There are few outward practices in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints more noticeable in our world today than the Word of Wisdom.

The Word of Wisdom is one of the things that sets us apart as a peculiar people. People unfamiliar with the Church usually know of the health code; that we do not smoke or drink or drink coffee. It makes us stand out and becomes one of the top missionary opportunities, as we set ourselves apart from the world by not participating in trends and habits that are considered normal.

And yet, despite all of its benefits, anti-Mormons like to frame the Word of Wisdom as a way to discredit the Church for inconsistencies or somehow prove that its recommendations aren’t scientifically backed, as if modern science is always right and as if that is the purpose of the Word of Wisdom in the first place.

It often seems that former members of the Church seek to discredit the Word of Wisdom so they can justify their desire not to live by it.

Let’s take a closer look at what the Word of Wisdom actually is and why we have it today.

Doctrine and Covenants 89

History of the Word of Wisdom

In 1833, the revelation was given as a “Word of Wisdom” on February 27 in Kirtland, Ohio. It came in response to a practical issue during meetings of the School of the Prophets. The room was often filled with smoke, and tobacco chewing left spit on the floor that Emma Smith was tired of cleaning up. This filth didn’t seem right for men called to build the kingdom of God and thus Joseph Smith inquired of the Lord.

In the beginning, The Word of Wisdom was not presented as a commandment. The revelation states it was given “not by commandment or constraint,” but as guidance, a recommendation for the Saints. It was something wise to follow, intended to help them avoid physical and spiritual harm, including the “evils and designs of conspiring men in the last days.”

Use of tea, coffee, alcohol, and tobacco was very different in that time and age. Clean drinking water was not always reliable, so many people relied on other beverages as safer options. Alcoholic drinks were often used in moderation, and tobacco use was widespread, especially among men.

The revelation was given specifically for those attending the School of the Prophets in Kirtland, which met in the Newel K. Whitney store. After hearing the revelation, Those attending the school immediately began to change their behavior, including stopping tobacco use during meetings. However, this did not mean that all use stopped immediately, nor was it enforced as a commandment.

Punishment for Drunkenness

In the early days of the Church, and culturally in much of the American Christian world drunkenness was condemned.  Getting drunk could result in discipline, including excommunication. Drinking in moderation was culturally normal, even among younger people. It was better to drink Alcoholic beverages than to get sick from bad water. The primary concern with alcohol was the loss of self-control, where a person’s judgment, behavior, and agency were affected by overindulgence.

Jesus drank wine. Joseph Smith occasionally drank wine and beer.

By the late 1800s, Church leaders and missionaries were encouraged to more strictly live the Word of Wisdom.

In 1906s, President Joseph F. Smith implemented the use of water in Sacrament meeting instead of Wine.  This became the standard across the Church in 1912.

In 1921, under President Heber J. Grant, observance of the Word of Wisdom became a requirement for receiving a temple recommend.

By the 1930s, it was clearly established in Church policy, no longer as advice, but as a standard expected of members.

In August 2019, the Church clarified modern application:

The Word of Wisdom is a law of health for the physical and spiritual benefit of God’s children. Church leaders have taught that substances that are destructive, habit-forming, or addictive should be avoided. This includes illegal drugs, vaping, e-cigarettes, green tea, and coffee-based products. Marijuana and opioids are permitted only when used appropriately under medical supervision.

Principle With A Promise

The revelation in Doctrine and Covenants 89 is given as a “principle with a promise.” The last verse of the revelation lays out a comparison to the blessings received by the Children of Israel in Egypt during the Passover. The Children of Israel had a choice. They could either put the lamb’s blood on their door and not be slain, or they could choose not to. They could choose to obey the prophet and have faith that what Moses said came from God, or ignore it. This was a tangible act where the Israelites were able to show their faith as covenant children. Those who showed their faith and obeyed were blessed.

When we live the Word of Wisdom, we mark ourselves as a covenant people. Keeping the Word of Wisdom does not necessarily mean that we are righteous, but if we have made a covenant to follow it, then choosing not to live it shows a willingness to ignore those covenants.

Jews live their health code laws because they believe they came from God. We live the Word of Wisdom because we have been instructed by modern prophets to do so.  By obeying God, especially in black and white commandments, we demonstrate our faith and place ourselves in a position to be blessed.

Anti-Mormon Claims Regarding the Word of Wisdom

The problem that critics have with the Word of Wisdom is that they use presentism to frame differences in other generations as our current practice as hypocrisy. Often the reason they desire to discredit the word of wisdom is because of personal additions and a desire to avoid accountability for not living it themselves. When someone does not want to follow a standard, there is a natural tendency to look for reasons to dismiss it or explain it away. Instead of evaluating the principle and purpose, they apply a modern lens and assume that the culture and commandment should have always looked exactly the way it does today.

They look back at a different time, culture, and stage of development and interpret differences as inconsistency, while ignoring that circumstances change and that modern prophets exist to give guidance for our day.

Because many members are not familiar with the full history, they assume the Word of Wisdom has always been practiced the same way it is today. When they see the actual history, it can create cognitive dissonance because it does not seem to fit what they expected. When that information is presented without context, it can create the appearance of contradiction. In reality, it reflects a pattern of gradual instruction and increased expectation over time.

Wrong Historical Assumptions

In the case of Joseph Smith, many members learn the story of when he was seven years old and refused alcohol during his leg surgery. From that, some assume that he never drank alcohol at all. But that assumption comes from incomplete understanding, often because their teachers also had those same incorrect assumptions.

Historical records, including the Joseph Smith Papers, show that Joseph Smith did occasionally drink wine and beer. This includes documented instances including Carthage Jail just before he was killed. When people learn this, some feel betrayed, assuming that Joseph Smith should have lived under the same standards we follow today.

Some members have a similar reaction when they learn that coffee was included on pioneer packing lists before crossing the plains to Utah.

When this history is discovered, critics like to claim that the Church has hidden it. This isn’t true. There is a clear difference between hiding history and people not doing deeper research. Sunday school curriculum on Word of Wisdom doesn’t usually include dates and facts about how things used to be because those don’t apply to how people should be living things today. Joseph Smith’s journals and early Church records have been publicly available for decades. If one wanted to know these details, they have always been available with enough research.

The reality is that there is only so much time in seminary and Sunday School. Teachers are not going to spend limited time focusing on unnecessary historical details that don’t build faith or teach core doctrine. Most church members simply have no desire to go through the primary sources themselves, and church curriculum doesn’t go out of it’s way to bring up minimal instances that are different from our worldview today. Treating assumptions as deception is not an accurate representation of what is actually happening.

For the Weakest of Saints

The Word of Wisdom states that it is given for the weakest of saints. When someone is vulnerable to addiction or harmful habits, the safest approach is complete abstinence. You are not going to get addicted if you never start.

This helps explain why, in later generations, the Word of Wisdom became a standard of full abstinence from alcohol, tobacco, coffee, and tea. If a person never begins using these substances, they never become dependent on them, never lose control of their agency, and never have to overcome those addictions.

Benefits of Living the Word of Wisdom

From a practical standpoint, there is strong evidence that the Word of Wisdom benefits both individuals and society. The empirical evidence is obvious. The substances modern prophets have consistently warned against are tied to death, addiction, family harm, accidents, and long-term health damage.

Alcohol

Excessive alcohol use alone causes about 178,000 deaths each year in the United States, making it one of the leading preventable causes of death. Alcohol-impaired driving killed 13,524 people in 2022, accounting for 32% of all traffic deaths, and CDC notes that about 37 people per day are killed in crashes involving an alcohol-impaired driver.

Alcohol does not just hurt the person drinking it. It destroys peace in homes and becomes fuel for violence, abuse, and broken families. Alcohol is so destructive because it lowers inhibitions, clouds judgment, and makes people far more likely to act in anger, recklessness, or cruelty. That shows up in domestic violence, sexual abuse, child abuse, and assaults against spouses and girlfriends. A huge percentage of violent incidents happen when alcohol is involved.

Around the world, study after study has shown that women are far more likely to be beaten, threatened, or sexually assaulted by a partner under the influence. Alcohol also plays a major role in divorce and family breakdown. A person under the influence is more likely to become selfish, unpredictable, irresponsible, and abusive. The damage spreads far beyond the drinker. Wives, children, and families often carry the pain.

Avoiding alcohol protects not just the individual, but everyone around them.

Drugs

Illegal drug use carries similar consequences. The National Institute on Drug Abuse describes addiction as a chronic, treatable brain disorder, not just a bad habit, which is one reason prevention matters so much. In 2024, the United States still recorded 79,384 drug overdose deaths, including 54,045 deaths involving opioids. The National Institute of Justice also notes that illicit drug use and drug markets are closely tied to criminal behavior, law enforcement burdens, and correctional problems.

Tobacco

Smoking has equally clear negative effects. CDC states that cigarette smoking and secondhand smoke exposure cause more than 480,000 deaths each year in the United States, and more than 16 million Americans are living with a smoking-related disease. Tobacco remains the leading preventable cause of disease, death, and disability in the country. This is one reason insurers, employers, and health systems all treat smoking as a major risk factor.

Smoking during pregnancy is especially damaging. CDC reports that smoking before or during pregnancy can cause poor fetal growth, low birth weight, preterm birth, damage to a baby’s developing lungs and brain, and increased risk of birth defects such as cleft lip or cleft palate. It also notes that smoking doubles the risk of abnormal bleeding during pregnancy and delivery. In 2021, 5.4% of women with a recent live birth reported smoking during pregnancy, which shows that many still struggle to stop even when the risks are well known.

Coffee and Tea

Coffee and tea are not in the same category as alcohol and tobacco when it comes to obvious damage, but that does not mean they are harmless or that the concern is irrational. Caffeine is a stimulant. It affects the nervous system, can raise heart rate and blood pressure, can contribute to anxiety, can interfere with sleep, can worsen reflux, and can increase urinary frequency and affect the kidneys. Medical sources also warn that too much caffeine can lead to palpitations, restlessness, and trouble sleeping. In moderation, the scientific evidence shows the effects are minimal, but many people are not just drinking a mild amount once in a while. Many rely on it every day just to feel normal, get going, and to function.

That daily reliance is part of the point. Caffeine dependence is real, and withdrawal is real. People who use it regularly often find that they have a hard time stopping, a hard time waking up without it, and a hard time functioning normally when they try to quit. Medical literature recognizes caffeine withdrawal, and the symptoms can include headaches, fatigue, low mood, difficulty concentrating, and the feeling that you cannot really operate until you get your next dose. Even if someone wants to argue that moderate coffee or tea is not as dangerous as other substances, it is still easy to see why a commandment meant for the “weakest of saints” would draw a line around a substance that so often becomes a daily dependency.

A person who is vulnerable to addiction is far better off never starting than trying to break free later. Even when some people can use certain substances moderately for a time, many others cannot. A law that teaches abstinence from addictive or destructive substances protects the person who would otherwise become dependent, lose self-control, damage relationships, harm children, or spend years trying to recover. From that standpoint alone, the practical wisdom of the commandment is hard to deny. The world would be a much healthier and safer place if everyone lived the law of health taught by the church today.

Recent scientific evidence shows that beverage temperature is a significant health factor; specifically, when drinks are very hot, they can cause thermal injury to the esophagus. A study conducted in Kenya found that participants who habitually drank ‘very hot’ beverages had a 3.7 times higher risk of developing esophageal squamous cell carcinoma compared to those who drank them warm.

A Personal Approach to Living the Spirit of the Word of Wisdom

To fully live the Word of Wisdom, the principle goes beyond a list of substances the Saints should not use. Based on the principle of the law, it includes avoiding anything that can become addictive or harmful.

In 1833, many modern products did not exist, so they are not mentioned. Because of that, they fall outside the formal requirements, but personal judgment should still consider whether using them would violate the spirit of the Word of Wisdom.

“But Soda and Energy Drinks Are Worse Than Coffee and Tea”

In many cases, that is true. These drinks can be highly addictive and contain large amounts of sugar and stimulants. I personally know people who have had to be hospitalized from drinking too many energy drinks at once.

However, because they were not part of the original revelation or later defined in temple recommend interviews, they are not specifically prohibited. While they aren’t good for the body, the members drinking them have not covenanted not to partake of them.

For that reason, many members justify using them. While they may not violate a specific covenant, they can still go against the broader principle of avoiding harmful or addictive substances if their goal is to live healthier lives where they can better serve in the Kngdom of God.

Just like vaping and e-cigarettes’ were recently added, it is possible that future guidance could modify the list of things we should covenant not to do. The history of the Word of Wisdom shows that application can expand over time through modern revelation.

The Eternal Principles: Keep Covenants and Turn Towards Jesus Christ

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