wow009

Gramps, My question is concerning the Word of Wisdom. Section 89 reads as though it was not a commandment at that time. When did it become a commandment and how did it come about? Also when it speaks of Jesus drinking wine in the bible, was it like the wine of today? Cindy, from Arizona

Dear Cindy,

Section 89 of the Doctrine and Covenants, known as the Word of Wisdom, was received on 27 February 1833 at a meeting of the School of the Prophets in the upper room of the Whitney store in Kirtland, Ohio. It was published on a broadsheet in Dec. 1833, and included as Section 80 in the 1835 edition of the Doctrine & Covenants.

Although the Word of Wisdom was given by the Lord to the Prophet Joseph Smith “not by commandment or constraint” but “given for a principle with promise,” it is nevertheless a binding document on the members of the Church. To quote from the Millennial Star, 1 Feb. 1852, p. 35,

“The Word of Wisdom became a binding document on the members of the Church at the general conference on 9 Sept. 1851. President Brigham Young proposed to the general conference that all saints formally covenant to abstain from tea, coffee, tobacco and whiskey and ‘all things mentioned in the Word of Wisdom.’ The motion was accepted unanimously and became binding as a commandment for all members thereafter.”

Supporting the point that Section 89 was binding on the members of the Church, Brigham Young said on April 7, 1869, “I know that some say the revelations upon these points are not given by way of commandment. Very well, but we are commanded to observe every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Discourses of Brigham Young, pp. 182-83).

I know of no reference in the scriptures of the Savior drinking wine, except in preparing the sacrament for his disciples. The question is, what was the “wine” that was used in the sacrament?

Smith and Sjodahl, in “Doctrine and Covenants Commentary”, Sec. 89, p. 572, report the following:

“The use of ‘pure wine’ in the Sacrament is permitted. But what is ‘pure wine’ if not the pure juice of the grape, before it has been adulterated by the process of fermentation? No fewer than thirteen Hebrew and Greek terms are rendered in our Bible by the word ‘wine.’ There is the pure grape juice, and a kind of grape syrup, the thickness of which made it necessary to mingle water with it previously to drinking (Prov. 9:2, 5.) There was a wine made strong and inebriating by the addition of drugs, such as myrrh, mandragora, and opiates (Prov. 23:30; Isa. 5:22.) Of the pure wine, which was diluted with water, or milk, Wisdom invites her friends to drink freely (Prov. 9:2, 5.) There was also ‘wine on the lees,’ which is supposed to have been ‘preserves’ or ‘jellies’ (Isa. 25:6.) The ‘pure wine’ is not an intoxicating, but a harmless liquid.”

Also, Elder John A. Widtsoe in “Evidences and Reconciliations” p. 79, had this to say: