Is the act of using birth control a sin?

[Hunn]

This is a spin off from the recent poll about whether children are blessings.

Is it a sin to use non-abortive methods to prevent pregnancies?

Please provide a scriptural basis for your answer.

When answering, please do not make assumptions about the motives of the couple. I am not concerned with whether the motives behind the decision might be sinful, just whether the act itself is sinful.

 

[Skyler]

You could try the search function. There have been many threads in the past on this, both in general and focusing in on specific aspects of the debate.

 

[Michael]

When answering, please do not make assumptions about the motives of the couple. I am not concerned with whether the motives behind the decision might be sinful, just whether the act itself is sinful.

Is any act sinful apart from motive?

 

[MLCOPE2]

---------- Post added at 07:29 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:20 PM ----------

Here is a good one

 

[Hunn]

When answering, please do not make assumptions about the motives of the couple. I am not concerned with whether the motives behind the decision might be sinful, just whether the act itself is sinful.

Is any act sinful apart from motive?

That is an interesting question, Michael. Even the good we do is clouded by sin. We must be careful because every act we commit could have sinful motives. My point is that it is impossible to know someone else's motives. We could sin out of ignorance.

 

[Peairtach]

The Lord never calls it a sin. Not even in the Torah, which goes into great detail about various things in connection with this subject e.g. nocturnal things. It should be left to the conscience of the individal believer and his wife.


Michael

Here is a good one

It's pretty much been "done to death".

 

[Hunn]

---------- Post added at 07:29 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:20 PM ----------

Here is a good one

Thanks, that thread was helpful.

 

[KMK]

When answering, please do not make assumptions about the motives of the couple

I assume your question concerns Christian married couples?

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If trying to prevent natural childbirth is a sin, then wouldn't it also be a sin to prevent adoption?

James 1:27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

(I am not saying it is, but just looking at the necessary consequence)

 

[Grimmson]

I posted this link on contraception in “Are children always a blessing.” Here it is again and shows the arguments and difference of opinion on birth control.

http://www.puritanboard.com/f32/contraception-bible-61208/

 

[dudley]

The Lord never calls it a sin. Not even in the Torah, which goes into great detail about various things in connection with this subject e.g. nocturnal things. It should be left to the conscience of the individal believer and his wife.


Michael

Here is a good one

It's pretty much been "done to death".

I say "ditto" and agree completely with my PB brother Richard

 

[Andres]

Is birth control a sin? It can be. There is a big distinction that needs to be made when talking about "birth control" as there are two different types. That distinction centers around the following:

Q. I have heard some people say the pill has an abortifacient capacity. What does this word mean, and is it really true anyway?

A. Before answering this question it is very important that we all have a correct understanding of the key biological terms related to pregnancy. The following definitions have been accept by major medical texts for decades.

'Conception' refers to the moment at which the sperm penetrates and fertilises the ovum to form a viable zygote. It does not refer to the process of implantation of the newly created human embryo, which is a separate event, occurring about 7-8 day’s after conception. A woman is pregnant because conception has occurred, not because implantation has occurred. This distinction is important.

At the precise and unique moment of conception, a woman is 'pregnant' with "a new individual ". This is an accurate and informed medical description.

To stop conception occurring, that is, to stop sperm and ovum joining, is contraception. Condoms, diaphragms, spermicides, vasectomy and tubal ligation are accurately described as methods of contraception. Obviously any drug or device used after conception has occurred cannot be termed a contraceptive.

The correct term to describe any interference with the pregnancy after conception has occurred is ‘abortifacient’. This is the precise biological description for any drug or device that acts to end a pregnancy once it has begun at conception. - The Pill-How it Works and Fails

Using contraception is NOT a sin. Using an abortifacient IS a sin.