NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--A majority of Southern Baptist senior pastors and laity believe Christians should not drink alcohol and that using it could cause other believers to stumble, according to a new poll by LifeWay Research.
The survey asked Southern Baptist and non-Southern Baptist pastors and laity a series of seven questions about alcohol, ranging from their views on whether getting drunk is against Scripture to whether drinking alcohol is an example of Christian liberty.
Among Southern Baptists, 77 percent of senior pastors and 59 percent of laity believe "Christians should not use alcohol as a beverage." Those percentages fall, though, when Southern Baptists are asked whether "Scripture indicates that people should never drink" alcohol. Forty-one percent of SBC pastors agreed with that statement, while 34 percent of Southern Baptist laity did....