Lesson 22-The Word of Wisdom: A Principle with Promise

Lesson 22 The Word of Wisdom: A Principle with Promise

Headlines:

-An example of the Lord’s love for us, that he gives us commandments that will make us live better/happier

-Dietary laws help separate us from the World, create missionary opportunities

-We are what we eat, physical corollary to “you are what you eat”.

Historical Context:

Clip from Stephen Harpers “Making Sense of the Doctrine & Covenants

Joseph Smith's mother said he preferred his father's embrace over liquor to numb the pain of a leg operation when he was seven years old, but neither Joseph or his family were strangers to alcohol, which was common in the 1820s and 1830s.

Distillers in the Smiths' region of upstate New York made corn whiskey and sent 65,277 gallons of it and sixty-nine tons of beer to market on the Erie Canal the year after Joseph's first vision. Newspapers in the towns near Joseph's home advertised cheap alcohol, printed recipes for making beer, and sold the ingredients. One scholar described Joseph's America as "the alcoholic republic. Joseph's father confessed in 1834 that he had, in the past, been "out of the way through wine," but "Joseph Sr.'s drinking was not excessive for that time and place."

Regardless of social class, nearly all men drank alcohol, and many women and children did too. There were only a few outspoken opponents of alcohol consumption, and their warnings fell largely on deaf ears as consumption rates rose between 1790 and 1830. In the 1830s, America pulsed with evils and reformers determined to combat them. By the time Joseph Smith moved to Kirtland, Ohio, in 1831, more Americans were becoming concerned with social vices generally and alcohol abuse especially. "The thing has arrived to such a height," one widely quoted temperance advocate noted, "that we are actually threatened with becoming a nation of drunkards."

America's desire for alcohol and the rise of temperance, the moderate use of alcohol, generated diverse opinions that led Joseph Smith to ask questions. Some activists advocated temperate use, but between 1831 and 1836, the cry for abstinence gained momentum. In 1833, in the middle of this controversy, the Lord clarified in the Word of Wisdom where the Saints should stand relative to this controversy.

Christopher Columbus introduced tobacco to Europe after Native Americans introduced it to him. In Europe, tobacco gained a reputation as a miracle drug, and by the 1500s it was prescribed as a cure for cancer, gout, asthma, ulcers, arrow wounds, flatulence, toothaches, bad breath, warts, deafness, constipation, tonsillitis, nose bleeds, epilepsy, and a host of other afflictions.

Smoking quickly caught on among European elites, though by the seventeenth century, they were adopting a French practice of sniffing powdered tobacco—snuff—while the practice of smoking tobacco spread to working class people. A new method for delivering the powerfully addictive nicotine found in tobacco—the cigarette—was just about to spread across the globe when Joseph Smith received the Word of Wisdom in 1833. Outspoken temperance crusaders added tobacco to their list of noxious substances in the 1830s. Opponents of tobacco use regarded it as akin to liquor. One called tobacco poison. Was tobacco a powerful medicine capable of curing all kinds of afflictions or a noxious weed loathsome to the lungs? Was using tobacco a filthy habit or a socially acceptable pastime?

Uncertainty about these questions may have contributed to Joseph Smith's reception of the Word of Wisdom. He organized classes for men of the Church in an upstairs room of Newel K. Whitney's store in Kirtland, Ohio. When the brethren gathered for class, according to Brigham Young, "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."

There was no consensus of medical opinion in the nineteenth century. The prevailing medical theory held that diseases or disorders were caused by an imbalance in a person's inner energy source. Overstimulation, it was thought, resulted in fevers or infections. Treatments were aimed at releasing the excess energy through bleeding or purging or changing one's diet. Coffee and tea were often used as stimulants by those struggling with a lack of energy. Some herbs, spices, and fruits served the same purpose. Though medical professionals disagreed about how much of these substances could be safely consumed, all authorities agreed that excessive use of any stimulant, in which they included herbs, meats, coffee, and tea, could lead to overstimulation and therefore disease.

The world into which the Lord revealed the Word of Wisdom was quite different from our own. Advances in medical science have provided more certainty about the dangers of consuming many of the substances that were thought by many in Joseph Smith's world to have medicinal value. Moreover, his contemporaries were in the process of reconsidering their certainty about the value of alcohol, tobacco, coffee, tea, meats, fruits, and some herbs. There was no prevailing view to which everyone subscribed, even among Church members. There were more questions than answers.

Nearly two dozen men gathered for school in a second-story room of Newel and Ann Whitney's Kirtland, Ohio, store on February 27, 1833. With one of them acting as his scribe and perhaps one or two others present, Joseph Smith, in a nearby room, received the revelation known as the Word of Wisdom. Besides answering the immediate question of whether the brethren should smoke or chew tobacco, or "the filthy weed and their disgusting slobbering and spitting," as one colorful account put it, the revelation clarified several other issues that were being debated by Joseph's contemporaries.

See also “Word of Wisdom” in Revelations in Context on lds.org. Link below:

https://history.lds.org/article/doctrine-and-covenants-word-of-wisdom?lang=eng

Doctrinal Context:

The Lord has given health guidelines in previous dispensations.  See Leviticus 10: 9-11 and Leviticus 11.  Also note Paul's injunctions in 1 Cor 3:16-17 and 6:19-20.

Question: Why does the Lord give his children health laws?  Answers may include 1) health laws are another example of the Lord's love, that all commandments are given to help us live healther, happier lives; 2) as Paul notes, the body is a temple and the spirit will not dwell in unholy temples.  Note that the scriptures noted have a striking lack of focus on health, the primary purpose for the health laws are to make us holy; 3) to separate the Lord's people out from the world.  This is clearly the case for both the Jew's (ancient and modern) and the Latter Day Saints. Lastly, Sec 89 is another proof point of the Prophet Joseph's divine mission.  He was way ahead of his time.

Question: How should we treat those that don't live this law and those who suffer addiction.  Answer's include to avoid being judgmental particularly with those with addictions (there but for the Grace of God go I). In any case, we strongly encourage those not living this law to attend meetings.  Our Worship Services are a hospital where all attendees need attention.  As Neil Maxwell said, the Church is the only hospital where the patients are the doctors.  Recall that President Riches, a mentor of mine said that he had instructed his Bishop's that when sitting on the stand, if they couldn't smell tobacco from the front row they weren't doing their job.

Marginalia from my scriptures:
v1-3-As noted in the heading to the section, these verses were added as an introduction by the Prophet.  I had a note that this came from a suggestion from Brigham Young

v. 3 "adapted to the capacity of the weak and weakest of all saint" can be read as meaning that what is given is the minimum, that all Saints can live up to implying that there is much more we can do to live a healthy life.

v 4. "conspiring men" obviously refers to tobacco, liquor and drug companies that market addictive substances aggressively.  The best ads on TV are the liquor ads and that's only because the tobacco companies can't advertise there anymore.  Then there is the OxyContin fiasco which is still working its way through the courts.

v. 9 hot drinks was a common term that included coffee and tea

v.11 wholesome herbs refers to vegetables and plants

v.10-14 In time that this revelation was given, meat was considered the staff of life.  v.10-14 changes that to plants

v.21 J Reuben Clark said of this verse that if we are faithful, our lives will not be cut short re: God's plan for us.  President Kimball said that the W of Wisdom would save us from spiritual death.

Link to pdf of my messy lesson notes:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B78D5btorZEeNjBkd0VRNF81RXc