Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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.
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.
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.
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.
George Q. Cannon
First Presidency
Even beasts have rights which must be respected.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
The dominion the Lord gave man over the brute creation has been, to a very large extent, used
selfishly, thoughtlessly, cruelly.
Nature helps us to see and understand God. To all His creations we owe an allegiance of
service and a profound admiration.
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, 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.
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.
David O. McKay
Prophet
A true Latter-day Saint is kind to animals, is kind to every created thing, for God has created
all.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
In his personal life, he was sparing in his use of meat and generous in his use of fresh
vegetables and grains.
God made [wild animals] for the use of man only in times of famine and excess of hunger.
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.
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.
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
The Word of Wisdom: A Commentary on D&C 89, Dec. 1979 Gospel Doctrine Class, Manavu
Ward
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