The revelation known today as the Word of Wisdom was given as a warning to Joseph Smith in February 1833. It said the following concerning the use of alcohol.
That inasmuch as any man drinketh wine or strong drink among you, behold it is not good, neither meet in the sight of your Father, only in assembling yourselves together to offer up your sacraments before him.
And, behold, this should be wine, yea, pure wine of the grape of the vine, of your own make.
And, again, strong drinks are not for the belly, but for the washing of your bodies. (D&C 89:5-7)
Notice that the Lord said that wine and strong drinks are not good. Wine, the Lord said should be for use in sacraments. (He said in another revelation recorded as Section 27 that "it mattereth not what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink when ye partake of the sacrament, if it so be that ye do it with an eye single to my glory") The Lord went on to say that strong drinks are not for the belly. The phrase strong drinks referred to alcoholic drinks made via a distilling process.
Making a distinction between drinks containing low amounts of alcohol and those containing high amounts was common in society at the time this revelation was given. For centuries, low alcoholic drinks had been used by everyone. For example, a jug of cider (low alcohol) was by the door, and visitors to the house took a swig as soon as they entered the house. In many areas, the available water was not safe to drink, and low-alcoholic drinks were used as we use water today.
The acceptance and use of drinks distilled to have a high alcoholic content became common during the early part of the 19th century, and in the 1830s, practically every person 15 years or older drank an average of 89 bottles of whiskey per year. Drunkenness was common and was destructive to families and working conditions. Some people recognized the destructiveness of alcoholic drinks and formed temperance movements to try to get people to use less alcohol. During early years in the 19th century, the temperance movements only tried to prohibit whiskey, but later in the 19th century, the movements changed and tried to ban all alcoholic drinks.
In giving the Word of Wisdom revelation, the Lord didn't make the use of alcoholic drinks a commandment. I'm guessing he did this, because he knew that adult members of the church were addicted to alcohol, and it would be wise to have the Saints make a gradual change to no-drinking. Later, the Prophet of the church made total abstinence of alcoholic drinks a commandment. This is an example of the value in having the church led by prophets. And, this pattern of the Lord taking a gradual approach to commandments is a parallel to the way the Lord dealt with the Israelites when they followed Moses out of Egypt. The Lord had them wander in the wilderness for 40 years (2 generations) so new children and grandchildren would be the ones who would enter the promised land -- new people who lived in freedom rather than in slavery. The Lord had the Saints live the Word of Wisdom as a revelation but not a commandment for approximately 40 years, and then he, through his Prophet, made the revelation a commandment.
Overwhelming scientific evidence is validating that the drinking of alcohol is harmful to our health, both physical health and mental health.
That last report you posted seems to imply that moderate consumption of alcohol actually lowers the risk of some kinds of disease and other health problems.
ReplyDeleteHi Joseph,
ReplyDeleteThat particular article was comparing the effects of a few drinks on a scheduled basis vs. binge drinking. Here is another quote from the article.
In the journal Atherosclerosis, scientists found that daily moderate drinking -- the equivalent of two drinks per day, seven days a week -- decreased atherosclerosis in mice, while binge drinking -- the equivalent of seven drinks a day, two days a week -- increased development of the disease. Atherosclerosis, or the hardening and narrowing of arteries, is a serious condition that can lead to a heart attack or stroke.
The article didn't say what kind of drinks were used. If the drinks were wine, then the question of antioxidants comes into play since wine comes from grapes and grapes are a good source of antioxidants. I've read several articles about the effects of wine, in which the authors weren't concerned whether the positive effects were from the alcohol or from antioxidants. I'm keeping an open mind about this and am waiting for more test results to be published.
A similar situation exists with caffeine. Some tests have shown that coffee has certain positive effects on our bodies. Those tests were focused on the effects of caffeine as a stimulant, that is, stimulants have a positive effect when administered in certain ways. The tests used coffee as a way of giving caffeine to the persons. Other ways of giving caffeine could have been used. The Lord didn't say that caffeine is not for the body. He said "hot drinks", and he didn't say why those drinks are not for the body. So, keeping an open mind about health matters is good.