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The BBC web site offers this introduction to the subject of this thread.
On how the holy scriptures touch on the subject the BBC offers this.
I selected the BBC web site because it is sober and not specifically Catholic. Whatever one's opinions and practises may be the history of Christian teaching on the matter is that artificial contraception was rejected by Christians until the beginning of the 20th century.
Introduction
Christian ideas about contraception come from church teachings rather than scripture, as the Bible has little to say about the subject. As a result, their teachings on birth control are often based on different Christian interpretations of the meaning of marriage, sex and the family.
Christian acceptance of contraception is relatively new; all churches disapproved of artificial contraception until the start of the 20th century.
In modern times different Christian churches hold different views about the rightness and wrongness of using birth control.
Liberal Protestant churches often teach that it is acceptable to use birth control, as long as it is not used to encourage or permit promiscuous behaviour.
Less liberal churches only approve the use of contraception for people who are married to each other.
Since these churches regard sex outside marriage as morally wrong (or if not wrong, as less than good), they believe that abstaining from sex would be morally better than having sex and using birth control.
More conservative churches suggest that contraception should be limited to married couples who are using it to regulate the size and spacing of their family. They often teach that using contraception to prevent children altogether is not desirable.
The Roman Catholic Church only allows 'natural' birth control, by which it means only having sex during the infertile period of a woman's monthly cycle. Artificial methods of contraception are banned.
Thus the only way for a Catholic couple to be faithful to the Church's teachings on human sexuality and to avoid having children is to use 'natural' family planning. Many Catholics have decided to disobey church teaching in this part of their lives, causing a substantial breach between laity and the Church establishment.
Christian ideas about contraception come from church teachings rather than scripture, as the Bible has little to say about the subject. As a result, their teachings on birth control are often based on different Christian interpretations of the meaning of marriage, sex and the family.
Christian acceptance of contraception is relatively new; all churches disapproved of artificial contraception until the start of the 20th century.
In modern times different Christian churches hold different views about the rightness and wrongness of using birth control.
Liberal Protestant churches often teach that it is acceptable to use birth control, as long as it is not used to encourage or permit promiscuous behaviour.
Less liberal churches only approve the use of contraception for people who are married to each other.
Since these churches regard sex outside marriage as morally wrong (or if not wrong, as less than good), they believe that abstaining from sex would be morally better than having sex and using birth control.
More conservative churches suggest that contraception should be limited to married couples who are using it to regulate the size and spacing of their family. They often teach that using contraception to prevent children altogether is not desirable.
The Roman Catholic Church only allows 'natural' birth control, by which it means only having sex during the infertile period of a woman's monthly cycle. Artificial methods of contraception are banned.
Thus the only way for a Catholic couple to be faithful to the Church's teachings on human sexuality and to avoid having children is to use 'natural' family planning. Many Catholics have decided to disobey church teaching in this part of their lives, causing a substantial breach between laity and the Church establishment.
On how the holy scriptures touch on the subject the BBC offers this.
The Bible and contraception
Two parts of the Bible are often quoted to show God's disapproval of birth control:
First, God commanded his people to "Be fruitful and multiply," and contraception is seen as specifically flouting this instruction.
Second, Onan was killed by God for "spilling his seed," which is often taken as divine condemnation of coitus interruptus.
The first of these examples is normally rebutted by demonstrating that contraception has not prevented human beings from being fruitful and multiplying.
There are at least two interpretations of the second example:
God may have been angry with Onan for having sex for a purpose other than having children
this interpretation supports the idea that contraception is morally wrong
it also supports the idea that there is only one kind of morally good sexual act: sex between a man and a woman who are married and who are having sex to produce children
God may not have been angry with Onan for preventing conception but for failing to honour a commandment to produce a child with his dead brother's wife
but this interpretation has no application to modern cultures or morality
the act that Jewish law required Onan to perform would nowadays be regarded as rape, since the widow's consent was not required - and this makes the story a very dubious foundation for moral argument
Scripture in favour of contraception
The Bible never explicitly approves of contraception.
However, there are a number of passages where the Bible appears to accept that sex should be enjoyed for other reasons than the production of children, and some people argue that this implies that no wrong is done if a couple have sex with the intention of not having children.
Two parts of the Bible are often quoted to show God's disapproval of birth control:
First, God commanded his people to "Be fruitful and multiply," and contraception is seen as specifically flouting this instruction.
Second, Onan was killed by God for "spilling his seed," which is often taken as divine condemnation of coitus interruptus.
The first of these examples is normally rebutted by demonstrating that contraception has not prevented human beings from being fruitful and multiplying.
There are at least two interpretations of the second example:
God may have been angry with Onan for having sex for a purpose other than having children
this interpretation supports the idea that contraception is morally wrong
it also supports the idea that there is only one kind of morally good sexual act: sex between a man and a woman who are married and who are having sex to produce children
God may not have been angry with Onan for preventing conception but for failing to honour a commandment to produce a child with his dead brother's wife
but this interpretation has no application to modern cultures or morality
the act that Jewish law required Onan to perform would nowadays be regarded as rape, since the widow's consent was not required - and this makes the story a very dubious foundation for moral argument
Scripture in favour of contraception
The Bible never explicitly approves of contraception.
However, there are a number of passages where the Bible appears to accept that sex should be enjoyed for other reasons than the production of children, and some people argue that this implies that no wrong is done if a couple have sex with the intention of not having children.
I selected the BBC web site because it is sober and not specifically Catholic. Whatever one's opinions and practises may be the history of Christian teaching on the matter is that artificial contraception was rejected by Christians until the beginning of the 20th century.
History of Christian attitudes
For most of the last 2000 years all Christian churches have been against artificial birth control.
In the first centuries of Christianity, contraception (and abortion) were regarded as wrong because they were associated with paganism or with heretics such as the Gnostics, the Manichees and, in the middle ages, the Cathars.
Protestant attitudes to birth control began to change in the 19th century as theologians became more willing to accept that morality should come from the conscience of each individual rather than from outside teachings.
Another influence was the churches' changing attitude to sex.
Instead of seeing sex as something rather dangerous, many Christians began to regard sex as one of God's great gifts. Sex was a force that could preserve the institution of marriage if couples didn't feel threatened by the possibility of having children they could not support.
Influenced by this, the Protestant churches concluded that as the use of birth control often led to stronger families and better marriages, churches should let believers use birth control as their own consciences dictated.
This change came slowly - as late as 1908 the Lambeth Conference of the Anglican Church stated that birth control "cannot be spoken of without repugnance," and denounced it as "demoralising to character and hostile to national welfare."
But the Anglicans were the first church to issue a statement in favour of contraception, which they did at the Lambeth Conference in 1930 by a majority of 193 to 67. A group of American Protestants followed in 1931.
Nowadays most Protestant denominations permit artificial birth control to some extent.
The history of modern Roman Catholic thinking on the subject is dealt with in the Roman Catholic pages.
For most of the last 2000 years all Christian churches have been against artificial birth control.
In the first centuries of Christianity, contraception (and abortion) were regarded as wrong because they were associated with paganism or with heretics such as the Gnostics, the Manichees and, in the middle ages, the Cathars.
Protestant attitudes to birth control began to change in the 19th century as theologians became more willing to accept that morality should come from the conscience of each individual rather than from outside teachings.
Another influence was the churches' changing attitude to sex.
Instead of seeing sex as something rather dangerous, many Christians began to regard sex as one of God's great gifts. Sex was a force that could preserve the institution of marriage if couples didn't feel threatened by the possibility of having children they could not support.
Influenced by this, the Protestant churches concluded that as the use of birth control often led to stronger families and better marriages, churches should let believers use birth control as their own consciences dictated.
This change came slowly - as late as 1908 the Lambeth Conference of the Anglican Church stated that birth control "cannot be spoken of without repugnance," and denounced it as "demoralising to character and hostile to national welfare."
But the Anglicans were the first church to issue a statement in favour of contraception, which they did at the Lambeth Conference in 1930 by a majority of 193 to 67. A group of American Protestants followed in 1931.
Nowadays most Protestant denominations permit artificial birth control to some extent.
The history of modern Roman Catholic thinking on the subject is dealt with in the Roman Catholic pages.
