Sparingly

Cherished Beliefs of Latter-day Prophets

The Word of Wisdom is a beautiful doctrine not only about human health, but also the sanctity
of life and mans responsibility to provide Christlike care over it.

Joseph Smith
Prophet
How will the serpent ever lose his venom, while the servants of God possess the same
disposition, and continue to make war upon it? Men must become harmless, before the brute
creation; and when men lose their vicious dispositions and cease to destroy the animal race,
the lion and the lamb can dwell together, and the sucking child can play with the serpent in
safety.

Documentary History of the Church, vol. 2, pp. 7172

Hyrum Smith
First Presidency
[God] has appointed the word of wisdom as one of the engines to remove the beastly
appetites, the murderous disposition and the vitiated taste of man to promote peace
between him and the brute creation.

Word of Wisdom, Times and Seasons: Truth will prevail. Vol. 3, No. 15, City of Nauvoo, ILL. 1
June 1842, p. 800

Let [The Saints] 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.

Times and Seasons 3:799-801

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Heber C. Kimball
First Presidency
It is not pleasing in [Gods] sight for man to shed blood of beasts except in times of excess of
hunger and famine. Go and read it for yourselves It is not the Spirit of God that leads a man or
woman to shed bloodto desire to kill and slay.

Shedding Blood - Gods Provision for His Saints, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 6, p. 50,
15 Nov. 1857

Brigham Young
Prophet
If the people were willing to receiv3e the true knowledge from heaven in regard to their diet
they would cease eating swines flesh. I know this as well as Moses knew it.

Journal of Discourses, Vol. 2, 6 April 1868, p. 269-271

Mothers, keep the children from eating meat; and let them eat vegetables.

Journal of Discourses, Vol. 19, p. 68 p. 69, Brigham Young, July 19, 1877

Orson Hyde
Quorum of the Twelve
take care of [animals] well; then we can enjoy ourselves, and we are not the authors of
misery to any part of creation.

Oct. 7, 1865 General Conference address

George Q. Cannon
First Presidency
Even beasts have rights which must be respected.

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Editorial thoughts Juvenile Instructor 9, No. 25, 1874, p. 294

We should by every means in our power impress upon the rising generation the value of life
and how dreadful a sin it is to take life. The lives of animals even should be held far more sacred
than they are.

Juvenile Instructor, No. 31, 1896, p.218

Wilford Woodruff
Prophet
The Word of Wisdom is a commandment and all members should observe it, but for the
present, no definite action should be taken except that the members should be taught to
refrain from eating meat.

Diary of Heber J. Grant, Journal History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, LDS
Church Archives, 5 May 1898

Lorenzo Snow
Prophet
The Word of Wisdom [is] violated as much or more in the improper use of meat as in other
things, and the time is near at hand when the Latter-Day Saints should be taught to refrain from
meat eating and the shedding of animal blood.

Journal History, 11 March 1897, p. 2

We have no right to slay animals or fowls except from necessity, for they have spirits which
may some day rise up and accuse or condemn us.

An Apostles Record: The Journals of Abraham H. Cannon, Dennis B. Horne, 2004, p. 424

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President Snow "was convinced that the killing of animals when unnecessary was wrong and
sinful, and that it was not right to neglect one part of the Word of Wisdom and be too
strenuous in regard to other parts."

Journal History, 5 May 1898, p. 2-3

Joseph F. Smith
Prophet
"The unnecessary destruction of life begets a spirit of destruction which grows within the soul.
It lives by what it feeds upon and robs man of the love that he should have for the works of
God. Men cannot worship the Creator and look with careless indifference upon his creation.

Juvenile Instructor, April 1918, p. 182-3

Man in his wanton disregard of a sacred duty has been reckless of life. He has destroyed it with
an indifference to the evil results it would entail upon the earth.

Juvenile Instructor, April 1918, p. 182-3

The dominion the Lord gave man over the brute creation has been, to a very large extent, used
selfishly, thoughtlessly, cruelly.

Juvenile Instructor, No. 47, February 1912, p. 78

Nature helps us to see and understand God. To all His creations we owe an allegiance of
service and a profound admiration.

Juvenile Instructor, April 1918, Reprinted 1927

Hyrum Mack Smith

Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
To kill, when not necessary, is a sin akin to murder.

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Doctrine and Covenants Commentary, Hyrum M. Smith and Janne M. Sjodahl, 1919, p. 286

Man has been entrusted with sovereignty over the animal kingdom, that he may learn to
govern, as God rules, by the power of love and justice, and become fit for his eternal destiny as
a ruler of worlds.

Doctrine and Covenants Commentary, Hyrum M. Smith and Janne M. Sjodahl, 1919, p. 286

George Teasdale
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
Eating pork is a more serious breach of the word of wisdom than drinking tea or coffee.

The Word of Wisdom: From Principle to Requirement, Thomas G. Alexander, 1981 p. 79

John Henry Smith

First Presidency
Animal life is to be properly guarded and not wantonly sacrificed to the appetite of man. His
use of it must be limited to times of scarcity or those seasons of extreme cold when it may be
necessary.

The Word of Wisdom, Latter-day Saints Millennial Star, Vol. 46, March 1886, p. 170

Heber J. Grant
Prophet
I have not, with the exception of not more than a dozen times, ordered meat of any kind I
have endeavored to live the word of wisdom.

Conference Report, General Conference, April 1937, p. 15

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George Albert Smith
Prophet
Flesh of beast and fowls of the air; and these things He refers to we may use with prudence
and thanksgiving; and I want to emphasize with thanksgiving.

General Conference, October 1923, p. 72-3

President Smiths biographer wrote: In the summer he eats no meat, and even in the winter
months he eats very little.

Robert Murray Stewart, A Normal Day in the Home of George Albert Smith, Improvement Era
53, April 1950, p. 287

Joseph F. Merrill
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
Latter-day Saints, why should you complain of the scarcity or high price of flesh foods? I
have quoted from some of the highest authorities in the world to the effect that they are not
essential to your physical well-being. But Americans did not know this until God revealed it to
them through his Prophet, Joseph Smith.

Conference Report, April 1948, p. 70-5

David O. McKay
Prophet
A true Latter-day Saint is kind to animals, is kind to every created thing, for God has created
all.

General Conference, Oct. 1951

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"Too many members move along the lines of least resistance and yield to a craving appetite
developed by disobedience to the Word of Wisdom of God, thus depriving themselves of
spiritual as well as physical strength.

Improvement Era, 1953, p. 376

John A. Widstoe
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
At the time that the Word of Wisdom was given, meat was generally looked upon as the best
and most necessary food for full health. Those who raised their voices in opposition to this view
were held to be fanatical, untrustworthy food faddists. Alas! Some people hold that opinion
today! It was therefore a courageous departure from accepted practice to teach that man may
live without meat as implied in the words, they should not be used, only in times of winter, or
of cold or famine.

The Word of Wisdom: A Modern Interpretation, 1950, p. 217

Joseph Fielding Smith

Prophet
Why do we feel that we do not have a square meal unless it is based largely on meat? Let the
dumb animals live. They enjoy life as well as we do.

Health Is A Blessing: A Guide to the Scriptural Laws of Good Health, by Steven H. Horne, advance
publication copy (Springville, Utah: Natures Field, 1994), p. 34

Animals have reason, intelligence, language and love.

Man: His Origin and Destiny, 1954, p. 194-5, paraphrased by Chris Foster
http://www.slideshare.net/Fosterch5/mormonism-and-animal-ethics

President Smiths wife Jesse Evans Smith said, My husband doesnt eat meat and he felt a
disdain of meat and a love of vegetables.

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Brigham Young University Daily Universe, 6 May 1971, p. 1

Spencer W. Kimball
Prophet
Speaking of animals, President Kimball said, Now, I would also like to add some of my feelings
concerning the unnecessary shedding of blood and destruction of life. Take not away the life
you cannot give, for all things have an equal right to live.

Fundamental Principles to Ponder and Live, General Conference, Oct. 1978

I still dont eat very much meat.

Strengthening the Family: The Basic Unit of the Church, General Conference, April 1978

Bruce R. McConkie
First Presidency
Man and all forms of life will be vegetarians in the coming day; the eating of meat will cease,
because, for one thing, death as we know it ceases. There will be no shedding of blood.

Millennial Messiah, 1982, p. 658-9

Ezra Taft Benson

Prophet
Reed A. Benson stated of his father

In his personal life, he was sparing in his use of meat and generous in his use of fresh
vegetables and grains.

The Sanctity of Food: A Latter-day Saint Perspective, Paul H. Peterson, A personal

conversation with Reed A. Benson, son of President Ezra Taft Benson, 3 Oct. 1995

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In this revelation the Lord counsels us to use meat sparingly. I have often felt that the Lord is
further counseling us in this revelation against indiscriminately killing animals.

A Principle With A Promise, General Conference, April 1983

God made [wild animals] for the use of man only in times of famine and excess of hunger.

Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy, Ensign, May 1971

Gordon B. Hinckley
Prophet
This Word of Wisdom came to us from the Father of us all, the God of heaven, for our blessing
and the blessing of all who would observe it. I regret that we as a people do not observe it more
faithfully.

Mormon Should Mean More Good, General Conference, Oct. 1990

I thank the Lord for a testimony of the Word of Wisdom. I wish we lived it more fully. But even
though we do not the Lord pours out His blessings upon those who try.

My Testimony, General Conference, Oct. 1993

Hugh Nibley
BYU Professor, Historian and Linguist
Hugh Nibley, after his many studies on the words of the prophets and the scriptures summed it
up well.

Mans dominion is a call to service, not a license to exterminate. It is precisely because men
now prey upon each other and shed the blood and waste the flesh of other creatures without
need that the world lieth in sin.

Nibley on the Timely and the Timeless: 2nd ed. (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham
Young University, 2004), p. 95-110

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Again, sparing is a good word. It means sparing Gods creatures.... The family who needs a
deer to get through the winter have a right to that. The Lord will not deny them, but He is also
pleased with those who forbear. They can eat meat only in times of starvation, winter, cold,
famine.

The Word of Wisdom: A Commentary on D&C 89, Dec. 1979 Gospel Doctrine Class, Manavu
Ward

Return to Sparingly

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