Whoops. 🙂 Thanks Jeannette. That should have said Elisha told Naaman. Not sure what happened when I first typed that.

Why do you say that Jesus told Namaan to dip 7 times.

Hi Dale, thanks for asking. The Church restrictions on tea do not include herbal teas as those are just herbs steeped in hot water. The issue is anything that contains tea leaves, caffeinated or not, so I think what you listed there is off limits but I’m not familiar with Rooibos tea. I think that’s possibly herbal in nature which would be ok.

i can tell you why you should not drink tea, alcohol, coffee, caf soda: if you have the discipline to have one drink a month, then fine. go at it. maybe it is a medication for you. health experts don’t say to drink green tea 2 liters/day. so there you have it. and for those who don’t have the discipline? if god is telling you’do this, and live longer, healthier and happier’, hell -why not try it? can’t hurt to be healthy & happy, eh?

Hi Carol, sorry I missed your comment for so long. That may be the case, but the Lord has commanded us not to partake of it. We don’t always immediately know the reasons for why the Lord has asked us not to partake of something but there are spiritual principles involved in testing our obedience. Nothing is arbitrary to the Lord. Here’s a brief article on the church’s website that specifically mentions black and green tea as being against the Word of Wisdom.
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/new-era/2019/08/vaping-coffee-tea-and-marijuana

Hi Kristine, I’m sure you would agree that obesity isn’t an LDS issue. People all over the world have health challenges including overeating or having the wrong diet. We live in a time when people are under a lot more stress and anxiety than existed 50 years ago. One coping mechanism for people is eating, particularly something sweet. Sugar is addictive. It triggers something in the brain that tells us we want more. It’s a growing problem (no pun intended :)). As for tea and coffee, it’s just the drinks at the time in Joseph Smith’s day that fell under the revelation. We don’t know exactly why, except we do see some negative health effects that are associated with tea and coffee and you can find those online. If the revelation were given today, it might include other items like caffeinated drinks and sugar. 🙂 Those probably fall under the “spirit of the law” as things to be avoided or used in very careful moderation. What it really comes down to though is obedience. When Jesus told Naaman to wash 7 times in the Jordan, he could have said, “that doesn’t make any sense. I’ll just go home.” But instead he obeyed, and was cleansed. It’s really a small thing but it teaches us the principle of obedience to God. If we can do it in a small thing that isn’t necessary for life (tea & coffee), we can do it in bigger things as well. It gives us righteous discipline. Hope that helps.