Caffeine is not against the Word of Wisdom....right? Nowhere in church literature does it say it's forbidden, and I, myself, witnessed Pres. Monson chug a couple Diet Cokes at the Jazz game (silver can, with caffeine). Yet the MTC doesn't serve it, most people would be ashamed to bring it to a Ward function, and Pres. Hinckley tells Larry King (and the listening world) that Mormons don't drink caffeine.

How did this ever become ambiguous? What is the story?

When I was meeting with the Stake Missionaries in the old days (late 1970s), I asked this same question. I asked for a reference (scriptual or revelation or otherwise) that identified caffeine as the culprit. He was unable to locate/cite any reference, just saying that "The bretheren have declared..." and he also was unable to locate where/when the bretheren first 'declared'. So maybe it's just a rumor that got started somewhere...

Caffeine and other "harmful" substances wormed it's way into the WofW because of interpretation -- the Letter of the Law VS the Spirit of the Law.

I believe there is a reference to caffeine and the WofW by Pres. Hinckley in a TV interview also.

The fact is that D&C 89 (known as the Word of Wisdom) has never, ever been lived as it's written. And, it never will.

It's all about interpretation and "following the prophet."

The latest official statement on the WoW doesn't call out caffeine, saying that Mormons should avoid any addictive substance. One could argue that includes caffeine. Obviously, the MTC and BYU believe it does. Maybe it's part of Packer's Unwritten Order of Things.

[Gordon B. Hinckley interview]

Mike Wallace: No alcohol, no tobacco, no coffee, no tea, not even caffeinated soft drinks...

Gordon B. Hinckley: Right.

Mike Wallace: ...eat meat sparingly, exercise...

Gordon B. Hinckley: Right.

Mike Wallace: ...get plenty of sleep.

Gordon B. Hinckley: Right. It's wonderful!

http://www.lds-mormon.com/60min.shtml

You will be very disappointed if you're hoping for an official answer from a church source.

But not all is lost, I'm happy to give you my theory.

Hot Drinks morphed into coffee and tea. Coffee and tea are used around the world making Mormons look stupid. Mormons don't like looking stupid so they latch onto anything that legitimizes their stupid actions and beliefs.

"Hey, coffee and tea are loaded with caffeine!" "If you force feed lab rats 10k times the amount of caffeine in 23 pots of coffee they fall dead in minutes" "God was right!" It isn't the temperature of the drink, it is the caffeine!" "The church is TRUE!"

I think that the church had no good answer for gentiles as to why the Lord would say coffee and tea were bad for you. I think someone in church marketing had a brain fart and realized they could blame the caffeine. Voila! The church is true.

Its the same thing with garments. We all know what the original reasoning was for g's and how they morphed into divine protection from harm. The church once again got tired of trying to answer the garment question from the outside world and someone on the church marketing floor had another brain fart and suggested the "inward commitment to an outward faith" or whatever bs. Voila! The church is true. Again.

Some people say it is against the WOW because they are SUPER DUPER MORMONS. WOW isn't even suppose to be by commandment - arrrrg.

Stunted, I think your explanation makes sense.

Is anyone aware of caffeine being a pet issue for any specific church leader?

I personally think it's more about a test of faith than actual health, since at this time, someone could eat mostly meat and not be denied a temple recommend as the section about eating meat sparingly isn't usually enforced. Once before church, my TBM ex was drinking some peppermint infusion and he was worried that someone might see the tag draped over his mug and might mistake it for actual tea. The ironic thing about that was that the herbal infusions were part of a RS gift basket that Christmas.

Here's what I remember from some research I did a couple months ago:

1) The WoW was enforced really at all until 1904ish. At that point alcohol/coffee/tea could theoretically disqualify you from a temple recommend, but you pretty much had to be the town drunk to actually be excluded.

2) About 1924/1926 (I think I read different dates on different sites) it became a lot more hard and fast.

3) The church was actually seriously considering banning caffeine at the time but Coca Cola successfully lobbied with the then president of the church (Joseph F Smith?) that there wasn't enough caffeine in soda to be harmful.

4) The church today tries to stir the pot as little as possible so they leave a ridiculous policy as is - e.g. energy drinks with tons of caffeine are not technical against the word of wisdom where green tea with 1/20th the caffeine of an energy drink is.

And to think it all began because Joe and his chronies spitting tobakker juice on the floor in the Kirtland Temple.

Ron

Joel H. Johnson, a friend of Joseph Smith's family, relates that on a Sabbath day in July (1833) following the giving of the "Word of Wisdom," when both Joseph and Hyrum Smith were in the stand, the Prophet said to the Saints: "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.'(Johnson, J. H., A Voice from the Mountains, p. 12)

It actually started from a Priesthood Bulletin in 1972. It was one of crazy Joe Fielding Smith's pet peeves and he made it into a commandment. Later authorities thought it silly and totally ignored the bulletin (as they have with most of JSF's other teachings). However, TBMs that are trying to prove that they are "truer" than others still follow the commandment.