“What is it about the Camellia sinensis or tea plant that makes tea that comes from that plant against the Word of Wisdom? What is it about the coffee that makes it against the Word of Wisdom? On my mission, we told people it produced tars and other things that were bad for your body. Do you have any additional or better information that you can offer me? If you do, I would love to know, so I can be able to give a better answer when asked.” (Jeremy)
Thanks for writing, Jeremy.
The only thing about the Camellia sinensis plant that makes tea that comes from it against the word of wisdom, is the fact that it is tea and we have been told not to drink it. No reason was given in D&C 89.
Same goes for coffee. All we know is that the Lord told us to not drink it. No reason was given in D&C 89.
I can’t say I have ever heard that either produced tar. Even so, the Lord has never revealed tar-making properties is the cause for his asking us to avoid them.
All we know for certain is that the Lord told us we should avoid them. He has yet to reveal why.
Kim
The WW does not ban “Camellia sinensis”, it bans “hot drinks.” You assure us that “hot chocolate” is not a “hot drink” because it has no Camellia sinensis. How on earth can you take the plain meaning of a word and ignore it in favor of a term that does not exist in the WW? Did God not know the term Camellia sinensis?
Meat should be eaten “sparingly”. Yet people can get TRs if they eat meat at every meal. That’s not “sparingly” (and I don’t need a Latin term to say why!
Many prophets have interpreted “hot drinks” to mean tea and coffee. Hot chocolate is not against the Word of Wisdom because it is not tea or coffee.
Actually, there is no prohibition on meat. Specifically, the sparingly refers to flesh of beast of the field and fowl of the air. No mention of poultry or fish. But you won’t find any disagreement from me about people getting temple recommends despite eating too much meat. Same goes for not eating fruits and vegetables and whole grains.