Evangelical Magazine "Christianity Today" Turns Critical Eye to Contraception

Kresta in the Afternoon ^ | 8/1/12 | Matthew Cullinan Hoffman

[marshmallow]

August 1, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Christianity Today, the flagship magazine of Evangelical Protestantism in the United States, has published a spate of articles questioning the practice of contraception in recent months, accentuating a trend against birth control among Evangelicals that has been accelerating during the last half-decade.

The publication’s latest installment on the topic is a review of “Adam and Eve and the Pill,” by Catholic writer Mary Eberstadt, which defends her thesis that contraception, and particularly the contraceptive pill, is the “Pandora’s box” of the sexual revolution. “As Eberstadt sees it, the contraceptive pill has launched us into a new age in which responsibility has been divorced from sex. And while it is easy to point fingers at the secular world for embracing this reproductive technology, Christians are complicit in its hold on our culture. Most Christians do not want to be told what to do with their bodies any more than non-Christians, and the Pill has made that freedom possible,” writes doctoral student Sharon Hodde Miller.

Miller opines that “pastors cannot address the widespread sexual brokenness in our culture simply by encouraging married sex. They must also address the ideology and theology behind the brokenness, and contraception is Ground Zero for those discussions.” Calling Eberstadt’s data on contraception and its consequences “undeniable,” Miller concludes that “if we want to think seriously and Christianity about sex, then we need to think seriously about contraception.”

The magazine took another swipe at contraception in an April opinion piece on “Why Churches Shouldn’t Push Contraceptives to their Singles,” which takes issue with the Evangelical “Q” conference held recently in Washington D.C., at which a majority expressed their support for promoting contraception among fornicating singles as a away to avoid abortion.

“In Romans 3:8, Paul establishes a standard that we ought not do......

[RaisingCain]

I think the Catholics, who are wrong on just about everything, are actually quite correct on the evils of contraception. We should support this and promote it amongst Protestants. This easy access to contraception, or at least this view that contraception is “a-ok,” has contributed to a break down of the family and of society as a whole. It isn’t the ONLY cause, but it’s one of many.

[Mr Rogers]

I’m Baptist. I’ve NEVER heard a baptist church encouraging contraceptives for singles. Not saying they don’t exist, but I’ve never heard of it in 40 years...

[ReformationFan]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2613278/posts

[savagesusie]

I probably would have agreed with you 10 or more years ago when I was ignorant of Catholic Theology (and narcissistic and filled with hubris)-—but with intense study and now with much humility—I realize the absolute brilliance of Catholic Theology. Not only with the Pope’s encyclicals of today-—the most solidly intellectual thinking in today’s world, but in the content of the early Church Fathers and those in the Scholastic period and beyond.

There is very little—if anything-—more profound, or brilliant than Catholic Theology. Every thing they predicted-—happened. They knew the Protestant religions were committing suicide with their irrational thinking and ignorance and outright rejection of Natural Law Theory.

You see, Catholic Theology—much like the brilliant Founding Documents of the USA—was based on Natural Law Theory—which is the origins of Common Sense. Now Catholics also have Revelation-—but in their Wisdom—they know that God’s Creation was designed to work in teleological ways which create harmony and happiness, so St. Thomas Aquinas aligned Catholic Theology with Natural Laws. It is why Christianity is the most rational of all religions.

http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_25071968_humanae-vitae_en.html

[luckystarmom]

They are talking about married protestants not using contraceptives.

I would not have bought that when I was younger. Now, I don’t have to worry about it!!

[ThisLittleLightofMine]

Being part of the CBA, this is a discussion we need to have, it is a dirty little secret among church members and not something anyone likes to talk about, married people should have children and not try to hinder it. Birth control is asserting your role to procreate as you choose rather than submitting to Gods plan for us.

[Mr Rogers]

“Birth control is asserting your role to procreate as you choose rather than submitting to Gods plan for us.”

How does birth control differ from any other decision we make? Should I refuse aspirin, because God has given me a headache? Should I refuse to lock my door, because God has sent the thief?

My wife’s only pregnancy came after treatment for infertility. Were we defying God by allowing a doctor to treat her medical condition, making pregnancy possible?

[Bellflower]

I don’t know where they have been, but many born again Churches are brimming with children and pregnant mothers. Also, many born againers home school. God has been blessing His children with progeny! It is The Holy Spirit that has been doing the work.

[Claud]

How does birth control differ from any other decision we make? Should I refuse aspirin, because God has given me a headache? Should I refuse to lock my door, because God has sent the thief?

The decision to not have a child is perfectly ok. But if you don't want a child, how does it make sense to engage in the very activity that produces a child, and then deliberately frustrate it?

A better analogy to contraception is a bulimic. She wants all the pleasure of eating without the natural effects of eating, so she stuffs her face and goes in the bathroom and throws it all up.

[Mr Rogers]

“But if you don’t want a child, how does it make sense to engage in the very activity that produces a child, and then deliberately frustrate it?”

There is a reason some couples refer to it as ‘making love’ rather than ‘baby creation’...

“A better analogy to contraception is a bulimic. She wants all the pleasure of eating without the natural effects of eating...”

What is next - a ban on artificial sweeteners? Why drink a Diet Coke instead of one with sugar? Oh wait, one with fructose. And can I use a seat belt to defy God’s will in sending me a crash?

It is not defying God’s will to use our brains in choosing what we do and how we do it.

[Running On Empty]

An interesting analogy.

Before my retirement, (20 years ago) I was a counselor for Fertility Awareness, certified for my diocese. We called it Fertility Awareness rather than Natural Family Planning.

My Baptist dentist, and long-time dear friend, asked me to give him and his wife counsel in FA. They had 5 sons and hoped someday to have a daughter. :-)

I told him that I may be able to provide some insights, but that, since we know and ask that God’s will and his will alone be done, that all I could do was provide some helpful insights. Nine months later, a large bouquet of roses was delivered to my door with a card that said: “It’s a girl!”

Because of my dentist’s interest in FA ever after that, he mentioned the teaching to friends of his at a nearby large Protestant (founded by Baptists) Bible College.

Subsequently I received a call from the psychology professor at that college who taught Family Life courses. He asked if he could meet with me and, of course, I agreed.

He and his wife ended up taking instructions in FA from me and a few weeks later asked me to come and give an overview of FA to his class. But he cautioned me that the dean told him that I could come and give a talk on the method but that I was not to mention anything about Catholic belief or doctrine.

I agreed.

So I prepared a presentation using numerous Scriptural references based on the spiritual Bridegroom and his Bride the church. My presentation was entitled “The Covenant of Marriage”.

Thanks be to God, it was very well received by the students.

Afterwards, I received quite a few calls, from students who were in that class, wanting to know more about FA. One couple in the class, already married, came to me for personal help in FA. From there, they went on, on their own initiative, to teach it to other couples. (as for me, I was required to go through a full course and be tested and accepted for certification in my diocese!)

I also received, and have kept as a happy memoir, a letter from the department of Family Life at the college, thanking me for my presentation

There are , indeed, beautiful, Scriptural understandings to give validity to FA.

I, for one, would be so happy to see evangelicals take a second look at contraception and a new look into FA.

[marshmallow]

Worth a read....Humanae Vitae

Yes, I know 90% of Catholics don't go with this. That's actually one of the reasons we're in such a mess.

[Mr Rogers]

"The fact is, as experience shows, that new life is not the result of each and every act of sexual intercourse. God has wisely ordered laws of nature and the incidence of fertility in such a way that successive births are already naturally spaced through the inherent operation of these laws. The Church, nevertheless, in urging men to the observance of the precepts of the natural law, which it interprets by its constant doctrine, teaches that each and every marital act must of necessity retain its intrinsic relationship to the procreation of human life."

While he may be expounding Catholic doctrine, I don't see how this makes sense. There is nothing in natural law that says a man & woman making love when she is infertile are acting in a way bound to making babies.

Dogs and horses mate for procreation. The bitch or mare comes into heat, and then the male responds. Sex between dogs is sex.

God gave more and expects more of humans, as the Pope agrees in the link you provided. Since God has made it possible for humans to 'make love' as opposed to 'have sex', it seems pretty "natural" for them to do so even when they do not plan or desire to create a baby. Using a condom merely extends that time frame.

Catholics should, of course, follow the Pope's teachings, since that is a foundation point of Catholicism. But there is nothing in natural law or scripture that says a man and woman cannot use their minds to reduce the chance of pregnancy. When men depended on children for security on old age, war and for farm labor, lots of kids were highly desirable. That is no longer true, and I see no reason to pretend it is.

On a personal note, for my wife and I the problem was the opposite. My wife's endometriosis needed surgical treatment to allow fertility, and it seems to have been a temporary solution. Our youngest daughter (we adopted twice) was born shortly after the surgery, and that was it. I thank God we live in a time where surgical intervention made fertility possible, even if it was only a short window:

[ThisLittleLightofMine]

Your comparisons are ludicrous and have nothing to do with the subject. This statement refers to not using birth control because it hinders procreation which is Gods plan for us according to scripture.

[RaisingCain]

I’ve never heard of it being a point of conversation at all, though certainly I’ve never heard anyone encourage it.

[RaisingCain]

I’ll stick with the sure word of the Bible, thank you very much. The words and traditions of men often fail us.

[Mr Rogers]

Is it God’s will, in your humble opinion, that we have as many kids as is physically possible?

You DO realize we are not living in a tribal society, with our future relying on having lots of kids to take care of us?

God’s will for us includes sex without procreation, which is why he made us CAPABLE of sex without procreation - unlike dogs or horses.

[savagesusie]

Can’t go wrong with that!

[Heart-Rest]

I think the Catholics, who are wrong on just about everything, are actually quite correct on the evils of contraception.    (post 2)

In addition to her unchanging teachings on artificial contraception and abortion, the Catholic Church also gave the world the list of "Books" to be included in the New Testament, the same list which all Protestants use too.    (The list of books to include was not specified anywhere within Scripture itself.)    Was the Catholic Church right about that too?

The Catholic Church also gave the world the doctrine of the "Trinity".    Were they right about that?

---

I’ll stick with the sure word of the Bible, thank you very much. The words and traditions of men often fail us.    (post 17)

Then do you agree or disagree with this text from the Bible?

So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by letter. - (2 Thessalonians 2:15)