Rhoda Wrote:
-----------------------------
> When did it become required
> rather than recommended?
Here is the "official" mormon.com (the ONLY way ghawd's very own website should be accessed) explanation regarding the transition from recommendation to commandment:
"Although the Word of Wisdom was received on 27 February 1833, its acceptance by individual members of the Church was gradual. On 9 September 1851, some eighteen years after it was given, the Patriarch to the Church, John Smith, delivered a talk in general conference on the Word of Wisdom. During his address, President Brigham Young arose and proposed that all Saints formally covenant to abstain from tea, coffee, tobacco, whiskey, and “all things mentioned in the Word of Wisdom” (“Minutes of the General Conference,” Millennial Star, 1 Feb. 1852, p. 35). THE MOTION WAS ACCEPTED UNANIMOUSLY AND BECAME BINDING AS A COMMANDMENT FOR ALL CHURCH MEMBERS THEREAFTER. (emphasis mine)
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/manual/doctrine-and-covenants-student-manual/section-89-the-word-of-wisdom?lang=eng Here's a more reasonable explanation of the transition from suggestion to law, from an article prepared by Thomas G. Alexander, professor of history and director of the Charles Redd Center for Western Studies at Brigham Young University. I've sliced and diced a precis; the full article's web location is at
https://www.dialoguejournal.com/wp-content/uploads/sbi/articles/Dialogue_V14N03_80.pdf?origin=publication_detail "The evidence shows a diffuse pattern both in observing and teaching the Word of Wisdom in 1900. Some General Authorities preached quite consistently against the use of tea, coffee, liquor, or tobacco and occasionally against the use of meat. None supported drunkenness. In practice, however, that and other members also occasionally drank the beverages that our current interpretation would prohibit. Observance of the Word of Wisdom was urged by way of counsel by President Snow and others. Some Apostles, like John Henry Smith, believed that the more important question was one of free agency and that those who continued to insist upon strict adherence to the Word of Wisdom were ignoring more serious principles.
"President Snow also opposed sanctions against alcohol and was upset when the General Board of the YMMIA asked for an end to the sale of beer at Saltair. Most vocal among General Authorities in his opposition to the use of tea, coffee, alcohol, and tobacco was Heber J. Grant, who would become one of the leaders of the state prohibition movement. He was particularly outraged at the church members who served liquor and at some of the Twelve who opposed the prohibition of liquor at Saltair.
"He was also concerned with the indifference some of the General Authorities demonstrated to the feelings of Protestant ministers who complained about the Saltair saloon.
"The death of Lorenzo Snow (Oct. 1901) brought Joseph F. Smith to the presidency. Smith's views on the Word of Wisdom were close to those of Heber J. Grant, and it is to his administration that the path to our current interpretation of
the Word of Wisdom leads.
"Dropping the emphasis on abstaining from meat, he urged the need to refrain from tea, coffee, alcohol, and tobacco. In 1902, he reversed President Snow's stand and closed the saloon at Saltair... Following this lead, in June, 1902, the First Presidency and Twelve agreed not to fellowship anyone who
operated or frequented saloons.
"In the same year, Joseph F. Smith urged stake presidents and others to refuse recommends to flagrant violators but to be
somewhat liberal with old men who used tobacco and old ladies who drank tea. Habitual drunkards, however, were to be denied temple recommends.
"By mid-1905, members of the Twelve were actively using stake conference visits to promote adherence. In September 1905, for instance, George Albert Smith advised the Stake Presidency, High Council, and Bishops in Star Valley, Wyoming, to refuse 'to ... tolerate men in presiding positions who would not keep the Word of Wisdom.'
"George F. Richards preferred the technique of interviewing and urging compliance rather than insisting on a lack of tolerance. In keeping with the change in emphasis, the First Presidency and Twelve substituted water for wine in the sacrament in their temple meetings, apparently beginning July 5, 1906.
...
"In a letter dated December 28, 1915, President Smith said that young 'or middle-aged men who have had experience in the Church should not be ordained to the Priesthood nor recommended to the privileges of the House of the Lord unless they
will abstain from the use of tobacco and intoxicating drinks.'
"Since Prohibition had outlawed the legal use of alcohol, emphasis in church magazines and talks after 1917 centered on tobacco, and members were urged to support groups like the No-Tobacco League of America, the YMCA and the Salvation Army in their efforts to eradicate the use of tobacco.
"After the inauguration of Heber J. Grant's administration in 1918, however, the advice became less flexible. In 1921, church leadership made adherence to the Word of Wisdom a requirement for admission to the temple. Before this, stake presidents and bishops had been encouraged to in this matter, but exceptions had been made. Apparently, under this new emphasis, in March 1921, George F. Richards, both as apostle and president of the Salt Lake Temple, phoned two Salt Lake City bishops about two tobacco users who had come to the temple and told the bishops 'to try to clean them up before they come here again.'
"Between 1921 and 1933, the adherence to the Word of Wisdom for full fellowship in the Church was made even more explicit. The 1928 General Handbook of Instructions, to guide bishops and stake presidents on church policy, reads: 'It is important that all those who may desire to enter the temple for endowments or other ordinances should be encouraged by the bishopric to observe the principle of tithing as well as all the other Gospel principles.'
"The next edition of the Handbook, published in 1933, reads that members desiring temple recommends 'should observe the law of tithing. The applicant should also observe all other principles of the Gospel, should keep the Word of Wisdom, not use profanity, should not join nor be a member of any secret oath-bound organization, and should sustain without reservation
the general and local authorities of the church.'
"Additionally, both the 1928 and 1934 editions of the Handbook — but not previous editions — listed 'liquor drinking' and 'bootlegging' among the 'transgressions which are ordinarily such as to justify consideration by the bishop's court.' To these, the 1934 edition also added 'drunkenness.
...
"What role did revelation play in the matter? It is clear that Section 89 of the Doctrine and Covenants was given as a revelation to Joseph Smith. Advice that the members of the Church adhere to the Word of Wisdom was also undoubtedly given under inspiration. There is, however, no known contemporary evidence of which I am aware that a separate new revelation changed the Word of Wisdom from a 'principle with promise' to 'a commandment' necessary for full participation in all the blessings of church membership.
"One author on the subject has argued that the vote in 1880 sustaining the Doctrine and Covenants as binding on church membership was equivalent to a vote making the Word of Wisdom a commandment. If, however, the members were voting on the words contained in the book, what they did was to agree that the Word of Wisdom was "a principle with promise" not a commandment.
"It is obvious that the Twelve and First Presidency prayerfully considered the conclusion that the Word of Wisdom ought to be a binding commandment for church members. Nevertheless, the main problem in interpreting the influence of revelation in these deliberations is the absence of references to revelations or even spiritual confirmation of specific positions in the diaries of those who participated in the meetings. The only references are statements or reminiscences of statements by previous authorities. It is much easier to find references to previous statements than to see the presence of new, specific revelations. Including coffee and tea and excluding cocoa from the prohibited substances can probably be attributed to statements of Joseph and Hyrum Smith and Brigham Young rather than to specific revelations."