Communion and the LDS Church

[_Roger Morrison]

That information (water) is somewhere in the posts above. Doncha read 'em all?? :-) Roger

[_ozemc]

For Christ to send his disciples to a Samaritan town to get meat was shocking. These people were seen as unclean, to say nothing of their food. But Jesus saw meet for his Fathers kingdom here.

John 4:6-14
6 Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour.
7 There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.
8 (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.)
9 Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.
10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.
11 The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?
12 Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?
13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:
14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

What does the water in the sacrament represent?

Bread = Immortality

Water = Everlasting Life

This is a beautiful analogy, Gaz. Thanks for sharing that here.

On a side note, I have always been curious as to why they didn't just use wine in the sacrament.

Many churches use a sacramental wine. The original prayer states "bless this wine" symbolizing the blood of Christ.

Even with the Word of Wisdom intact, I don't see how this would be contradictory. Anyone have any input on exactly why it was changed to water?

Was it because of the symbolism that Gaz pointed out, or was there some other reason...beyond the obvious Word of Wisdom "no alcohol" ban?

As an outsider, I have always thought this a bit strange.

Christ did pour wine at the last supper, not water, nor grape juice.

Why then change it from what He did?

[_moksha]

That information (water) is somewhere in the posts above. Doncha read 'em all?? :-) Roger

Too bad the posts aren't numbered and then it would be easy to say, see post #X.


by the way, I think it was Joseph Fielding Smith who was finally able to turn wine into water.

[_barrelomonkeys]

That information (water) is somewhere in the posts above. Doncha read 'em all?? :-) Roger

Roger, I read it!

[_Gazelam]

In 1833 Joseph Smith received the revelation known as the Word of Wisdom, part of which states that alcohol consumption is harmful to a person's health and well-being. Initially the Word of Wisdom was treated simply as good advice, and the Saints (including Smith himself) would still drink alcohol on occasion. During the late 1800s, church leaders slowly started to take the Word of Wisdom more seriously. This increased respect for the Word of Wisdom, combined with the scripture in Doctrine and Covenants 27: "[I]t mattereth not what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink when ye partake of the sacrament, if it so be that ye do it with an eye single to my glory," led congregations to begin substituting water for the sacramental wine. (Water has also been used as a symbol of Christ and his mission at various times, including Jesus's 'living water' sermon.) The practice was officially adopted church-wide in 1912.

[_Polygamy Porter]

That information (water) is somewhere in the posts above. Doncha read 'em all?? :-) Roger

Too bad the posts aren't numbered and then it would be easy to say, see post #X.

Click the little in the upper right corner of the post.

by the way, I think it was Joseph Fielding Smith who was finally able to turn wine into water.

I can too, it takes me about 30-45 minutes... Beer to water is a bit faster.. I guess I have prophetic powers?

[_Yoda]

In 1833 Joseph Smith received the revelation known as the Word of Wisdom, part of which states that alcohol consumption is harmful to a person's health and well-being. Initially the Word of Wisdom was treated simply as good advice, and the Saints (including Smith himself) would still drink alcohol on occasion. During the late 1800s, church leaders slowly started to take the Word of Wisdom more seriously. This increased respect for the Word of Wisdom, combined with the scripture in Doctrine and Covenants 27: "[I]t mattereth not what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink when ye partake of the sacrament, if it so be that ye do it with an eye single to my glory," led congregations to begin substituting water for the sacramental wine. (Water has also been used as a symbol of Christ and his mission at various times, including Jesus's 'living water' sermon.) The practice was officially adopted church-wide in 1912.

Thanks, Gaz! I missed this!

;)

Question---Note the section I bolded. Why do you think that the church leaders "slowly started to take the Word of Wisdom more seriously"? What was the impetus for this? If Joseph Smith, who received the revelation, utilized it only as a guide, why the change? Was there a subsequent revelation give by the Lord that this "guide" should be taken more seriously? And if so, who was this revelation given to?

[_Roger Morrison]

That information (water) is somewhere in the posts above. Doncha read 'em all?? :-) Roger

Too bad the posts aren't numbered and then it would be easy to say, see post #X.


by the way, I think it was Joseph Fielding Smith who was finally able to turn wine into water.

Bold added by RM who nearly made water after reading that GREAT Mokism! Gotta meet ya sometime, eh?

PP, loved yer's too! Great way to start da day!!! Warm regards, Roger

[_ozemc]

In 1833 Joseph Smith received the revelation known as the Word of Wisdom, part of which states that alcohol consumption is harmful to a person's health and well-being. Initially the Word of Wisdom was treated simply as good advice, and the Saints (including Smith himself) would still drink alcohol on occasion. During the late 1800s, church leaders slowly started to take the Word of Wisdom more seriously. This increased respect for the Word of Wisdom, combined with the scripture in Doctrine and Covenants 27: "[I]t mattereth not what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink when ye partake of the sacrament, if it so be that ye do it with an eye single to my glory," led congregations to begin substituting water for the sacramental wine. (Water has also been used as a symbol of Christ and his mission at various times, including Jesus's 'living water' sermon.) The practice was officially adopted church-wide in 1912.

So, would that mean that Joseph was ashamed of Jesus drinking wine?