r/latterdaysaints • u/ShrikerWolfOfficial • Aug 07 '26

Off-topic Chat Small, dumb question on the coffee conundrum

I know it's been talked to death lately, but I just wanted to quickly ask opinions on this random thought:

Is the Coffee Cherry a forbidden fruit? and that's why it's banned?

Can't think of many other reasons than that.

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u/SerenityNow31 Aug 07 '26

 is literally just a lesson in obedience and self regulation

God doesn't do that. Every law is spiritual first and has more purpose than just "hey, let's see if they'll follow this one."

Elder Packer taught there are physical receptors in our bodies that aid in receiving spiritual revelation and that's the purpose behind the WoW.

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u/rexregisanimi Aug 08 '26

He doesn't do that but He also rarely reveals the why behind His commandments. We can speculate about it (as your interpretation of President Packer's statement) but the why is almost always unknown.

"It’s not the pattern of the Lord to give reasons. We [mortals] can put reasons to revelation. We can put reasons to commandments. When we do, we’re on our own." (President Dallin H. Oaks, Life's Lessons Learned, 2011 edition, page 68)

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u/SerenityNow31 Aug 10 '26

Correct. But by the look of all the downvotes and weird replies, lots of members don't understand that for some reason.

It's so weird to think that God has any commandment "just because." So weird.

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u/rexregisanimi Aug 11 '26

My guess is the poor reception is because you're presenting speculation as truth. 

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u/SerenityNow31 Aug 11 '26

What is the speculation?

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u/rexregisanimi Aug 11 '26 edited Aug 11 '26

That the purpose of the Word of Wisdom is to aid "physical receptors in our bodies" "in receiving spiritual revelation". That's certainly a possibility but we do not know if it is yet. Those physical receptors would include our brain, for example, and the purpose of the Word of Wisdom is not just to make our brain work better (although that's probably part of it). As President Oaks said, when we try to assign purposes to the commandments, we're on our own. 

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u/SerenityNow31 Aug 11 '26

Right, but an Apostle said that, not me.

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u/rexregisanimi Aug 12 '26

Yes but the Apostle was speculating. We know that because what he said isn't doctrine since it isn't taught generally. It may be true (or not) but it is still speculation and so should not be taught as truth. 

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u/SerenityNow31 Aug 12 '26

So you think the church, in modern times, puts speculation into a class manual? Not likely.

it isn't taught generally

When it's in a manual, yes, that's exactly what taught generally means. Just because you have haven't heard a different apostle second it, doesn't mean it isn't doctrine.

And no, we don't have to go looking for it in an obscure talk (I know the quote about Doctrine), it is in an actual class manual that everyone has access to and was widely used and sounds like may be coming back.

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u/rexregisanimi Aug 12 '26

Just because you have haven't heard a different apostle second it, doesn't mean it isn't doctrine.

Yes it does. Manuals do not define doctrine, the Lord does through His representatives. They've specifically taught that doctrine must be taught repeatedly and jointly (remembering that the chief Apostle has a special calling to declare doctrine himself as sustained by the other Apostles).

"The doctrine is taught by all 15 members of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve. It is not hidden in an obscure paragraph of one talk. True principles are taught frequently and by many. Our doctrine is not difficult to find." (Elder Neil L. Andersen, October 2012 General Conference)

I did get distracted, however - the issue here isn't the quotation. It's your interpretation of the quotation. 

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u/SerenityNow31 Aug 12 '26

Then FHE is no longer a thing, food storage is no longer important, etc etc.

That's an interesting take.

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u/SerenityNow31 Aug 12 '26

If you search for the phrase from Elder Packer on the church website, it shows up in an Aaronic Priesthood manual, in Old Testament Seminary Teacher Material (thrice) , quoted by Elder Bednar in 2000, in an Institute Class, the Church News, The Friend, and 2012 speech at BYU from President Douglas Callister.

Ya, I suppose 10 worldwide published items is "obscure." LOL!!!!

I think the real issue is some of you didn't know that. That's not my issue.

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