Tuesday, March 16, 2021

Cook and Backman on the Early Latter-day Saint Practice of the Word of Wisdom and the 15 October 1837 Kirtland Elders' Quorum Minutes

As part of the minutes for the Kirtland Elders’ Quorum for 15 October 1837, we read:

 

3rd the quorum voted to keep the word of wisdom and all the Commandments

 

In a footnote to the above, Cook and Backman offered the following comments:

 

The Word of Wisdom—Section 89 of the Doctrine and Covenants—as given in the spring of 1833 commanded that the Saints totally abstain from the use of alcohol, tobacco, and hot drinks (tea and coffee). However, because of wide-spread use of and deep-seated attachment to these substances by members, this revelation, by 1834, was changed form a direct commandment to general advise only. Even so, zealous leaders and members pressed for compliance with the original meaning of the revelation, and in early December 1836, a unanimous vote of the Saints in Kirtland supported the complete abstenance of “all liquors from the Church in Sickness & in health except wine at the Sacraments & for external washing” (Wilford Woodruff, Journal, 4 December 1836). (Lydon W. Cook and Milton V. Backman, Jr., Kirtland Elders’ Quorum Record 1836-1841 [Provo, Utah: Grandin Book Company, 1985], 32 n. 1)

 Further Reading


Mike Ash, Up In Smoke: A Response to the Tanners’ Criticism of the Word of Wisdom