Is it wrong for Christians to use contraception?
Does the Bible define when human life begins?
This is a difficult question that has been answered in various ways by Christian churches and ethicists.
Because modern forms of contraception weren’t available in Biblical times, the Bible does not provide a direct answer.
Answering this question involves looking at different interpretations of Scripture for general principles that can be applied. It also involves consulting the wisdom of the Christian church over the centuries for guidance.
First, we must raise the question of whether or not God’s purpose for human sexual intercourse is primarily for procreation. If it is (Ge 4:1; 38:8–10), then using contraception may be inappropriate. Many believe that contraception directly contradicts God’s command in Genesis 1:22 to be fruitful and increase in number. Others believe that only God has the right to “open” or “close” a woman’s womb (cf. Ge 20:18; 29:31).
However, if marriage and sex are primarily about intimate companionship (Ge 2:18–25; 1Co 7:4), using contraception may not be inappropriate (1Co 10:23–33).
The issue of whether or not contraception is appropriate for Christians is unquestionably a complex one with varying opinions. The issue is complicated even further when discussion turns to the many different types of contraception available today.
Education is therefore an important consideration when making a choice regarding contraceptive use. There is a critical moral difference between the “morning-after pill” and birth control pills, condoms, and natural family planning— depending on when it is believed life begins.
Each person must decide for themselves what does and does not bind their conscience.
Is it wrong for Christians to use contraception?
Psalm 127:3–5
3- Children are a heritage from the LORD, offspring a reward from him.
4- Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth.
5- Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their opponents in court.
Does the Bible define when human life begins?
A simple assumption undergirds the entire Bible: God, the author of life, creates each and every human being. Therefore, every person is sacred to him.
Psalm 100:3 says, Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his. The Bible also assumes that life begins in the womb.
God declared to the prophet Jeremiah, Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you (Jer 1:5). And Job 31:15 refers to God forming us in the womb.
So, medically speaking, God knows us and shapes us even minutes after conception, when our most primitive cells begin to separate; even at the fifth week of life, when our cerebral cortex starts to form; even at the sixth week, when our heart chambers converge; even at the seventh week, when our fingers and toes grow distinct; and even at the tenth week, when we become sensitive to touch.
Perhaps Dr. Seuss captured the Bible’s view on this issue best in his children’s classic Horton Hears a Who: “After all, a person’s a person no matter how small.”
In the Biblical story, all human beings, no matter how small or vulnerable—unborn babies and overwhelmed mothers, the weak and the frail, the imprisoned and the traumatized, the disabled and the diseased, the righteous and the sinners—are valuable to God, the author of all life.
Psalm 139:13
13- For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
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Is it wrong for Christians to use contraception?
Does the Bible define when human life begins?
