From Word of Wisdom Literature by: Jane Birch. See also: Discovering the Word of Wisdom Pioneers: Hyrum Smith
THE WORD OF WISDOM
Times and Seasons – “Truth will prevail.”
[Vol. III. No. 15.] CITY OF NAUVOO, ILL. JUNE 1, 1842. [Whole No. 51]
We had a very instructive, impressive, and salutary discourse delivered us in the City of Nauvoo, last Sabbath on the above subject, to a large and attentive congregation, by Pres’t. Hyrum Smith.
He stated “that there were many of the commands of God that seemed to be overlooked by this generation, and he was fearful that many of the Latter Day Saints in this respect were following their old tradition, and former practices of spiritualizing the word of God, and through a vain philosophy departing from the pure principles of eternal truth which God had given by revelation for the salvation of the human family; but, that every word of God is of importance, whether it be the word contained in the Bible, in the Book of Mormon, or in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, for “man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth from the mouth of God.” The principles that are taught in the Bible are pure, and ought to be adhered too; and if people adhere to that teaching it will prove their salvation. The principles that are taught in the Book of Mormon are also pure, and holy and righteous, and will if followed lead men to God. And the principles that are taught in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, are from God, they are principles of righteousness;-they are given for a blessing to the human family, and the salvation, temporal and spiritual, of his saints; and that man who wantonly departs from any of the revelations of Jehovah, and treats lightly the word of God, whether contained in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, the Book of Mormon, or the Bible, is void of understanding: he is not wise concerning the doings of the Lord, the plan of salvation, the past dealings, present designs, or future purposes of the Amighty [Almighty]. The God of the armies of Israel is a wise God, he comprehended the end from the beginning, and adapted his plans, his designs and teaching, to the peculiar wants, the local situation, the exigences [exigencies] of mankind; and the present and future good of the human family; and every thing that he has deigned to notice by way of instruction to the children of men, is given by infinite wisdom; by the intelligence of Jehovah; and if obeyed, when his designs shall be fully unravelled [unraveled], it will be seen that there was wisdom in it beyond the comprehension of man in his present state.
When God first made man upon the earth, he was a different being entirely to what he now is; his body was strong; athletic, robust, and healthy; his days were prolonged upon the earth; he lived nearly one thousand years, his mind was vigorous and active, and his intellectual faculties clear and comprehensive, but he has become degenerated; his life has dwindled to a span; disease preys upon his system; his body is enervated and feeble; and his mentle [mental] and intellectual faculties are impaired, and weakened; and man is not now that dignified, noble, majestic, honorable, and mighty being that he was when he first proceeded from the hands of his maker.
The Lord has in his wise designs revealed unto us his will; he has told us as he did his ancient prophets that the “earth shall be redeemed-that the curse shall be removed from it-that the wolf and the lamb shall lie down together-that the lion shall eat straw like the ox;-and that they shall not hurt nor destroy-that the knowledge of the Lord shall cover the earth, as the waters covers the sea”-that man’s days shall be as the “days of a tree,” that he shall again live one thousand years on the earth-this is the “time of the restoration of all things,” and this has got to be brought about by the wisdom and power of God, and the wisdom, obedience and faith of man combined.
Every thing has become degenerated from what it was in its primitive state; “God made man pure, but he has found out many inventions:” his vices have become innumerable, and his diseases multiplied; his taste had become vitiated, and his judgment impaired; he has fallen-fallen-fallen, from that dignified state that he once occupied on the earth; and it needs a restorative that man has not in his possession-wisdom which is beyond the reach of human intellect;-and power which human philosophy, talent and ingenuity cannot control. God only is acquainted with the fountain of action, and the main springs of human events; he knows where disease is seated, and what is the cause of it;-he is also acquainted with the spring of health; the balm of Gilead-of life; he knows what course to pursue to restore mankind to their pristine excellency and primitive vigour [vigor], and health; and he has appointed the word of wisdom as one of the engines to bring about this thing, to remove the [page 799] beastly appetites, the murderous disposition and the vitiated taste of man; to restore his body to health, and vigour [vigor], promote peace between him and the brute creation, and as one of the little wheels in God’s designs, to help to regulate the great machinery, which shall eventually revolutionize the earth, and bring about the restoration of all things, and when they are restored he will plant “the tree of life, whose leaves shall be for the healing of the nations.”
The Lord has told us what is good for us to eat, and to drink, and what is pernicious; but some of our wise philosophers, and some of our elders too, pay no regard to it; they think it too little, too foolish, for wise men to regard fools! where is their wisdom, philosophy and intelligence? from whence did they obtain their superior light? Their capacity, and their power of reasoning was given them by the great Jehovah: if they have any wisdom they obtained it from his: and have they grown so much wiser than God that they are going to instruct him in the path of duty, and to tell him what is wise, and what is foolish. They think it too small for him to condesend [condescend] to tell men what will be nutritious or what will be unhealthy. Who made the corn, the wheat, the rye, and all the vegetable substances? and who was it that organized man, and constituted him as he is found? who made his stomach, and his digestive organs, and prepared proper nutriment for his system, that the juices of his body might be supplied; and his form be invigorated by that kind of food which the laws of nature, and the laws of God has said would be good for man? And has God made his food, and provided it for the use of man; and shall he be ashamed to speak of the work of his hands: has he become so fantastical, so foolish, so weak and effeminate, that it has become impolitic for him to tell what is the best distribution to make of the work of his hands? Oh shame! let it not be heard among the saints; let that man who inculcates such principles hide his face. We are told by some that circumstances alter the revelations of God-tell me what circumstances would alter the ten commandments? they were given by revelation-given as a law to the children of Israel;-who has a right to alter that law? Some think that they are too small for us to notice, they are not too small for God to notice, and have we got so high, so bloated out, that we cannot condescend to notice things that God has ordained for our benefit? or have we got so weak that we are not fit to be called saints? for the word of wisdom is adapted to the capacity of all that “are or can be called saints.” Listen not to the teaching of any man, or any elder who says the word of wisdom is of no moment; for such a man will eventually be overthrown. These are principles that I have always acted upon; that I have always practiced; and they are what my family practices; they are what Brother Hyrum has always contended for, and what I now contend for; and I know that nothing but an unwavering, undeviating course can save a man in the kingdom of God.
The Lord has told us that “Strong drinks are not good,” who is it that will say they are? when the Lord says they are not. That man who says “I can drink wine or strong drink, and it will not hurt me” is not wise. But some will say, “I know it did me good, for I was fatigued, and feeble, on a certain occasion, and it revived me, and I was invigorated thereby, and that is sufficient proof for me:” It may be for you, but it would not be for a wise man, for every spirit of this kind will only produce a greater langor [languor] when its effects cease to operate upon the human body. But you know that you are benefited, yes, so does the man who has mortgaged his property, know that he is relieved from his present embarassments [embarrassments]; but his temporary relief only binds the chords of bondage more severely around him. The Lord has not ordained strong drink for the belly; “but for the washing of your bodies.” And again “tobacco is not for the body, neither for the belly; and it is not good for man; but as an herb for bruises, and all sick cattle, to be used with judgment and skill.” Tobacco is a nauseous, stinking abominable thing, and I am surprised that any human being should think of using it-for an elder especially to eat, or smoke it, is a disgrace to him;-he is not fit for the office, he ought first to learn to keep the word of wisdom, and then to teach others. God will not prosper the man who uses it. 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 coffee, or not. I say it does refer to tea, and coffee. Why is it that we are frequently so dull and languid? it is because we break the word of wisdom, disease preys upon our system, our understandings are darkened, and we do not comprehend the things of God; the devil takes advantage of us, and we fall into temptation. Not only are they injurious in their tendency, and baneful in their effects, but the importation of foreign products might be the means of thousands of our people being poisened [poisoned] at a future time, through the advantage that an enemy might take of us, if we made [page 800] use of these things that are thus spoken of as being evil; and be it remembered-that this instruction is given “in consequence of evils that do and will exist in the hearts of conspiring men.”
“And again, verily I say unto you, 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 thank giving [thanksgiving]. Yea, flesh also of beasts and of the fowls of the air, I the Lord hath ordained for the use of man with thanksgiving. Nevertheless, they are to be used sparingly; and it is pleasing unto me, that they should not be used only in times of winter or of cold, or famine. All grain is ordained for the use of man, and of beasts, to be the staff of life, not only for man, but for the beasts of the field, and the fowls of heaven, and all wild animals that run or creep on the earth; and these hath God made for the use of man only in times of famine, and excess of hunger.”
Let men attend to these instructions, let them use the things ordained of God; let them be sparing of the life of animals; ‘it is pleasing saith the Lord that flesh be used only in times of winter, or of famine’-and why to be used in famine? because all domesticated animals would naturally die, and may as well be made use of by man, as not,
“All grain is good for the food of man, as also the fruit of the vine, that which yieldeth fruit, whether in the ground or above the ground Nevertheless wheat for man, and corn for the ox, and oats for the horse, and rye for the fowls, and barley for all useful animals, and for mild drinks; as also other grain. And all saints who remember to keep and do these sayings, walking in obedience to the commandments, shall receive health in their naval, and marrow in their bones and shall find wisdom, and great treasures of knowledge even hidden treasures; and shall run and not be weary, and shall walk and not faint: and I the Lord give unto them a promise, that the destroying angel shall pass by them, as the children of Israel, and not slay them. Amen.”
Let these things be adhered to; let the saints be wise; let us lay aside our folly and abide by the commandments of God; so shall we be blessed of the great Jehovah in time and in eternity: we shall be healthy, strong and vigorous: we shall be enabled to resist disease; and wisdom will crown our councils, and our bodies will become strong and powerful, our progeny will become mighty, and will rise up and call us blessed; the daughters of Jesus will be beautiful, and her sons the joy of the whole earth; we shall prepare ourselves for the purposes of Jehovah for the kingdom of God for the appearance of Jesus in his glory; “out of Zion the perfection of beauty,” God will shine; Zion will be exalted, and become the praise of the whole earth.
Thus spake the man of God, fired with heavenly holy zeal, for the welfare of the saints of the most high, who were assembled around him, in breathless silence, listening to the gracious words that fell from his lips, which we feel ourselves utterly incapable of doing justice to, in this brief sketch; and can only say that with boldness and firmness he expatiated freely and fully upon those principles opposing vice and error in its various forms; we are pursuaded [persuaded] that his instructions will be indelibly engraven on the memories of thousands who listened to his discourse. Firm and unwavering in his principles, he has ever been the advocate of sterling integrity, righteousness and truth, and when we saw him exerting all his energies to impress upon the minds of the audience the importance of the thing that he advocated, it reminded us of the sayings of one of the ancient servants of God. “I will declare thy righteousness in the great congregation.
Hi Jane – Thanks for posting this. Interesting aside regarding Hyrum Smith, lest we form a disproportionate idea of how HE understood the WoW in actual practice. There are stories where Brigham Young chastises Hyrum for the amount of meat he would eat. Also, he and Joseph and the others in Carthage Jail asked that wine be brought to them shortly before they were killed to lift their spirits. Studying the lives of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young reveal the same types of things. Their words were reactive against the trends of the times and it’s probably not wise to separate words from circumstances.
When he talks about removing the curse of the Fall and restoring man to the ability to live a thousand years…he is referring to the earth and its inhabitants being restored to a Terrestrial law — where we now are subject to a Telestial reality. We can choose to live the Terrestrial law and forsake animal foods, but it does not alter the body’s Telestial need for them. Until the lion can thrive off of straw, my body cannot either.
Thanks, Amanda! You make a good point that the way the 19th century Saints interpreted the Word of Wisdom differs from us both in rhetoric and practice.
Through most of the 19th century and into the 20th century many people believe animal foods were a necessity. That idea has now been thoroughly discredited by science for well over half a century. Still, prejudice is hard to change, so I understand why many feel they “need” meat. I encourage you to look into the research. Even mainstream nutritionists agree: meat is not at all essential to human health. In fact, we’d all have much better health if we did without it. No wonder the Lord tells us this is “pleasing” to Him (D&C 89:13).
Jane – Thanks for your reply. I think we would enjoy better health if we did without meat too. What I found out through experience and research was that my own health and the health of my family is not better when we exclude animal fat and sundry other parts and products of animals. Natives used to feed the lean meat to the dogs and I can see why. In ancient animal sacrifices, the Israelites were commanded to place the fat of the animals on the altar, especially the fat around the kidneys and inward parts. The fat was sacred – the best portion of the animal. Our brains are made of fat. We need it for our reproductive health. We need it to have strong teeth and bones. The research is there. Half a century ago our scientific institutions took a turn, not toward discovering truth but toward backing corporate industry. Wisdom requires that we sift through what man has given us and weigh it carefully. I appreciate your politeness and candor and I am sorry that we must disagree.
Thanks, Amanda. I appreciate that there is enough evidence to support many contradictory conclusions. That is why we are so fortunate to have the Lord’s counsel in Word of Wisdom to help us sort fact from fiction. I know the Lord will guide each of us as we try to understand His words. Bless you!
This was an article in Times and Seasons. Do you know who the reporter was?
I have copies of the original, and they do not indicate who the reporter was.
Jane Birch, I used to think I needed animal protein and fats to thrive. I wanna share part of my story with you.
Nearly 4 years ago, I suffered a deep brain stroke a few days after my 50th birthday.
Other than a poochy lower abdomen from childbirth and repeated dieting over the years, I was lean and very fit, working out with a trainer and riding my bike or walking 5x/week.
I believed I was eating very healthy, but after my stroke, I found out that SO many problems I’d had in the years preceding my stroke weren’t just “fate” or “age related” but I believe they were God giving me little taps on the shoulder trying to get me to listen.
Just 3&1/2 years before my stroke, my appendix burst inside me, but I didn’t know for 9 whole days! My body had such a massive infection, but I had no fever, pain, high white blood cell count, etc. I was just feeling tired. The infection was so bad that the doctors could not remove it for 70 days because they were worried I would go septic (something my body was struggling to prevent by developing something called a phlegmon) and when they finally did, they said it had sealed, reinfected, and was about to burst again!
The ONLY reason the doctors think I lived with that burst appendix is because I had just started a 2 week VERY restricted diet during that time, eating less than 800 calories each day and drinking lots of water. They believe the body, mostly resting from digesting, was able to defend itself by producing a phlegmon to encapsulate all the infection. It was so large that they couldn’t see many of my organs when they did a scan.
After the surgery, I was very ill with digestive issues for over a year, despite doing all I could to normalize my micro-biome (on an animal based diet). I didn’t see what I ate as being connected to the infection or the slow rehabilitation, but I NOW realize I was simply ignorant, as my digestive system was being assaulted and couldn’t deal with it! Of course it was related!
So, back to my stroke…
After it happened, I started to take a good look at my patterns of health. I also looked at my cholesterol, my heart, the integrity of my blood vessels and my brain. The doctors said one hemisphere of my brain was shrinking. They said it was from “age” but I had just turned 50y.o. that week! They said I was developing early onset dementia, despite NO ONE on either side of my family ever having any memory issues or diagnosis! They said they wanted me to take cholesterol lowering drugs and aspirin -for the rest of my life! They said I wasn’t getting enough oxygen to my brain, and recommended medication that would tighten my blood vessels and make my heart work harder to force more blood up to my brain! They said I needed a heart surgery to close a moderate sized PFO (hole in my heart)! They finally said, I would probably have another stroke within the next few months if I didn’t do everything they said. When I asked doctors if my diet could be at fault, they all said “No, not all all”.
I felt VERY strongly that God was telling me they were wrong!
And then I remembered when I’d started my animal based diet years ago, how I felt this uneasiness because it clashed with the WoW. I remembered feeling it again when I did the 800 calorie diet. It wasn’t big; it was just a pang or twinge that I readily pushed away each time. Yet, here it was again, but this time it was stronger and more blunt. I felt that I NEEDED to obey the WoW or I would not have another tap on the shoulder. I knew the line was drawn in the sand and I had to decide which voice I was going to listen to.
Slowly, I started re-reading the WoW and gearing myself up for prayerful changes. It took a while to build up my courage to make all the changes I made, because after my stroke, I also battled situational depression from all the life changes and rehab, and bad food choices.
After making many small changes, one at a time. 14 months ago, I finally “graduated” to eating a 95+% WFPB diet, almost completely free of animal products. (Although I order plant based, healthy foods, I leave exceptions for “hidden” animal products like broth or dairy when I go out to eat, or the very rare nibble of seafood if I feel I really want it. -I mostly don’t.)
I need to point out that the stroke took away my brain’s ability to know when to eat or sleep, so I have to use many strategies to do these. I don’t feel “hunger” anymore
(-amazing gift for a woman, right?
God’s so awesome! 😂)
and so, I can sometimes still feel lousy -not from what I’m eating, but from what I don’t eat. I have to be mindful of this. After about 2 weeks of adjusting, and another 2 months of re-learning how to cook, I found myself enjoying this change and feeling healthier than I ever thought was possible -whenever I eat.
Most of all, I’ve noticed that when I eat large amounts of greens and get a good serving of whole intact grains and beans each day, I feel the most energized and healthy. When I MISS that regimen of greens, grains & legumes, I feel depressed or tired just like when I was eating animal products. My body needs great fuel to feel great, and I don’t bounce back like before my stroke if I don’t care for myself. But it was SO much worse after the stroke when I was still on the meat and dairy. I almost never had a good day back then. Now. I have wisdom -even hidden treasures of knowledge- to know how to care for myself properly, despite my stroke deficits.
I never took a single aspirin or cholesterol lowering drug or had any surgery. Yet, despite my only change being my diet, I’ve had amazing blood work and exam results. They all say I’m doing amazingly well for having had a stroke, and as impossible as they say it is, during my last MRI, I was questioned:
“Who told you you had a stroke?” (Umm… over 15 different doctors!) “Because, I cannot find ANY evidence of a stroke.”
-I still have my old MRI clearly showing my stroke, but in the new one, it appears to have somehow healed or simple disappeared, which is medically impossible! No matter what any doctor can say to that, I absolutely KNOW that this happened based upon my obedience to a principle with a promise. The blessings we call miracles are simply the amazing grace of a loving Father in Heaven who keeps His word to us!
Gedgal:
What a fabulous, inspiring story!! So glad you shared it with me.
I guess we can’t be too hard on doctors as most just don’t know any better, but WHY?? So much of what ails us could be resolved with better diet. My guess is that food is still too much of a religion, and that distorts people’s ability to “see” and act on the evidence. Oh my! The consequences are so significant.
You’ve been blessed for sure, and so good that you have the WoW to help you be wiling to think in different ways. I’ve heard this from others.
How would you feel about fleshing out your story just a bit and allowing me to share it on my website? I’d love to work with you on this!
Jane