Comments on: Why do Mormons avoid coffee or tea?

By: Julie Price

Julie Price — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 19:22:20 +0000

A Word of Wisdom, for the benefit of the council of high priests, assembled in Kirtland, and the church, and also the saints in Zion—To be sent greeting; not by commandment or constraint, but by revelation and the word of wisdom, showing forth the order and will of God in the temporal salvation of all saints in the last days—Given for a principle with promise, adapted to the capacity of the weak and the weakest of all saints, who are or can be called saints. Behold, verily, thus saith the Lord unto you: In consequence of evils and designs which do and will exist in the hearts of conspiring men in the last days, I have warned you, and forewarn you, by giving unto you this word of wisdom by revelation. (Doc. & Cov. 89:1-4)

This is a significant introduction; it says (in part) that the Word of Wisdom is adapted to the capacity of the weakest of all saints. There may be many members of the Church who could “hold their liquor,” so to speak, or wouldn’t become addicted to coffee and tea if they just drank a little. But we avoid it completely in part because we all stand together as saints. The power of the Lord’s concern to help us avoid the evils of the last days is very significant to me, as are the promises we receive from heeding the Word of Wisdom (which, btw, includes much much more than “no coffee or tea”).

By: Amanda

Amanda — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 20:22:48 +0000

Being an inactive member for many years, I LOVED coffee and drank it and never understood why we as Mormons were not supposed to drink it. I’ve now been active for a year and have been coffee free for 5 months. It was extremely hard for me, but I’ll tell you why I did it. I started getting anxiety that was so bad and was having to take xanax every single day. I went a day without coffee and noticed that my anxiety wasn’t so bad. So, I decided to test it out and stopped drinking coffee and in turn stopped taking xanax. There is a reason why God commanded us to not drink coffee, and I have much better health with not drinking. Because of me discovering for myself why I should not drink coffee I take God’s word and don’t drink tea.

By: Ryan White

Ryan White — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 22:15:44 +0000

I am not a man that is smart or anything like that. But I do know that it was revealed to Joseph Smith, and if you pray to know if he is a prophet of God; than you’ll know that the Lord revealed to him the word of wisdom which is to help us be healthy. We learn what we should eat and not eat or drink. If we obey we are promised many blessings! It is a commandment of the Lord and we can get countless blessing by obey the Lord. It is a matter if you want to obey God or not.

By: Eric Martin

Eric Martin — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 13:57:05 +0000

We avoid coffee and tea because we are promised in the Doctrine and Covenants that we will be granted ‘hidden wisdom and knowledge’ in addition to better physical health and stamina and we also avoid this because the words of the Prophets are clear, these substances are harmful to our physical bodies, and we avoid them as a matter of health, and as a matter of hope, and as a matter of faith. In the Name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

By: Cindy

Cindy — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 20:19:41 +0000

Basically anaything that alters your nervous system, your mind or well-being should be avoided. Coffee, balck tea, cigarrettes, drugs, all should be avoided not just because they do alter your state of mind, but also because they are addicting. The Gospel is to set us free. What freedom do we really have if we’re “having to have a cup of coffee all the time” or people who are smoking all the time- they’re not free, thye’re addicted to these substances. God knows best

By: Jay V

Jay V — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 17:34:05 +0000

I avoid coffee and tea because I know it’s bad for me. I know not only because of modern medicine, but because I trust my Heavenly Father and he’s told us it’s bad for us. I see it the same as a child trusting his father when he tells him to brush his teeth or not eat a lot of candy. The child may not understand, but he obeys because he knows his father loves him, wants what is best for him, and knows more than he.

By: Aaron French

Aaron French — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 00:29:59 +0000

God, through his prophets has instructed his people to not partake of “hot drinks”. Through further revelation the Lord specified certain teas and all coffee as the beverages we were to avoid. We may not understand all the reasons for such a commandment, but the Lord has always had some form of dietary guideline or another and the Lord reveals his purposes throuh time.

By: Brady Wolfe

Brady Wolfe — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 22:02:07 +0000

We avoid these substances first, because it is commanded of us through modern revelation in the Doctrine and Covenants, and second, because we do not want to submit ourselves to substances that cause us to become dependent their consumption. We believe that this limits our agency, or ability to make choices, when we become addicted to substances, even one so widely accepted as caffeine.

By: Kirill Klimov

Kirill Klimov — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 11:06:41 +0000

We avoid coffee and tea because it is the commandment from God. You can find it in 89 section of Doctrine & Covenants. I know that because of Word of Wisdom we can be healthy and strong in spirit and body. To read the scriptures that teach about these things, click here.