The Christian Case against Contraception

Making the Case from Historical, Biblical, Systematic, and Practical Theology & Ethics

Bryan C. Hodge

• Publisher: Wipf and Stock
• Year: 2010
• Print ISBN:
  9781608990108
  9781498254700
• eBook ISBN:
  9781621892199
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Theology

Evangelicals often give little thought to the morality of contraception, but when they do, serious studies of the subject are scarce if not non-existent. The Christian Case against Contraception seeks to fill this gap by evaluating the practice, not from personal preference or mere experience, but from the four major theological disciplines of Christianity: Historical, Biblical, Systematic, and Practical Theology and Ethics. The book begins with a contrastive analysis between secular and ecclesiastical culture and thought concerning the subject of contraception and the purpose of the sexual act. The claims of the Church, that contraception is morally unacceptable, is examined further as the book takes the reader on a journey through biblical, systematic, and practical arguments which establish the foundations of the Historic Church's claim. Opposing arguments are evaluated as to their strength and validity. In fact, Hodge stirs the debate with a challenge that he has yet to see Christians set forth a valid biblical argument in support of contraceptive practices. For the reader seeking to place procreative ethics under the lordship of Christ, The Christian Case against Contraception offers a bold and clear way forward.

Table of contents

• Title
• Preface
• Part One—The Historical Argument
• A Brief History of the Use of Contraception within Secular Culture
• The Teaching of the Historic Christian Church Concerning Contraception
• How We Got Here
• Part Two—The Biblical Argument
• The Hebrew Bible
• The New Testament
• Part Three—The Systematic Argument
• The Argument against Contraception from Systematics
• Part Four—The Practical Argument
• Practical Arguments against Contraception
• Part Five—Opposing Arguments
• Modern Evangelicals Argue the Strength of Their Case
• Part Six—Dialogues: Discussing Contraception with the Teachers of the Christian Church
• Meaningful Conversations with Our Teachers
• Conclusion
• Appendix A—The Christian Case against Sterilization
• Appendix B—The Propagandistic Myth of Overpopulation
• Appendix C—Seven Tough Questions from Friends
• Appendix D—The Alleged Stoic Background of the Patristic Attitude toward Sex
• Appendix E—An Analysis of James B. Jordan’s “The Bible and Family Planning: An Answer to Charles Provan’s ‘The Bible and Birth Control’”
• Bibliography