{"id":15,"date":"2008-05-05T16:00:27","date_gmt":"2008-05-05T22:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hotpepper.ca\/lds\/wordofwisdom\/meat\/"},"modified":"2011-06-27T21:21:09","modified_gmt":"2011-06-28T03:21:09","slug":"meat","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/www.hotpepper.ca\/lds\/wordofwisdom\/prohibitions\/meat\/","title":{"rendered":"Meat"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Does the Word of Wisdom have a restriction on meat?<\/dt>\n
Yes. The Lord states that the “flesh…of \t\t\tbeasts and fowls of the air…are to be used sparingly.” He goes \t\t\tfurther on to say that they should be eaten in times of winter \t\t\t(cold) or famine.<\/p>\n

There is no mention of a restriction on poultry (fowl of the \t\t\tground), seafood, eggs or dairy products.<\/p>\n<\/dd>\n

Are the terms “cold” and “winter” referring to something \t\tdifferent than how we interpret it today?<\/dt>\n
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When the Word of Wisdom was revealed, methods for preserving \t\t\tmeat were still primitive. Spoiled meat can be fatal if eaten, but the \t\t\tchance of spoilage is not as great in winter as in summer. Modern \t\t\tmethods of refrigeration now make it possible for meat to be frozen \t\t\tand thereby preserved for later use in any season. The key word with \t\t\trespect to the use of meat is ‘sparingly'” (Student Manual, \t\t\tReligion 324-325<\/cite>, p. 210).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/dd>\n

Why should meat be eaten during times of “famine”?<\/dt>\n
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Let them be sparing of the life of animals, it is pleasing saith the Lord that flesh be used only in times of winter, or of famine. And why to be used in time of famine? Because all domesticated animals would naturally die, and might as well be made use of by man as not.(Oliver Cowdery, Times & Seasons 3:799-801<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/dd>\n

Doesn’t the revelation say that meat “should not be used only in \t\ttimes of winter, or of cold, or famine”?<\/dt>\n
Often some people forget the comma between “used” and \t\t\t“only” and thus misinterpret the entire verse. The sentence \t\t\tfragment following the commandment is further conditions from the Lord \t\t\tto the instructions he has given concerning the consumption of flesh \t\t\tof beasts and flying fowl.<\/p>\n

In this case, as in many instances of its usage within the \t\t\tscriptures, “only” is used as an adversative, being \t\t\tsynonymous with “save” or “except.” In other \t\t\twords, it “should not be used, [except] in \t\t\ttimes of winter, or of cold, or famine.” A handful of \t\t\tother occasions of this usage can be found within the following passages:<\/p>\n