything that is taught and practiced in the Church is open to public inspection, or at least, where temple ordinances are concerned, to the inspection and knowledge of everyone who qualifies himself by personal righteousness to enter the house of the Lord.14
Here Elder McConkie gave a critical key to discovering the right path: “The proper course for all of us is to stay in the mainstream of the Church. This is the Lord’s Church, and it is led by the spirit of inspiration, and the practice of the Church constitutes the interpretation of the scripture.”15
The Practice of the Church
The proscriptions then are clear, as also are those things which the Lord has designated as wholesome food, such as herbs (a term which in Joseph Smith’s day included plants and vegetables), 16 grains, every fruit in season, meat of beasts and fowls, and fish. Some questions remain, but Church practice, plus a spirit of reverence for the human body as a divine dwelling, keep faithful Saints on course. This spirit compels one to avoid any harmful substance or action and encourages him to embrace every good principle for physical and spiritual health – to be fit for the Lord.
Latter-day Saints are free to compose their own diets within the Lord’s parameters, but not to impose their preferences and opinions on others. Elder Petersen wrote: “I do not believe we should try to establish our personal fads as Church doctrine. I do not believe my eternal salvation will be affected in any way if I eat white bread or white sugar. I do not believe the doctrines of the Church are in any way involved in whether my whole wheat is stoneground or steel-cut”17
No one has a guarantee of perfect health on this planet, but obedience to this principle promotes better health and endurance than one could have otherwise. As the Lord stated:
And all saints who remember to keep and do these sayings, walking in obedience to the commandments, shall receive health in their navel and marrow in their bones; and shall find wisdom and great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures; and shall run and not be weary, and shall walk and not fain. And I, the Lord, give unto them a promise, that the destroying angel shall pass by them, as the children of Israel, and not slay them (D&C 89:18-21).
One of the “hidden treasures” may be the realization that the most potent force for health is the power of the Holy Ghost.
Perhaps these treasures are “hidden” because they are communicated not from man to man, but from God to man; only those who have paid the price to receive his revelations will ever know what these treasures are. President Heber J. Grant observed: “No man who breaks the Word of Wisdom can gain the same amount of knowledge and intelligence in this world as the man who obeys that law. I don’t care who he is or where he comes from, his mind will not be as clear, and he cannot advance as far and as rapidly and retain his power as much as he would if he obeyed the Word of Wisdom.”18
The Lord promises to obedient Saints protection from “the destroying angel” (v. 21). If Moses was a prototype of the Savior as he led Israel out of spiritual bondage, the “destroying angel” may well represent spiritual death. Obedience to the Word of Wisdom then is integral to spiritual life.
(Studies in Scripture, Volume 1: The Doctrine and Covenants, Edited by Robert L. Millet and Kent P. Jackson [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1985], pp. 358-64.)
Notes:
1. Milton v. Backman, Jr., The Heavens Resound: A History of the Latter-day Saints in Ohio (1830-1818), (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1983), p. 234.
2. JD 12:158; Lyndon W. Cook, The Revelations of the Prophet Joseph Smith (Provo, UT.: Seventy’s Mission Bookstore, 1981), pp. 191-92.
3. Backman, The Heavens Resound, p. 294.
4. Roy W. Doxey, The Word of Wisdom Today (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1975), p.2.
5. Backman, The Heavens Resound, p. 257
6. Ibid., p. 260
7. Journal History, 10 October 1913, p. 14.
8. TPJS, p. 322.
9. Conference Report, October 1913, p. 14.
10. Doxey, The Word of Wisdom Today, p. 128.
11. Mark E. Petersen, Improvement era, June 1953, p. 423.
12. Ibid., p. 424.
13. “To Honest Truth Seekers”, 1 July 1980, pp. 4-5. (Letter from his office.)
14. Ibid., pp. 6-7.
15. “Our Relationship with the Lord,” Brigham Young University 1981-82 Fireside and Devotional Speeches (Provo, UT.: Brigham Young University Publication, 1982), p. 103. (Speech delivered at Brigham Young University on 2 March 1982.)
16. John A. Widstoe and Leah D. Widstoe, The Word of Wisdom: A Modern Interpretation, revised ed. (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1950), p. 120.
17. Petersen, Improvement Era, p. 424.
18. Conference Report, April 1925, p. 10.
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