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Summary
- Jehovah’s Witnesses may drink alcohol in moderation; jw.org says “it is not a sin to drink alcohol in moderation” and calls wine a gift from God (Psalm 104:15; Ecclesiastes 9:7).
- They set no fixed number of drinks: any amount that “unduly impairs your judgment and dulls your thinking ability” is too much for that person.
- They abstain when drinking would stumble someone else, when the law forbids it, before driving, and when a person cannot control his drinking.
- A Witness who keeps getting drunk and does not repent is removed from the congregation, formerly called being disfellowshipped (1 Corinthians 6:10).
- At the yearly Memorial of Christ’s death they use plain red wine, not grape juice; in 2025, 24,576 of 20,635,015 attenders partook.
- The Catholic Catechism also permits moderate drinking, while the United Methodist Church upholds abstinence as its norm and the Southern Baptist Convention opposes drinking.
Bibliography (Click to show)
- Scripture quotations from the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (2013 revision), Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society: Psalm 104:15; Ecclesiastes 9:7; Leviticus 10:9; Luke 7:34; 21:34; John 2:10; Romans 14:21; 1 Corinthians 6:10; 1 Timothy 3:3, 8; 5:23. https://www.jw.org/en/library/bible/nwt/books/
- “What Does the Bible Say About Alcohol? Is Drinking It a Sin?” jw.org. https://www.jw.org/en/bible-teachings/questions/is-drinking-a-sin/
- “Maintain a Balanced View of the Use of Alcohol,” The Watchtower, December 1, 2004. https://www.jw.org/en/library/magazines/w20041201/Maintain-a-Balanced-View-of-the-Use-of-Alcohol/
- “Be Guided by God’s View of Alcohol,” The Watchtower (study edition), December 2023. https://www.jw.org/en/library/magazines/watchtower-study-december-2023/Be-Guided-by-Gods-View-of-Alcohol/
- “Why Do Jehovah’s Witnesses Observe the Lord’s Supper Differently From the Way Other Religions Do?” jw.org. https://www.jw.org/en/jehovahs-witnesses/faq/lords-supper/
- “2025 Grand Totals,” 2025 Service Year Report of Jehovah’s Witnesses Worldwide, Watchtower Online Library. https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1102025416
- “How Do Jehovah’s Witnesses Treat Those Who Used to Belong to Their Religion?” jw.org. https://www.jw.org/en/jehovahs-witnesses/faq/removed-from-the-congregation/
- “SCC supports right to shun,” Centre for Constitutional Studies, on Highwood Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses (Judicial Committee) v. Wall, 2018 SCC 26. https://www.constitutionalstudies.ca/2018/07/scc-supports-right-to-shun/
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 2290. https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P80.HTM
- “May United Methodists drink alcohol?” Ask The UMC, UMC.org. https://www.umc.org/en/content/ask-the-umc-may-united-methodists-drink-alcohol
- Southern Baptist Convention, “On Alcohol Use in America,” resolution, Greensboro, North Carolina, 2006. https://www.sbc.net/resource-library/resolutions/on-alcohol-use-in-america/
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