Punctuation Matters: Meat and the Word of Wisdom

Most of this video is simply a discussion of the Word of Wisdom (D&C 89) generally. But the discussion gets interesting when the discussion reaches verses 12 and 13, which currently read:

 12 Yea, flesh also of beasts and of the fowls of the air, I, the Lord, have ordained for the use of man with thanksgiving; nevertheless they are to be used sparingly;

13 And it is pleasing unto me that they should not be used, only in times of winter, or of cold, or famine.

And focusing in on verse 13, it appears to say that meat should not be used except in times of winter or famine. But as Bruce Porter points out in the video (starting at about the 7:19 mark) he notes that comma between "used" and "only" was not in the original text, but was added about 1920. Thus, verse 13 should actually read:

 13 And it is pleasing unto me that they should not be used only in times of winter, or of cold, or famine.

 In other words, meat should be consumed often and regularly, albeit sparingly (thus the earlier admonition about eating the fruits and herbs--i.e., vegetables--of the field) and not only during the winter or times of famine.

    This is emphasized in the next two verses which indicate that grain should only be used by men in times of famine or excess hunger:

 14 All grain is ordained for the use of man and of beasts, to be the staff of life, not only for man but for the beasts of the field, and the fowls of heaven, and all wild animals that run or creep on the earth;

15 And these hath God made for the use of man only in times of famine and excess of hunger.

And I've been able to confirm the addition of the comma by referencing an old Triple Combination given to my mother when she joined the Church which volume dates back to around 1900.

    So why add the comma? One of my sons has informed me that, at one time, the Church would make small changes to punctuation in order to continue holding a copyright after the old copyrights expired.  Probably a mostly harmless practice if we are discussing whether to use the Oxford comma, but obviously had a substantial impact on how the verse was interpreted in this case.

    And the impact of this is that rather than the Word of Wisdom supporting the standard "food pyramid" resting on a high carb base of grains, it shows that God wants us to instead focus on a diet heavy on fruits, vegetables, herbs, together with regular consumption of meat (albeit sparingly)--something similar to the paleo diet, in contrast to limiting the heavy consumption of grains to times of winter or famine. 

 VIDEO: "False Traditions around the Word of Wisdom's Eat Meat Sparingly with Expert Bruce Porter"--Gospel Lessons (29-min)