Acceptable Methods of Birth Control (VoF)

The Voices of Faith question for this week was simple, "What is your view of birth control?"

Several biblical principles come into play to answer this question from the Christian perspective. Two separate questions actually need to be answered; Is birth control a Christian option at all, and if so, which methods fit with a Christian worldview?

As to the first question, is it an option for Christians to limit the size of their family? Though it seems like an obvious answer, there are some Christians who believe that the only form of Christian family planning is no family planning. It is certainly true that one of the purposes of marriage, though certainly not the only one, is procreation, and the scripture says that “children are a heritage from the Lord" (Psalm 127:3).
That being said, once they are born the must be cared for, and to have more children than you can sufficiently care for is irresponsible or worse, since "if anyone does not provide for . . . members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever" (1 Timothy 5:8). A couple is not pleasing God who have more children than they can adequately provide for.

Since this is the case, the question of acceptable methods of birth control is one that we should give some thought to.
At the beginning, and the base, of such a discussion is the Bible's teaching that from the point of conception children are “real,” not “potential,” persons, and destroying any fertilized egg is effectively murder and contrary to God’s law.
Birth control methods, therefore, that act by preventing fertilization such as various barrier methods (condoms, diaphragms), spermicides, and the "rhythm method," are lawful, since they prevent pregnancy as opposed to terminate it.
Any methods, however, that terminate a pregnancy at any stage, including those that function by preventing implantation of a fertilized egg, are not options for any Christian. Popular contemporary methods of these forbidden means of taking life include IUD's and RU486.

There is one other category of birth control that is a more difficult case, that is the variety of oral contraceptives and patches that are so popular today that utilize hormones. The problem with these is that the mechanism is either not clearly understood, or they work by a combination of preventing ovulation and by rendering the uterus incapable of sustaining a pregnancy, which puts such drugs in a dangerous "fuzzy" area. These methods are therefore not an option for Christians.

Throughout this post I have referring to Christians and contraceptive methods acceptable for them, but the regulations of the law of God regarding the preservation of life has reference to all people. It is no more acceptable for a non-Christian to terminate a pregnancy than it is for a Christian.

Finally, it should be mentioned that for non-married people there is one and only one biblical option, abstinence.

PG