“You brought me forth from my mother’s womb and placed me safely on her breast. From the womb I was given to you; from my mother’s womb, you are my God! Do not stay so far away, for danger is near and there is no helper.” Psalm 22:10-12

Nearly a century ago, in response to the “modern” idea of ​​family planning, Eberhard Arnold wrote: “In our families, we rejoice and are grateful for all the children God grants us. We praise God’s creative power. A large family is a great gift.”

What would he say today, when contraception is becoming the norm and millions of unborn children are legally eliminated each year? What has become of our joy in having children, in living as a family? Our gratitude for the gifts received from God? What about our respect for life, our compassion for those who cannot defend themselves? Jesus says that no one will enter his Kingdom unless they become like a child (cf. Mt 18:3).

A sexuality that does not care about the gift of life is on the wrong track.

The current mentality rejects both the spirit of childhood and children. It has a spirit of death. We can see it everywhere: with the increase in crime and suicides, domestic violence, abortions, euthanasia. Our culture seems determined to promote death. It seizes what belongs to God. And the fault does not lie only with the State.

How many Churches condone the killing of unborn children under the pretext of supporting women’s rights? The sexual “liberation” of our society has brought terrible destruction. This false liberation is based on the selfish pursuit of satisfaction and pleasure. It ignores discipline and responsibility, as well as the true freedom that comes from them. As Stanley Hauerwas says, it reveals

“a profound lack of conviction: we no longer believe that we have anything of value to pass on to the next generation… We do everything we can to sow death.”

Most of our contemporaries have no problem of conscience in preventing a little being from living or in destroying it. Once welcomed as God’s greatest blessing, children are today considered according to their cost: they are a “burden,” a “threat” to the freedom and happiness of the individual.

In a true marriage there is a close link between conjugal love and the emergence of a new life (cf. Mal 2:15). When husband and wife become one flesh, it should be in humble recognition that this act can engender a new life.

Sexual union would thus become an expression of creative love, an alliance in the service of life. But how many couples view their sexuality in this way? For the most part, the pill has transformed sexual intercourse into an occupation like any other, involving no responsibility and supposedly without consequences.

As Christians, we should be ready to react against the contraceptive mentalities that poison our society. Too many couples adopt the widespread mindset that approves of sexual indulgence and on-demand family planning, and leave aside values ​​such as self-control and trust.

Sex, when it becomes an end in itself, even within marriage, devalues ​​the sexual relationship and undermines the foundations of love as self-giving, the love necessary to raise children. Seeking sexual pleasure as an end in itself, without concern for the gift of life, is wrong. This means that we close the door to children, and that we despise both the gift and the Giver (cf. Job 1:21).

Mother Teresa said: “By eliminating, through contraception, the power to give life, man and woman harm themselves. Each focuses attention on himself, to the detriment of the gift of love that dwells within him. When they love each other, man and woman must remain attentive to one another”.

Regular contraception weakens the blossoming and fertility of two people who have become one flesh. We should banish such a state of mind, which consists of constantly avoiding the responsibility of having children. This does not mean that we should bring children into the world irresponsibly, or by endangering the health or well-being of the mother.

The size of the family and the gap between children are issues that demand great responsibility. Every couple must discern before God, in prayer and respect. Having children too close together can become a very heavy burden for the mother. In this area, the husband must show respectful love and understanding for his wife.

Once again, it is essential that the couple turn together to God and entrust their uncertainties and fears to Him, in faith (cf. Mt 7:7-8). If we let ourselves be guided by God, I am sure that He will show us the way.

To abort is to mock God.

The contraceptive mentality is only one manifestation among others of a deadly spirit that closes itself to the arrival of new lives. Today, in society, a hidden war is taking place, a war against life. When we do not prevent little beings from coming into the world through contraception, we mercilessly destroy them through abortion!

Abortion is murder; it destroys life and mocks God, in whose image every unborn baby was created. In the Old Testament, there are many passages that speak of God’s active presence in all human life, even in gestation in the womb. We read in Psalm 139:

“You created my inward parts; you sheltered me in the womb. I confess that I am wonderful indeed; your works are marvelous; yes, I acknowledge it well. My bones were not hidden from you when I was made in secret, or woven in the depths of the earth. I was only a form, and your eyes saw me. In your book they were all written, the days that were formed when none of them were.” (Psalm 139:13-16)

Job cries out: “Did not he who made me in the womb make them so? It is the same God who formed us in the womb.” (Job 31:15)

And God said to the prophet Jeremiah: Before I formed you in your mother’s womb I knew you; before you came out of her womb I consecrated you; I have made you a prophet to the nations. (Jeremiah 1:5)

We read in the New Testament that future babies are called by God before they are born (cf. Gal 1:15). Their own gifts can be the subject of a prophecy while they are still in their mother’s womb. One of the most beautiful passages concerning unborn children is probably found in the Gospel of Luke:

“Now when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. She cried out with a loud voice and said, ‘Blessed are you above all women; blessed is the fruit of your womb! How has this been granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?’” For as soon as your greeting sounded in my ears, behold, the babe leaped for joy in my womb.” (Luke 1:41-44)

Here, an unborn child, John the Baptist, the forerunner of Jesus, leaps in Elizabeth’s womb as he recognizes Jesus, conceived shortly before. Two unborn children: one capable of responding to the action of the Holy Spirit, and the other, who is Christ himself conceived by the Holy Spirit (cf. Mt 1:20-21).

The idea that a new little life would emerge thanks to something purely physical or biological is therefore completely false. It is God who is at work to generate life in the womb (cf. Ps 71:6). Abortion is always a destruction of this creation. This is why the early Church unanimously rejected abortion, which it equated with infanticide.

The Didache, the oldest instruction for new converts to Christianity (1st century), is very clear: “You shall not perform abortion, nor shall you cause the newborn to perish.” Clement of Alexandria even wrote that those who participate in abortion “lose all their humanity with the fetus.”

Where is the clear teaching of the Church today? Even those who call themselves Christians participate in the deadly and cruel war waged against the innocent unborn, its atrocities and brutal techniques hiding behind the mask of medicine and law, or “justifying” themselves by every conceivable circumstance.

Who are we to judge whether a life is desirable or not? I know it is frowned upon to claim that abortion is murder. Some will say that I am out of touch with reality, or that even Christian theologians consent to abortion in certain circumstances. However, I am convinced that God never tolerates it. His law is the law of love. It remains eternal, regardless of time or circumstances: You shall not kill.

Human life is sacred, from conception until death. If we believe this, it is impossible for us to accept abortion, under any circumstances. Even the most convincing arguments, evoking “quality of life,” severe physical malformations, or mental deficiency will not make us change our minds. Who are we to decide whether a little being has the right to see the light of day?

How dare we judge who is desirable and who is not? Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote: “The distinction between life worthy and unworthy of being lived sooner or later destroys life itself.” In heartbreaking situations, a couple can always ask for the prayer of the Church:

“Is one of you suffering? Let him pray. Is he joyful? Let him sing hymns. Is one of you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith will save the patient; the Lord will raise him up, and if he has sins to his credit, they will be forgiven him.” (James 5:13-15)

There is great power, great protection, in the prayer of a Church united in faith, which believes that God’s will can be accomplished in the life of the mother and the child she is expecting. In the end, it is this will alone that matters.

We must offer alternatives, not moral condemnation.

As Christians, we cannot simply demand an end to abortion without offering a positive alternative. Eberhard Arnold wrote:

“When moralists demand sexual purity, especially before and within marriage, the words of the best of them lose their sincerity and their accuracy if they do not clearly state the real grounds on which such demands can be fulfilled. Even the destruction of a future life…can go unquestioned without faith in the Kingdom of God. Our supposedly elevated culture will continue this slaughter as long as social disorder and injustice prevail.” The massacre of children cannot be fought as long as nothing changes in private and public life.”

Anyone who fights against selfish greed and the lie of the injustice of social distinctions must fight them realistically: in a way that shows that another way of life is really possible. Otherwise, one cannot demand purity in marriage or an end to the massacre.

Nor can one wish even morally sound families the blessing of many children, according to the creative power that belongs to God…

This text is an excerpt from the book “SEXUALITY, MARRIAGE AND GOD” written by Johann Christoph Arnold.

We invite you to read the following article “THE FIRST SIN”.

THE HIDDEN WAR. THE HIDDEN WAR. THE HIDDEN WAR. THE HIDDEN WAR.

THE HIDDEN WAR. THE HIDDEN WAR. THE HIDDEN WAR. THE HIDDEN WAR.