If It's Lent, It Must be Contraception
It's Lent, so naturally, members of the Orthodox Church (particularly in the blogosphere) are discussing the topic of contraception. The Ochlophobist, in particular, has a series of well-balanced and pastorally wise posts on the subject (Pt. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and still going).
Every Lent, there appears to be a divisive discussion of birth control, along with a major media assault on Christianity (the Grave of Christ, the Gospel of Judas, The Da Vinci Code, etc.). Both, as likely as not, stem from the same source. Ergo, I'm begging off the discussion at the moment. But the Ochlophobist is actually worth reading, thus far.
Labels: blogging, current events, pro-life
posted by Ben Johnson at 10:51 PM
2 Comments:
One of the things, actually, that attracted me to the Orthodox Church—as opposed to the Roman Catholic Church—was its teaching, or lack thereof, on contraception. In a class for inquirers that I attended, an Orthodox priest said something to the effect of "The Church has no official dogmatic teaching on contraception, as far as I'm aware. But remember that, in the Bible, any time God wants to bless someone he gives them lots of kids." That, to me, was so illuminating in the way that it placed responsibility firmly in the hands of the individuals and couples, responsible to God and not to a set of rules.
Ironically a man named Benedict (former presbyterian) said the very opposite reason for why he left the OCA after one quick visit to become part of the Melkite Greek-Catholic Church in Mclean, VA. Benedict specifically wanted a firm set of rules to tell people to not use Birth Control. I myself told him that doesnt seem like the best reason to choose one church over another...a Melkite priest Fr Ephrem later grilled him for believing eastern catholics should have annulments too (they are ending this latinization). Some former protestants view as much authority as possible as good to counter protestantism, others want just enough authority to keep the theology and apostolic faith united. I myself am part of the Latin Catholic Church by birth. However I to believe the Orthodox Church offers an better counterpoint in its theology in many areas. I'm as close to being Orthodox without being chrismated...
It's an interesting idea..Children are a blessing..no dogma against contraception.. in effect you reap what you sow..
At least we agree that we need large families. The russian orthodox synod just made many interesting statements about this in 2004, essentially saying contraception, abortion, population loss are all interconnected evils which were promoted by communist ideology.
Glory to Jesus Christ, Son of God, Who is truly risen.
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