Why Christians Should NOT Use Birth Control according to the Bible


It is commonplace in the Western world for married couples to be on some form of artificial birth control, whether it is ‘the pill,’ condoms, or a diaphragm. Most couples do not question the moral implications of birth control, so wide-spread and socially acceptable is it. However, Christians must question whether interrupting the procreative process or procreative possibility is allowed by God. The place Christians must turn in order to answer this question is the Bible. 

Christian married couples should not use birth control. Although Scripture does not explicitly address the issue of birth control, Christians should trust the timing and number of children to God because it is impossible to know the future and because many children are a blessing from God.

I encourage you to read this entire article for two reasons. First, my answer is slightly more nuanced than presented in the above paragraph. The above paragraph is my basic belief on the issue derived from the biblical principles of trusting God and many children are a blessing. Second, I am a Protestant, not a Catholic, and there are not many Protestants arguing against birth control. I do briefly address the Catholic position below, however. 

The Catholic Church’s Condemnation of Birth Control

It is known to most that the Catholic church condemns all forms of artificial methods of birth control, such as condoms and ‘the pill.’ On July 29, 1968, Pope Paul VI approved and released the encyclical Humanae Vitae, which proclaimed that the Catholic church’s position on contraception is both unchanged and unchangeable. Here are two excerpts from Humanae Vitae:

“The Church, nevertheless, in urging men to the observance of the precepts of the natural law, which it interprets by its constant doctrine, teaches that each and every marital act must of necessity retain its intrinsic relationship to the procreation of human life.”

“Similarly excluded is any action which either before, at the moment of, or after sexual intercourse, is specifically intended to prevent procreation—whether as an end or as a means.”

Humanae Vitae, §11 & §14

The encyclical Humanae Vitae can be found HERE. I strongly encourage you to read the entire document. What you will notice in the encyclical is that there is no one Scriptural passage that allows or forbids the use of contraception. In my opinion, the encyclical Humanae Vitae draws out principles from Scripture to come to its conclusion, but none of these are convincing in my opinion. Again, read the document for yourself to see if you are convinced.

The one text that is most often cited by those who condemn the use of artificial birth control is Genesis 38:6–11, which we will look at next.

Onan’s Seed Spilling Sin (Genesis 38:6–11)

Genesis 38:6–11 has been used to condemn a number of controversial practices, such as masturbation (click here for my article on that topic) and birth control. However, a cursory reading of Genesis 38:6–11 will show that the issue is neither masturbation nor birth control. 

In Genesis 38:6–7, God kills Judah’s firstborn son, Er, because he was wicked. Er’s wife was Tamar and Er left her without a son before he died. As such, it was the responsibility of Judah’s second oldest son, Onan (Er’s younger brother), to marry Tamar and give her a son who would be raised as Er’s son and receive the greater portion of the inheritance. This is called Levirate marriage and is expounded upon in Deuteronomy 25:5–10. 

In accordance with the law of Levirate marriage, Judah gave Onan to Tamar for the purpose of giving her a son (Gen 38:8). Onan, however, refused to ejaculate inside Tamar and give her a son, but instead “would waste the semen on the ground, so as not to give offspring to his brother” (38:9). The following verse says that Onan’s behaviour of refusing to give Tamar a son was wicked and, so, God kills him: 

“But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his. So whenever he went in to his brother’s wife he would waste the semen on the ground, so as not to give offspring to his brother. And what he did was wicked in the sight of the LORD, and he put him to death also.”

GENESIS 38:9–10, emphasis added

Some teachers and preachers claim that the wicked act of Onan was his general employment of birth control (spilling one’s seed on the ground or ‘pulling out’ is a form of birth control as the biblical text makes clear). However, this understanding grossly misses the point of Genesis 38:6–11. Onan’s wicked act was not employing birth control in general, but intentionally not giving Tamar a child and fulfilling his role as Er’s brother. For example, if Onan decided simply to not have sex with Tamar, God still would have killed him because the purpose of not having sex was to prevent Tamar from having a child, which is the same purpose of Onan spilling his semen on the ground. Thus, Genesis 38:6–11 has nothing to do with the topic of birth control and should not be raised in the discussion

Faith Versus Stewardship

Without a specific biblical text to which a person can go to determine God’s will regarding birth control, one must seek out biblical principles. Some, such as the Catholic church, go to the purpose of sex and conclude that the purpose of sex is always procreation and, thus, birth control should never be used because it circumvents the God-given purpose of sex. However, Scripture suggests that sex is for more than procreation. Sex unifies a couple, making them “one flesh” (Gen 2:24). Sex is also for pleasure (Proverbs 5:18–19). Thus, one cannot say that the sole purpose of sex is procreation. 

Others go to the vocation of humanity as put forward in Genesis 1:28 and determine that humanity is commanded to multiply (click HERE for my explanation of Genesis 1:28). As such, God’s people should not use birth control because it stops a couple from multiplying. However, a couple can both multiply and use birth control (see my article on how many children is necessary to multiply). For example, a couple can be on birth control for a few years and then have four children, fulfilling Genesis 1:28. 

So, to what principle/s should Christians go in order to determine whether or not God permits married couples to use birth control? (Non-married couples should never engage in sexual activity; click here for why). To me, there are two competing principles: faith/trust in the Lord and stewardship. 

Trust in the Lord God

Scripture is replete with the command to “trust in the Lord.” Indeed, trust in God is a central theme of the wisdom literature: 

“Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us. Selah.”

“O Israel, trust in the LORD! He is their help and their shield.
O house of Aaron, trust in the LORD! He is their help and their shield.
You who fear the LORD, trust in the LORD! He is their help and their shield.”

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.”

PSALM 62:8; 115:9–11; PROVERBS 3:5

With the frequent command to trust in God for all things, the question must be asked whether we Christians should trust God to give us children at the right time? Should married Christians forego birth control of any type, live their lives having sex whenever they desire and let the children come as they will, trusting God to bring them or withhold them? After all, if we trust God with our eternal salvation, why couldn’t we trust him to bring (or not bring) children into our lives? It seems a small matter when we Christians have already trusted our eternal destination and eternal lives to God. 

Stewardship with What the Lord has Entrusted to Us

On the other hand, God has entrusted many things into the hands of his people and he asks us to be good stewards of that which He has given us. The parable of the talents in Matthew 25:13–30 is a great example of this. In the parable of the talents, each of Jesus’ servants are entrusted with a certain number of talents (which correspond to gifts, resources, and abilities) to use for the kingdom while awaiting Jesus’ second coming. 

One could well argue that Jesus has given us wisdom and knowledge and that wisdom would say wait a few years until you are better established before having children in order to best provide for your family and thrive. Thus, one would use artificial birth control to stop conception until the couple is better established. 

Further, it is possible that due to health or medical issues, giving birth again would result in the death of the mother. Children need their mothers and preserving one’s life for one’s current children would be wise. Thus, one would use artificial birth control to stop conception in order to raise the children one already has. 

Summary and Concluding Thoughts

There is no explicit biblical passage that speaks to the topic of birth control. Some have attempted to use Onan’s spilling of his seed in Genesis 38 as biblical grounds for not using birth control, but that passage is not about birth control, but fulfilling the duties of levirate marriage. Scripture does present two principles that may be used in deciding whether or not a married couple should use birth control: trust in the Lord for all things and be wise stewards of that which God has given you. 

Ultimately, one should seek the Lord when making the decision about using birth control and trust that you are making the correct decision. If one believes birth control is a stewardship issue, then be wise stewards and trust God. If one believes birth control is a faith issue, then trust the Lord to bring children at the right time. 

Personally, my wife and I lean toward not using birth control. We believe the right course of action is to trust the giving of children (both timing and number of children) to God. Our rationale is as follows. First, it is impossible to know our future. We cannot know whether we will ever have a stable job, or be more financially secure after college graduation, or anything about our future. As such, it is impossible to know when the correct time to have children is. Thus, we trust God with the timing of our children, when they will come. Further, it is impossible for us to know how many children is the correct amount for us. Only God knows that number. Thus, we trust God with the number of children we have, and allow him to open and close the womb as he sees fit. In short, because of our limited knowledge, we must trust God with such an important life-changing decision as children. 

Second, Scripture is clear that many children are a blessing from God and that all married couples should seek to have children (see my article about that topic HERE). As a couple who trusts God and believes that what he says is true, we desire every blessing from God, including the blessing of having many children. As such, we don’t want to stop such a blessing. Because we don’t know the future, we don’t know if putting off having children will stop us from having many children and obtaining this blessing from God. Thus, my wife and I choose to not use birth control and trust God with the matter. 

Finally, being a wise steward is about using what God has given you wisely, not stopping the blessings of God or stopping what God may give you. Thus, if I’m honest, I don’t think using birth control in order to be a wise steward is a strong argument. It seems to be born from of a lack of trust in God and selfishness. 

Adam Robinson

I am the pastor of a non-denominational church in rural Queensland, Australia. Prior to pastoring, I was a Lecturer in Biblical Studies at two Bible Colleges in Queensland, Australia. I received my PhD in New Testament from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

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