What in the heck? No caffeine?

[J-Pip]

It was Joseph Smith who said, "A prophet is only a prophet when speaking as a prophet." So the only question to answer is whether saying the word, "Yes" on Larry King Live is the prophet speaking as a prophet.

Am I trying to make excuses for myself to drink caffeine? No. If I felt that it was the will of the Lord, I'd cut out ever bit of caffeine from my life. As it is, there ain't much but chocolate and the occasional soda.

I do think there is such a thing as a hierarchy of sin -- that not all sin is created equally. The Book of Mormon says as much:

Alma clearly was of the opinion that some sins are worse than others. He was also a prophet of God, so I think he knew what he was talking about.

The Word of Wisdom was initially given, " 2 To be sent greeting; not by commandment or constraint, but by revelation and the word of wisdom [the phase means good advice], showing forth the order and will of God in the temporal salvation of all saints in the last days—" It was later upgraded to the status of commandment for Latter Day Saints, and I'm 99% sure it was by Brigham Young. So if God originally gave it as "good advice" and then it was later upgraded to commandment status, I think it would be pretty easy to say that this commandment is less important than most. In other words, violation of other commandments is a bigger deal in the sight of God. But you're right. All sin is bad.

Ideally, we should all avoid caffeine. It isn't good for us. But there are a long list of things that are not good for us. According to the Word of Wisdom, we should also all be eating meat sparingly and living by several other things that most of us do very poorly at. Herbs, fruits and grains should take a more active part in our diet. Those parts of D&C 89 are a lot more clearly explained.

I'm pretty sure Brigham Young wasn't the Pres. when the WOW was "upgraded" to a commandment, I recall reading him saying something to the effect of: The bretheren want me to make the WOW a commandment and I won't.

I believe it may have been Woodruff.

[Dr T]

I drink it and don't feel bad about it (usually) and I'm not LDS so there's that

[mnn727]

I'm pretty sure Brigham Young wasn't the Pres. when the WOW was "upgraded" to a commandment, I recall reading him saying something to the effect of: The bretheren want me to make the WOW a commandment and I won't.

I believe it may have been Woodruff.

Both from http://w2.byuh.edu/academics/religion/martinsm/Lectures/Martins-Word%20of%20Wisdom.pdf

On September 9, 1851, President Brigham Young presented to a general conference of the Church a motion to accept the Word of Wisdom as a commandment. This was 18 years after the revelation had been received, and from that point on the Word of Wisdom was to be considered a commandment. The Church voted to approve the motion.

It was only in the early 20th century, October of 1908 to be more specific, that the First Presidency under President Joseph F. Smith a letter from to all priesthood leaders reaffirming the Word of Wisdom as a commandment. It seems that the Lord in his mercy gave the people of that generation sufficient time to get used to the Word of Wisdom.

We don’t know exactly when it happened, but we know it was under President Heber J. Grant around 1919 that obedience to the Word of Wisdom finally became a requirement for temple attendance

[J-Pip]

Both from http://w2.byuh.edu/academics/religion/martinsm/Lectures/Martins-Word%20of%20Wisdom.pdf

There ya go, I thought it was Grant, but wasn't sure, I hadn't read about Brigham proposing it as a commandment though. Funny that they would take a vote to accept the Word of God though.

[Sailer92]

Good Morning friends ,

This is actually a subject I joined the site to specifically look into. those that read my Introduction will know I am new not only to this site but my journey of discovery in the Church of latter day saints . I can recall the day the Elders came to me and spoke of the WoW , now I knew it would be tough for me as I was a smoker and well I loves my Red Bull and NOS Energy drinks. well the smoking there was no question about .. and well I have been smoke free for about 7 weeks . When they mentioned the no hot drinks ( coffee and tea specifically ) I knew I may have Issues, I work 16 or 17 hour days usually starting very early in the A.M. Well I asked the two Elders and our ward president ( who came over to my place for a visit as we share a couple of hobbies and he wanted to meet me ) what is the Deal with energy drinks and coke .. well believe it or not they were split .. one of the elders and President Merrill said it would be fine ..it wasn't healthy ( which goes without saying ) but it doesn't say anything about them in the WoW the other elder believed I should just up and quit the caffeine .. so the different opinions there didn't help ..

But now at least I know I am not alone in wondering about this and reading all sides of this issue here has at least given me some things to think about .. thank you folks

God Bless and have a good weekend all

P.S. I will keep looking but is there another thread here about other addictions ..I have a couple of questions and issues about other forms of addiction ( I am an alcoholic sober for 3 years and a drug addict clean for 4 years )

Once again God Bless all of you and hope you are all enjoying this wonderful weekend

Hank

[talisyn]

Good Morning friends ,

This is actually a subject I joined the site to specifically look into. those that read my Introduction will know I am new not only to this site but my journey of discovery in the Church of latter day saints . I can recall the day the Elders came to me and spoke of the WoW , now I knew it would be tough for me as I was a smoker and well I loves my Red Bull and NOS Energy drinks. well the smoking there was no question about .. and well I have been smoke free for about 7 weeks . When they mentioned the no hot drinks ( coffee and tea specifically ) I knew I may have Issues, I work 16 or 17 hour days usually starting very early in the A.M. Well I asked the two Elders and our ward president ( who came over to my place for a visit as we share a couple of hobbies and he wanted to meet me ) what is the Deal with energy drinks and coke .. well believe it or not they were split .. one of the elders and President Merrill said it would be fine ..it wasn't healthy ( which goes without saying ) but it doesn't say anything about them in the WoW the other elder believed I should just up and quit the caffeine .. so the different opinions there didn't help ..

But now at least I know I am not alone in wondering about this and reading all sides of this issue here has at least given me some things to think about .. thank you folks

God Bless and have a good weekend all

P.S. I will keep looking but is there another thread here about other addictions ..I have a couple of questions and issues about other forms of addiction ( I am an alcoholic sober for 3 years and a drug addict clean for 4 years )

Once again God Bless all of you and hope you are all enjoying this wonderful weekend

Hank

Latter-day Saints argue only about the really important stuff like caffeine in chocolate

Major congrats on your impressive accomplishments to date. That shows great determination and conviction. Keep up the good work!

[Sailer92]

Latter-day Saints argue only about the really important stuff like caffeine in chocolate

LOL I can see that ..

and thank you ..I do my best òne day at a time

[pam]

There was an article in the December 2008 Ensign about energy drinks.

LDS.org - Ensign Article - The Energy Drink Epidemic

[Faded]

There was an article in the December 2008 Ensign about energy drinks.

LDS.org - Ensign Article - The Energy Drink Epidemic

Now that was an interesting read. While the article certainly stops short of expressly prohibiting caffeine, it seems to throw caffeinated sodas and energy drinks into the same status that the Word of Wisdom started out as: Good advice from God to help you avoid addiction.

Now what does this mean for us as Latter-day Saints? While we are counseled against taking addictive substances or harmful drugs, the Word of Wisdom does not specifically prohibit caffeine. However, I believe that if we follow the spirit of the Word of Wisdom, we will be very careful about what we consume, particularly any substance that can have a negative impact on our bodies.

I think it's enough for me to want to take additional steps to cut items with high caffeine content out of my life. Certainly isn't a good thing, but I think everyone already knew that. At the same time, the fact that the General Authorities stop short of calling it a commandment and acknowledge that the Word of Wisdom and current Church policy to not specifically prohibit it. I find that quite interesting. I guess we have to assume that the GA's are not taking a hard-line stance because they do not have any new revelation on the matter. Essentially, members must sort it out for themselves, but with the understanding that these men of God are advising against consumption of high-caffeine content items.

So it's one of those, "Obvious but not absolute law" types of things.

[captmoroniRM]

Indeed. Those articles were written to help us use our own wisdom and decide on issues like caffeine. What I found interesting was the references last conference that referred to "stimulants" as something to be watchful with.

I was constantly drinking energy drinks because I worked at 4:30 am. It really began affecting me. After hearing the comments about "stimulants" I stopped drinking them. I realized that is all they were. I found myself more awake without them now.

[Islander]

I guess we have to assume that the GA's are not taking a hard-line stance because they do not have any new revelation on the matter. Essentially, members must sort it out for themselves, but with the understanding that these men of God are advising against consumption of high-caffeine content items.

So it's one of those, "Obvious but not absolute law" types of things.

There are many other stimulants like Khat in Ethiopia and Guarana in the Amazon basin that are not necessarily related to caffeine but we should consider the spirit of the law rather than the letter of the law. It is more important to consider, be mindful and rule our lives by solid principles than having the GA codify and spell out absolutely everything.

I think the brethren are trying to avoid something like the 613 mitzvot in the Torah. Although I suspect some may actually be happy if they had everything spelled out like that.

PS: Faded, how's your reading?

[Madriglace]

I have just read throught the entire thread .... very interesting. A couple of things came to me as I read .... BTW I don't do caffine at all aside from a serious pain problem it causes me it also gives me a very crawly feeling. Chocolate I love but do rarely for the same pain problem.

I agree with following the spirit of the law ... we know what's bad for us ... science adds new stuff all the time. I don't understnad why people put so much effort into what the WoW means and what can be used etc. It is what it is and it can be very different for everyone. This is an easy choice .. like I tell my kids in SS (14-16) make the easy choice and save your energy for the hard stuff. Like the counsel to only wear one pair of earrings ... I LOVE earrings and have 3 holes in my ears. It was an easy choice no big deal ... done ... on to the hard stuff. Now if we were counseled no earrings at all I would cry alot but again an easy choice. The other thing for me is a matter of respect for the wishes of the Savior ... we should not have to be "counseled in all things" ... we have to work out what is right for us ... and that's between each of us and our Lord. The WoW is one thing I can do and not add to the Saviors pain ... the rest not so much. Maybe my view of the gospel is too simple for some ... but it works for me.

[WillowTheWhisp]

Has anyone stopped to consider the other harmful additives which are in many fizzy drinks? In particular I am thinking of Aspartame (phenylalanine) which has numerous harmful side effects.

I think the spirit of the WOW is that we should carefully consider any harmful subtance we may be taking into our bodies - but I still love chocolate!