Saturday, March 25, 2006

Birth Control

For our family, it has been fairly easy to see where we stand on this issue. But that is not the case with many today, even those preachers who are so visible in the churchand to whom we look for scriptural guidance. I find it interesting to note that many of the great theologians of the reformed persuasion had some very strong opinions indeed. Hat tip to Doug Phillips' blog.

P.S. I'd just like to note that I'm quite loopy today thanks to a horrible chest cold which is making me guzzle the cough syrup. Please excuse any typos, or spelling errors, or nonsensical sentences :)

7 comments:

Marie said...

Well, I guess my comment is SECOND. . .

I never thought the Onan incident was a good argument against birth control (although I think there are good arguments against birth control).

I think his sin was not raising up a seed for his brother in direct rebellion against God's explicit command.

Anyway. . .I'm sure the "comment" above will be deleted soon!

Duchess of Fife said...

Well, it took spam comments to make me learn how to moderate.

First of all, I'd like to add to this post that, while I was convicted of this issue when I first married, four kids in four years has a way of making you question your beliefs and, yes, even doubt God's goodness and sovereignty. So, while I think no birth control is the right way to go, I'm by no means trying to sound holier than thou. If it weren't for Colin's strength and conviction, we would have stopped at two :) As the kids grow older and I hopefully grow in sanctification, I'm seeing more and more the truth in children as blessings.

As far as the argument of Onan's seed, I'll let Calvin do the arguing for me:
Calvin on Child Prevention

I will contend myself with briefly mentioning this, as far as the sense of shame allows to discuss it. It is a horrible thing to pour out seed besides the intercourse of man and woman. Deliberately avoiding the intercourse, so that the seed drops on the ground, is doubly horrible. For this means that one quenches the hope of his family, and kills the son, which could be expected, before he is born. This wickedness is now as severely as is possible condemned by the Spirit, through Moses, that Onan, as it were, through a violent and untimely birth, tore away the seed of his brother out the womb, and as cruel as shamefully has thrown on the earth. Moreover he thus has, as much as was in his power, tried to destroy a part of the human race. When a woman in some way drives away the seed out the womb, through aids, then this is rightly seen as an unforgivable crime. Onan was guilty of a similar crime, by defiling the earth with his seed, so that Tamar would not receive a future inheritor [Onan's act] was even as much as if he had, in a manner, pulled forth the fruit out of the mother's womb and destroyed it. (Synod of Dort, Dutch Annotations on the Whole Bible)

Blessings,
Emily

Kim C. said...

Carmon posted a link to the category Children are a Blessing on Tim and David Bayly's site - they discuss this issue in depth, quoting Calvin and Luther among others.
You might like to check it out.
And I know what you mean about 4 children in 4 years making you question yourself: our #5 was conceived while we dabbled in birth control. There were outside factors as well: Y2K was fast approaching and our parents were panicky; on our baby-every-19-months-schedule, we might be having a new one around Y2K. We decided to wait a bit, but God laughed at us.
#5 was born at 1:58 AM, January 1, 2000.
After that, there was no looking back. :)

Duchess of Fife said...

That's great, Kim! Isn't God funny sometimes how He shows us to trust Him?!

Unknown said...

em-
i have been reading through alot of the links and it stirred a question, "what is the view of adoption held by most believer's, that you know, who practice 'quiverfulledness'?" i was wondering: a family like the Duggar's - would they have a Christian obligation to adopt? should we only have birth children? will ya'll adopt...etc? just curious. like your site...

Duchess of Fife said...

Hey, Tracey! I haven't been ignoring your question, just haven't had a chance to adequately respond. It is a very good question, which has sparked lots of good discussions around here :). In the meantime, you can go to quiverfull.com to learn more about this belief. It might be easier to have a IRL talk! :)

Blessings, Em.

Duchess of Fife said...

The quiver full attitude should be extended towards adoption. If there's kids going - we'll take em! (Fill up the mini-van please - and this time they’re Chinese!!)