What do Christians think about contraception?

Early Christian teachings condemned birth control and saw procreation within marriage as the only acceptable goal of sex. In fact, Pope Gregory, around 600 A.D., said that all sexual desire is sinful. And the Council of Trent in the sixteenth century declared that celibacy and virginity are superior to marriage. In the 1950's, Pope Pius XII (12th) broke with tradition and allowed the form of birth control known as the rhythm method, where the woman keeps track of her menstrual cycle and determines the days she unlikely to conceive. The sexual act was a means of strengthening the relationship between the couple. However, because reproduction is still seen as the natural purpose of sex, many Catholic theologians find a contradiction in saying that knowingly using the rhythm method to prevent conception is different than using a condom or the pill. The intent of the couple was to not conceive, therefore going against the natural purpose of sex.
Thus, a condom is not natural because it hinders the flow of sperm to the egg. The birth control pill is not natural because it impedes the egg from taking its normal place in the uterus. The morning after pill is not natural because it impedes the fertilized egg from attaching to the wall of the uterus and begins the process of becoming a foetus. The withdrawal (Coitus interruptus) method is not even natural because the sperm is deposited outside the female reproductive organs. Sperm has one natural function in life. To swim to the egg and fertilize the egg.

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Catholic theologians appeal to natural law and divine revelation when constructing their ethic of life. Natural law refers to what human reason can discover about human nature and its moral duties apart from divine revelation. However, since everything has God as the ultimate source of being, natural law actually declares the will of God. In other words, the same Spirit who gives divine revelation through scripture also reveals truth through natural law.
According to the Roman Catholic view of natural law, the purpose of human sexuality is both reproductive and unitive. Thus, every sexual act should embody both aspects. So while ...

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