babies!

One of my beautiful sisters in Christ is blessed, and about to give birth! Praise the Lord! Children are a gift and blessing from the Lord! Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one's youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their enemies in the gate. (Psalm 127: 3-5) This is such an exciting time! I cannot wait to see how God grows her family, as well as the rest of the young married couples I know! So beautiful!!!! Praise the Lord!

Since I am about to get married too, I am undoubtedly assaulted with two questions:

What if God makes me pregnant sooner than Kevin and I want/suspect?
What if God makes me barren, and I won't have any children?

Kevin and I want to have children after 5 years of being married, since he is still in school, and I am debating whether or not I should go back for further schooling for an Accelerated Bachelors Degree in Nursing.

However, in the most asked question after being married "When do you plan on having babies?" comes the assumed approach...


Birth control!

Warning: This blog entry will be very different from my past entries. It will be more of an objective approach to the topic of birth control being acceptable. Of course, this is to be assumed that it comes after marriage, between a man and woman as husband and wife.

This has been a very widely debated issue within the Church, and many positions have changed and are changing. It's also not usually talked about much nor have I heard any sermons about it (In fact, I usually only hear about it from engaged/married women, if they are asked, but few Christian men feel comfortable talking about it in depth, either from uncomfortable feelings or lack of knowledge on the subject). But I grew up Catholic, and it shocked me when I, as an unsaved 18 year-old, found out that Protestant Christians were okay with artificial birth control! (Artificial birth control includes, but is not limited to: condoms, the pill, the intra-uterine device, etc.) But, lo and behold, there are still Christian denominations who believe the use of birth control is sinful. (Catholics believe that is okay for marriage couples to abstain from sex in marriage during fertile times in the calendar, also known as NFP, Natural Family Planning...)

What are the reasons for people using birth control? Many times I hear (and say and reason to myself):
"We are not ready, because we do not have enough money. We don't want our kids to grow up poor and struggling!"
"What's the hurry? We want to enjoy each other for a while first."
"I don't want to end up like that lady in that famous show 19 and counting!"
"Well, even if we do use birth control, if God wants it to happen, it will happen nonetheless."

Apparently, Protestants and Catholics alike held the position for quite a while that artificial birth control is sinful and against the will of God. It was only in 1930 at the Lambeth Conference in London that the Protestant Church (technically, the Anglican Church, but many Protestant denominations followed suite afterward...) changed her position, saying it was okay for birth control to be used.

Many of the advocates against birth control use biblical support: one of the best ones I believe is Onan from Genesis 38-10. In Deuteronomy 25:5-6, the Levitical law stated that if a man died and left behind a widow, the brother of the dead man would take his place and produce offspring! Onan knew this, and was told by the father to marry his broski's widow, but each time they came together in sexual union he would "spill his seed" on the ground. What did God do? He killed him! However, the customary punishment is public humiliation (Deuteronomy 25:7-10). Therefore, Onan must have done a far worse sin, and that is spilling of his seed. Many Christians who do not hold this view say Onan was punished that way because of the evil intentions of his heart, and that this cannot be used as a foundation for the use of birth control being sinful.

Let's see what our beloved Martin Luther said about Onan and how it relates to birth control: "The exceedingly foul deed of Onan, the basest of wretches . . . is a most disgraceful sin. It is far more atrocious than incest and adultery. We call it unchastity, yes, a sodomitic sin. For Onan goes in to her; that is, he lies with her and copulates, and when it comes to the point of insemination, spills the semen, lest the woman conceive. Surely at such a time the order of nature established by God in procreation should be followed. Accordingly, it was a most disgraceful crime. . . . Consequently, he deserved to be killed by God. He committed an evil deed. Therefore, God punished him." 

John Calvin said, "The voluntary spilling of semen outside of intercourse between man and woman is a monstrous thing. Deliberately to withdraw from coitus in order that semen may fall on the ground is doubly monstrous. For this is to extinguish the hope of the race and to kill before he is born the hoped-for offspring." 

John Wesley warned, "Those sins that dishonor the body are very displeasing to God, and the evidence of vile affections. Observe, the thing which he did displeased the Lord—and it is to be feared; thousands, especially of single persons, by this very thing, still displease the Lord, and destroy their own souls."

Luther has more to say: “Although it is very easy to marry a wife, it is difficult to support her along with the children and the household. Accordingly, no one notices this faith of Jacob. Indeed, many hate fertility in a wife for the sole reason that the offspring must be supported and brought up. For this is what they commonly say: ‘Why should I marry a wife when I am a pauper and a beggar? I would rather bear the burden alone and not load myself with misery and want.’ But this blame is unjustly fastened on marriage and fruitfulness. Indeed, you are indicting your unbelief by distrusting God’s goodness, and you are bringing greater misery upon yourself by disparaging God’s blessing. For if you had trust in God’s grace and promises, you would undoubtedly be supported. But because you do not hope in the Lord, you will never prosper.” (Luther’s Works, Vol. 5, p.332).

Charles Spurgeon was also against birth control. Al Mohler is also straight up against contraception! (Well, technically, he just mentions that there are more negatives to positives in regards to birth control--promiscuity, irresponsible pleasure, etc.)

Those who do not think that Onan is an appropriate Biblical foundation for the argument against birth control think that this issue is between the wife, husband, and the Lord. And whatever the Lord convicts them of, whether it be using birth control or not, should remain a private matter. Also, if the whole argument for those against birth control is that it is preventing life, even though it's not killing it, will soon be faced with the question: Well, if you abstain from sex for a day, aren't you also preventing life? Married couples should be consummating all the time, then! If you abstain for a long time, you're possibly preventing life!

Today one of the best known Christian figures known for his pro-life position is Randy Alcorn. Randy Alcorn wrote books called Prolife Answers to Prochoice Arguments and Does the birth control pill cause Abortions? Some birth control pills do not prevent pregnancy. The majority of women on the pill are on low-dose birth control pills, which do not prevent conception but prevents the implantation of an already fertilized ovum to the uterine wall (Norplant and IUD's do this too!) Scary thing is: most women are on low-dose estrogen pills and do not know this fact.

Little known fact about me: I am very supportive/passionate of pro-life movements and clinics, and my dream job would either be working as a Biblical teacher for women, or as a nurse for babies and children, or specifically working in a Pro-life clinic (in that order). I've looked around for places to volunteer and wouldn't mind making a life-long career out of helping women save their babies when they feel pressured by culture to abort..ugh! If you haven't heard of Greg Koukl, who is a famous Christian figure who wrote books like Tactics and the founder of Stand to Reason, his wife is amazing! They adopted their children, and she helps lead a pro-life clinic, and holds seminars/activities, giving free ultrasounds, for these pregnant women who feel hopeless and scared! NOW THAT is something I wouldn't mind making a career out of, how noble!) Kevin said he seriously hates it when people say "It's not a baby, it's just a fetus!" He was like, "Did you know that 'fetus' in Latin means 'offspring'..aka BABY! So essentially they are saying, "It's not a baby, it's just a baby!" Ay ay ay...

Another one of the arguments against the use of birth control is the verse of "Go forth and Multiply" in Genesis. I didn't go into depth on that because I think it's a weak argument. I am also against the QuiverFull movement, which uses the command of God "Go forth and multiply!" as a basis for having numerous children (let's go back again to the family in 19 and counting...)




Well, there are many arguments in favor of and against contraception. It's one of those things where you wonder if there's ever a "yes" or "no" answer. And of course, it can be debated about for hours on end. This blog entry wasn't as structured as I would've liked, so I apologize!

I'd love to hear opinions/beliefs from anyone who comes across this blog. Is it okay to use birth control after you're married, or is it sinful?