Heart of the Matter: Where Mormonism Meets Biblical Christianity
Live! From the “Mecca of Mormonism” in Salt Lake City, Utah, this is Heart of the Matter—“Where Mormonism Meets Biblical Christianity Face to Face!” I’m Shawn McCraney, your host.
For those who can’t watch Heart of the Matter live on television, streaming is available on www.HOTM.tv from anywhere in the world. Additionally, the website hosts archived shows, including 43 hour-long programs from 2006, 52 shows from 2007, and after tonight, 44 for this year—totaling 140 hours of thought-provoking content for you and your inquisitive family and friends. Not into visual mediums? Tune into AM 820 The Truth, where Heart of the Matter airs every Tuesday evening from 8 to 9 pm mountain time.
Main Issue: A New Heart
Some of you have been openly or secretly watching Heart of the Matter for years. Many have written to share that they have come to know the Lord or have gained insight into Mormonism through our program. As we began this ministry, a pivotal question emerged:
What is the single most important issue every individual faces in relation to God? Is it their church, lifestyle, political affiliation, past sins, life experiences, or even their biblical knowledge? The answer is none of these. Rather, we discovered through scripture that the central issue is:
Do I have a new heart? Does a new spirit reside within me? Have I been Born Again?
Take a moment now and ask yourself this question: Have I been born-again? If you have, I join you in praising God, giving thanks for this crucial milestone in your spiritual journey. If you haven't or are unsure, let me address this now.
When You Believe and Confess
If you have believed in your heart and confessed with your mouth that Jesus is Lord—the savior and redeemer—and have sought forgiveness for your sins and a new life in Him, know that He honors these desires. For some, salvation brings immediate, radical changes; for others, it unfolds gradually over time. If you believe and have confessed, you are walking by faith, trusting His promises. My advice is to prayerfully trust in these promises, walk faithfully in His ways, and dedicate each day to His service. In time, God will assure you of your salvation.
Now, if you're watching this—regardless of your religious background or history—and have never asked God in faith for a new life in Him, I extend this invitation now. Whether you are a family, single parent, divorcee, elderly person, teen, or child—if you've been religious but lack a deep relationship with Jesus initiated through spiritual rebirth, join me in prayer right now.
God's Faithfulness
Know that God heard your heart speaking and will remain faithful to His promise. This is why His Son came to earth—to save you. Now, wait on Him, trust Him, and begin each day anew.
Introduction to LDS Distinctions
Just speak along with me OR let your own heart speak!
Dear God, Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus –
I come to you as a sinner and I want to be forgiven now and forever for my sins. I want to have a relationship with you. I openly receive all you want me to receive, and pray that you will give me a new heart, a new spirit, a new life in you. And I ask that you will not only forgive me Lord, but you will become Lord and King of my life now and forever more. And, Lord, I ask that you will let me have the undeniable assurance that you have accepted and received me – bless me with the knowledge to know that I am yours. I will wait on you for this knowing, Lord, and thank you in advance for what you have promised to do to all who desire it. In Jesus Holy Name I pray, amen.
PRAYER PRAYER PRAYER
PRAYER PRAYER PRAYER PRAYER
Word of Wisdom in LDS Beliefs
There are a few things that truly distinguish members of the LDS Church from people of other faiths. The practice and doctrine of polygamy or plural marriage seems to reign supreme in the minds of outsiders. Wearing temple undergarments is another… as is having those extra books of scripture are right up there too. But perhaps most widely observed is the outward practice of avoiding all tobacco products, drinking any alcohol whatsoever, consuming coffee or tea and/or using “harmful drugs” unless they are prescribed by a licensed physician.
Within Mormonism itself, the command for abstaining from these things comes from a revelation Joseph Smith claimed to receive known as the Word of Wisdom which can be located in Section 89 of the LDS scriptures called the Doctrine and Covenants. In my experience, most Latter-day Saints use obedience to the Word of Wisdom as the PRIMARY indicator of an individual’s righteousness – whether they are LDS or not – but especially if they are LDS.
Obedience Variability
What is determined “obedience” to the Word of Wisdom is a relative matter. To some, obedience means abstaining from everything mentioned before but including cola drinks, mountain dews, Dr. Peppers, meats, and eating lots of hand ground grains. To others in the church, there are less and more egregious infractions of the Law. Drinking alcohol is always verboten, as is using tobacco, but everything else is sort of open game. Like most things LDS, there are countless applications and countless interpretations.
But one thing can be said with certainty: Obedience to the Word of Wisdom is a badge of honor, worn proudly on the sleeve of every compliant believer. At the risk of sounding sardonic, obedience to the Word of Wisdom – especially to LDS youth, teens, and horrifically naïve parents – usually mothers – is perhaps more important to members of the Mormon Church than a living and abiding faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. I will be criticized for saying this, but I think the evidence is there to support the claim because more often than not, Latter-day Saints will identify themselves by what the won’t and don’t smoke or drink more than who they place all their faith and trust.
Reflective Questions
I wish we could somehow poll active and faithful Latter-day Saints and ask questions like:
“Can a person who drinks coffee go to heaven? How about tea? Beer? Wine? Whiskey?”
OR
“What would please God more, a man who drinks wine and truly loves and serves his neighbors and God or a man who would never be caught dead touching alcohol or cigarettes or coffee or tea but is controlling?”
I would like to ask parents if they would rather have a teenager who smoked like a chimney but read the word and loved the Lord and others, or a teen who obeyed the word of wisdom, served a mission, and always tried to do the right, but was sort of mean, gossipy, and pious?
Based on my experience teaching early morning seminary I think the results of such a survey would be shocking. Now don’t get your neck ties all twisted up in a knot. I think that making healthy choices can be a blessing to people and I think Christians are under some obligation to try and care for the bodies God has given them. Avoiding tobacco is a good thing. Abusing alcohol and drugs is bad. Coffee? Tea? Whatever.
The Word of Wisdom in Historical Context
To red wine and green teas, I happen to think the advice in the Word of Wisdom is in and of itself wise and anyone who chooses to follow it would probably live a healthier life. So what’s the deal, here? Can’t I just leave this LDS issue alone – maybe even compliment Joseph for creating it (or claiming to have received it from God)?
No way. In fact, the more I have endeavored to examine it, the bigger the thing has grown. We’re going to spend the next few weeks talking about why. I think you’ll be surprised by what you learn and hear. I want to thank my good friend and Christian sister Sandra Tanner for supplying me with some good information on the topic as well as numerous other researchers who have taken the time to find out truth over myth.
Ready?
There are seven general areas we are going to cover regarding the WOW:
LDS Claims on Joseph Smith's Inspiration
Tonight we’re going to look at the LDS claims that the WOW is evidence that Joseph was an inspired prophet well ahead of his time and scientific evidence. We will also look at the setting for which this “revelation” came to Joseph Smith. Next week, we’ll examine how committed Joseph Smith was to the WOW himself and the evolution of enforcement the Word of Wisdom has had in the LDS Church to the present day. The following week we are going to look at whether the WOW is doctrine or not, how the LDS Church has altered Church History so as to remove unpleasant events related to it. And then three weeks from now we will look at how the Bible stands on such doctrines as the WOW. Following that, we will do our review of the last General Conference.
Okay…
First, let’s look at the historical setting surrounding the health movements prior to the coming forth of the Word of Wisdom and in that era of time. Latter-day Saints love to use the existence of the Word of Wisdom as “evidence” that Joseph Smith was divinely inspired because, according to them, he revealed it (in 1833) well before modern science knew the dangers of alcohol and tobacco, or coffee and tea, and meat.
Health Movements in the Early 19th Century
Before providing evidence to the contrary, let me read most of the revelation called the Word of Wisdom given February 27th, 1833, at Kirkland, Ohio:
(SECTION 89)
When I was a kid, I remember countless discussions about how Joseph was told by God about the evils in the world before anyone else in his time could understand. It’s important to realize that issues related to health were a hot and growing topic in the early 19th century. Lester E Bush reported that “…it is relevant to recall that from a few thousand advocates late in the 1820’s the American Temperance Society had grown to well over a million members by 1834."
He also wrote: “The leaders of the movement were most often clergymen…” What people ate, drank, and how they cared for their body was a topic within the Body of Christ before Joseph Smith was even born! In the century prior to Joseph’s “revelation,” John Wesley’s “Primitive Physic” vigorously condemned all sorts of things found in the Word of Wisdom, including strong drinks.
According to Bush, Sylvester Graham (the guy who invented the graham cracker) and Dr. William Alcott also crusaded strongly against other stimulants like “coffee, tea, and all meats.” Often food consumption was related to the time of season by these crusaders of health, which, in my opinion, made Joseph’s “revelation” on the subject just another in a long list of plagiarisms.
Where Joseph Smith said God told him: “Flesh…only in times of winter, or of cold, or famine” and “every herb in the season thereof….” One Dr. Ticknor wrote in his book, The Philosophy of Living: “And not only is animal food proper in winter…and during the heat of summer (nature) has given us a variety of succulent vegetables and fruits.”
But popular topics in his day that became “revelations” in Joseph’s mind didn’t end with meat and vegetables. Eliminating tea and coffee from the American diet was another health reformist cause at the time too, according to the research of Lester Bush. Especially if these drinks were served hot. Speaking of hot coffee and tea, Andrew Combe in “Physiology of Digestion” which was published in 1836, wrote: “when made very strong or taken in large quantity, especially late in the evening, they not only ruin the stomach, but very seriously derange the health of the brain and…”
Joseph Smith and Health Reforms
I recite these quotes to you so you can hear for yourself that opinions on substances like alcohol, tobacco, coffee, tea, and meat were a frequent topic in Joseph Smith’s day and age and to show how his revelations were right on target with what the most vocal health advocates were claiming. Even John Wesley, in the previous century, warned that coffee and tea were “extremely harmful” to those with weak nerves.
And what about tobacco? Researchers going back as far as 1633 were able to locate the Word of Wisdom notion that tobacco could be used as an herb for bruises. For centuries, tobacco, which was referred to as “the weed,” was used for all sorts of concoctions and poultices. Just another example of good old Joseph taking current events around him and transforming them into revelations from God.
Now, admittedly, it was thought, for some time, that smoking it would help against things like catching the black plague. But by 1830, a strong anti-tobacco lobby had begun to take root on American soil, which was all part of the Popular Health Reform Movement that began in New England and had spread all the way to Ohio, where Joseph resided for a spell.
The Popular Health Reform Movement
This Health Reform movement was spearheaded by people like Sylvester Graham, Ellen G. White (of Seventh-Day Adventist fame), the Kellogg family (yes, the Tony the Tiger Kellogg people), and C.W. Post (yes, the Grape-nut breakfast cereal family). These health reformers condemned alcohol, tobacco, tea, coffee, opium, and other “stimulants” including meat well before God told Joseph His opinion on the same matters.
In the book, The Burned-over District by Whitney R Cross (which is a great read, by the way) he writes:
(Read quote here)
So while the advice found in the Word of Wisdom may have some basis (some) why don’t they ever recite the story within an honest contextual setting instead of presenting Joseph as this divinely inspired guru of healthy living? We know why.
The Story Behind the Word of Wisdom
So how did the so-called revelation come about anyhow? For the most part, Church History admits the setting. In the preface of Doctrine and Covenants Section 89, it states: “As a consequence of the early brethren using tobacco in their meetings, the Prophet was led to ponder upon the matter; consequently he inquired of the Lord concerning it. This revelation, known as the Word of Wisdom, was the result. The first three verses were originally written as an inspired introduction and description by the Prophet.”
Brigham Young, however, in Journal of Discourses (Vol. 12 page 158) adds a little more information to the queue when he said: “I think I am as well acquainted with the circumstances which led to the giving of the WOW as any man in the Church (so humble, that Brigham) although I was not present at the time to witness them. The first school of the prophets was held in a small room situated over the prophet’s kitchen… when they assembled together in this room after breakfast, the first thing they did was light their pipes, and while smoking, talked about the great things of the kingdom, and spit all over the room, and as soon as the pipe was out of their mouths, a large chew of tobacco would then be taken. Often when the prophet entered the room to give the school instructions, he would find himself in a cloud of tobacco smoke. This and the complaints of his wife at having to clean so filthy a floor made the prophet think on the matter, and he inquired of the Lord relating to the conduct of the Elders in using tobacco, and the revelation known as the Word of Wisdom was the result of this inquiry.”
Interestingly, David Whitmer, who was one of the witnesses to the Book of Mormon, gave other insights into the revelation, and it was printed in the Des Moines Daily News on Saturday, October 16th, 1886:
(Read Article here)
1 A Word of Wisdom, for the benefit of the council of high priests, assembled in Kirtland, and the church, and also the saints in Zion—
2 To be sent greeting; not by commandment or constraint, but by revelation and the
Convenient revelations which were often tied and even plagiarized from current events are located throughout most of Joseph Smith’s work – from the Book of Mormon to much of the Doctrine and Covenants. Next week, we’ll examine how committed Joseph was to this convenient revelation. Let’s go to the phones: (801) 973-TV20 (801) 973-8820. Emails?
The Word of Wisdom
The Word of Wisdom shows forth the order and will of God in the temporal salvation of all saints in the last days. It is given for a principle with a promise, adapted to the capacity of the weak and the weakest of all saints, who are or can be called saints.
Behold, verily, thus saith the Lord unto you: In consequence of evils and designs which do and will exist in the hearts of conspiring men in the last days, I have warned you, and forewarn you, by giving unto you this word of wisdom by revelation.
Instructions on Consumption
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.
Tobacco is not for the body, neither for the belly, and is not good for man, but is an herb for bruises and all sick cattle, to be used with judgment and skill. Hot drinks are not for the body or belly.
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 thanksgiving.
Use of Flesh and Grains
Yea, flesh also of beasts and of the fowls of the air, I, the Lord, have 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. These hath God made for the use of man only in times of famine and excess of hunger. 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 for swine, and for all beasts of the field, and barley for all useful animals, and for mild drinks, as also other grain.
Promises for the Obedient
And all saints who remember to keep and do these sayings, walking in obedience to the commandments, shall receive health.
Promises of Wisdom and Strength
In their navel and marrow to their bones;
19 And shall a find b wisdom and great c treasures of d knowledge, even hidden treasures;
20 And shall a run and not be b weary, and shall walk and not faint.
Divine Protection
21 And I, the Lord, give unto them a promise, that the a destroying angel shall b pass by them, as the children of Israel, and not slay them. Amen.
