Expert: Phillip Senn - 9/22/2005

Question
I'm pregnant with my fifth child, and am having a difficult time with it.  I am a chrisitan also- I have been saved for 13 years, but I don't know where God stands on different forms of birth control.  I am 32 years old and physically can't handle one more pregnancy.  The bible doesn't come out and really say anything about much about birth control methods, so I'm wondering if God considers it a sin for a woman to become sterilized via tubal ligation.
Karen

Answer
Karen,

There are many positions concerning your question. You have clearly examined this issue from a Biblical perspective. As you have suggested, there is no Scripture that prohibits this action. There are differences of opinion about birth control. If you were considering utilizing a method that killed the fetus (baby in the mother's womb), I could show clear passages against that. The method you are considering doesn't harm the innocent child. It prevents a child from being conceived. From a Scriptural perspective, I see no wrong in your proposed method of birth control. That is my perspective. As for God's perspective, I cannot be sure because God wasn't specific in His Word.

I know this doesn't really answer the question, but apart from clear Scripture, I find it difficult, at best, to declare how God would define something.

With Love In Christ,
Phillip Senn