The Word of Wisdom and Science

BY J. M. JENSEN,, BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY In 1833, the Lord revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith "A Word of Wisjdom" for "the temporal salvation of all Saints in the last days.' The following passages are quoted therefrom : "That inasmuch as any man drinketh wine or strong drink among you, behold it is not good, neither mete in the site of your Father, only in assembling yourselves together to offer up .your sacraments before him." "And again, strong drinks are not for the belly, but for the wash- ing of your bodies." , It will be noted that no exception is made in favor of drink- ing strong drink as a heart stimulant or otherwise in case of illness. Skeptics sometimes assert that Revelation has never given a scientific truth to the world, but this is an illustration of Revelation antedating science by many years. Here is the latest scientific thought on the matter, quoted from Volume I, Practical Medical Series, 1915, edited by Frank Billings, M. S., M. D., Head of Medical Department and Dean of Faculty of Rush Med- ical College, and J. H. Salisbury, A. M., M. D., Professor of Medicine of Illinois Post Graduate Medical School : "Alcohol is no longer considered a heart tonic, and has well nigh lost its right to a place in a sane pharmacopeia. Just as pneumonia in the alcoholic is in the great majority of instances a fatal process, so the use of alcohol in the treatment of penumonia constitutes a paradox of effort that is difficult to understand on any other ground than one of ignorance. Alcohol is a heart muscle poison and a blood vessel vasomotor paralyzant [blood vessel paralyzer]. Both of these forces we wish to preserve and not destroy. Therefore, after many hundreds of years, filled with object demonstrations so plain that they stare us in the face, we are reluctantly beginning to cease teaching OUR patients well nigh incurable drug habits under the guise of beneficial treatment." It is more than 82 years since God's revelation was given ; science has therefore been somewhat of a laggard in this matter. PROVO, UTAH