I recently came across an interesting article from the Wall Street Journal on evangelicals and contraception (HT: Sharper Iron Filings). Let me provide some excerpt and then pose some questions.
A Harris Poll conducted online in September 2005 shows that evangelicals overwhelmingly support birth control (88%).
A recent New York Times article on the subject, it is true, quoted Albert Mohler, the president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, saying that the separation between sex and procreation caused by contraceptives is “ominous.” But he also went on to say that “evangelical couples may, at times, choose to use contraceptives in order to plan their families and enjoy the pleasures of the marital bed.”…
Protestants’ acceptance of contraception has a relatively short history. The 1930 Lambeth conference of Anglican bishops was the first Christian church body to authorize the use of contraceptives within marriage, even as it condemned certain motives for using it, like “selfishness, luxury, or mere convenience.” The introduction of the birth control pill in the 1950s and 1960s offered “free love” to society at large; married evangelicals embraced its convenience and effectiveness. …
A minority movement within evangelical circles… oppose(s) contraception not merely on pro-life grounds but also on the grounds that artificial contraception inhibits the possibility of children, in effect, offering a “thanks, but no thanks” (or at least “not right now”) response to God’s blessing to “be fruitful and multiply.”…For those who marry, the “my body, my choice” attitude contributes to a contraception culture that places fulfillment of personal desires ahead of God’s desires.
Some evangelicals charge that the Pill has contributed to the moral breakdown of society; perhaps, but evangelicals’ embrace of the contraception culture has not helped. It may have made Christianity sexier to potential adherents but diminished a public understanding of marriage in the process. For evangelicals, this may be a bitter pill to swallow.
Why do you use contraceptives?
Is convenience or lifestyle motivating your decisions? Do you view children as a hassle rather than a blessing? Are you trying to avoid the responsibility and difficulty of raising a family for God? Have you thought through your decision from a Biblical perspective, or are you just going with the flow?
Are you using birth control to best provide for the largest family possible, or are you merely trying to stick to a self-determined number of children. Are you intending to have a large family since God explicitly teaches that a large family is a blessing from God?
Do you know what Scripture teaches about children?
Have you studied all that Scripture teaches about children? Do you know that the Bible abundantly proclaims that a large family is a blessing from God? Do you wonder why women today choose to be barren whereas women in the Bible viewed barrenness as a curse and sought help from God when barren? Have you considered that God wants to redeem a people (not individuals) to Himself: that His covenant extends “to you and your children”?
Rebecca received this blessing from her family before leaving to become Isaac’s wife: “Be thou the mother of thousands of millions, and let thy seed possess the gate…” . Does this surprise or shock you? Why would such a blessing be so unpopular today? Do you look down on people with large families, as if they are just lazy or stupid or something?
What about the pill?
Are you aware that the pill is sometimes an abortifacient: that it often (once a year or more, even) does not prevent ovulation but rather prevents a fertilized egg from impanting into the uterus. Do you know that the scientific community has radically redefined the term conception?
Finally, will you purpose to consider this issue from a Biblical perspective?
Will you be willing to follow the leading of God and His Word despite how it may affect you personally? Will you be willing to respect children more and view large families in a positive light? Will you seek to appropriate God’s blessing of children in more intentional ways (perhaps even through adoption)?
For Further Study
Note: The following articles take different positons on this issue. Yet each takes a high view of Scripture. I think there is freedom to disagree on the issue, but not freedom to think secularly on the issue. Whatever we decide let us make the decision as a Christian and in accord with Scripture. To that end, the following articles may prove useful.
- Excerpts from the foreward for Nancy Campbell’s book Be Fruitful and Multiply—by Douglas Phillips (purchase the book here)
- Being Fruitful: A Biblical View of Birth Control
- Is Birth Control Morally Permissible?
- Is Birth Control Biblical–by Tony Warren
- Does the Bible Permit Birth Control?–by the Desiring God staff
- Does the Birth Control Pill Cause Abortions?–by Randy Alcorn
∼striving for the unity of the faith for the glory of God∼ Eph. 4:3,13 “¢ Rom. 15:5-7
Now you’ve opened a can of worms! Here’s another question: how does contraception mesh with Calvinism?
Yes it is a can of worms! But I think it is important for us to think through the issue Biblically. Everyone might not conclude exactly the same, but they should be lining their lives up with the direction Scripture pushes. For me and my family, that means intentionally aiming for many kids to God’s glory.
If you look at all the articles I link to, some are die hard Calvinists for birth control, and others against it. God is sovereign but he often works through human means. No, we should not try to wrest control from Him. Is birth control a wresting of control? Perhaps, but not necessarily.
Okay, that can of worms is getting messier!
Thanks for the comments, David.
God Bless.
Most Calvinists have no problem with birth control. I think those who do often have some “hyper” leanings. Often, but not always.
Calvinism isn’t fatalism.
Of course, Calvin himself had a great deal of problem with birth control. Specifically, he called it murder. But then, since when have Calvinist felt compelled to consider what Calvin thought about an issue.
The same is true of Luther and Lutherans. Luther called birth control sodomy.
The same is true of Wesley and Wesleyans. Wesley said using contraception was to endanger one’s soul.
Isn’t it odd that so many good Calvinists, Lutherans and Wesleyans have chosen to ignore the teachings of those from whom they take their name on this issue?
Well, we ultimately derive teaching from Scripture. We respect human teachers and even name denominations after them, but the Scripture is our rule of faith.
>>>Well, we ultimately derive teaching from Scripture. We respect human teachers and even name denominations after them, but the Scripture is our rule of faith.<<<
This is true. It is also true that truth is objective and does not change. Given that all Christians taught that contraception was sinful for the first 19 centuries of the faith, including the human teachers whom we supposedly respect, shouldn’t we question our own understanding of Scripture when it disagrees with what C.S. Lewis call the nearly uniform and universal teaching of Christians up until the last century? The Scripture is our rule of faith and the great fathers of our faith who left us their thoughts on this topic for it first 19 century of our faith, including, but by no means limited to, Luther, Calvin and Wesley, held contraception violated the Word of God. They could have been wrong, but then they could also have been right.
I would think that given this history, every Christians should study the topic prayerfully and with an open mind and heart to what the Spirit would teach us from His Word.
Hmm..
Russell & the Jehovah’s Witness, Joseph Smith & the Mormons,
Ellen White & the Seventh Day Adventists, Oneness Pentecostalism…
Seems I recall that a group that said the universal “church” for 1900 years or so was wrong and that we now have the truth revealed is the Mark of a Cult…
Paul (God approved) “I desire that young women marry AND bear children”…
At least Mark Driscoll can’t be faulted for getting that one at least kinda sorta right.
Thanks for stopping by Andrew. I agree emphasis should be on having children. Church history should be respected not flippantly tossed aside. That being said, I’m reluctant to overstep Scripture and add rules where it doesn’t.