Is there an official church position caffeine and the Word of Wisdom?

Many members have wondered why caffeine is not explicitly forbidden by the current interpretation of the Word of Wisdom since it is a potentially harmful
substance found in coffee and tea, two substances that are forbidden.

We sometimes encounter difficulty with the Word of Wisdom (or other commandments) because we attempt to give reasons for them. As Elder Dallin
H. Oaks said of another matter:

"I decided a long time ago that I had faith in the command and I had no faith in the reasons that had been suggested for it ... Let's (not) make the mistake that's been made in the past, here and in other areas, trying to put reasons to revelation. The reasons turn out to be man-made to a great extent. The revelations are what we sustain as the will of the Lord and that's where safety lies." (Dallin H. Oaks, interview with Associated Press, in The Daily Herald, Provo, Utah, June 5, 1988.)

Well-meaning members and leaders have, from time to time, attempted to give reasons behind the commands in the Word of Wisdom -- and the caffeine in coffee and tea has been one such reason. But we must not lose sight of the fact that such explanations are man-made; they are nowhere in the revelations, and they have not been endorsed by the leaders of the church and sustained by the general church membership. An official statement from
the First Presidency reads:

"With reference to cola drinks, the church has never officially taken a position on this matter, but the leaders of the church have advised, and we do now specifically advise, against the use of any drink containing harmful habit-forming drugs under circumstances that would result in acquiring the habit. Any beverage that contains ingredients harmful to the body should be avoided." (Cited in Lester E. Bush, Jr., ed., "Mormon Medical Ethical Guidelines," Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 12:3 [Fall 1979]: 103.)

Since it seems obvious in the 21st century that tobacco leads to cancer, we quite readily conclude that the Lord's prohibition against tobacco was intended to spare us this physical ill. This may well be true, but we then make the assumption that all the other commands in the Word of Wisdom are focused on other physical benefits. This may or may not be true. We simply do not know.

The Lord's people have often had dietary laws. The Law of Moses was full of things which one could, or couldn't, eat. Furthermore, food often had to be killed or prepared in a certain way in order to make it "ritually pure." A Jew might have concluded that this was to spare him from getting ill from poorly cooked pork. That might have been one benefit, but was this the only reason for the command? I suspect not.

Such laws change from time to time. We have no problem eating pork, while for a Jew of Jesus' day it would have been a great sin. We, by contrast, do not drink alcohol, though this was not an issue for most of the Jews of Jesus' time.

I suspect that this teaches us that the substances are of secondary importance. Of course avoiding alcohol, tobacco and drugs will make us more healthy and spare our lives. But these are not the only reasons for which the Word of Wisdom was given.

The last promise of D&C 89 often receives the least attention:

"And I, the Lord, give unto them a promise, that the destroying angel shall pass by them, as the children of Israel, and not slay them." (D&C 89:21)


What does this remind us of? The Passover: The children of Israel were spared the death that came upon the Egyptians if they put lamb's blood on the doors of their houses.

What does the lamb's blood symbolize? Does lamb's blood repel destroying angels like garlic to vampires? Is it "magic" blood somehow? Hardly. It symbolizes the sacrificial death of Christ.

Rather, keeping the Word of Wisdom, like the lamb's blood of the Passover, is a symbol of the covenant which we (like Moses and Israel) have made with God. The Word of Wisdom is a reminder to us of Christ, his Atonement and the covenants that bind us to Him. We keep the Word of Wisdom not so we don't get cancer, not so we don't kill someone while drinking and driving, and not so the doctor can smile when you get your cholesterol done, though those are all great blessings. The bottom line is we keep the Word of Wisdom because of the covenant -- it is part of how we become and remain part of God's kingdom on
Earth, and "always have His spirit to be with us." It's how we protect ourselves from the spiritual death that will overwhelm everyone, everywhere unless they cling to the Atonement of Christ (D&C 1:16).

The Word of Wisdom marks us off. Just as Israelite homes were marked off from wicked Egypt by lamb's blood, so our social, public and private lives are marked off from the world by our refusal to use substances that are common in our society. Those substances need not be physically harmful -- they are spiritually harmful because we have covenanted not to partake of them. Pig's meat is not harmful -- unless (like a Jew) you've covenanted not to eat
it. Then, even a bite is spiritual poison.

Our covenants remain our only protection and redemption out of the world. This is true of the Word of Wisdom specifically, and of all the
commandments. Leaders of the church are also probably reluctant to commit the same error that some Jewish leaders did -- becoming so focused on
legalistic details, that the deeper, more serious purpose behind the law is lost. Thus, it is not surprising that there is no official church position
on a variety of substances, but each member is encouraged to apply correct principles and "govern themselves."

Thus, aside from the substances which the church has officially forbidden -- coffee, tea, alcohol, tobacco, illegal drugs and abuse of prescription drugs -- our observation of the Word of Wisdom is between the Lord and each individual because they are about our relationship to him. Any health benefits are, in a way, happy bonuses.