Theology in the Raw - Bonus Q&A Preview (August)

Episode Date: August 13, 2025

August Bonus Q&A #1 EpisodeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Okay, let's jump into our first question, which is a doozy. Is birth control morally wrong? Why or why not? What are some more of your thoughts from my conversation with Christopher West? If you did not listen to that episode, I would highly recommend going to check it out. Christopher West gave a really thorough argument for what would be considered a pretty a pretty standard or at least historic Catholic position on birth control and really the role of procreation within marriage. And Christopher West did argue that birth control is morally wrong.

Now, before I address this question, I do want to say it. I've said this many times on the podcast that I am sympathetic to a more Catholic view of marriage, sex, and procreation. I didn't always believe that. It's in the last several years where the more I look into this, the more I do see biblical and theological and certainly historical legitimacy to this, to this viewpoint, namely that marriage is designed to be a procreative relationship and a call to marriage, you know, if you'll call to marriage, that is also a call to procreate. In it, as much as you are able to. Obviously, there's things that prevent procreation from actually happening.

At the very least, like if somebody came to me, and this is my view, I know this is not a super popular view. And, you know, yeah, I'll just say it. You know, if somebody came to me and said, hey, I'm called to marriage, but I'm not called to have kids, I would the very least say, you know, And I don't know if I'd necessarily say this in the first conversation, but what's going through my mind is, well, the theological burden rests on you to show how you can be called to marriage and not called to procreate. Chris stated, and he is correct, that church history was pretty uniform on this question up until the invention of the pill. And really, you know, the overwhelming consensus among Christians outside of Protestantism would still agree with the weight of church history that the call to marriage and the call to procreate are one and the same.

Again, there might be things out of your control that would prevent procreation from happening. But the two are essentially intertwined. Now, it doesn't necessarily answer a question, though, about. is birth control within a so if to put the question more specifically if you are married and you do and you are trying to have kids um and you are able to have some kids is it morally wrong to sometimes use birth control as say a form of i don't know like family planning or whatever you want to call it. And even then, Christopher West argued, no, birth control is, I believe he said, I mean, go back and listen to it. I believe he said it's never morally permissible. He did talk about

like natural family planning, not having sex when a, when the wife is ovulating. But if she's not and you have sex and you don't have kids and you don't, you know, procreate, then that is following God's natural design of how procreation should happen. But, and I hope I'm not putting words in his mouth, but using birth control is, I think he might have said, like an unnatural way of going about that. I wasn't, I mean, he makes a good argument. I mean, Christopher West is super smart. I thought through this for many decades.

I wasn't as convinced of that particular argument that that using birth control is all within a procreative marriage is always morally wrong. I do think there's a good theological, biblical theological case to be made that marriage is a procreative institution. I think that's fairly easy to make. I think it's less clear. I think the Bible's less clear on some of the particulars. Hey, friends, I hope you enjoyed this portion of the Patreon-only Q&A podcast.

If you would like to listen to the full-length episode and receive other. bonus content like monthly podcasts, opportunities to ask questions, access to first drafts of my research and monthly Zoom chats and more, then please head over to patreon.com forward slash theology in the raw to join Theology and Raw's Patreon community. That's patreon.com forward slash theology and the raw. Hey, podcast listeners, if you're looking for another podcast, besides Theology Raw, of course, that features fascinating conversations with theologians, philosophers, and best-selling authors, then I highly, highly recommend the Signal Award-winning show No Small Endeavor.

Produced by Great Feeling Studios in PRX, No Small Endeavor explores what it means to live a good life. In each episode, the host and, I must say, Theologian-R-R-Friend, Dr. Lee Camp, sits down with special guests like pastor theologian Tish Harris Warren, civil rights hero Reverend James Lawson, and one of the world's most influential living theologians, Stanley Hauerwas, to discuss their faith and how it has shaped their journey. So if you're looking for someone to start, check out their brand new episode with Americana songwriter Drew Holcomb, in which he unpacks how creativity is a way to overcome fear and make something that didn't exist before. It's a beautiful and heart-to-heart conversation, definitely worth the living. So don't miss out. Follow no small endeavor on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.