What does the Bible say about birth control?
Retrieved texts include Genesis 8:17, Genesis 9:7, Jeremiah 29:6, Luke 23:29.
The texts do not directly address broader modern formulations; NO DIRECT REFERENCE IN SOURCE TEXTS and INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE apply beyond retrieved passages.
THEOLOGICAL ANALYSIS
1. QUESTION
What does the Bible say about birth control? Specifically, do the provided source texts contain explicit teaching on the permissibility or impermissibility of contraception or deliberate prevention of conception?
2. PRIMARY TEXTUAL EVIDENCE
Texts emphasizing fruitfulness and multiplication:
"Bring forth with thee every living thing that is with thee, of all flesh, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth; that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth." — Genesis 8:17 (KJV)
"And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein." — Genesis 9:7 (KJV)
"Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; that ye may be increased there, and not diminished." — Jeremiah 29:6 (KJV)
The Onan narrative (the only text depicting deliberate prevention of conception):
"And Onan knew that the seed should not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in unto his brother's wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest that he should give seed to his brother." — Genesis 38:9 (KJV)
Texts depicting conception and childbearing as divine blessing:
"They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the LORD, and their offspring with them." — Isaiah 65:23 (KJV)
"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 (KJV)
"And if the woman be not defiled, but be clean; then she shall be free, and shall conceive seed." — Numbers 5:28 (KJV)
Text suggesting a context where childlessness is pronounced "blessed":
"For, behold, the days are coming, in the which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the paps which never gave suck." — Luke 23:29 (KJV)
3. LINGUISTIC/HISTORICAL DATA (From Texts Provided)
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Genesis 38:9 — The Hebrew term translated "spilled it on the ground" refers to coitus interruptus. The text explicitly states Onan's motive: "lest that he should give seed to his brother." This narrative occurs within the context of levirate marriage obligation (a brother's duty to raise offspring for a deceased brother).
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The provided texts do not contain explicit terminology for "birth control" or "contraception" as a general category. The Onan passage is the sole narrative depicting intentional prevention of conception.
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Luke 23:29 is an eschatological pronouncement by Jesus concerning impending judgment on Jerusalem, not a general teaching on childbearing.
4. SCHOLARLY POSITIONS (As Suggested by the Texts)
The retrieved texts permit at least two interpretive frameworks, but the texts themselves do not resolve the debate:
| Interpretive Option | Basis in Retrieved Texts | |---------------------|--------------------------| | Fruitfulness as divine mandate | Genesis 8:17; 9:7; Jeremiah 29:6 present procreation as commanded and blessed. Isaiah 65:23; 66:9 associate offspring with divine blessing. | | Genesis 38:9 as prohibition of contraception | Some interpret Onan's act and its consequences as a condemnation of any deliberate prevention of conception. | | Genesis 38:9 as condemnation of specific violation | Others note the text explicitly ties Onan's act to his refusal of levirate duty ("lest that he should give seed to his brother"), not to contraception in general. | | Luke 23:29 as eschatological exception | This text suggests a circumstance where childlessness is called "blessed," though the context is judgment, not normative ethics. |
The texts do not explicitly state whether modern contraceptive methods are categorically permitted, categorically forbidden, or morally differentiated by context, motive, and covenantal obligations.
5. SOURCES
- Genesis 8:17 (KJV)
- Genesis 9:7 (KJV)
- Jeremiah 29:6 (KJV)
- Genesis 38:9 (KJV)
- Isaiah 65:23 (KJV)
- Isaiah 66:9 (KJV)
- Numbers 5:28 (KJV)
- Luke 23:29 (KJV)
6. CONSENSUS INDICATOR
CLEAR: The cited texts consistently present fertility and offspring as blessings in many covenant and creation contexts.
DEBATED: Whether Genesis 38:9 functions as a universal prohibition of contraception, or as a judgment tied specifically to Onan's refusal of levirate duty, remains interpretively disputed and is not conclusively settled by the retrieved texts alone.