Mormons and Hot Liquids

By: Brandon James Scott Scholl

The other day I had my local Mormon missionaries over for dinner and a discussion.

I finally asked what the whole deal was about not having coffee. So, they directed me to Doctrines and Covenants 89. What is interesting to me is the only thing that has anything to do with Hot drink is verse 9.

"And again, hot drinks are not for the body or the belly"

D&C 89:9

Now, the context of this verse is saying that alcohol and tobacco are not to be used because it's not healthy for the body. The verse that mentions hot drinks is just thrown in there as a side not in a way. When I asked about the history of this verse, they gave me an interesting back story.

At the time, all the men were chewing and spitting tobacco and it was disgusting. So, Smith's wife asked him to ask God about it. So, Joseph Smith got the revelation for this chapter. Now, that's all fine such, but I don't believe in the purity of Joseph Smith in any way, shape or form.

One of the missionaries that was talking to me about this has chronic migraines like I do, and he also takes caffeine as well as I do. So, things like coffee aren't bad because of the caffeine in it at all. However, with the caffeine, what is coffee? Black water?

There's another story I've heard, and although I can't prove it, I like to think of it as quite a plausible theory. It says that Smith's wife asked him to have a revelation to get rid of the tobacco, so he had a revelation. Well, as retaliation, the women in the area stopped inviting Mrs. Smith to their tea parties. So, again, Mrs. Smith asked her husband to have a revelation getting rid of hot liquids.

Something to think about.