Word of Wisdom

There are a couple of things I would like to say before I write actually write this post.

1) Comments are welcome and very much appreciated.  This includes those who do not have an account for blogger.  I know there are several out there.  If you have any questions, concerns or other comments about what I am about to write, please share- even if they are critical.  I will do my best to respond to any questions that people may have through future posts.  Just be aware, if you are rude, use inappropriate language or write your comment in a language other than English (because I won't understand it) I will remove your comment.  Yes, those of you who read this from Russia, France, Korea, etc. I know you are reading it.  Stats are amazing.  Feel free to join in, but please stick to English so that I know what you're saying.  Although, given the results of my last plea for feedback, I probably don't really need to worry about any of those issues. 

2) This is MY blog.  I am not writing this to force my religion on anyone or offend anyone.  I am writing this because it is important to me.  If you don't like it, don't read it- that simple.

3) A note on sources.  Many people may try to argue that I only listened to my church's side of the story.  In fact, I did not use any church resources or even any that were approved, endorsed and/or supported by the church.  Many of the things contained in the sources I used to learn about this issue spoke very unkindly about my religion.  That being said, you must go out and find your own resources about the topic in question.  I have put off writing this for quite some time and cannot find my sources.  I'm sure if I tried hard enough I could, but I see little point.  No, there will be no plagiarism in this entry, I do not intend to refer to any of my sources specifically but rather stick to things that are, in my best judgment, common knowledge.  Again, any concerns just leave a comment.  If there is something you feel needs a source, comment about it and I'll go out and find you one- although you could just find it yourself a lot faster. 

Okay, now for some background information.  For those who don't know, I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, or in terms more easily understood by most of the world, I'm a Mormon.  The biggest belief that separates us from the rest of Christianity- and the world- is that we believe in modern revelation and that our church is led today by a prophet of God.  We believe that our church is literally led by Jesus Christ through revelation given to His prophet.

One of the other beliefs that sets us apart from the rest of the world is the Word of Wisdom.  This is a code of health given to the prophet Joseph Smith (who we do not worship, incidentally) cautioning the saints to avoid several things that were at that time generally accepted to be either healthy or of minimal concern, but have since been revealed to be the cause of many of the health problems in our world.  Two of the more well known examples are smoking and drinking alcohol.  It was originally given as strictly a word of wisdom, a caution, but has since come to be regarded as a commandment by our church.

Finally, the story.  During a discussion with a friend of mine who is unsure of various points of church doctrine, this friend told me that "The Word of Wisdom was made a commandment by a vote!  That is not revelation!"  This shocked me as I had never before been told that.  Honestly, it didn't make me question enough to be concerned about my faith, but I had to find out what happened for myself.  I knew that at some point the change had been made and some of the possible reasons, but had never given any thought as to how.  So I did some digging.

What I found blew me away.  There was actually quite a controversy over this in some circles!!  Mostly it seems the claim has been used by the authors of anti-LDS materials.  The "vote" in question occurred in the 1851 general conference when Brigham Young, the second prophet of this dispensation, asked the saints to make a covenant with their Heavenly Father to adhere to the Word of Wisdom.  I cannot remember an exact quote, but the phrasing was something to the effect of "by the show of hands, who would be willing to observe the Word of Wisdom if it were a commandment?"  After this "vote" he encouraged the saints to observe it even though it was not a commandment and promised that there would be many blessings if they did.  It is interesting to note that Brigham Young himself did not observe the Word of Wisdom for a number of years after this event.  Clearly, they had not voted to make the Word of Wisdom a commandment.

After the General Conference, there are many anecdotes and events which seem to point in both directions.  I will discuss two.

After the saints were driven from their homes in Nauvoo, Illinois and had settled in what is now Utah, they began building a temple.  In order to work on the construction of the temple people had to be interviewed by their bishop and deemed worthy by way of upholding all of the commandments of the church- just like the interview to go into a temple today.  During the construction of the temple, a letter was sent out to the bishops of the church telling them that they could no longer send men with the intention that the church would provide chewing tobacco for them when they arrived.  It specified that if the men must chew tobacco, they must chew their own.  This means that you could chew tobacco- which is against the Word of Wisdom- and still be counted worthy.

Some time after the saints had come to Utah, a man was ex-communicated from the church for drunkenness.  Many people claim that this shows that the Word of Wisdom was enforced as a commandment, a claim which is further supported by Pres. Young's statement along the lines of "if we as a church do not begin to observe the Word of Wisdom, many more will follow this man's path."   He was trying to use this as a cautionary tale.  Yes, Christ drank wine, but He was never described as getting drunk from it.  In fact, many times throughout the bible we are encouraged to avoid drunkenness.  Drinking alcoholic beverages was often at that time a matter of medical necessity but getting drunk never had a good purpose.  The man who was ex-communicated from the church was treated thus because he was an alcoholic who refused to accept help.  He had been in trouble for public inebriation many times and had been told that his conduct was inconsistent with a member of the church.  Pres. Young was warning the members of the church that the occasional drink can often lead to an addiction.  The easiest way to avoid addiction to any substance is to avoid its use in the first place.

The Word of Wisdom came to be viewed as a commandment by the church more than 50 years later when Pres. Joseph F. Smith, then prophet of the church, issued a letter to bishops and stake presidents urging them to consider adherence to the Word of Wisdom when conducting an interview for worthiness to attend the temple.  It had been an issue of debate amongst the Twelve Apostles and First Presidency of the church for a while before the letter was issued.  Many of the 12 did not want to see the change in church policy because it would mean they would have to give up some of the things they loved- yet another witness that the "vote" changed nothing.  Shortly before he died, Pres. Lorenzo Snow made it clear that he would not be making such a change.  The succeeding prophet, Joseph F. Smith, issued the letter shortly after being ordained.  I do not believe that it is coincidence that things worked out that way.  God will not allow His prophet to lead His church astray through either action or inaction.

I am a firm believer that those who are called of God to lead His church are each called to a specific task.  Please do not take my statements above to mean that I believe Lorenzo Snow was an evil man or trying to lead the church astray.  Rather, I believe that the changing of the Word of Wisdom was a task given to Joseph F. Smith.  However, it still serves as a witness to me that if at any time a prophet of the Lord will either take the church in a wrong direction or stop the church from progressing in a correct direction- regardless of how trivial the point may seem- Heavenly Father will remove him from his position and put another in his stead who is ready and willing to do the will of the Lord.

I testify that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the restored church of Christ on the earth today and that it is the only true and living church.  Many other churches have a large measure of truth, but this is the only one that has it all.  I am a witness that the reason we have the truth is because of living prophets of God who truly commune directly with Him on a daily basis to lead His church.  I also gladly add my voice to those of many others who sustain the prophets and apostles of the church today for I know that they are truly called of God.  I testify that Jesus Christ stands at the head of this church and guides those who have been placed in positions of authority in it.  I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ- our Lord and Savior who gave His life and so much more as an atonement that we may be able to return to live with our Father again. Amen.