The effective separation between sex and procreation is perhaps one of the most important characteristics of our time and one of the most deplorable. This perception is spreading among American evangelicals and promises to cause a real explosion.
Most evangelical Protestants received the advent of modern birth control technologies with applause and relief. In the absence of significant theology on marriage, sex or family, evangelicals welcomed the development of the “pill”. In the same way that the world celebrated the discovery of penicillin?as another milestone in the inevitable march of human progress and the conquest of nature.
- At the same time.
- Evangelicals have overcome their traditional unhook on sexuality issues and have produced a growing industry of books.
- Seminaries.
- And even series of sermons that celebrate sexual ecstasy as one of God’s blessings to married Christians.
- The existence of sexuality.
- Evangelicals came out of the 1960s willing to share the last sexual counsel without blushing.
- As one of the best-selling sexual evangelical textbooks proclaims: “Marital sex was destined for pleasure.
- “Many evangelicals seem to have forgotten that he was also destined for something else.
For many evangelical Christians, birth control is only for Catholics. When Pope Paul VI published his famous encyclical considering that artificial birth control, Humanae Vitae, was wrong, most evangelicals responded with negligence, perhaps grateful that evangelicals did not have a Pope who could proclaim a similar edict. Evangelical couples have become dedicated users of contraceptive technologies ranging from pills to blocking methods and intrauterine devices [IUDs]. All this is changing and a new generation of evangelical couples are asking new questions.
A growing number of evangelicals are reconsidering the issue of “birth control” and addressing the difficult questions posed by reproductive technologies. Several developments have contributed to this review, but the most important of these is the abortion revolution. The first evangelical response to legalized abortion was woefully inadequate. Some of the main evangelical names have, in principle, accepted at least one version of the abortion on request.
Evangelical consciousness awakened in the late 1970s, when the murderous reality of abortion could no longer be denied. A strong reorganization of evangelical conviction was evident in the 1980 presidential election, when abortion was the trigger for a political outburst. Conservative Protestants emerged as prominent figures in the pro-life movement, while supporting Catholics in defense of the fetus.
The reality of abortion, in turn, has forced a reconsideration of other issues. By asserting that human life must be recognized and protected from the moment of conception, evangelicals increasingly recognize intrauterine devices (IUDs) as abortions and reject any method of contraception for any purpose. or after an abortion. This belief now casts a cloud of doubt on the pill.
Therefore, ironically, American evangelicals are reconsidering birth control even at a time when most Roman Catholics in the country reject the teachings of their church. How should evangelicals think about birth control?
First, we should start by rejecting the contraceptive mentality that pregnancy sees and children as impositions that should be avoided rather than gifts to receive, love, and nurture. This contraceptive mentality is an insidious attack on God’s glory in the creation and gift of procreation. by the Creator to the married couple.
Second, we must affirm that God gave us the gift of sex for several specific purposes, and one of those goals is procreation. Marriage represents a perfect network of divine gifts, including sexual pleasure, emotional bonds, mutual support, procreation, and fatherhood. Don’t disconnect these? From marriage and choose only those we desire for us. All marriages must be open to the gift of children. Even when the ability to conceive and give birth may be absent, the desire to have children must be present. Seeking sexual pleasure without being open to having children is a sacred responsibility.
Thirdly, we should take a closer look at the Catholic moral argument found in Humanae Vitae. Evangelicals will find thee surprisingly according to much of the encyclical’s argument. As the Pope has warned, widespread use of the pill has had “serious consequences”. . including marital infidelity and endemic sexual immorality. In fact, the pill has allowed an almost total abandonment of Christian sexual morality in culture in general. When the sexual act separated from the likelihood of pregnancy, the traditional structure of sexual morality collapsed.
For most evangelicals, the main break with Catholic doctrine is the insistence that “every conjugal act must be ordained in itself for the procreation of human life. “In other words, every conjugal act must be fully and also open to the gift. This goes too far and places an undue emphasis on individual sex without the broader integrity of the marital relationship.
The emphasis is on every conjugal act within a faithful marriage open to the gift of children, going beyond the biblical requirement. Since encyclical does not reject any family planning, this approach requires a distinction between “natural” and “artificial” birth control. . For the evangelical spirit, this is a very strange and artificial distinction. Looking at the Catholic position helps, but evangelicals must also think for themselves, reflecting on the scriptures thinking carefully about them.
Fourth, the Bible does not require Christian couples to maximize the number of children they might conceive of. Given our overall health in advanced societies, a couple married in their twenties who have a healthy and regular sex life could easily produce more than fifteen descendants. before the woman turns forty. These families must be duly honored, but this level of reproduction is certainly not ordained by the Bible.
Fifth, with all this in mind, evangelical couples can sometimes choose to use contraceptives to organize their families and enjoy the pleasures of the marital bed. The couple should carefully consider all these issues and really have to be open to the gift of the children. The moral justification for the use of contraceptives must be clear in the minds of the couple and perfectly consistent with their Christian commitment.
Sixth, Christian couples must ensure that the methods chosen are truly contraceptives in their effects, not abortions. Not all contraceptive methods are contraceptives, as some technologies and methods do not prevent sperm from fertilizing the egg, but they prevent the fertilized egg from succeeding. implanted in the lining of the uterus. These methods involve nothing less than an extremely premature abortion. This is true for all IUDs and some hormonal technologies. Currently, there has been a hot debate that at least some forms of pills can also act for an abortion effect, rather than preventing ovulation. Christian couples should be diligent in choosing a form of contraception that is undoubtedly contraceptive rather than abortion.
The birth control revolution has literally changed the world, today’s couples rarely stop to think that the availability of effective contraceptives is a very recent phenomenon in the history of the world, this revolution caused an explosion of sexual promiscuity and a lot of human misery. At the same time, she also offered loving and loving couples the opportunity to enjoy the joy and satisfaction of the marital act without being equally open to pregnancy all the time.
Christians can therefore make prudent and appropriate use of these technologies, but they should never get carried away by the contraceptive mentality. Children can never be seen as a problem to avoid, but always as a gift to receive with joy.
For evangelicals there is much work to be done, we must build and cultivate a new tradition of moral theology, drawn from the Holy Scriptures and enriched with the theological heritage of the Church, until we do so, many evangelical marriages will not even know where to begin the process of thinking about birth control in an entirely Christian context. It’s time for the evangelicals to answer this call.