Posted on 08/30/2012 8:01:27 PM PDT by marshmallow
The purpose of any contraception is not to “raise offspring”. There is nothing there that applies uniquely to Onan and Thamar, but not to a regular marriage.
The levirical marriage, as cited earlier says that the surviving brother has to marry the widow. While the purpose of the marriage is indeed to raise a son in the deceased’s name, that is not that different from any other marriage, which is always connected to the overriding commandment to “procreate and fill the earth”. We saw from by emphasis earlier that Thamar was a full-fledged wife, not a sperm recipient. Now, implicit in marriage is to have sex. If, for example, Onan and Thamar did not produce an offspring despite trying, there would be no transgression.
Onan’s behavior was exactly contracepted sex and he was punished precisely for contracepting.
This took place before the Law. Onan’s father gave him specific instructions (”raise up offspring for your brother), which he specifically defied (”so as not to give offspring to his brother”). Why? “Onan knew that the offspring would not be his...”
That is not analogous to a man & his wife choosing not to have kids during a specific period of time.
That is important to understand, indeed. Were the levirate marriage a law taught by Jesus or His Apostles, we would have to understand Onan's transgression narrowly, like you do, as that of merely violating the law; and conversely, since the levirate is not law to us, we don't have to marry women widowed by our brothers. Instead we have to view the Onan episode as an illustration of natural law.
Along that path, we notice that levirate marriage did not create a different marriage in essence. The Bible refers to Thamar as Onan's wife, as any levirate wife is; "she belongeth to him” (Deut. 25:7). The difference is not in the marriage itself -- the Bible gives us no warrant to imagine a Marriage 2.0, something akin modern sperm-donor relationship. The difference is in that the child will carry not the brother's name but the deceased first husband's name, -- but otherwise it is the same marital relationship as any. The behavior condemned so harshly in the case of Onan is therefore equally worthy of condemnation also in any marriage, -- since the obligation to "be fruitful and multiply" exists in any marriage, and that is the obligation Onan has violated alongside the particular obligation toward the deceased brother.
Had the death punishment meted out to Onan been for narrowly escaping the raising of the son requirement, the method of avoiding pregnancy would not have been the issue; Onan could, in a polygamous society simply carried on with the wife he probably already had, or marry yet another, and not have sex with Thamar; further, Onan could have simply refused to marry Thamar and receive only a nominal punishment; yet the method of avoiding pregnancy is vividly described in Gen. 38:9. It is that particular act, having contracepted sex that is called "despicable", a fitting epithet given the revulsion toward spilling the semen evident in Lev. 15, esp. verse 16-18.
Another corollary from the passing away of the Law of Moses in the Church is that no, we should not introduce capital punishment for those who use barrier contraception; we simply should heed the Word of God that calls the practice "despicable" and not have this practice.
Lactarius piperatus
Since Sep 1, 2012
Welcome to Free Republic.
Arguments from Protestant ecclesial authority do not work for Protestants any better than arguments from the early Church authority. In general a Protestant will not have any difficulty proclaiming that everyone was wrong on any particular subject till he finally got it right.
I suspect that the Orthodox view on contraception is that it is a sin in any circumstance, but not one condemned under a strict form of jurisprudence. To an Orthodox, there is a distinction between strict obedience and one relaxed under economia, and this allows them to avoid what they consider Catholic legalism while still keeping to the undivided Church of the seven councils.
Very good to have you around; welcome, and where have you been all that time?
God has in His word told us His will, be fruitful and multiply, I have never found scripture to say anything other than this. In fact multiple verses speak of children being a gift/blessing from God. Yes, I would agree that sexual intercourse without procreation is also part of Gods will.
Although are society is not tribal, whether you realize it or not, kids do care for their aging parents.
How many children should we have, what is the cut off?
Adam & Eve were told to be fruitful & multiply. I don’t believe God has called me to ‘fill the earth’. We also don’t practice polygamy any more, nor do I have an obligation to take a dead brother’s wife as my own to continue his line. And when my wife had trouble conceiving, she didn’t offer me her slave...
Your points are illogical, God never told anyone to practice polygamy, and Sarah offering Hagar to Abraham was sinful and showed both her and Abrahams’ lack of faith. But God did indeed tell us before the law to be fruitful and multiply, not only Adam but also Noah after the flood. We will not see eye to eye on this but I do pray that more believers will search the scripture for truth and be willing to live for the glory of God rather than our own desires and conveniences.
Is your fertility a poison, against which you must protect your wife?
Is your wife's fertility a disease, which must be cured?
Medicine and surgery are used to cure a disease, restore a malfunctioning organ to proper function, or in the most extreme case remove a damaged or diseased organ to prevent the spread of disease.
A chemical or procedure that damages or destroys a properly functioning organ is called a poison, or an act of mutilation.
My wife’s only pregnancy came after treatment for infertility.
Congratulations! As above, actions taken to restore function to a malfunctioning organ fall into the category of medicine and surgery.
Contraceptives are not medicine, they are poison.
Sterilization is not surgery, it is mutilation.
—— St. Thomas Aquinas aligned Catholic Theology with Natural Laws. It is why Christianity is the most rational of all religions. -——
Correctamundo. (A little Latin lingo.)
I was a baptized, poorly catechized Catholic who followed a similar intellectual trajectory. I passed through Rand, Milton Friedman, and then discovered Aquinas in my mid 20’s. To my fellow Catholic friend: “Hey, have you ever heard of this guy? He’s brilliant! How come we’ve never heard of him?”
How great an indictment of mid-seventies “let’s not litter” catechesis is that?
Fortunately, I’m vicariously enjoying my daughter’s intellectual journey as she is now old enough to be interested in Catholic Answers. “Hey dad, did you know that...”
If I’m proud of one thing, it’s that I’ve spared her the agony of profound intellectual confusion. I tell her that I’ve been where the nose-ring crowd has been, and it’s hell. Have sympathy for them. (I have to remind myself too).
—— St. Thomas Aquinas aligned Catholic Theology with Natural Laws. It is why Christianity is the most rational of all religions. -——
Correctamundo. (A little Latin lingo.)
I was a baptized, poorly catechized Catholic who followed a similar intellectual trajectory. I passed through Rand, Milton Friedman, and then discovered Aquinas in my mid 20’s. To my fellow Catholic friend: “Hey, have you ever heard of this guy? He’s brilliant! How come we’ve never heard of him?”
How great an indictment of mid-seventies “let’s not litter” catechesis is that?
Fortunately, I’m vicariously enjoying my daughter’s intellectual journey as she is now old enough to be interested in Catholic Answers. “Hey dad, did you know that...”
If I’m proud of one thing, it’s that I’ve spared her the agony of profound intellectual confusion. I tell her that I’ve been where the nose-ring crowd has been, and it’s hell. Have sympathy for them. (I have to remind myself too).
-— How does birth control differ from any other decision we make? Should I refuse aspirin, because God has given me a headache? Should I refuse to lock my door, because God has sent the thief?
My wife’s only pregnancy came after treatment for infertility. Were we defying God by allowing a doctor to treat her medical condition, making pregnancy possible?-—
A headache is an evil, because it is a disorder. A pregnancy represents the proper functioning of the body.
Now, an evil may be legitimately induced if the object of the action is to prevent a greater evil. Examples are amputation and chemotherapy.
But it’s immoral to amputate a healthy limb or to ingest hallucinogens, because the object of the action is simply to destroy or diminish the proper operation of the body, at will.
Therefore, the following “medical” procedures are intrinsically evil:
Sex change surgery or drugs (mutilation, poison)
Botox (poison)
Vasectomy/tubal ligation (mutilation)
Actions that thwart the proper operation of the body are also immoral:
Recreational drug use (diminished intellect)
Drunkenness
Bulimia (damage to digestive system)
Mechanisms that induce temporary sterility, “contraceptives” (prevent the proper operation of the reproductive system)
Humanae Vitae is worth a read.
God can easily veto someone's birth control method. It happens all the time.
Absolutely He can and does, but the problem is the heart attitude behind the reason for birth control.
Exactly. I am constantly amazed at the ignorant people who graduate with several degrees-—no knowledge of the brilliance of St. Thomas Aquinas, Boethius, Anselm, or even St. Augustine. But it gets even worse, no knowledge of John Locke, Joseph Story or F. Hayek or the Constitutional Debates—all firmly based on St. Thomas’s logic and reason—where faith and reason go hand in hand. And they call themselves “educated” Americans.
It is a crime what is happening in schools since John Dewey kicked out moral absolutes and Classical knowledge to replace it with “social” sciences.
Most of the children are being fed mush in schools-—and brainwashed into high self-esteem for doing nothing of importance-—so they think they know everything and quit learning-—when in fact they know nothing so are easily manipulated; it is all about “feeling” right or wrong. No God.
There is nothing new about human behavior-—it has all been done before and written about—so we can avoid the mistakes of the past.....but it seems like people take the lazy way out-—except for a few like you—and trust strangers (Marxists) to shape the thinking of their children-—and remove all history and knowledge and traditions and destroy the natural family unit and the loyalty and respect for parents.
Right on!
You’re my alter ego. Thanks for saving me the typing ;-)
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