Contraception and Christianity

[johnnys4life]

(Note, I am just looking for a place to put this, and so I stuck it here, where a lot of things tend to go. If this is the wrong place, please let me know. If you move it please let me know so I can find it again, okay)

This is just the beginning of an argument against contraception for ALL of Christendom. Having been a Christian for over 5 years, and having used contraception for almost half of those years, I was told by a nice Catholic (thank you, SOGFPP) about NFP. Since using it, I have noticed a remarkable change in my marriage. I began researching why some Christians, particularly Catholics, believed what they do about contraception, and this is what I found. I found that this information did not only apply to Catholics, but to all Bible-believing Christians.

I wanted to present this irrefutable evidence, information which shows how contraception is contradictory to true Christianity in every sense, to all of my Christian brothers and sisters. Protestants generally consider being against birth control as just one of those Catholic things, but I have found it is relevant to all TRUE Christians, in all denominations. Read on, and I hope you will agree.

I am starting this out Biblically, historically, and morally. I will provide Biblical verses which refute the ideology of contraceptive relations. I then will move on into social aspects in America and attempt to evaluate the results of the widespread use of contraception and the effects of this mindset on religion and society. Most of this comes from predominantly Catholic websites, but the quotes are straight from the Bible and other historical works. I am not looking for a fight, and no I am not Catholic, I am simply going to state the facts. Our beliefs are based on the Lord's teachings in the Bible, it should also be based on complete honesty. So here goes...


Contraception and the Bible: God’s Will in our Marriages

Contraception has been a divisive issue between Catholics or Protestants in the last forty years or so. The question is: who is correct? What does the Bible say about contraception? Ultimately, what does God intend for our marriages?

There are two commands (with blessings) in the Bible for married people on this topic, the first is in the Garden of Eden:

Genesis 1:28. And God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it . . . “

The usual response people give to this verse is, “But that was in the Garden of Eden, when things were perfect.” However, God reiterates this later on:

Genesis 9:1. And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.”

So, is having 1 or 2 children actually multiplying? Well think about it for a second. You and your spouse are going to die someday, assume you have 2 kids. If you have only 2, your 2 children, assuming again, that they survive, would only REPLACE you in number. The population after your generation dies off, (assuming your children do the same, and with normal death rates and steady numbers of non-childbearing persons) will actually DECREASE. Yet that is exactly what is happening in America. Our predominantly Christian majority society is only increasing in population at all due to immigration.

Note that there is no end date, no specific time when we are to stop being fruitful and multiplying. Take a look at the wording, the Lord says, “fill the earth,” this is a direct commandment from Him. As of yet, we remain far from filling the earth – every person on earth in a family of four with one acre of land each would fit just in the U.S.!

In our society, children are thought of as a drudging responsibility. Many times we simply DO NOT wish to have children so that we can live the way we want. Nowhere is this idea endorsed in the Bible. We tend to hold a comfortable lifestyle in higher regard than children, and our idea of middle-class would be considered extremely wealthy in many other countries.

To God, every child is a blessing:

Psalms 127:3-5. Lo, sons are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the sons of one’s youth. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.

In our society, children are seen as obligation, cost, burden. But the Bible clearly depicts children in only one way: as a blessing. Another interesting verse is also in Psalms:

Psalms 128:1, 3-4. Blessed is every one who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways! Your wife will be like a fruitful vine in your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table. Lo, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord.


http://www.deoomnisgloria.com/mt/archives/000154.html


to be continued.....

 

[johnnys4life]

Here are some more scriptures concerning children, fertility, and contraception. (some have been

included unedited from this website: http://www.scripturecatholic.com/contraception.html)

Scripture showing the Lord's view of childbearing:

Gen 1:28, 9:1,7; 35:11 - from the beginning, the Lord commands us to be fruitful ("fertile") and

multiply. A husband and wife fulfill God's plan for marriage in the bringing forth of new life,

for God is life itself.

Gen. 28:3 - Isaac's prayer over Jacob shows that fertility and procreation are considered

blessings from God.

Psalm 127:3-5 - children are a gift of favor from God and blessed is a full quiver. Married

couples must always be open to God's precious gift of life. Contraception, which shows a disregard

for human life, has lead to the great evils of abortion, euthanasia, and infanticide.

Exodus 23:25-26; Deut. 7:13-14 - God promises blessings which include no miscarriages or

barrenness. Children are blessings from God.

1 Chron. 25:5 - God exalts His people by blessing them with many children. When married couples

contracept, they are declaring "not your will God, but my will be done."

Mal. 2:14 - marriage is not a contract (which is a mere exchange of property or services). It is a

covenant, which means a supernatural exchange of persons. Just as God is three in one, so are a

husband and wife, who become one flesh and bring forth new life, three in one. Marital love is a

reflection of the Blessed Trinity.


Mal. 2:15 - What does God desire? Godly offspring. What is contraception? A deliberate act against

God's will. With contraception, a couple declares, "God may want an eternal being created with our

union, but we say no."


Rom.1:26-27 - sexual acts without the possibility of procreation is sinful. Self-giving love is

life-giving love, or the love is a lie. The unitive and procreative elements of marital love can

never be divided, or the marital love is also divided, and God is left out of the marriage.


Matt. 19:5-6 - Jesus said a husband and wife shall become one. They are no longer two, but one,

just as God is three persons, yet one. The expression of authentic marital love reintegrates our

bodies and souls to God, and restores us to our original virginal state (perfect integration of

body and soul) before God.


Matt. 19:6; Eph. 5:31 - contraception prevents God's ability to "join" together. Just as Christ's

love for the Church is selfless and sacrificial, and a husband and wife reflect this union, so a

husband and wife's love for each other must also be selfless and sacrificial. This means being

open to new life.

1 Cor. 6:19-20 - the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit; thus, we must glorify God in our

bodies by being open to His will.


1 Tim. 2:15 - childbearing is considered a "work" through which women may be saved by God's grace.



Eph. 5:25 - Paul instructs husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the Church, by giving his

entire body to her and holding nothing back. With contraception, husbands tell their wives, I love

you except your fertility, and you can have me except for my fertility. This love is a lie because

it is self-centered, and not self-giving and life-giving.




Psalm 113:9 He maketh the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children. Praise ye the LORD.:162:

 

[johnnys4life]

Scriptures depicting the Lord's Opinion of Contraception:


Gen. 38:8-10 - Onan is killed by God for practicing contraception (in this case, withdrawal) and spilling his semen on the ground.

Gen. 38:11-26 - Judah, like Onan, also rejected God's command to keep up the family lineage, but

he was not killed.

Deut. 25:7-10 - the penalty for refusing to keep up a family lineage is not death, like Onan received. Onan was killed for wasting seed.

Gen. 38:9 - also, the author's usage of the graphic word "seed," which is very uncharacteristic for Hebrew writing, further highlights the reason for Onan's death.


Lev.18:22-23;20:13 - wasting seed with non-generative sexual acts warrants death.


Rev. 9:21; 21:8; 22:15; Gal. 5:20 - these verses mention the word "sorcery." The Greek word is "pharmakeia" which includes abortifacient potions such as birth control pills. These pharmakeia are mortally sinful. Moreover, chemical contraception does not necessarily prevent conception, but may actually kill the child in the womb after conception has occurred (by preventing the newly forming baby from attaching to the uterine wall).


1 Cor. 7:5 - this verse supports the practice of natural family planning ("NFP"). Married couples should not refuse each other except perhaps by agreement for a season, naturally.







The Curse of Infertility and Contraception

Hosea 9:11; Jer. 18:21 - God punishes Israel by preventing pregnancy. Contraception is a curse,

and married couples who use contraception are putting themselves under the same curse.


Lev. 21:17,20 - crushed testicles are called a defect and a blemish before God. God reveals that
deliberate sterilization and any other methods which prevent conception are intrinsically evil.


Deuteronomy 7:14 Thou shalt be blessed above all people: there shall not be male or female barren among you, or among your cattle.
(Here again, fertility is seen as a blessing, infertility a curse.)


Deut. 23:1 - whoever has crushed testicles or is castrated cannot enter the assembly.

Deut. 25:11-12 - there is punishment for potential damage to the testicles, for such damage puts new life at risk. It, of course, follows that vasectomies, which are done with willful consent, (which render a man infertile) are gravely contrary to the natural law.


Eph. 5:29-31; Phil. 3:2 - mutilating the flesh (e.g., surgery to prevent conception) is gravely sinful.

Genesis 29:31 And when the LORD saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb: but Rachel was barren.

(Each time, in the cases of Sarah, Leah, Rachel, and Hannah, for example, the barren woman considers herself cursed. She prays to God to give her children, and he does.)


Few Christians realize that contraception was condemned by all of Christianity - and other religions - until the Anglican church permitted it in certain cases at the Lambeth conference in 1930. In fact, the majority of Christians in America in the 20th century began to accept contraception right along with general society, in a large sense due to Planned Parenthood founder and racist eugenicist Margaret Sanger, and not because of any new religious doctrine or revelation on the matter.



To be continued....

(next I am going to talk a little about the early church and their opinion of contraception.)

 

[chris9178]

So, in your opinion,is it ok after you have 3 kids to use contraceptives?

 

[Pah]

Genesis 1:28. And God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it . . . “
...
Genesis 9:1. And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.”

Wouldn't the "multiply" part be a blessing and not necessarily a command? That blessing, a gift of fecundity, so mentioned in the Psalms can not be constued as commands.

In the Catholic Church, counting the days of a woman's cycle is still an approved method of contraception is it not? I assume that had papal authority behind it. Does that agree with your interpretation of the two verses mentioned above?

Just looking for clarification.

 

[johnnys4life]

So, in your opinion,is it ok after you have 3 kids to use contraceptives?

No. The Bible, as well as church history are pretty clear in never endorsing the use of contraceptives in any situation. There are, however, a few accepted forms of natural family planning, which I will get into later. I still have a lot more to post on here, which I am right now in the process of editing.

 

[johnnys4life]

Wouldn't the "multiply" part be a blessing and not necessarily a command? That blessing, a gift of fecundity, so mentioned in the Psalms can not be constued as commands.

In the Catholic Church, counting the days of a woman's cycle is still an approved method of contraception is it not? I assume that had papal authority behind it. Does that agree with your interpretation of the two verses mentioned above?

Just looking for clarification.

It might depend on how you take the terms of God's blessings. God's blessings are something we are to strive to recieve, and some of them are the natural consequences of a righteous life. However, in context with the rest of the Bible, as well as other early church texts, in this case I do believe it was a command. Now I am trying to look these passages up, but in ancient hebrew (the language the original texts are in), there was no punctuation. So in that case, I do think you could translate it "And God Blessed them. And he said to them, 'be fruituful and multiply'..." I will look up the actual meanings of the words in this verse if I can find them.

Yes, there are some natural methods of birth control which the church did approve of in ancient times as well. There are many reasons why these can be allowed, if a woman has a phsyical problem, the family is poor, etcetera. However, most people do not know why or how it is different spiritually from artificial methods. I am getting to that, but one thing at a time, please!

The most important thing to keep in mind when I talk about NFP, it has to be used appopriately. As Christians we are to always remember that God looks right at your heart. You can't hide anything from him, trick him, or play word games with him, he knows your intentions. If you are using Natural methods to avoid pregnancy in your marriage, but you loathe children and aren't open to life, or you are avoiding pregnancy in order so that you and your husband have more money to go on vacations, for example, I do think you will have to answer to God for that in the end, because that isn't his intent for marriages.

 

[Israel]

Wouldn't the "multiply" part be a blessing and not necessarily a command? That blessing, a gift of fecundity, so mentioned in the Psalms can not be constued as commands.

The verse is in command form:

Gen 1:28 "And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. "

Again, "Be fruitful" is said as a command. It is the same as if you would say to a child "Be nice and I'll give you a treat.": the blessing depends upon the behavior. This verse is a fine example of Biblical Karma -- Every action has a reaction; God blesses good deeds, and curses selfish ones. Look at the sermon on the mount, Christ blesses those who act meek or humble, those who seek peace, and those who mourn injustice. The same is true in the verse above, the blessing is tied to an action. Because procreation is a good work, even considered a sacrament among Catholics, God places a blessing upon it: For being pro-creative, humanity is blessed with authority over the animals.

Had humanity chosen not to multiply but only to renew their number, the blessing would not have come, and humans would be a small tribe struggling to survive, stuck between the Tigris and Euphrates, and thinking how enormous the world is.

 

[Quoth The Raven]

Genesis 9:1. And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.”

Once again - as with the Adam and Eve quote - they were the only people about. In order for the Earth to be repopulated everything on the ark had to get out there and start populating.
Approximately 1/3 of the surface of the planet is desert.
'Filling the earth' is a concept that needs perspective. I imagine God meant 'fill the earth to sustainable levels'. What is a sustainable level depends entirely upon where the bit of earth we're talking about is.Surely God would be more aware of that than anyone. Could the definition of filling the earth be to get humanity onto every continent?

 

[Lintu]

If you are using Natural methods to avoid pregnancy in your marriage, but you loathe children and aren't open to life, or you are avoiding pregnancy in order so that you and your husband have more money to go on vacations, for example, I do think you will have to answer to God for that in the end, because that isn't his intent for marriages.

So you're saying that G-d wants people who hate children to have children anyway?

 

[djFiddles]

I'm not quite getting this. Perhaps I should do this on my own, but instead of interpereting the scriptures for me, could you type them out? This is mostly in reference the long list of scriptures above. But I do appreciate all the info so far.

Another question (slightly off topic, but it applies), does this concept also apply to masturbation, oral sex or any other kind of sexual pleasure that is not meant for child birth?

 

[Quoth The Raven]

So you're saying that G-d wants people who hate children to have children anyway?

I imagine he doesn't want them to get married and put themselves in a position where they should be having children.

 

[Pah]

No. The Bible, as well as church history are pretty clear in never endorsing the use of contraceptives in any situation. There are, however, a few accepted forms of natural family planning, which I will get into later. I still have a lot more to post on here, which I am right now in the process of editing.

I can agree with your statement as a fact. But, please, in your future post, be sure to tell us why there is a difference between medicinal contraception and contraception methods.

 

[johnnys4life]

I'm not quite getting this. Perhaps I should do this on my own, but instead of interpereting the scriptures for me, could you type them out? This is mostly in reference the long list of scriptures above. But I do appreciate all the info so far.

Another question (slightly off topic, but it applies), does this concept also apply to masturbation, oral sex or any other kind of sexual pleasure that is not meant for child birth?

Some of them I can type out but some of them are just too long. They are basically summaries of entire passages of text.

To some it does and to some it doesn't. I guess that would depend on how you interpret it.

 

[johnnys4life]

I've been meaning to get back to this thread, but I've been busy with other topics, so I haven't even finished my editing yet. I will hopefully get some more info on here soon, though.

 

[may]

Birth​

Control


​

Does the Bible condemn birth control? No, it does not. The choice is left with the couple. If a married couple decides to practice birth control, their choice of contraceptives is a personal matter. However, the method of birth control a Christian couple chooses should be governed by a respect for the sanctity of life. Since the Bible indicates that a person’s life begins at conception, Christians would avoid contraceptive methods that abort, or end the life of, the developing child.—Psalm 139:16;

 

[johnnys4life]

Well May, I can see how this verse:

your eyes saw my unformed body.


All the days ordained for me

were written in your book before one of them came to be.

Could support your argument for being governed by sanctity of life, but I'm not sure where you got the rest of it from. Do you have any verses to support your other ideas?

 

[may]

Well May, I can see how this verse:

your eyes saw my unformed body.


All the days ordained for me

were written in your book before one of them came to be.



Could support your argument for being governed by sanctity of life, but I'm not sure where you got the rest of it from. Do you have any verses to support your other ideas?

Your eyes saw even the embryo of me,


​

And in your book all its parts were down in writing,​

As regards the days when they were formed​

And there was not yet one among them.(psalm 139;16)

Nowhere does the Bible discuss the use of contraceptives or birth control in marriage, nor does it say that Christians are obliged to produce children. God’s Word leaves the question of family planning to the conscience of each Christian couple. By imposing its ruling about birth control, the Catholic Church has gone beyond the things that are written in the bible

So there are definite moral aspects to consider if a couple use birth control. Christians should maintain a "perfectly clear conscience" before our God and Life-Giver.—Acts 23:1; Galatians 6:5.

What​

​

Is the Bible’s Viewpoint?


​

Those who argue against contraception often cite the Biblical command given to Adam and Eve: "Increase and multiply, and fill the earth." (Genesis 1:28, Douay) It seems somewhat contradictory to apply to millions of human beings the same formula that was applied to the only two inhabitants of the planet .This command was clearly related to the special circumstances existing at that time.​

Nowhere in the Bible is birth control or family planning discussed. Although the Bible condemns sexual immorality, it does not teach that only procreation can legitimize sexual relations between husband and wife. (Compare Proverbs 5:15-20; 1 Corinthians 7:2, 3.) In this matter, therefore, as in others where direct Scriptural guidance is absent, each couple must decide in harmony with their conscience. Establishing arbitrary standards of right and wrong would be going "beyond what is set down."—1 Corinthians 4:6, The New American Bible, a Catholic translation.​

This does not mean that every form of birth control is acceptable in God’s sight. The Bible makes clear that God esteems the life of the unborn child and takes note of its embryonic development. (Psalm 139:13-16; Jeremiah 1:5) Under the Mosaic Law, someone who even unwittingly caused the death of an unborn child was liable to severe punishment. (Exodus 21:22, 23) Therefore, from God’s viewpoint, abortion is reprehensible, and so is any other device or medication that terminates life after conception has occurred.​

Thus, what many sincere Catholics believe intuitively—that family planning is a matter best left to each married couple—is precisely what the Bible indicates.

 

[johnnys4life]

May, I will kindly refer you to my above quotes concerning the sin of Onan which deals with a non-abortifacient contraceptive act.

Genesis 38: 9-10
9 But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his; so whenever he lay with his brother's wife,
he spilled his semen on the ground to keep from producing offspring for his brother. 10 What he
did was wicked in the LORD's sight; so he put him to death also.

Now, many people may look at this verse and say, "Well, Onan's sin was not that he contracepted, but that he would not keep up the family lineage for his brother." However, that makes no sense if you look at the God's law at the time, because the punishment for not keeping up the family lineage was not death, but rather public humilation:

Deuteronomy 25:7-10
7 However, if a man does not want to marry his brother's wife, she shall go to the elders at the town gate and say, "My husband's brother refuses to carry on his brother's name in Israel. He will not fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to me." 8 Then the elders of his town shall summon him and talk to him. If he persists in saying, "I do not want to marry her," 9 his brother's widow shall go up to him in the presence of the elders, take off one of his sandals, spit in his face and say, "This is what is done to the man who will not build up his brother's family line." 10 That man's line shall be known in Israel as The Family of the Unsandaled.

Whenever a man died and he had a wife, in ancient Israel, his brother (if he had one) was to take his place as his widow's husband and give him children. Failure to do so would result in public humilation and disgrace, but Onan was put to death because he spilled his seed on the ground, deliberately contracepting the marital act. So I don't think you can exactly say that Scriptural guidance is absent in this matter. And remember, God said "be fruitful and multiply" again to Noah's sons after the flood.

Genesis 9:1 1 Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth.

Obviously this was meant to encompass more than just Adam and Eve.

 

[michel]

So you're saying that G-d wants people who hate children to have children anyway?

Ouch.