Also, I have a dear friend from East Germany who was converted in the 70′s who was furios when he made his pilgrimage to Utah to be among the saints and a leader provided caffeinated soda at a church function. Back then, at least where he came from , the members who drank even caffiene were considered pretty wild. Beer was an absolute no-no to that group of saints.
Of couse the church at that point, met in secret, and was very sparse. So the variance mus’ve been quite large.

So chalk one more up for the Word of Wisdom!!!

As for me, I try to live the Word of Wisdom to the letter. It is hard for me to not eat as much meat because I am a 285 pound Powerlifter, but I feel my rewards are better because of my obedience.

Ka’imi, it did sound to me like people were rationalizing drinking beer as well at various times. I am looking for barley drinks so that I can drink to stay within the guidelines of the Word of Wisdom. I have never had beer of any sort light, or heavy before.

How about a direct quote from the Sunday School Manual;

President Heber J. Grant, the seventh President of the Church, taught that “the Word of Wisdom … would solve the economic problems … of every … country, if it were obeyed by the people of the world” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1936, 48). How do you think this could be so?

Consider the amount of land, money, and other resources that are used to produce harmful substances, advertise them, purchase them, and treat the consequences of their use. For example, in 1985 the cost in America of health care and lost productivity related to the use of tobacco was approximately $65 billion (see Ensign, Sept. 1986, 61). The costs of the production and use of alcohol are also very high. Consider the potential economic impact of using these resources for beneficial purposes rather than destructive ones.

Obeying the Word of Wisdom blessed one missionary in an unexpected way. While he was teaching a man about the Word of Wisdom, the man looked into his eyes and asked, “Do you mean to tell me that you have never tried drugs, smoked a cigarette, or tasted alcohol in any form?” The missionary looked directly at the man and spoke with a strong voice, “No, sir. I never have.”

The missionary later described the experience that followed: “A power went through me at that moment and I knew why I had always kept the Word of Wisdom. I am grateful that when I came to that moment in my life, I was able to bear a strong testimony of the importance of the Word of Wisdom because I had always been obedient to it.”

My thoughts are that this was made a Commandment, and the Lord expects those who have been commanded to, to follow it. What they did in the past is irrelevent to our present teachings from our Living Prophet.

I don’t understand why Joseph Smith drank beer but now it’s not considered appropriate. However, I lived with a parent that drank too much beer. Mild or not, beer can still intoxicate the person & awful things happen every day because of people drinking too much beer. Perhaps that same question came up at the turn of the century and it was decided that even beer was not appropriate because it could turn someone into an alcoholic even though they only drank beer.

That’s just my view.

I don’t know if others are reading this as a rationalization to drink beer — I know that I’m not, and I suspect that most of our readers aren’t.

I’m specifically asking a question (see the original post) and I’ll add your answer to the data points that have been given.

I do suspect myself, that this part of section 89 _is_ about mild beers. I suspect that for a number of reasons — it makes sense in the text; plus the fact that the Word of Wisdom as we know it wasn’t really enforced until about the turn of the century, and the various references in History of the Church and leaders’ journals to alcohol consumption.

I’m fine with the principle of modern revelation. I know that the meaning of the WOW has changed, and I’m certainly not intending to go drink any beer myself.

I’m really just asking the question as a matter of historical and intellectual inquiry, not as an attempt to justify any beer drinking. And I suspect that most of our readers understand that.

First of all, the Word of Wisdom was given “not by way of commandment”, and wasn’t understood or followed as such. People did as they pleased, and it wasn’t until later that they actually considered using it as a consideration for one’s worthiness – i.e. in the minutes of the 1883 School of the Prophets, they discussed whether one would be required to follow it in order to receive a Temple Recommend. Temple recommend. Certainly wasn’t a baptismal recommend question!

Regarding who did what, Joseph Smith had a drink of coffee every morning for his entire life. Up until his death. And, yes, he did drink beer regularly, and the harder stuff only occasionally, generally when higher ranking visitors came to Nauvoo.

Now, about Beer. Brigham Young used to own a beer brewery in downtown Salt Lake City, and drank himself as well as sold to the saints. Beer was never considered a taboo, as it was considered to be in the mild drink category. Many/most of the adults drank it, at least occasionally as they could afford it.

So, we may ask, why did the emphasis change? Well, when the Church jetisoned plural marriage and the United Orders, they had to concentrate their teachings elsewhere, didn’t they? And, sure enough, if one reads the talks given by the General Authorities after the manifesto, and the other changes to doctrine and ordinances over the next 20-30 years, one sees the changes to the emphasis on the Word of Wisdom.

Funny thing, though, I wonder why the eating of meat teachings have never been espoused.

Take care!

chris

That being said, it won’t take much arm twisting to make me sit in a room with brewing coffee.