Replies

"Hey any chance of you helping me explain the official doctrine on contraception and divorce?"

Simple. Civil divorce followed by an ecclesiastical divorce and remarriage is a matter of economia and is purely and simply an accomodation to the civil society around us and has been since the first Imperial divorce statutes in, I think, the 7th century, though it may have been the 8th century. You stated the basis of that economia as well as it can be stated.

Non-abortifacient contraception is considered to be a matter between a spiritual father and a married couple. Abortion of course is condemned as a grave sin. Orthodox theology does not hold with the basically Augustinian foundation of the Latin Church's teachings on contraception. This raises another broader point. In the Latin Church, the pope, under certain circumstances can proclaim dogma and bind all members of that Church to the teaching. In Orthodoxy, nothing becomes dogma until the people proclaim their AXIOS by living out the proclaimed dogma. In the case of contraception, after what, 40 odd years, it is quite apparent that the Roman Catholic laity has not proclaimed its AXIOS; quite the contrary if polls are to be believed.

Here's a comment from the GOA website:

"Fertility control, or contraception, is the practice by which mechanical, chemical, or other means are used, either before or after a sexual act, in order to prevent fertilization of the ovum by the sperm, thus circumventing the possible consequences of the sexual act - the conception and ultimate birth of a child.

General agreement exists among Orthodox writers on the following two points:

1. since at least one of the purposes of marriage is the birth of children, a couple acts immorally when it consistently uses contraceptive methods to avoid the birth of any children, if there are not extenuating circumstances;
2. contraception is also immoral when used to encourage the practice of fornication and adultery.

Less agreement exists among Eastern Orthodox authors on the issue of contraception within marriage for the spacing of children or for the limitation of the number of children. Some authors take a negative view and count any use of contraceptive methods within or outside of marriage as immoral (Papacostas, pp. 13-18; Gabriel Dionysiatou). These authors tend to emphasize as the primary and almost exclusive purpose of marriage the birth of children and their upbringing. They tend to consider any other exercise of the sexual function as the submission of this holy act to unworthy purposes, i.e., pleasure-seeking, passion, and bodily gratification, which are held to be inappropriate for the Christian growing in spiritual perfection. These teachers hold that the only alternative is sexual abstinence in marriage, which, though difficult, is both desirable and possible through the aid of the grace of God. It must be noted also that, for these writers, abortion and contraception are closely tied together, and often little or no distinction is made between the two. Further, it is hard to discern in their writings any difference in judgment between those who use contraceptive methods so as to have no children and those who use them to space and limit the number of children.

Other Orthodox writers have challenged this view by seriously questioning the Orthodoxy of the exclusive and all-controlling role of the procreative purpose of marriage (Zaphiris; Constantelos, 1975). Some note the inconsistency of the advocacy of sexual continence in marriage with the scriptural teaching that one of the purposes of marriage is to permit the ethical fulfillment of sexual drives, so as to avoid fornication and adultery (1 Cor. 7:1-7). Most authors, however, emphasize the sacramental nature of marriage and its place within the framework of Christian anthropology, seeing the sexual relationship of husband and wife as one aspect of the mutual growth of the couple in love and unity. This approach readily adapts itself to an ethical position that would not only permit but also enjoin sexual relationships of husband and wife for their own sake as expressions of mutual love. Such a view clearly would support the use of contraceptive practices for the purpose of spacing and limiting children so as to permit greater freedom of the couple in the expression of their mutual love."