Wayne Grudem: What Does the Bible Say About Birth Control?

So I can't tell you how many times in 30+ years of pastoring someone would come up to me, usually in the lobby on a Sunday after a sermon and asked me this question about birth control.

Is it okay to use birth control really and I look at my comment to Dr. Y asking me you know everything biblically yet okay there like what is God's hard on birth control because we do know that God wants us to reproduce children heat that's with one of his blessings for us so for us to intervene and stop that process is a real real tough question and it's interesting because some people are passionate on both ends of the family life today where we want to help you pursue the relationships that matter most.

I'm Dave Wilson and I and nothing you can find that family life today.com or on family life. This is family life today. We get them in the studio Dr. wing room with us today that I think can help us answer this question. Is it okay to use birth control. Dr. Wayne, thank you for being back in family life today good to be with you, so you've written many books. In fact, we had John before and I didn't even say how many books have you written and I've written to more than two books how many in the vicinity of 30 and some of our very very thick Islamic theology, Christian ethics, yes, and then you have these little books which I love because they're just concise and they take all that theology and they say okay let's talk with the Bible teaching one of them that you've written literally is called what the Bible says about birth control, infertility, reproductive technology and adoption.

I think those questions to the reproductive technology that we have today. A lot of people are wondering, is it okay with God's will get there, but I'd love to have you answer the question I've been asked many times pretend that I'm walking up to you on a Sunday after a sermon or at a Phoenix seminary where you teach and someone asked you and says, is it okay to use birth control.

How would you answer that. I probably start with asking a question image. I'm talking a couple right. Do you as a couple agree with the Bible's perspective, the children are a blessing and that God ordinarily in almost all circumstances, is pleased for married couples to bear children and raise them.

Do you agree with that, in general, because that's there's an antichild sentiment. The strong in our society today and is easy for young couples to adopt that sentiment say we just don't want to be burdened with children, but the Bible is very positive from Genesis chapter 1 be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and someone 27 children are a heritage from the Lord.

The Fruit of the Loom will reward his picture in the Bible of God blessing children. Malachi the other Malachi in the Old Testament.

What is God desire godly offspring.

So the first question is do you agree in general, the children are blessing and its right to seek to have children enough a couple say yes to that, then they're asking is it right to delay having children. For instance, perhaps until they get a little more financial stability, perhaps until they finish educational process something like that. Then I think it's morally acceptable because the there is no prohibition against birth control in the Bible. No explicit prohibition and is medically possible to delay the onset of having children and marriage are there any types of birth control. That would be morally wrong. The Bible I think teaches that the unborn child should be protected as a human being from the point of conception. Yes, so are there morally acceptable methods of birth control, abortion sure because it kills an unborn baby and the IUD intrauterine device allows the mothers over Morag to be fertilized by the husband's sperm and a new human being begins to grow inside of her and then it prevents implantation of the fertilized embryo and that's causing the death of the unborn child that would be unacceptable and then morning after pill does the same thing.

So those are the methods that I would say Christian should avoid using so if birth control is in your opinion, allowable by God. One argument would be, should not just trust God. He knows how many kids I should have and when I should have them and so he'll let me are us get pregnant when it's on his time.

I don't need to jump in and that's one of the pushback's I've heard how would you respond to that God doesn't ordinarily override the way his creation regularly works so we have a neighbor in Arizona who has a great fruit tree and grapefruits fall to the ground endlessly picked them up the seeds plant themselves and more great fruit trees grow and they could say we were just trusting God to give us something great fruit trees. We need, but just in God means not interfering with the normal course of events and that there would have artfully great fruit trees and pretty soon a jungle, so to say were going to not use birth control, but trust God's remedy children.

We have Juergen have a lot of children. If you're physically healthy.

It was a bit conceited. Bear children right.

I don't think that God wants us to trust him for things is not promised in his word and I don't think his promise and his word to govern the number of children we have. I know in the Christian world. There are some people writing and saying children are blessing.

Why do you want to refuse more blessings from God, shouldn't you maximize the number of children you have. To maximize the blessings and its faulty reasoning reasoning is that if something is good. You should get as much of it or do as much of it as you can, but we are finite creatures and we don't have infinite amounts of time and resources. Sleep is good. It's a blessing, but that is me should be as much sleep as we possibly can.

Food is good blessing and and work is good. It's a blessing from God to have have fruitful work, but we don't work as much as we absolutely can for our whole lives. Physical exercise is good.

Evangelism is good. Worship is good, and many blessings in this life, but we have a responsibility to allocate our efforts, our time, our talents to wisely follow the path that God has for each of us individually, and I cannot say that there is one steadfast rule for how many children, a couple should have, because God's calling will vary on different individuals and different families and is for them to pray and seek the Lord's wisdom on how many children they should have some listeners just thinking okay so it is okay to plan to get our debt down to be financially stable and better place before we have kids really take to be prayerful about it, greatly asking God about that, but it feels wise, but I think there's that debate going on is saying gabba can't you just trust God.

But how many children start now and so I think that is why bombing one of the things we did. We didn't have our first son until six years part of our planning was let's get our marriage stable. Let's get us our marriage to a place where we can handle kids and we found out that's never going to happen those years because we did struggle at the beginning. We also are going to school. We are going to seminary and I was only 19 when I got married so I had an opportunity to write a little bit takeout was that I was kidding but you know we thought after six years were ready and then we had child number one were like are you ever ready. It was the other crack weaknesses in your marriage that God wants to refine and it really cracks and weaknesses in you that God wants to refine. So we talked about types of birth control.

That would be wrong. What are types that would be acceptable. Whatever type of birth control is used so that it doesn't cause the death of an unborn child, what would you say the Bible says about couples that just are unable to get pregnant unable have children. Well, the Bible views. That is the point of sadness and its part of the fall of Adam and Eve falling into sin is that our bodies don't function perfectly are subject to shortcomings and in some cases illness and disease so you have situations where prison Zechariah and Elizabeth in the first chapter of Luke. They were both righteous before God, walking blameless before him. But they had no children for Elizabeth was barren.

It says she was unable to Betty like how he has had the first is all memorize.

I may have a lot of verses memorize a few yet when you edit the ESV study Bible.

You spent a lot of time in the word in the word right, but that's a good example. They love God married and they weren't able to conceive and it wasn't because of sin on their part. Yeah, sometimes people are unable to have children think God is punishing me because of my sin. But Luke one says they were righteous before God, walking before God, blameless, but they had no children. So as regards purposes that we don't always understand but then there's a great blessing that comes when God allows them to have a child and that child turned out to be John the Baptist. So there a lot of cases, Abraham and Sarah a lot of infertility Hannah right there is infertility right cell left then going to the adoption process. Yeah, I should interrupt adjustment and say interestingly enough, reading through chapter of the Old Testament chapter in the New Testament is morning detail and this morning I read Genesis with the birth of Isaac. Abraham and Sarah Abram and Sarah when he was 100 years old and she was 990 which is miraculous blessing and yet there are some couples. Obviously we know that never have that miracle the blessing of being able to get pregnant to love to hear his talk about adoption. Well, God is adopted us as his children, and that option is a beautiful option available to Christians and many Christian families adopt children who otherwise would not have parents to bring them up and bring great blessing to their families. As a result of that, our middle son is adopted one child. They thought this little boy would never have another brother and I got a call one day and said his mother just had another baby. You have two hours to decide if you want to foster his little brother Ryan. They've had them both in their home now. What's a year since birth. The older brother just turned for the yeah the younger brothers just turned to Ray their amazing just sweet to see the life that their living and even the discipleship and the house that loves Jesus, so it's been really sweet and they have two other siblings Ray. Let's talk about just what we had today in our modern modern medical facilities that we now can use in vitro fertilization, artificial insemination, even having a surrogate mother to enable the couple to have a baby right so all of those and this is very controversial, even in the Christian world of what is okay in terms of where God would say yes.

I give my nod of yes to this, or how do they determine and how should we determine from a biblical viewpoint, and in this little book.

What the Bible says about birth control, infertility, reproductive technology and adoption. I bring up the question of methods of helping the couple to conceive a child and their child start out by saying, it seems to me there are three principles from the Bible to take into account in evaluating these various methods of reproductive technology. The first is modern medicine is in general basically good thing because modern medicine helps us overcome some of the illnesses that result from the fall. Number two, an unborn child should be protected from the moment of conception and number three. It seems to me that the pattern of Scripture is that God intends that a child should be born to a mother and father who are married to each other and so the command you shall not commit adultery is in part to guarantee that when children are conceived and born there born to a mother and father who were married to each other so we take those principles.

Modern medicine is good unborn child should be protected from the moment of conception that a child should be born to a mother and father were married to each other and then we ask now what about artificial insemination, artificial insemination by husband would mean that the husband's sperm is transferred into the mother's womb.

The principles are followed because the unborn child is protected from the moment of conception, and the child is born to a mother and father who are married to each other and so this seems to be a morally acceptable alternative to me and overcome the physical deficiency of the mark of a husband and wife are unable normally to conceive children in the normal way. My mind keeps going back to this instance from my childhood and I asked my mother were babies came from. I've been thinking this the last five minutes in the interviews that you cut it out.

That's a feel for their answer was, well, the mommy and daddy pray and ask God for children. Sometimes he gives you children. That was my introduction know how old were you, I really sweet doubt is yeah yeah that is the only explanation that I got for you for a well yeah then another Methodism in vitro fertilization where the husband's sperm and the wife's egg are united in test tube or petri dish in chemical laboratory.

I think that's also morally acceptable. It's not the natural way of conceiving children, but the child is born to husband and wife were married to each other and the unborn children are not put to death.

Some object to that and say that it's not always successful and therefore some of the fertilized eggs will die and I can see that viewpoint. It seems to me it's more than acceptable because the purpose is not to put the unborn children to death.

The purpose is to have a live baby born in healthy. Another option is artificial insemination by don't wear the sperm comes not from the husband but from another man not married to the wife in the marriage and that seems to me to be morally objectionable because the child is not born to a father and mother were married to each other's born to a father who is not married to the mother, it can result in a very significant strain on the marriage because the woman is carrying a baby. This doesn't belong to her husband physically and so I would have a moral objection to that, but with an adoption year raising a child that's not either parenting and that your spread morally.

I find it very doubtful, very questionable adoption is taking care of a child is already been born. Yeah. So that's a different situation and that actually leads to something that I was previously unaware of and that is snowflake babies frozen embryos that sometimes spend 10 or 15 or more years frozen and a couple will adopt the embryo implanted in the wife's womb and the normal child will be born, and some of the snowflake children are now in their late teens or early 20s, perfectly healthy children born 17 years after their first conceive. It's amazing, but it seems to me that's way of adoption child is waiting to be developed and to grow into healthy baby and there are thousands of these unborn embryos just waiting in storage places we adopted so he would say, would those be morally wrong know not all I think could be because you're basically saying dear, adopting them however they're not of either parents right genetics, but there already, but we are already conceive their human beings should we care for them all.

I've never thought of healthy modern medicine. I mean, part of me wants to know what's their real age are they zero in versus a 70 these healthy babies and children being born. Yes. So you're saying instead of in vitro. What are they call it when it's done with an artificial insemination by don't high donor ID so that would be morally wrong. However, you could take quantity snowflake babies you have it implanted another right, it would be like an adoption but carrying the child right here saying that would be morally correct, at least according to the Bible. Lisa that's fascinating. Another question that comes up often is surrogate motherhood yeah is it right for a couple who can't have children to ask another woman outside the marriage to become pregnant by the husband's sperm even if just medically not physical intercourse and then bear the child. The biblical parallels that is Abraham and Sarah, being unable have children. They took it into their own hands. Sarah said, here's my maid, Keturah.

Abraham go ahead and have a child with her and he did have a union with the maidservant and she bore a son, Ishmael, but there was trouble from the very beginning and Ishmael was making trouble for Isaac, so the narrative overall in Scripture shows that this sort of surrogate motherhood arrangement was not really what God wanted. It was Abraham and Sarah try to take matters into their own hands have a child born to a man and woman who weren't married to each other and then you think of the mother for the nine months of pregnancy, thinking I'm carrying another man's baby in my womb that would put a strain on the marriage that I think would be very difficult so I cannot think of surrogate motherhood is a legitimate option that Stephen a Wilson with Wayne Prudhomme on family life today we hear some final reflections on this important and tricky conversation that's come up in just a minute. First Wayne Groom's book is called what the Bible says about birth control infertility, reproductive technology adoption. You could pick up a copy@familylifetoday.com or you can give us a call at 803 five 832-9800 FS and family L as in life, and then the word today. Okay, now back to David and with Wayne grew dumb and some final reflections on how we should think about the topic of birth control. You know I think one of the best things ever. Today is what your mom told you, you honestly when you think about modern technology and modern medicine, which is a real blessing God's gift from God. I mean, but even if you use modern technology, modern medicine and it helps you conceive that baby still was conceived because God said I'm gonna bring life into this world to you through the miracle of modern medicine. But God is really the one that bursts that I like everything that she said mommy and daddy pray they pray first and I think that even to pray for wisdom to get some wise biblical counseling. I bet some of you, like me, have not thought through all these different ways to conceive that even biblically, what would be morally correct.

So thank you for answering all these questions, you know that you're putting in the work to know biblically what is okay with God, and I should say and that Christians differ on the moral rightness of these things right so I'm not saying this is the only acceptable view for Bible believing Christians put time to explain these principles of modern medicine, being good unborn child should be protected and the children should be going to husband and wife were married to each other that those seem to be wise principles help us in our decision-making process.

Thank you that Stephen a Wilson with Wayne Prudhomme on family life to a I've got the president of family life David Robbins here with me and the weekend to remember it was foundational to family life. Your weakest remember is really the origin of the family life story and it's been going on for 45 years now and there's a new experience waiting for you if you've been to. We can remember before I would encourage you as an alumni of the experience that I pray you had an impact on your life and I know often it does to come back to another one and experience it. Recently I got an email from a participant of a recent we can remember in Houston and she said we have been coming. We can remember since 1997 and we are blown away by the new format. Thank you family life or continue to be innovative and saving one family at a time. Praise the Lord I want to invite you to be a part of what's been going on for decades, and experience what's new and fresh and if you haven't ever gone to we can remember. I'm sure if you listen to family life to the you've heard about it before, take that step of faith. We have some 85 locations. There's one coming near you go get away. Take a trip together as a couple experience the work that God can do in a weekend in your marriage. Yeah, that's great. And we all heard that that the weekend to remember is now 50% off through September 19.

But did you also know that we can to remember gift cards are also 50% off to be hard to choose where to go, like right now, so a gift card can allow you to buy now and register for your location later or when you've heard about a weekend to remember, you may have another couple in mind, and these gift cards really do make great gifts for anyone who you'd want to experience all the benefits of a weekend to remember get away. So all of them are half off right now through September 19. You can head over to family life today.com I got a gift card. Is there chaos in your relationship like constant fighting and bickering. While I think pretty much all been there next week. David and Meg Robbins will shine some light on how to get back to oneness. If there's been division in your marriage that's next week on behalf of evening Wilson, I'm shall be added will see you back next time for another edition of family life family like today is a production of Emily life accrued ministry helping you pursue the relationships that matter most