where does the bible say that contraception is wrong this is dr christopher west the theology of the body guy let's take a look hey if you're new to this channel we are all about exploring how our earthly bodies reveal heavenly divine mysteries our bodies are not only biological they are theological they tell a divine story if you want to enter into this story and come out of the confusion of a world that has been blinded to the meaning of our creation as male and female you're going to want to subscribe to this channel click the
notification bell leave a comment share these videos with friends and family all of that compels youtube to get this good news out to a world that desperately needs it so we're continuing our series of looking at questions from my book good news about sex and marriage we are in chapter 6 question 11 where does the bible say that contraception is wrong i respond as follows where does the bible say that it's wrong to take your neighbor's arm and run it through a meat grinder it doesn't but the bible does say we are to love our
neighbor and sensible people will conclude that making your neighbor's arm into hamburger is a contradiction of biblical principles right same is true with contraception nowhere does the bible say thou shalt not contracept but the bible does say we are created in the image and likeness of god indeed this is the foundational anthropological truth from the bible what does that mean anthropological truth it's the fundamental truth of our humanity anthropology is the study of man and the fundamental biblical principle of anthropology is that we are made in the image and likeness of god as male and
female male and female he created them and he blessed them and he said be fertile and multiply john paul ii says it's as if the three persons of the trinity were having a conversation amongst themselves and they looked into their own mystery for the pattern in which they would make us as human beings and they said let us make man in our image notice god refers to himself in the plural here we have a hint even in genesis that god is trinity of course that's not going to be fully revealed to the new testament but
it's hinted at here and we see the hint of it revealed in the fact that the two male and female are called to become one and in becoming one in the normal course of events they become three the normal course of events is that the union of the two leads to a third again as i've said in so many videos this does not mean god is sexual no god is not sexual but our sexuality is an echo in the created world of the eternal mystery that god is life-giving love and the fundamental biblical principle is
that we are called to live in the image and likeness of god another way of saying the same thing is what jesus said fundamental biblical principle indeed it is the fulfillment of the gospel itself what is the new commandment jesus gives us to love one another as i have loved you one of the great insights of john paul ii theology of the body is that the call to love as god loves was chiseled by god right in our bodies by making us male and female a man's body doesn't make sense by itself a woman's body
doesn't make sense by itself seen in light of each other unless we are blind and tragically so much of the modern world is just blind to this truth what truth it's the truth that john paul ii calls the spousal meaning of the body male and female are designed to become one and in becoming one they're designed to generate another as i've said in other videos eyes are meant for seeing ears are meant for hearing lungs are meant for breathing genitals are meant for generating men and women literally have the organs that organize us for one
another we have the organs the penis the vagina our genitals organs that organize us to become one organism and the one organism we become in becoming one flesh is the child the child is the offspring obviously springs from the loins to use the biblical expression right you are my offspring you have sprung from my lines this biblical expression but it's powerful it's potent and it reveals divine mysteries we've spoken in other videos about how a woman's womb is a witness to heaven on earth if the incarnation is real if the second person of the trinity
the son of god took flesh in a woman's womb then woman's womb is heaven on earth and guys our testicles are meant to testify to the eternal fatherhood of god and yes indeed the word testicle shares the same root as words like testify testimony testament where is it in the bible that we're not to use contraception well it doesn't say as i said thou shalt not contracept but it does speak of onan who spilled his seed on the ground and because he failed to testify to the fatherhood of god he was struck dead that's not
a fate that i would like to have myself but it does point to the seriousness of engaging in the act that is meant to testify to the eternal fatherhood of god but then having a false testimony right john paul ii says our bodies are prophetic they are meant to proclaim the very truth of who god is and how he loves but when we render the sexual acts sterile we make of our lives we make of our bodies false prophets christ himself says this in reference to the two becoming one flesh he says that we must
not separate what god has joined and it is god he is the one who joined sex and babies this is his doing we must not separate what he has joined this in fact is a very concise way of summarizing what the catholic church holds out to the whole world it's quite simple and it's quite logical and it goes like this marriage sex and babies go together and in that order ponder that reflect on it meditate on it what would the world look like if we respected this truth marriage sex and babies go together and in
that order when we remove fertility from the equation eventually we redefine all three of those things babies become clumps of cells that we can get rid of at will sex becomes merely the exchange of pleasure between consenting human beings and the sexual difference itself becomes meaningless and marriage then gets redefined to be a governmental stamp of approval on whatever our preferred method of genital pleasure happens to be this is the world we live in now and this world has come upon us largely because of what contraception has done to change our perception about the meaning
of gender and genitals and genital intercourse sex in our world is no longer about forming those family bonds that create the space for the next generation sex has been reduced in the modern world in a contracepting world that is blind to these truths sex gets reduced to my pursuit of pleasure and then other people become the means by which i experience that pleasure and i use them for my pleasure rather than love them i'll stick around as long as you give me my pleasure but then once you don't once it gets too hard or i
don't like you anymore you're not giving me what i want i'll just leave you and go find my pleasure elsewhere okay that is a total contradiction of what the heart really longs for sure at the surfacey levels we might take some pleasure in treating people as objects and moving on and getting pleasure elsewhere but if we're honest with ourselves when we're used in that way it wounds us terribly maybe the catholic church isn't crazy after all here maybe the church is holding out to us a vision of life and love that actually corresponds to the
ache of our hearts for love that isn't fleeting for a love that isn't reduced to just using people for a love that sees us for who we really are that honors the great dignity of the human person made in the image of god my brothers and sisters from beginning to end the scripture calls us to this kind of love christ himself is that love love one another as i have loved you ephesians 5 says very clearly that husbands are to love their wives as christ loved the church and it's unthinkable that christ would sterilize his
love he came into the world so that his bride might have life and have it to the full from beginning to end the scripture calls us to receive god's love to love as god loves and to choose life sexual union is perhaps the most pointed opportunity for us to either accept this call or reject it it's through sexual union that the uncreated love of god penetrates the created world to commune with the love of a husband and a wife in bringing about the most stunning event in the universe the creation of a new human being
whereas contracepted sex says we don't want to receive god's love we don't want to love as god loves we don't want to choose life here is that biblical you must decide my brothers and sisters i have so much more to share with you that i think can help you decide take a look at the exclusive formation we offer to our patrons in the link below and check the link for the online and in-person courses we teach at the theology of the body institute you are made for a love that lasts forever you are not meant
to be treated as a thing for someone else's pleasure you are meant to be seen and known and loved as an indispensable irreplaceable unrepeatable person made in the image and likeness of god until next time may our eyes be opened ever more profoundly to who we really are
