he beholds
Puritan Board Doctor
Certainly and always, some things are sinful.
Killing a baby? Sinful. ALWAYS.
Defrauding your husband or wife? Sinful. ALWAYS. (I am not saying that refraining at anytime is sinful, but defrauding is.)
Selfishness--Sinful.
Love of Money--Sinful.
Not trusting the Lord--Sinful.
Disobeying the Lord--Sinful.
And there are many more sins that could add to the decision or practice of not having children. If a couple is sinning a couple is sinning. Is the not having children the sin? It seems we cannot prove that from scripture. But is the reason a couple is not having children a sinful one? Or are the specific actions that are preventing a child sinful? If so, they are sinning. We all know that sin is a heart matter. The couple needs to see if it is sin in their heart that makes them not want children.
I would say, though, that I cannot imagine a scenario, even the sad one that Caroline mentions with the negligent mother, where the making and then the having the babies is the sin. I think the sin was elsewhere. Maybe the father sinned by not getting the mother help. Or maybe from the church who didn't step in and help. Maybe some of the sin was in the selfish hearts of the children, which we all know is possible for children to have!
Maybe the parents DID sin, but I just cannot believe that the intimacy that makes babies was a sin and I KNOW that the conception of babies wasn't a sin, as that is of the Lord. And I know that the not aborting the conceived babies wasn't a sin. So I just cannot see the how the new babies were at all a sin.
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I have had multiple c/s like a few others mentioned. If I try to not get pregnant in a non-sinful manner (I'm not aborting babies or using birth control that is aborting babies, I'm not defrauding my husband, etc.) hopefully I am not sinning. But were I to get pregnant, and were that pregnancy to cause my death, that definitely wouldn't be a sin, either. Yes, the world might think it wrong that my remaining children lost their mother and might blame me or my husband. But having children is not really about doing it responsibly. Married people are commanded to have sex. Sex sometimes makes babies. We are NEVER told to prevent that so I don't think it can be argued that prevention is more proper than having more babies. So even if a married couple has babies under trying circumstances, it's not a responsibility issue. Might those circumstances bring the people to sin? Yes. I might be so overwhelmed that I sin and run away or something. But it wasn't the new baby that was the sin. It was the running away me.
This life is the Lord's. What pleases him most? I think that is the question that the couple who is debating having children must ask.
Killing a baby? Sinful. ALWAYS.
Defrauding your husband or wife? Sinful. ALWAYS. (I am not saying that refraining at anytime is sinful, but defrauding is.)
Selfishness--Sinful.
Love of Money--Sinful.
Not trusting the Lord--Sinful.
Disobeying the Lord--Sinful.
And there are many more sins that could add to the decision or practice of not having children. If a couple is sinning a couple is sinning. Is the not having children the sin? It seems we cannot prove that from scripture. But is the reason a couple is not having children a sinful one? Or are the specific actions that are preventing a child sinful? If so, they are sinning. We all know that sin is a heart matter. The couple needs to see if it is sin in their heart that makes them not want children.
I would say, though, that I cannot imagine a scenario, even the sad one that Caroline mentions with the negligent mother, where the making and then the having the babies is the sin. I think the sin was elsewhere. Maybe the father sinned by not getting the mother help. Or maybe from the church who didn't step in and help. Maybe some of the sin was in the selfish hearts of the children, which we all know is possible for children to have!
Maybe the parents DID sin, but I just cannot believe that the intimacy that makes babies was a sin and I KNOW that the conception of babies wasn't a sin, as that is of the Lord. And I know that the not aborting the conceived babies wasn't a sin. So I just cannot see the how the new babies were at all a sin.
Like this↓
So, my point was, in order for this verse to be helpful, you would have to prove that Scripturally it is possible for the act of conception between a husband and wife can in certain situations be someway sinful. This verse cannot prove that; you have to presuppose it to be true in order to even interpret the verse in that way.
I have had multiple c/s like a few others mentioned. If I try to not get pregnant in a non-sinful manner (I'm not aborting babies or using birth control that is aborting babies, I'm not defrauding my husband, etc.) hopefully I am not sinning. But were I to get pregnant, and were that pregnancy to cause my death, that definitely wouldn't be a sin, either. Yes, the world might think it wrong that my remaining children lost their mother and might blame me or my husband. But having children is not really about doing it responsibly. Married people are commanded to have sex. Sex sometimes makes babies. We are NEVER told to prevent that so I don't think it can be argued that prevention is more proper than having more babies. So even if a married couple has babies under trying circumstances, it's not a responsibility issue. Might those circumstances bring the people to sin? Yes. I might be so overwhelmed that I sin and run away or something. But it wasn't the new baby that was the sin. It was the running away me.
This life is the Lord's. What pleases him most? I think that is the question that the couple who is debating having children must ask.