Mary Beth and I have been praying about and discussing the issue of birth control a lot lately. I’m ashamed to admit that we’ve been married for five years and this is the first time that we’ve really spent much time on this issue. I don’t know why we didn’t have these conversations before we got married except that birth control has really become a non-issue in our fellowship. In fact, neither of us can remember ever hearing anyone talk about the biblical arguments for or against birth control and we both went to a Christian college. But, over the last few years, we have been reading Touchstone Magazine, which we highly recommend by the way, and this is a subject that they write about frequently.

The article “Children of the Reformation” appeared in a recent issue of the magazine and has really given us more to think about. I didn’t realize that Protestant churches only began accepting birth control within the last 75 years or so. After reading the article, we are beginning to fear that pro-abortion arguments are not a far jump from pro-birth control arguments.

Mary Beth and I are serious about seeking the heart of God on this issue. We are desperate for input from any and all followers of Christ. If you are single or married, if you’ve commented before or if this is your first time, please read the linked article and share your thoughts on this issue with us. We are seeking biblical arguments for or against birth control. Here are some questions we are seeking to answer:

1. Why do we not discuss this issue in our churches?
2. Are Christians using birth control because we are seeking to control this huge part of our lives and we are afraid to allow God full reign?
3. Does the story of Onan in Genesis 38 apply or not? We’ve heard arguments that Onan’s story is really about his heart, but how are our hearts different when we use birth control?
4. How has the use of birth control changed our lives, besides reducing the number of children we have?
5. Is there a difference between using a contraceptive and “natural family planning“? If birth control is wrong, does that include “natural family planning“?
6. Are we really pro-life in all areas of our life? Are children a reward from God always, or only when they are convenient to us?

Again, we are still seeking answers to this issue, it is not our wish to offend or judge anyone. Please share with us your views. We realize that reading this article could be slightly time consuming, but we feel that this issue is worth the time. Thanks.

UPDATE

Mary Beth and I have found these radio broadcasts by Family Life very helpful in gaining a deeper understanding of this issue…