QUESTION: In light of Genesis 1:27; 9:7 (Be ye fruitful and multiply), is it right to use contraceptives and family planning?

ANSWER: We ought not to read more into these passages than was intended. Given the fact that at the time these words were spoken to the first couple and to Noah and his sons, there were two people and eight people, respectively, in the whole earth. God is simply commanding them to populate the earth. Certainly, He is not commanding all couples everywhere for all time to produce the maximum number of children within their physical capabilities, as some Catholics have been led to believe. There is no prohibition in these passages, or anywhere else in the Bible, against birth control. Conversely, in I Timothy 5:8, it is clearly implied that our families should be no larger than the number for which we are capable of providing. If one unwisely permits his family to become so large that he cannot make proper provisions “for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.” Surely, then, included in this implication we can see and understand the principle of family planning. Nonetheless, that family planning is not to include abstinence, at least for extended periods, is made clear by the reason given in I Corinthians 7:1-5, i.e., to avoid fornication!

Exclusive of abstinence, the remaining alternatives to having more children than those for which we can provide are: sexual relations only during the female’s non-fertile period, withdrawal by the male, or the use of contraceptives. Some (the Catholic Church) would hold that the first of these remaining alternatives is scriptural; the others are not. However, there is no basis for such theology, since it can be logically and sensibly concluded that each of these alternatives is indicative of birth control and family planning. It can also be correctly noted that none of them are legislated against in the Word of God! We must conclude then, since we are not permitted to have more children than the number for which we can provide and we are not permitted long periods of abstention, that one of the remaining alternatives must be selected. There is no other choice! That selection is not to be mandated by any, but is to be made by each married couple!