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8/12/2019 1990 Issue 7 - Is Birth Control Forbidden by
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Is Birth Control Forbidden y Scripture
by Dr. Gary Crampton
Recently there have been various books, articles,
etc., coming from Christian. writers,
whic.h. ciaU:U
that birth control, under practically all conditions, IS
a sinful practice.
I t
should never be engaged
_in
by
born again Christians. Is this true? Does Scnpture
really maintain such a position? Emphatically NO
The Bible teaches that thete is a proper place for
family planning. This is taught Proverbs 24:27,
where
we
read, "Prepare your outstde work, make It
fit
for
yourself
in
the field; And afterward build your
house." LOuis Goldberg points
out
that
in
Scripture
the house" frequently refers
to
the family
(Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament),
Vol.
I, p. 105; cf. Gen. 18:19; 35:2; 46:?7; _16:31;
Josh. 24:15:
2 Sam
. 7:11). Thus, by 1mphcatron
we
learn
that family planning, under certain conditions,
is a biblical
~ d a t e
As
soon as say this, however,
I _want
to add
~ ~ a ~
I
believe
most
birth control taking place within
Christian families today
to be
improper. There is far
too much
selfish, materialistic concern
over
e a l t h ~
life style change, etc. This is clearly sub
-b
iblical
have personally counseled couples
not
to
marry
rf
they do not intend to have children. Su?h is a
violation of the dominion mandate of Genesis 1:26-
28:
"be
fruitful and multiply ..". Family planning
should never
be
to avoid obedience to this clear
command
of
God. Thus,
s
Joseph Morecraft has
p r o p e ~ l y
stated, family p l ~ ~ i n g should normally be
planrung for large families (The Counsel
.
of
Chalcedon,
October 1989, pp. 9,10). .
Secondly, I
am
also concerned that means
of
birth control
be
non-abortive. This
1s
all too
frequently
not
COJ Sidered by Christian
p a r e n ~
Recent medical evidence has much to
say on
this
matter. A number of the "old" methods are now
being questioned as to their legitimacy in this area.
Thirdly,
in
any family
c ~ m n s ~ l i n g
s e ~ s i o n on
this
subject, the pyscho-physical tmplicat10ns must be
considered.
That
is, birth control measures should
not
be used
if
either parent
may
experience
psychological and/or physical harm. Neither should
.birth contr()l e .practiced if the .
method
is
aesthetically unappealing to either one
of
the partners
(Morecraft).
Fourthly, all birth control m ~ t h ~ s producing
sterility must be forbidden. Under normal
circumstances, this would be a violation
of
the
dominion mandate
of
Genesis 1 28.
''Family
planning should never
be
to
~ v o i
obedience
to
the Doniinion Mandate."
The balance of this paper must be read
in
light
of
the above caveats. They are extremely important.
With this in mind, the reader is asked to consider the
following:
1 The
dominion mandate strongly challenges
Christian man to have children
(if
they are physically
capable,
of
course).
But
as J.J. Davis
~ ~ n t s
out,
th1s
mandate commands mart to take dom1mon over
nature (not "mother nature''),
not
to let nature take
dominion over man. Says Davis,
God
did not
create by a blind act of passion
and
will; neither
should those made
in His
image."
He
has a plan
and
so should we (Evangelical Ethics,
pp
. 49,50}.
Further, as Morecraft states, although this mandate
calls on God's people to multiply, it does riot call on
. them to "teem,"
as in
Genesis 1:20
op. it.
.
In other words, there is a human element
of
responsibility involved along with the sovereignty
of
God (c f. WCF
ill,l).
This point is seemingly
neglected by "no birth control" advocates, leaving us
with lit tle more than Islamic fatalism.
The
sovereign
activity of God in the whole process of conception
and birth is emphasized in numerous .passages of
Scripture (e.g., Gen. 21:1,2; 30:1,2: . Sam.
1:19,20).
But
this hardly means that Christian
~ n
is ''playing Goo" when
he
seeks to be a godly famtly
planner;
no
more so than the godly farmer who uses
an irrigation system for his crops, rather than
"merely" praying for rain. Prayer and irrigation go
hand in hand as "second causes," while it is God
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8/12/2019 1990 Issue 7 - Is Birth Control Forbidden by
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alone (the eternal"first cause") who brings rain Dt.
28:12; 1 Kgs 8:36; Ps . 147:8;
WCF
V,2)
Scripture further supports this by the analogy
of
God
as
the paradigmatic (heavenly) Father
of
His
covenant children
Ps
. 103:13; Mt. 6:9). Does our
heavenly Father randomly "beget" children? Ordoes
He make a conscious choice, electing a certain
number into a filial relationship with Himself
1
Jn.
3:1,2)? The answer is obvious from Ephesians 1
and Romans 9.
The Westminster divines confirm the Pauline
doctrine, "by the decree of God ..some men ..are
predestined unto everlasting life .. These .men .are
particularly and unchangeably designed; and their
number is so certain and definite that it cannot be
either increased or diminished"
WCF
ill:3,4).
Does Christian man then, by implication, not have
the biblical right to make certain decisions with
regard to the planning
of
his family?
2) Anti-birth control advocates are quick to turn to
Psalm 127, where we read that children are a gift
and blessing from the Lord. This is ,
of
course, true.
What Christian would deny it? But does it logically
follow that we should therefore "beget" as many
children as possible? I think not If this kind
of
thinking was taken to its logical conclusion, then
whenever a Christian couple is not "bearing"
children, they should be adopting them.
Note is made that wealth is also a gift and blessing
from the Lord (Dt. 8:18; Pr. 10:22). But great care
must be exercised in pursuing and handling it (cf.
Pr. 30:7-9; Mk. 10:23 ; 1 Tim. 6:9,10). So also care
must be undertaken with regard to the blessing of the
covenant children spoken of in Psalm 127. Calvin's
comments here are insightful. Large families, says
the Reformer, are not necessarily a blessing. Care
must be taken that Christian families do not produce
numerous godless offspring
Commentary
on Psalm
127:3-5).
3) The Westminster Larger Catechism (Q
138) is
correct where it states that the procreative function
of
marriage is secondary to the social function.
Proverbs 2:17; 5:18, Song
of
Songs 8:6,7, Malachi
2:14, and 1 Corinthians 7:3-5, support Westminster,
as
does Genesis 2:24. In this latter verse, the "one
fleshness"
of
the husband and wife does not speak
(primarily) to their sexual union, but their being
"one person" (Jay Adams, Marriage, Divorce, and
Remarriage
n
The Bible,
pp. 16-18; cf. also Jeffrey
J Meyers, "Does The Bible Forbid Family
Planning?'',
The Counsel of Chalcedon,
November
1988, pp. 4-6, 17-
23.
Meyer's biblical critique
of
Mary Pride's arguments against all forms
of
birth
control in her book The Way Horne is excellent. He
sometimes overstates Pride's viewpoint, but the
biblical refutations are still sound.)
. The Puritans in general adopted POSltiQn
espoused by Westminster, in contradistinction to
Rome. Leland Ryken has written that, "The
distinctive contribution
of
the Puritans within this
framework (i.e., the purpose
of marriage and sex)
was to shift the primary emphasis from procreation
to companionship"
Worldly Saints,
p. 47). Ryken
quotes John Milton to prove
his
point, "God
in
the
first ordaining ofmarriage taught us to what end e
. did it...to comfort and refresh him against the evil of
solitary life, not mentioning the purpose of
generation till afterwards"
p.
48).
Psalm 128
Biblical Family Planning
The Minkoff Family
This is further supported by the paradigmatic
husband-wife relationship believers have with Jesus
Christ, the Bridegroom.
t
is primarily a relationship
of
companionship, of fellowship (Eph. 5:31,32).
This,
of
course, does not mean that the church
of
Christ is not to be involved in "begetting spiritual
children" (Mt. 28 :
18
-20; Is. 49). But it is not
primary. Christian "fruitbearing," certainly . is
concerned with evangelism, but
t
is more broadly
defined as obedience in each and every endeavor of
life (Jn. 15:1-10; Col. 1:10; Eph. 2:8-10). Further,
as noted above, the spiritual children who will e
"begotten" through the ministry
of
the faithful
church are a select, "fixed" number. The bride has
no idea how many children will be "born again," but .
the Bridegroom does. The number has been
fixed ("family planning") from all eternity .(Rev.
13:8).
The
Counsel of Chalcedon August-September, 1990 Page
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8/12/2019 1990 Issue 7 - Is Birth Control Forbidden by
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4)
J.J.
Davis is also correct that l Corinthians 7:3-5
.implicitly t e a c h ~ s a proper place for birth control.
The
passage does rtot address contraception
explicitly.
But
the larger principle would seem
to
allow for couples to postpone the Genesis 1:28
command
to
procreate,
for
a season, in order
to
pursue spiritual good; that is, "the good
of
the
family as a whole,
and
the welfare
of
children
already born"
(Op.
cit.,
pp. 47-49).
In
other words,
the cultural mandate involves all areas
of
human
existence.
5) Anti-birth control advocates are quick to state that
there is
no
place in Scripture which explicitly
endorses contraception. This is ~ e (albeit not
implicitly). But neither is there any passage that
explicitly condemns
it
. The burden of proof, then,
lies with the non-birth control devotee. .
Embarrassingly, some of the latter group seek to
uphold their position by turning to the Genesis 38:8-
10 passage, regarding Onan's spilling
o
his seed.
These verses have nothing to
do
.with birth control.
It is
a violation
of
the Levirate law which is at issue
with Onan (cf. Dt. 25:5-10). Matthew Poole
comments on this passage, saying that
Onan
's sin
was, "either hatred
of
his brother, or envy at his
brother's name and honour, springing from the pride
of
his own heart"
Commentary
on Gen. 38:9).
It is,
of
course, true that the Levirate law had not yet
been put in written form at the time ofOnan's sinful
endeavor. But that does not mean that the
law
had
not
been given.
The Westminster Confession
of
Faith IV
2} properly states that God
c r e a t ~ d
men,
"with knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness,
after His image,
having the law of
God
written
in
their hearts"
(emphasis added). Again, Poole,
commenting on Genesis 38:8, correctly states that,
"this (i.e., the Levirate law) ..was now instituted
and observed amongst God's people,
and
afterwards
was expressed
in
a written law, Deut 25:5,6."
I t is evident to the present writer that a strong
position against all forms
of
bith control under any
condition cannot possibly stand the test ofScripture.
Such a sub-biblical view is Romanistic;
it
is
detrimental to sound Christian counseling. Thus,
it
must not be allowed to continue without critique
.Q
Editor's Corrections
Corrections
to
be noted from the July article
A
Light to
the Nations", the U s t f n ~ of "Tlie four presbyferies"
should read COVENANT (Georg a I Texas}, WEST-
MINSTER (Florida I Nicarag_ualt. HANOVER (Vir_2lania I
New England), NORTHWEST (i'ljebraska I Washmgton I
Alberta). Also in the last sentence of the
paragraph
beginning,
11
An important decision
1
tfte word
J rmciple should read principia . The correct title for
Pastor Morecraft's article on page 5 should be "The Gifts
of the Spirit
in
the Life of the Church." The review of
i
ndiciae
Conira Tyrannos
on
pag_e
U was authored by
Steve Wilkins
and
published by Reg Barrow.
Page
24
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