Thanks for your input. I’m sure the missionaries, as well as you are well-intentioned, but I guess it just comes down to perspective.

I agree that nicotine and other chemical additions are physical, however, the body is not the only component in play here. Psychological dependence also comes with it as well. I would say that the mind is synonymous with the spirit. As it is the spirit that controls our bodies and our spirit that makes our bodies more than just flesh and bone.

We came to Earth for our spirits to receive bodies – for if we didn’t, we would not continue on to our full potential. Why is it that our spirit and body will come together again after death, never to be apart again? Is this because for us to continue to our full potential that our bodies and spirits are in a symbiotic relationship? Either component not as great as the whole?

What happens with one who tries to stop smoking? The body as well as the mind (spirit) goes through withdrawals. However, how can the mind (spirit) over come the cravings without a body to go through withdrawal?

I see where you are going regarding all other bodily sensations and functions (defecation , eating, sleeping, drinking, breathing). I would say that they are more of a function of the body and not vital for the spirit to survive. However, the body is vital for the spirit to grow.

It does seem that the Lord, in his infinite mercy, would have given a way to overcome nicotine addition in the Spirit World. Or, perhaps you are correct and it is not an issue when we pass on. I guess we’ll find out sooner or later

Thank you very much for comment. Please keep it coming!

Nicotine is one of the most addictive substances on the planet and nicotine addiction is one of the hardest to break. If nicotine addiction is a spiritual addiction that requires a body to overcome it and appease the cravings, then your missionaries may have a valid theory. But if nicotine addiction is a physical addiction, then once we leave our bodies the cravings for nicotine leave as well.

I tend to think that nicotine and other chemical addictions are physical addictions. Some people overcome these addictions through spiritual means (reading scripture, fasting, prayer, etc.) which increases the power of the spirit and reduces the pull of the body upon the spirit. In like manner, when we are separated from our spirits, it is hard to imagine that the (dead, mind you) body can somehow communicate to the spirit its physical cravings. Being dead, it shouldn’t have any physical cravings whatsoever, be it hunger, thirst or a smoke, that it could then communicate to our spirits.

So, if we are going to think that when dead, smokers will still feel the need for a smoke, then spirits should feel the need to eat, sleep, drink, breathe, defecate and all other bodily sensations. Somehow I truly doubt that.

I don’t doubt that your missionaries were well-intentioned in explaining that sin is best overcome with a body, but using a physical addiction (tobacco smoking) as an example of sin was probably not the best example. The Word of Wisdom was not originally revealed as a commandment. It was made a commandment by common consent vote, proposed by Brigham Young, 18 years later. If souls do indeed suffer in the Spirit World from the physical addictions they had in mortality, it would seem to me that the Lord, in his infinite mercy, would have given the Word of Wisdom from the get-go as a commandment and even included it among the writings of the Bible, so that people were warned of the misery that awaited unbroken addictions in the Spirit World, for how great the many people on this planet that have been captured by drug and alcohol addiction!

Thanks for the post. It got me thinking and I enjoyed it immensely.