Birth Control in Light of the Bible

Birth Control in Light of the Bible
by Pastor Steven L Anderson, 2005

1. When Does Life Begin?
2. Do All Birth Control Pills Cause Abortion?
3. Is Birth Control Sinful?




“The use of artificial means, drugs, and appliances to prevent conception has for centuries been regarded as immoral, wrong for the individual, and dangerous to society as a whole.” – John R Rice, 1946

“Birth control measures, if generally practiced, would be disastrous to public morals and public welfare.” – John R Rice, 1946

“Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils, and shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood. Thus were they defiled with their own works, and went a whoring with their own inventions. Therefore was the wrath of the Lord kindled against his people, insomuch that he abhorred his own inheritance.”
– Psalm 106:37-40




1. When Does Life Begin?

In 2005 the medical world disagrees with God as to when pregnancy begins. Dr Vanessa Cullins, vice president for medical affairs at Planned Parenthood Federation of America, was asked if hormonal birth control pills cause abortion. Her response was: “No. Abortion ends a pregnancy. [Contraception pills] work before a pregnancy begins. Pregnancy begins with the implantation of the developing fertilized egg in a woman’s uterus.” Yet in the next paragraph she admits, “…implantation doesn’t occur until five to seven days after fertilization.” This viewpoint represents the medical world’s current view of when a pregnancy begins. When does God say that life begins?

“As for Ephraim, their glory shall fly away like a bird, from the birth, and from the womb, and from the conception. Though they bring up their children, yet will I bereave them…” – Hosea 9:11-12a

The Bible clearly teaches that life does not begin at birth. Jacob and Esau fought in their mother’s womb (Gen 25:22). Pharez broke forth in order to be born before Zarah (Gen 38:29). Jeremiah was sanctified while he was in his mother’s womb (Jer 1:5). John the Baptist leaped in his mother’s womb (Luke 1:41,44); he was filled with the Holy Ghost in his mother’s womb (Luke 1:15).

The Bible is also clear that life does not begin at some point in the womb. David says in Psalm 139:16, “Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.” God looked upon and knew David when he was only a developing conceptus in his mother womb. That is why he says of some of his body parts (members), “when as yet there was none of them.” Before some of his body parts had even developed or materialized, God knew him, and he was David. “…which in continuance were fashioned” describes the development of a child in its mother’s womb as God is fashioning it into a baby ready to be born. What God calls David’s “substance,” the world calls a blob of tissue.

Clearly life begins at conception. God warns us in Ecclesiastes 11:5 not to think we understand the pregnancy process. “As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all.” Let us not be so presumptuous as to choose an arbitrary point in time and consider that the moment when life begins. Let us by faith accept the fact that life begins at conception.




2. Do All Birth Control Pills Cause Abortion?

“If men strive, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart from her, and yet no mischief follow: he shall be surely punished, according as the woman’s husband will lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine. And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life,” –Exodus 21:22, 23

This leads us to our next discussion. Is it ever right for us to do something that will end the life of a child at any time after conception? In Exodus 21:22, God commanded to punish a man even for unintentionally causing a woman to have a miscarriage. In verse 23, God tells us that if any mischief follow, the perpetrator should pay “life for life,” placing an equal value on the life of the unborn child as on the life of the man involved. Therefore those who even unintentionally end the lives of unborn children are guilty before God, and those who do so intentionally are guilty of murder and should receive the death penalty.

Hormonal birth control methods, including all types of birth control pills, the “patch”, hormone injections, implants, etc., perform two primary functions:

1.) They suppress ovulation. No egg is released; therefore, pregnancy is not possible. Depending upon which particular method is used, ovulation is suppressed 40-95% of the time. The other 5-60% of the time, an egg is released and can be fertilized.

2.) They thin and harden the lining of the uterus. This makes implantation of the conceived, 7-day old child virtually impossible. All hormonal birth control methods have this effect on the uterine lining 100% of the time.

Simple logic tells us that if an egg can be released and fertilized 5-60% of the time, and implantation is being prevented close to 100% of the time, a silent abortion is taking place 5-60% of months a woman is taking the pill, because the 7-day old child is unable to implant and dies. The “morning after” pill functions after the same principle to destroy the lining of the uterus, but in a shorter period of time due to higher concentrations of the same hormones.

The 5% figure is based on the use of the “combination” pill, which is usually a combination of estrogen and progesterone. The 60% figure is based on the use of progesterone only pills (“mini-pills”), the “patch”, or progesterone injections/implants. Therefore a woman taking even the combination pill for only two years statistically will have one chemical abortion during that time. A woman using a progesterone only method for two years could very likely have 12 silent abortions during that period of time, or one every other month. These are the most conservative estimates available. Other research indicates that women taking the combination pill could be ovulating up to 50% of the time, and that 70% of women taking the “mini-pill” could be ovulating every month. In almost all cases these babies would not be able to implant and would die.

“With over 17 million American women using the Pill and other chemical abortifacients, it is estimated that breakthrough ovulation and pregnancy occur so often…that between 7 to 12 million newly conceived children are killed by chemical abortions in the womb each year. And most of these women never even knew they were pregnant.” (“Infant Homicides Through Contraceptives,” 1994 by the Study of Abortion Deaths Ad Hoc Commission – Bardstown, KY. Ph: 502-348-3963.)

“In America, chemical abortions are estimated to kill more than 7 million babies each year – while surgical abortions kill about 1.5 million babies each year.” (“Birth Control Pills Cause Early Abortions” – J.T. Finn, 2005)

“Scientific papers suggest that escape ovulation occurs 4-15% of all cycles in patients taking birth control pills. Thus, as this booklet points out, early chemical abortions are a real and significant concern.” (Paddy Jim Baggot, M.D., Ob/Gyn, Fellow of the American College of Genetics)

The term “birth control pills” is accurate since they do not prevent conception, but birth. Perhaps the reason God has not ended the abortion holocaust in America is that God’s own people are unknowingly murdering their own offspring.

“If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready to be slain; if thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it? and he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it? and shall not he render to every man according to his works?” – Proverbs 24:11, 12




3.) Is Birth Control Sinful?

“And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it:” – Genesis 1:28a

The first command in the entire Bible is found in Genesis 1:28 when God commands mankind to “be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.” The casual reader may think that this command was given only to Adam and Eve and does not apply to Christians today. However, the key word in this verse is “replenish.” The word “replenish” means re-fill. If this command were for Adam and Eve only, why would they be told to refill something that had never been filled? The word “replenish” is used because God is commanding a continual refilling process to take place. Every generation of mankind is commanded to replenish the earth. The NIV and other modern perversions of the Bible change the word “replenish” to “fill” which radically alters this meaning.

Many people feel that the Old Testament commands of God to be fruitful and multiply do not pertain to Christians today because the population of the earth is much higher than it was in the days of the Old Testament. Careful study of the Pentateuch reveals that when the children of Israel left Egypt, their population was approximately 2-3 million. Yet Deuteronomy 1:11 states, “(The LORD God of your fathers make you a thousand times so many more as ye are, and bless you, as he hath promised you!)” God’s will was for the nation of Israel alone to number 2-3 billion, let alone the many other nations God ordained in Genesis 11!

The largest number found in the entire Bible is “thousands of millions.” This number constitutes a minimum of 2 billion. “And they blessed Rebekah, and said unto her, Thou art our sister, be thou the mother of thousands of millions, and let thy seed possess the gate of those which hate them.” – Genesis 24:60 Again, this is a reference to God’s will concerning the number of His chosen people.

When the children of Israel went down to Egypt in the days of Joseph, they numbered only 70, while Egypt was the most powerful nation in the world. When the Israelites became slaves less than 360 years later, Pharaoh said, “Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we:” (Exodus 1:9). God’s people multiplied at a far more rapid rate than the worldly Egyptians. According to Planned Parenthood’s sources, most methods of birth control were invented in ancient Egypt. This may account for the striking contrast.

Before 1936, all contraceptive devices and birth control methods were illegal in the United States of America. In 1938, Judge August Hand lifted the federal ban on birth control. In 1965, Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479 (1965), the United States Supreme Court overturned one of the last state laws prohibiting the prescription or use of contraceptives by married couples. What the world and the civil government considered immoral and even criminal, fundamental Christianity embraces less than seventy years later.

In the words of our 26th president, Theodore Roosevelt, “Birth control is sinful.” Could an independent, fundamental Baptist preacher today say in his pulpit what the president of the United States said in a public speech only one hundred years ago?

“I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully.” – I Timothy 5:14

Why do today’s Christians desire to limit the size of their families by means of birth control? Not one reason can be given as to why a Christian would want to bypass the blessing of children that is not motivated by either selfishness or a lack of faith in God. The Bible clearly teaches that it is the LORD that opens the womb of a woman and causes her to conceive a child. Who are we to tamper with the will of God?

“For the LORD had fast closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah Abraham’s wife.” – Genesis 20:18

“And when the LORD saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb: but Rachel was barren.” –Genesis 29:31

“And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and opened her womb.” – Genesis 30:22

“But unto Hannah he gave a worthy portion; for he loved Hannah: but the LORD had shut up her womb. And her adversary also provoked her sore, for to make her fret, because the LORD had shut up her womb.” – I Samuel 1:5, 6

“Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? saith the LORD: shall I cause to bring forth, and shut the womb? saith thy God.” – Isaiah 66:9

“Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.” – Psalm 127:3

If God is responsible for opening and closing the womb, and if he gives us children as a way to bless and reward us, why would we reject the gift of God and miss out on His perfect will in our lives? Nothing can be more offensive than the rejection of a gift given out of love. This is akin to those who reject God’s gift of eternal life and perish in the fires of Hell because they are unwilling to receive the gift of salvation.

The people of God have been influenced heavily by the ungodly world system, and the key doctrines of the Bible presented here have all but fallen by the wayside. We have gone from condemning all methods of birth control to condoning and even promoting the pill, which is the most heinous form of birth control. Would to God this generation would stand up and fight for this key doctrine of God’s word and cleanse our churches from the blood of our own sons and daughters.

“But were mingled among the heathen, and learned their works. And they served their idols: which were a snare unto them. Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils, and shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood. Thus were they defiled with their own works, and went a whoring with their own inventions. Therefore was the wrath of the Lord kindled against his people, insomuch that he abhorred his own inheritance.”
– Psalm 106:35-40

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The following sermon deals with this subject in detail:

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Pastor Steven L Anderson "Birth Control in Light of the Bible" 04/09/06pm Sunday

Also see:

Pastor Steven L Anderson "The Seven Sins of IVF" 07/23/06am Sunday