"No, you can't deny women their basic rights and pretend it's about your "religious freedom." If you don't like birth control, don't use it. Religious freedom doesn't mean you can force others to live by your own beliefs."
Be Fruitful and Multiply
Before I dive in, I want to make it clear that the thoughts, beliefs and points I make in this article do not speak for Christianity as a whole. I'm only speaking for myself here; sharing my own understandings and feelings. This doesn't mean that anybody else, including other Christians, follows these same beliefs.
By no means am I claiming that my own understanding on the issue is the only right one, and the points that I make may not resonate with every person, but they're the thoughts I have on the issue.
Let's start at the beginning, when God told Adam and Eve “be fruitful and multiply,” which means "procreate." The complete verse (Genesis 1:28) says "God blessed them; and God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.'"
I'm not discussing the animals in this article, but focusing on the part of that verse where God told Adam and Eve to procreate and fill the earth.
Point Number One -- God told Adam & Eve to Multiply, not Us
His plan, on that day was to create a population of people. It happened. Here we are, thousands of years later. In my opinion, this purpose has already succeeded. There’s a huge population of people.
Due to that verse, where God tells Adam and Eve to multiply, the belief that our top priority in marriage and sex is for the purpose of multiplying only surfaced, and the belief that we should never prevent pregnancies also stems from this verse. Notice that this was God's words to Adam and Eve, not to all humankind, although he did intend for the chain to continue.
Just like with so many other scriptures, people have taken God's words out of context. When God said "be fruitful and multiply," people think it to meant that our sole job is to multiply at every opportunity possible. God was specifically talking to Adam and Eve; there’s nothing that gives the impression that he was making this a “rule” for every human. This was their purpose, but it's not necessarily ours.
I remember hearing a preacher once say, “God told Noah to build an arc, does that mean he meant for all of us to build an arc?” He was preaching on the subject of people taking things out of context and assuming that when God spoke to one person in the bible, he intended it to serve as a "rule" for humanity as a whole to live by, forever. The question that preacher asked applies perfectly to this topic. If you pick up a bible, notice when God is speaking to humans as a whole, he says “and therefore every man and every woman shall …” Or he refers to us as “woman” and “man.” Now, when he told Adam and Eve to go forth and multiply, he did not say “and every man and every woman shall multiply for the rest of their lives.” No; He directed it to the two people he intended it for – Adam and Eve. Not us.
It is tough for me to feel that God’s number one priority for the first man and woman on earth should be ours, a gazillion Adam and Eve’s later. I personally feel that that goal has been met, but that's not to say that I feel God doesn't want us to have children at all, just that he didn't intend for that to be our number one priority.
By no means am I claiming that my own understanding on the issue is the only right one, and the points that I make may not resonate with every person, but they're the thoughts I have on the issue.
Let's start at the beginning, when God told Adam and Eve “be fruitful and multiply,” which means "procreate." The complete verse (Genesis 1:28) says "God blessed them; and God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.'"
I'm not discussing the animals in this article, but focusing on the part of that verse where God told Adam and Eve to procreate and fill the earth.
Point Number One -- God told Adam & Eve to Multiply, not Us
His plan, on that day was to create a population of people. It happened. Here we are, thousands of years later. In my opinion, this purpose has already succeeded. There’s a huge population of people.
Due to that verse, where God tells Adam and Eve to multiply, the belief that our top priority in marriage and sex is for the purpose of multiplying only surfaced, and the belief that we should never prevent pregnancies also stems from this verse. Notice that this was God's words to Adam and Eve, not to all humankind, although he did intend for the chain to continue.
Just like with so many other scriptures, people have taken God's words out of context. When God said "be fruitful and multiply," people think it to meant that our sole job is to multiply at every opportunity possible. God was specifically talking to Adam and Eve; there’s nothing that gives the impression that he was making this a “rule” for every human. This was their purpose, but it's not necessarily ours.
I remember hearing a preacher once say, “God told Noah to build an arc, does that mean he meant for all of us to build an arc?” He was preaching on the subject of people taking things out of context and assuming that when God spoke to one person in the bible, he intended it to serve as a "rule" for humanity as a whole to live by, forever. The question that preacher asked applies perfectly to this topic. If you pick up a bible, notice when God is speaking to humans as a whole, he says “and therefore every man and every woman shall …” Or he refers to us as “woman” and “man.” Now, when he told Adam and Eve to go forth and multiply, he did not say “and every man and every woman shall multiply for the rest of their lives.” No; He directed it to the two people he intended it for – Adam and Eve. Not us.
It is tough for me to feel that God’s number one priority for the first man and woman on earth should be ours, a gazillion Adam and Eve’s later. I personally feel that that goal has been met, but that's not to say that I feel God doesn't want us to have children at all, just that he didn't intend for that to be our number one priority.
Great article!! I can't say how many times I have talked to people about this, either because they believe it or they're accusing me of it. I think many people have misconceptions about the Bible, because of unfortunate poor or loose interprets. It's sad that some people really love God but feel so guilty. I have even heard people take the stance that they're killing cells. Then that means we shouldn't scratch our skin! Our skin grows by dividing, growing and diving again, that's murder too then! Anyways, great article! You made some good points that I will have to remember.