Tuesday, July 01, 2008
Quiverful
Some people say that it's important that Christians be willing to "accept as many children as the Lord gives." They are saying that using contraception is wrong because doing so would not be "accepting as many as the Lord gives." Are we willing to imply that God's hands are tied by our decisions about contraception, as if He were prevented from creating life just because someone decides to use a product from the drug store or have a surgical procedure?
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God creates life as he sees fit; on the other hand, he plays by his own rules. I think the argument would go that contraceptive use amounts to putting the Lord your God to the test. Sure, God can wedge a baby in next to an IUD, but why should he have to? Also, he doesn't do it very often--does this mean that he didn't really want those IUD users to have babies anyway?
ReplyDeleteGod's hands aren't tied by my choices, but I'm a rotten sinner who would love nothing more than to use this fact as an excuse for using contraception. Blech.
Rebekah, IUD's are abortifacient. Would you be willing to say the same thing about barrier methods or NFP? (I am going on the assumption that abortifacients are not an option for Christian couples.)
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure what I personally would say; I have way too many conflicts of interest to know what I think. But I do think the argument can be applied to any temporal or physical barriers to contraception (I just used IUDs as an example because it was a funny mental image ;) ). Does this amount to putting up a challenge to God, and would that be ok?
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm still concerned about the fact that contraceptives seem to, you know, work. Should we take this to mean that God doesn't want all those people having babies? Are their failure rates precisely indicative of his will? This is my real concern with the "God's hands aren't tied" angle.
I'm trying to imagine babies being born (or not born) outside of God's will. And I'm trying to figure out why God would want "all those people having babies" and not having it happen. I mean, I guess somebody could take what I'm saying in a rather fatalistic way, but I'm still kinda stuck on God's WILL having more to do with breaking and hindering every evil plan and purpose of the devil, the world, and our sinful nature, and His keeping us firm in His word and faith until we die ... than it has to do with how many children we have.
ReplyDeleteIf the use or non-use of contraceptives makes no difference in terms of children being born or not born according to God's will, why do Christians argue about it? Doesn't it seem a little weird that God basically never gives eight kids to a woman after she has her tubes tied? Or are she and God just really on the same wavelength?
ReplyDeleteI guess I think the "God's hands aren't tied" position is essentially fatalistic, and therefore isn't the best framework for considering the contraception question. It effectively gives the go-ahead for any birth control (including abortifacients) under any circumstances since God will just do whatever he wants anyway.
God's hands cannot be tied. If I were to cut off my hand, I would be doing so because I am rejecting God's blessing of having a hand. While God can certainly regrow me another hand, it may not be to His glory to regrow the hand as my sin has created a situation that is not God pleasing.
ReplyDeleteThe same is true with birth control. When we reject His blessings by whatever means we choose, He will gives us up into our sin and we will deal with the consequences of the sin. Yet if He truly desires us to receive a blessing, He will make that blessing happen.
>>If the use or non-use of contraceptives makes no difference in terms of children being born or not born according to God's will, why do Christians argue about it?
ReplyDeleteI think a lot of people DO wonder why there is so much arguing about it.
>>It effectively gives the go-ahead for any birth control (including abortifacients) under any circumstances since God will just do whatever he wants anyway.
We are bound by God's word. God's word says, "You shall not murder." Therefore there is no go-ahead for abortifacient birth control. But as for other birth control, what would be wrong with giving the go-ahead to that, knowing that God can and does give life in spite of using birth control, and can and does withhold life from those who are trying to conceive? I mean, if something is a SIN, then it's wrong. But if it's not a sin, then wouldn't it be okay to make our human decisions as best we can, and let God override our decisions if He so chooses?
Right, this argument is only relevant to those who believe that contraceptive use is sinful.
ReplyDelete