When, where, how and by whom did the WOW change from "not by commandment or constraint" to one of the most important rules of the church, a rule that requires strict obedience?

Was there even a claim of revelation in this matter?

As I understand it, TSCC wanted to appeal to the temperance movement in the United States around the turn of the century. The Word of Wisdom changed from "words of wisdom" to a commandment so the Morgue could group themselves with other Christians who were attempting to criminalize the use of alcohol.

I believe that some FLDS subsects are allowed to consume items prohibited by the WoW. I recall watching a documentary that showed FLDS women drinking coffee while they discussed how silly it was that members of the Morgue could not do the same.

I am unaware of any official announcment that was made when the change occured.

A word of warning though. I've been a poor scholar, and I can't cite any of my claims. Take what I've written for what it's worth.

If not 100% correct, I suspect you're pretty close. I just don't understand how something that is allegedly a direct revelation from Jesus could be changed without another direct message from him.

Either Section 89 is a complete fraud (which of course, it is), or TSCC went directly against the explicit word of deity to fit in with other Christians.

The Morgue doesn't care much about following rules, yet it enforces strict obedience in the general membership.

CrispingPin Wrote:

TSCC went directly against the
> explicit word of deity to fit in with other
> Christians.


I want to take polite but clear exception to any refererence ot TSCC to "other Christians." LDS (and all its variants) is paganism (and not a very imaginative paganism, at that) with a Christian veneer.

No offense. Just say'.

Yeah, you could call them pagan, but I've said the same thing about the Catholic church.

In either case, they'll fight you to the death to convince you that they are "Christian", so the idea of them joining the temperance movement to prove their Christianity has a ring of truth to it.

I'm also a person who doesn't know for sure. Actually I didn't realize the WoW wasn't direct revalation.

JS was a fake who made things up. Some times, well, ok a LOT of times he stole ideas.

The word of wisdom was borrowed from the temperance movement of the day. Revelation it was NOT. He never had any revelations except for the time Emma threw his pregnant girl friend down the stairs. That had to reveal to him that she wasn't going for that crap.

So anyway, do what you want. Use reason, study up on the thing you're thinking about doing if you think it's something you don't know a lot about. We live in the information age. We can find out just about anything with very little effort. Google is my best friend.

1921

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Word_of_Wisdom#Standards_of_adherence

"there is no evidence that any church leader has claimed a separate new revelation, or even a spiritual confirmation, of changing the Word of Wisdom from "a principle with promise" to a commandment." Hmmmm

If you check the records of purchases for the Lion House you will see that Brigham Young drank a fifth of Whiskey each month. A group of italians were called to move to Bountiful and plant and raise wine vinyards to provide sacramental wine for the church, the families in Bountiful kept up this practice long after the use of wine in the sacrament was done away with. In my grandmother's day they used to pass a wine cup around the congregation and each would drink. The Italian's in Bountiful kept making wine through the prohibition years ... not sure when they quit but around the end of prohibition. Some of the vineyards can still be seen in the foothills close to the "B", also on the property that used to be owned by Mark Eubank family ( he used to be a TV weatherman in SLC).

Didn't you know? That "sacramental wine" was special non-alcoholic wine. Or so I was told in primary.

It was not appreciated when I pointed out that "non-alcohol wine" is grape juice, so why did we have to drink water?

http://www.dialoguejournal.com/wp-content/uploads/sbi/articles/Dialogue_V14N03_80.pdf

This Dialogue article traces the change to turn of the previous century. It wasn't anything as sudden or definitive as a revelation.

Also, if you read carefully it actually specifically *ALLOWS* beer.

Hard drinks are things like whiskey, vodka, tequila, etc. - not allowed.

Mild drinks are thinks like beer - allowed.

Soft drinks are things like sodas, lemonade, etc. - obviously allowed.

Hot drinks are coffee and tea (explicitly defined by Hyrum Smith) - not allowed.

D&C 89:17 Nevertheless, wheat for man, and corn for the ox, and oats for the horse, and rye for the fowls and for swine, and for all beasts of the field, AND BARLEY for all useful animals, AND FOR MILD DRINKS, as also other grain. [my emphasis]

Though only a few of the rules are mandatory by the Church. The eat meat sparingly is followed by practically no Mormon, yet you can't enter the temple if you drink a cup of coffee. What the hell?

The 19th Century had other sects with healthful/dietary restrictions. Mary Baker Eddy (Christian Science) prohibited tobacco and alcohol from her followers, not to mention medicine. (Note these were the snake oil "patent medicines" back the). In the 50s and 60s my parents abstained from caffeine, but not when it was in Coke or chocolate.

That period (late 19rh Century) also saw the rise of vegetarianism among the Seventh Day Adventists, who counted C. W. Post (cereal) and the Kellogg brothers as members of great importance.

It was the 1930 Handbook of Instructions that added strict adherence to the temple recommend questions. That's when it became official.