The world's religions have had differing relationships with alcohol. Many religions forbid alcoholic consumption or see it sinful or negative. Other have allocated a specific place for it, as in the Christian practice of drinking Communion wine, which either symbolically represents or is believed to transubstantiate into the blood of Jesus Christ. Monastic communities have brewed beer and made wine.
In Judaism and Christianity, consumption of alcohol isn't explicitly forbidden, but instead moderation is taught. Alcoholic beverages appear in the Bible, though drunkenness is condemned (by the stories of Noah and Lot). Some Christians including Pentecostalists and Methodists today believe one ought to abstain from alcohol. Temperance and Prohibitionist movements have often had religious elements: the movement which led to prohibition in the United States was started by Methodists and Christian movements (see, for instance, Woman's Christian Temperance Union).
Islam considers consumption of khamr (Arabic for fermented drinks, wine) forbidden (haraam) under Islamic dietary laws.[1][2]
Buddhists typically avoid consuming alcohol (surāmerayamajja, referring to types of intoxicating fermented beverages), as it violates the 5th of the Five Precepts, the basic Buddhist code of ethics and can disrupt mindfulness and impeded one's progress in the Noble Eightfold Path.[3]
Research has been conducted by social scientists and epidemiologists to see if potential links exist between religiosity and alcoholism.[4][5]