Word of Wisdom/Wine for the stomach
From FAIRMormon
This page is based on an answer to a question submitted to the FAIR web site, or a frequently asked question.
Contents |
Question
I have a friend whose church provides "questions" to ask their LDS neighbors. This friend asked, "Since the Word of Wisdom teaches us to abstain from alcohol, why did Paul encourage Timothy to drink wine for the stomach?"
Source(s) of Criticism
- Tower to Truth Ministries, "50 Questions to Ask Mormons," towertotruth.net (accessed 15 November 2007). 50 Answers
Answer
In Timothy's day, water was often not safe to drink. (Historically, it is interesting that the temperance movement opposing alcohol only took off in the United States once relatively clean water supplies were available to most people—prior to that, alcohol mixed with water was a necessary way of keeping water drinkable.)
The Word of Wisdom was given to modern saints as protection against "the designs of conspiring men in the last days." Certainly we don't have to look far to see such conspiracy against the health of customers at work today in tobacco companies or street drug dealers.
This shows why modern revelation is so important—what was dangerous for us in the modern age (cigarette manufacturers, illicit drugs, alcohol marketing, etc.) may need different advice from God than that given 2000 years ago where dying from dysentery transmitted by contaminated water was a far bigger risk than dying of cirrhosis or stomach cancer.
Critics should be careful
A related question which Christian critics ought to ask themselves might be, "Since we know now that alcohol—including wine—can cause gastritis, ulcers, or stomach bleeding why did Paul (a prophet!) tell Timothy to use it?"
Latter-day Saints will be untroubled that a prophet and apostle (such as Paul) could have had a a false, though popular, opinion about scientific matters. Paul isn't any less an apostle because he expressed a false idea about the benefits of alcohol on stomach problems.
Yet, many sectarian critics of the Church are quick to point fingers at Joseph Smith or Brigham Young for 19th century ideas which they expressed.
Endnotes
None
Further reading
FAIR wiki articles
| Word of Wisdom wiki articles |
- Word of Wisdom (Summary article)
- Cola drinks
- Hot drinks
- Wine for the stomach
- Does the Church control Coca Cola, or companies marketing tobacco and alcohol?
- Sacrament uses water instead of wine
FAIR web site
| Word of Wisdom FAIR articles |
- FAIR Topical Guide: Word of Wisdom FAIR link
- FAIR Topical Guide: Does the Church control Coca-Cola? FAIR link
External links
| Word of Wisdom on-line articles |
- Thomas G. Alexander, "The Word of Wisdom: From Principle to Requirement," Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 14:3 (Autumn 1981): 78–88. off-site
- Thomas J. Boud, MD, "The Energy Drink Epidemic," Ensign (December 2008): 48. off-site
- Lester E. Bush, Jr., "The Word of Wisdom in Early Nineteenth Century Perspective," Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 14:3 (Autumn 1981): 47–65. off-site
- Robert J. McCue, "Did the Word of Wisdom Become a Commandment in 1851?," Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 14:3 (Autumn 1981): 66–77. off-site
- Paul H. Peterson, "An Historical Analysis of the Word of Wisdom," Master's thesis, Brigham Young University, 1972. off-site
- Clifford J. Stratton, "Caffeine—The Subtle Addiction," Ensign (June 1988): 60. off-site
Printed material
| Word of Wisdom printed materials |
- Michael Hickenbotham, Answering Challenging Mormon Questions: Replies to 130 Queries by Friends and Critics of the LDS Church (Horizon Publishers & Distributors, 1995), 131–133. ISBN 0882905368. ISBN 0882907786.
