D&C 89:8-11 - Coffee & Tea

89:8 - We’ve covered conspiracy and alcohol so we move onto tobacco. The Lord says “tobacco is not for the body, neither for the belly, and is not good for man, but is an herb for bruises and all sick cattle, to be used with judgment and skill.” The IM teaches, “One Latter-day Saint physician noted the side effects of tobacco on the body: ‘Time and time against the medical and psychological sciences have brought forth evidence which points towards the destructive nature of the cigarette. In addition to the evidences recently found which link cigarette smoking to lung cancer, (there are) a number of interesting and arresting discoveries respecting the cigarette. E.A. Murphy and J. F. Mustard discovered that chronic smokers were less able to withstand the effects of radiation than were nonsmokers, and that smoking interfered with action of the bone marrow, the part of the body that manufactures blood. A.J. Schaffer points out that there is a higher premature birthrate among children whose mothers smoke than among nonsmokers, and that the mortality rate of the these premature births was higher among offspring of smokers than of nonsmokers. There is a good deal of evidence, according to A.R. Lindesmith and A.I. Strauss, that in general, nonsmokers are more prone to be ‘steady and dependable, hard workers, with stable marriages,’ and that they have statistically less difficulty with marriage than do smokers. And so the evidence piles up. Bit by bit, piece by piece, a great mass of evidence is accumulating to substantiate from a purely scientific viewpoint the works of the Lord that ‘tobacco is not for the body.’ Nicotine in large quantities can take over the nervous system, causing severe convulsions. Smoking causes a man to perform at an altitude as much as 5,000 feet higher than he really is, because of the oxygen space it preempts in his blood.’ As serious as the physical dangers are for using tobacco, the spiritual dangers, especially for members of the Church who know the law, are even more serious. ‘In my judgment,’ said Elder George Albert Smith, ‘the use of tobacco, a little thing as it seems to some men, has been the means of destroying their spiritual life, has been the means of driving them from the companionship of the Spirit of our Father, has alienated them from the society of good men and women, and has brought upon them the disregard and reproach of the children that have been born to them, and yet the devil will say to a man, Oh, it’s only a little thing!’” In the part on alcohol, they said that alcohol goes hand in hand with poverty, and personally, just from the experience that I’ve had, I believe that the same goes with smoking/chewing. I talked to some of the girls that I work with and asked them if they’ve noticed the same thing and they said that they had, that it seems to be more prevalent among lower socioeconomic class than the higher. But then again, the prophets have said that if the back row of our sacrament meeting doesn’t smell like cigarette smoke then we aren’t doing our job as missionaries. As far as tobacco being used for bruises and sick cattle, the IM says, “Tobacco, like alcohol, possesses medicinal properties for use on sick animals. When applied with skill, a tobacco poultice can be useful in healing the cuts of bruises of cattle. Alcohol and tobacco have place when used as the Lord intended.” I think that the phrase “with judgment and skill” is vital here because it would probably be pretty easy to mess that up and make someone or something very ill.

89:9-11 - Now for probably the most controversial part of the revelation, “and again, hot drinks are not for the body or belly.” The IM says, “Some of the early Brethren explained what was meant by this phrase. Hyrum Smith, brother of the Prophet, wrote: ‘And again, ‘hot drinks are not for the body, or belly;’ there are many who wonder what this can mean; whether it refers to tea, or coffees, or not. I say it does refer to tea, and coffee.’ The Prophet Joseph Smith said: ‘I understand that some of the people are excusing themselves in using tea and coffee, because the Lord only said ‘hot drinks’ in the revelation of the Word of Wisdom… Tea and coffee… are what the Lord meant when He said ‘hot drinks.’ What about cola drinks, kava, some health or sports drinks, or other drinks containing stimulants? An official statement by the Church’s leaders reads: ‘With reference to cola drinks, the Church has never officially taken a position on this matter, but the leaders of the Church have advised, and we do now specifically advise, against the use of any drink containing harmful habit-forming drugs under circumstances that would result in acquiring the habit. Any beverage that contains ingredients harmful to the body should be avoided.’” Without the interpretation of “hot drinks” I personally would have speculated that it was the temperature of the drinks that would have made them unhealthy, but with the interpretation of “hot drinks” meaning coffee and tea, it’s a little bit more complicated. Coffee is pretty straight forward, because it only comes from coffee beans, but tea, there are so many kinds. On a blog that I found, there’s a quote by Victor L. Ludlow from the book, “Principles and Practices of the Restored Gospel,” which said, “The Word of Wisdom counsels against drinking ‘hot drinks,’ which have been identified by early Church leaders as coffee and tea. ‘Tea’ refers to the standard tea derived from the tea plant, sometimes called black or green tea. The Word of Wisdom has not been interpreted as proscribing herbal teas, stating that ‘all wholesome herbs God hath ordained for the constitution, nature, and use of man.’” I didn’t realize that tea comes from a specific plant, I guess because there are so many different types of teas now, chamomile tea, dandelion tea, etc. But that makes sense because coffee comes from one plant, so if the tea comes from one plant, then that would make sense. We drink an herbal tea every day that I believe is very good for us but I’ve always been kind of torn because of the word “tea” in it. That’s why I included verse 10 in the same section which says “all wholesome herbs God hath ordained for the constitution, nature, and use of man- Every herb in the season thereof, and every fruit in the season thereof; all these to be used with prudence and thanksgiving.” The IM teaches, “The Doctrine and Covenants does not specifically mentioned heroin, cocaine, marijuana, ecstasy, other illegal drugs, or the abuse of prescription drugs. President Joseph Fielding Smith said: ‘Such revelation is unnecessary. The Word of Wisdom is a basic law. It points the way and gives us ample instruction in regard to both food and drink, good for the body and also detrimental. If we sincerely follow what is written with the aid of the Spirit of the Lord, we need no further counsel… Thus by keeping the commandments we are promised inspiration and the guidance of the Spirit of the Lord through which we will know what is good and what is bad for the body, without the Lord presenting us with a detailed list separating the good things from the bad that we may be protected. We will learn by this faithful observance that the promises of the Lord are fulfilled.’… The word herbs refers to vegetables and plants that are nourishing and healthful for man. Doctrine and Covenants 89:5-9 contains warnings against things not good for man, while verses 10-17 list the things that should be used to maintain good health. These ‘God hath ordained for the constitution, nature, and use of man.’… Some have stumbled over the meaning of this expression and have argued that grains and fruits should only be used in the season of their growth and when they have ripened. This is not the intent, but any grain or fruit is out of season no matter what part of the year is may be, is it is unfit for unfit for use. The apple under the tree bruised and decaying is out of season while the good fruit is waiting to be plucked from the tree.’ Elder John A. Widtsoe explained: ‘The phrase ‘in the season thereof,’ referring to fruits and vegetables, has raised much speculation. It indicates simply the superior value of fresh foods as demonstrated by modern science, but does not necessarily prohibit the use of fruits of vegetables out of season if preserved by proper methods.’ With modern preservation techniques, today it is possible to enjoy nearly every food ‘in the season thereof’ all through the year.’… It is not necessary to be commanded in all things. With the guidelines the Lord has given in this revelation, we should have little difficult in determining both what and how much we can wisely eat. In another revelation (sec. 59) we are told they are not to be used ‘to excess, neither by extortion.’ The difficult with most of the human family, is eating too much, and failing to heed his counsel. There would be less disease and mankind would live longer if all would also heed the counsel of the Lord concerning the use of wholesome foods.”