University Of Bradford Researchers Further Validate LDS Word Of Wisdom, Find That Smoking Fathers Pass On Damaged Genes To Kids

Yet even more scientific validation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' Word of Wisdom health code has been published. On June 24th, 2012, the Daily Mail published an article entitled "Smoking fathers pass on damaged DNA to their children raising the risk of cancer".

Although the headline itself is almost completely self-explanatory, the details are of interest. Researchers at the University of Bradford found that smoking harms the father’s DNA, and these damaged genes can be inherited by his children, increasing the risk of youngsters developing childhood cancers, particularly leukemia. Dr. Diana Anderson suggested that since a fertile sperm cell takes three months to fully develop, fathers should kick the habit 12 weeks before conceiving to avoid the risk.

The Bradford Telegraph and Argus provides even more details. In their June 25th story entitled "University of Bradford study highlights smoking risk for dads-to-be", they report that researchers used two sensitive biomarkers to measure single and double strand breaks in the DNA of the paternal blood and semen in the period around conception, as well as maternal and umbilical cord blood at delivery. The families in the study were drawn from Bradford in the United Kingdom and Heraklion on the Greek island of Crete. Information regarding the lifestyle, environmental and occupational exposures of these families, which can influence DNA, was taken from questionnaires. They then used a combined analysis of exposures and DNA biomarkers to help differentiate the role of the various exposures before conception and during pregnancy, which could result in genetic changes in the developing embryo.

Oh, and if you go back to the Daily Mail story, you'll read that scientists at the University of Glasgow have also found that men who drink lots of tea are far more likely to develop prostate cancer. They found that those who drank seven or more cups a day had a 50 per cent higher risk of contracting the disease than men who had three or fewer. The warning comes after researchers tracked the health of more than 6,000 men for four decades.

Actually, the original warning was first revealed by the Prophet Joseph Smith on February 27th, 1833. While Joseph Smith was unlikely to have been aware of any such things as "DNA markers", he was aware of the mind of the Lord, who revealed unto him this counsel subsequently published in Section 89 of the Doctrine and Covenants:

5 That inasmuch as any man drinketh wine or strong drink among you, behold it is not good, neither meet in the sight of your Father, only in assembling yourselves together to offer up your sacraments before him.

6 And, behold, this should be wine, yea, pure wine of the grape of the vine, of your own make.

7 And, again, strong drinks are not for the belly, but for the washing of your bodies.

8 And again, tobacco is not for the body, neither for the belly, and is not good for man, but is an herb for bruises and all sick cattle, to be used with judgment and skill.

Joseph Smith's successors, acting on continuing inspiration, have subsequently defined the Word of Wisdom as proscribing coffee, tea, alcohol, and tobacco. Abstinence from those four substances is the litmus test of temple access.

Want more scientific validation of the Word of Wisdom? Read my previous post from February 7th, 2012 entitled "More Scientific Validation For The Word Of Wisdom: London Researchers Discover Connection Between Smoking And Early Dementia". And my post of May 19th, 2009, entitled "Why LDS Church Leaders Imply That Cola Drinks Violate The Spirit Of The Word Of Wisdom: New Study Shows Cola Drinks Contribute To Hypokalaemia", reports on a study outlining hazards associated with cola drinks. While cola drinks are not an actionable part of the Word of Wisdom, LDS leaders have discouraged their consumption nonetheless.

Millions of Latter-day Saints chose not to wait upon the word of science. Instead, they accepted the word of a prophet, and as a result, enjoy health in their navel, marrow in their bones, can walk and not be weary, can run and not faint, and find wisdom and great treasures of knowledge. The Lord didn't tell Joseph Smith why we should obey the Word of Wisdom; instead he merely revealed it to him, and promised blessings to those who obeyed it.

As Spencer W. Kimball once said, "Faith precedes the miracle".

Commemorating The 207th Birthday Of The First LDS Prophet, Joseph Smith: Prophet Of The Restoration

On December 23rd, 1805, a man who was to change the world entered the world in Sharon, VT. From humble origins, Joseph Smith Jr. would launch one of the most important events in the history of the world -- the Restoration of the fulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It would mark the return of full priesthood authority for the first time since the first century A.D. The Deseret News published a recent tribute to Joseph Smith. You can find more information about Joseph Smith on JosephSmith.net.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints produced a 62-minute video which brings the legacy of Joseph Smith to life:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xVw6PsSinI



Members of the LDS Church believe Joseph Smith did more for humanity except for Jesus Christ, who took upon Himself the sins of the world at Gethsemane, gave His life for those sins at Calvary, and broke the bands of death through his resurrection three days later. But Joseph Smith also owes a debt of gratitude to Martin Luther for launching the Reformation; the Reformation was a necessary precursor to the Restoration.

Joseph Smith wasn't chosen for him mission because he was perfect. He was chosen because he was a persistent seeker of knowledge and also because he took the counsel of James 1:5 literally; "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him". He took the Lord at His word, knelt down in a grove to obtain wisdom, and received the answer that would change the world. We also believe that Joseph Smith was one of the great and noble spirits who were foreordained for their mortal missions before the foundation of this world. Foreordination is NOT the same as predestination; while predestination precludes free agency, foreordination implies that free agency is possible. But the Lord made every effort to ensure that Joseph Smith would follow through by placing him in the best place at the right time; namely, 19th century America.

A December 1990 Ensign article entitled "I have a question" addresses the contrasts between predestination and foreordination.

By the way, the LDS Church is not the only church claiming Joseph Smith as a founder; the Community of Christ, the Remnant Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Fundamentalist LDS, and several Restorationist branches also claim him.

Two Days Before We Celebrate The Birthday Of The Redeemer Jesus Christ, We Commemorate The Birthday Of The Restorer Joseph Smith

The Prophet Joseph Smith: December 23, 1805 – June 27, 1844

Just two days before we celebrate the birth of the Redeemer, we commemorate the life of a Restorer. Joseph Smith Jr. was called upon to perform a task that, according to the third President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, John Taylor, was more important than any in history save for the ministry of Jesus Christ Himself.

And that task was to restore the fulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, to include the many plain and precious truths which had been lost through the passage of time and the malfeasance of men, as well as a number of ordinances, some designed to ensure that those who died without a knowledge of the Gospel could be given an opportunity to accept or reject it in the spirit world. Even more importantly, the legal spiritual authority to perform these ordinances and to operate the Lord's Church was restored in both the Aaronic Priesthood (for temporal ordinances) and the Melchizedek Priesthood (for spiritual ordinances).

Joseph Smith ushered in the Dispensation of the Fulness of Times. And like many others, he was called upon to seal his testimony with his blood. Here is a video which tries to bring Joseph Smith's experiences to life:



By the way, the LDS Church does not have sole "ownership" of Joseph Smith. He's also revered by the Community of Christ as well as the other restorationist denominations linked on my sidebar. What's ironic is that while the blood descendants of Joseph Smith ended up founding what is known as the Community of Christ today, it was a blood descendant of Joseph Smith's brother Hyrum Smith who eventually became a President of the LDS Church. Joseph F. Smith, the son of Hyrum Smith, presided over the LDS Church from 1901-1918.

Joseph Smith is also known to have prophesied extensively, predicting the American Civil War via revelation. He ran for President in an attempt to prevent the prophecy's fulfillment. He also predicted the rise of a significant third party in the United States during our day, and the possibility of World War III to be fought on American soil.

The LDS Church presents a cornucopia of information about Joseph Smith on http://www.josephsmithmormon.com. A complete book entitled "The Teachings of Joseph Smith" is also available online. You might find several new stories in the Mormon Times of interest:

-- "Portraits of the past: 'Hallowed ground'": Includes a photo gallery of scenes from the Sacred Grove in Palmyra, New York.

-- "Remembering the birth of the Prophet Joseph Smith": Provides interesting background on the early life of Joseph Smith when he was growing up in both Vermont and New York. Most likely the first home in Sharon, VT was not insulated. The walls were likely no more than an inch or two thick, so even when the fireplace roared with flames, the room's temperature remained low.

-- "What Vermont was like in December 1805": Focuses on the Vermont years.

-- "Prophet's birthday fits with season": Illustrates how Joseph Smith actually leads to Jesus Christ, and not vice versa, as some of our more extreme critics believe.

Did You Know That The Prophet Joseph Smith Predicted A Third Major Political Party And World War III On American Soil?

On October 24th, 2010, New York Magazine published an assessment of 2012 American presidential politics written by John Heilemann. Entitled "2012: How Sarah Barracuda Becomes President", it postulates about the possible outcome of a three-way race between Sarah Palin (Republican), Barack Obama (Democrat), and a third group predominantly consisting of alienated moderate Republicans, with New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg as their standard-bearer. None of the three get the necessary 270 electoral votes to win outright, throwing the election into the House of Representatives; because of Republican domination of the House, Palin wins. TheWeek pans this scenario, claiming that Bloomberg is unlikely to play.

But the first President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Joseph Smith, who foresaw the Civil War, also foresaw the development of a third major political party. He also foresaw World War III being waged upon our soil. The prophecy was recorded by Mosiah Hancock in 1844 and is documented in "The Autobiography of Mosiah Hancock" (excerpt available HERE). In this prophecy, Joseph Smith predicted the advent of a third major political party in the United States as well as a physical invasion of the U.S. by foreign powers. Here's the key excerpt:

There will be two great political parties in this country. One will be called the Republican, and the other the Democrat party. These two parties will go to war and out of these two parties will spring another party which will be the Independent American Party.

The United States will spend her strength and means warring in foreign lands until other nations will say, "Let us divide up the lands of the United States", then the people of the U.S. will unite and swear by the blood of their forefathers that the land shall not be divided. Then the country will go to war, and they will fight until one half of the U.S army will give up, and the rest will continue to struggle. They will keep on until they are very ragged and discouraged, and almost ready to give up -- when the boys from the mountains will rush forth in time to save the American army from defeat and ruin. And they will say, "Brethren, we are glad you have come; give us men, henceforth, who can talk with God". Then you will have friends, but you will save the country when its liberty hangs by a hair, as it were.

Note that when Joseph Smith made the prediction in 1844, the dominant political parties in the United States were the Democratic-Republican Party and the Whig Party. Yet he referred to separate Democrat and Republican parties, by name, 12 years before the Democratic-Republicans split up into two separate parties. This implies that he envisioned the evolution of an Independent American Party by that specific name. Since George Wallace's short-lived movement in 1968 was called the American Independent Party, it seemingly would not qualify. There is currently a National Independent American Party, but its name is slightly different, and it is only a marginal force. It is my belief that Joseph Smith specifically meant "Independent American Party" BY NAME.

The two prominent parties have indeed "gone to war" against each other. The rhetoric now is harsher than in nearly any other period of American history save it be that preceding the Civil War. Many Democrats routinely refer to Republicans, particularly the Tea Party variety, as "Nazis", "fascists", "racists", etc. The abuse endured by Alaska Republican Senate candidate Joe Miller, Nevada Republican Senate candidate Sharron Angle, and Delaware Republican Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell has been particularly hideous. And Republicans aren't exactly guiltless; they frequently refer to lefties as "moonbats" and "socialists" and even "baby-killers".

What If The First Mormon Prophet Joseph Smith Had Become President Of The United States?

June 27th, 2010 is the 166th anniversary of the assassination of the first President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Prophet Joseph Smith. On June 27th, 1844, after having given himself up to Illinois authorities in good faith that they'd be given a fair trial, with guarantees of his safety extended by Illinois Governor Thomas Ford, Joseph Smith and his party ended up facing a mob, made up of members of the town militia who were in charge of protecting Joseph, which overran the jail in Carthage, Illinois. The mob climbed up to the second floor of the jail, forced the door open and poked their gun barrels into the room. They began shooting, despite efforts by Willard Richards to deflect the gun barrels with his walking stick. Hyrum Smith was shot multiple times and died, falling to the floor. John Taylor was also shot in several places. He was not killed but sought refuge by rolling under the bed. Joseph Smith ran toward the window where he was shot in the back from inside the jail and shot in the chest from outside the jail. He either fell or leaped out of the window, landing on the ground outside the jail, where he was again shot by members of the mob. The Prophet Joseph Smith died at that time.

But when the mob took the life of Joseph Smith, they not only killed a prophet, but also a possible President of the United States. For it was in 1844 that Joseph Smith, tired of the authorities' unwillingness and ability to protect the Saints against mob activity, decided to run for President. Had he succeeded and been elected, it is possible that the slavery problem would have been resolved peacefully, the Civil War might have been averted, the slaves themselves to have received more just treatment, and the United States might have grown into a full-blown North American Union, including Canada and Mexico.

The first embers of a campaign were actually stirred up in Nauvoo on October 1st, 1843, when the Times and Seasons published an editorial entitled “Who Shall Be Our Next President?” While it did not suggest any specific names, it concluded that the candidate must be the man who will be the most likely to render assistance in obtaining redress for Mormon grievances. On November 4th, 1843, Joseph Smith wrote letters to John C. Calhoun, Lewis Cass, Richard M. Johnson, Henry Clay, and Martin Van Buren, the five leading candidates for the presidency of the United States. Each letter described the persecutions the Mormons had suffered at the hands of the state of Missouri and then asked the pointed question, "What will be your rule of action relative to us as a people, should fortune favor your ascension to the chief magistracy" Only Calhoun, Cass, and Clay responded to Joseph Smith’s letters, and they expressed little sympathy for the cause of the Saints.

When Joseph Smith realized that none of the leading candidates for the presidency would pledge to support redress for the Saints, he held a meeting in the mayor’s office at Nauvoo on January 29th, 1844, with the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and others. It was unanimously decided that Joseph Smith would run for president of the United States on an independent platform. Shortly thereafter, Joseph Smith published his platform in the form of a short pamphlet entitled "General Smith’s Views of the Powers and Policy of the Government of the United States". 1,500 copies of the pamphlet were printed, and copies mailed to the President of the United States and his cabinet, the justices of the Supreme Court, senators, representatives, editors of principal newspapers, postmasters, and other prominent citizens. To help further publicize the campaign, missionaries were called and set apart to go forth to do both proselyting and electioneering.

The pamphlet has been re-posted in full HERE. The highlights of Joseph Smith's platform are provided below:

-- Give the President full power to send an army to suppress mobs without requiring the governor of a state to make the demand.

-- Abolish slavery by having Congress pay every man a reasonable price for his slaves out of the surplus revenue arising from the sale of public lands, and from the deduction of pay from members of Congress.

-- Reduce congressional pay from eight dollars to two dollars per day; fix the number of members of Congress at two Senators per state and two Representatives per one million in population.

-- Reduce the number of prisons and the types of offenses requiring imprisonment; transform remaining prisons into rehabilitation centers; allow convicts to rehabilitate through useful labor. Abolish imprisonment for debt.

-- Abolish the practice in the military of trying men by court-martial for desertion. If a soldier or marine runs away, send him his wages, with this instruction, that his country will never trust him again; he has forfeited his honor.

-- Create a national bank with branches in every state, where the capital stock shall be held by the nation for the central bank, and by the states and territories for the branches.

-- Annex Oregon and Texas; extend the United States “from the east to the west sea,” but only if American Indians gave their consent.

-- Eventually offer Canada and Mexico the opportunity to join the United States voluntarily.

Many of Joseph Smith's enemies understood the appeal of Joseph Smith's platform, and began plotting his demise. On June 27th, 1844, Joseph Smith's Presidential campaign came to an abrupt end as he was called upon to seal his testimony with his blood. Nevertheless, many of Joseph Smith’s proposals eventually came to pass, although not necessarily in the way he had envisioned. The power of the presidency was increased by Abraham Lincoln during the U.S. Civil War; the Civil War led to emancipation of the slaves; the penal system improved, although not to the extent that Joseph prescribed; and Oregon and Texas did become part of the United States. The Union’s borders soon stretched from sea to sea, but without the consent of American Indians.

Praise To The Man: A Short Video Tribute To The Life Of The First LDS Prophet Joseph Smith

On the From The Dust blog, I found embedded one of the most moving video tributes I've ever watched. This video, entitled "Praise To The Man", is a short tribute to the life of the first LDS Prophet and President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Joseph Smith Jr. In video and song, it highlights the key events in the life of Joseph Smith. The song is entitled "Praise To The Man", one of our hymns written specifically to pay tribute to Joseph Smith, who has done more to promote salvation throughout this world save anyone except Jesus Christ.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBJwBki8TUo



Joseph Smith himself predicted that his name would be had for good and for evil. Among those today who are familiar with his life, few are neutral. There are those who would run through a brick wall for him, and there are those who would run him through a brick wall. Joseph Smith was not perfect; like the rest of us, he was a human being clothed in a tabernacle of imperfect flesh, subject to the same weaknesses of that flesh as the rest of us. He simply turned out to be an extraordinary man called to an extraordinary mission.

Yet though we honor Joseph Smith to this day, we do not worship him, for worship is reserved for our Heavenly Father alone. But this video tribute was enough to cause tears to well up in the eyes of even this hard-bitten blogger.

Those who want to learn more about Joseph Smith and his theological worldview can visit "The Teachings of the Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith". One of the prefaces, entitled "The Life and Ministry of Joseph Smith", will provide a good overview.