Lesson video

Hello, my young scholars of religion.

Today we're going to be learning all about different religious views about contraception.

So in this lesson we will be discussing sex and how contraception works, as well as using our minds as philosophers, theologians, and social scientists.

So when you're ready, let's go.

So by the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to explain different Christian teachings and views on contraception and family planning.

So let's start with our key terms. Absolutist, someone with the belief that there are certain actions that are always right or always wrong.

Contraception, precautions taken to prevent pregnancy.

Family planning, regulation of births, planning when to have a family, and how many children to have by using birth control and/or contraception.

Procreate, procreation, having a child is seen as a duty in many religions.

Situation ethics, an ethical theory which argues the most loving action should guide decisions in a situation rather than following fixed rules or laws.

So look out for those in today's lesson.

So our lesson today is going to have two sections, Christian teachings on contraception and Christian views on contraception.

Let's start with our first section, Christian teachings on contraception.

Whatever your personal stance, you can use academic disciplines such as social science, theology, and philosophy to study religious and non-religious worldviews.

In this lesson we'll be using philosophy, theology, and social science by using philosophy to ask ethical questions, using theology to explore religious teachings on these questions, and making use of social science to examine how religious people respond to these questions.

So Andeep and Laura are asking some philosophical questions about contraception and family planning.

Andeep asks, should we stop procreation by using contraception? Is it right for us to stop procreation if we're using contraception? Andeep is asking.

And Laura asks, should we plan when we have children or should it happen naturally? Should this be a natural thing or should it be something that we plan and we kind of organise? And different Christian groups may answer the philosophical questions about family planning and contraception differently.

So we're not gonna have one Christian view on contraception and family planning because there's going to be a diversity of views as Christians may answer these two questions in different ways.

So here we've got our denominations tree, which shows us different Christian groups that you may have heard of before.

So we've got Roman Catholic here, Orthodox, Protestant, and different groups from this that you may recognise some of those names.

And all of these different Christian groups are going to use one or more methods when they need to make a moral decision.

So if they have to make a moral decision about whether something's right or wrong or it's the right action or not to do, they're going to use different methods to decide how to do this.

So they might emphasise one source of authority over another, or they might even have the same source of authority, but interpret them differently.

So this can lead to different views between and within the different branches of Christian denominations.

So different denominations might have different views, but even within the denomination you might have Christians who have different views on these issues.

So the terms contraception and family planning do not actually appear in the Bible.

So the methods we have for contraception nowadays were not around at the time, so you're not going to have the word condom in the Bible because it simply didn't exist.

So Christians need to look to linked teachings and other methods to help them make decisions about it so they can take ideas from the Bible and different sources of authority that they have and then apply them to a more modern thing that we've got.

For example, methods of artificial contraception.

So for example, they might look to their conscience, church leaders, other written sources of authority, and ethical theories that are supported by the church leaders.

There might be particular ethical theories, ways of making decisions which have been supported or even formulated by different church leaders in the past.

Let's do a quick check on what we've done so far.

All Christians use sources of authority in the same way when making moral decisions.

Is this true or false? Pause the video and have a think and we'll see what you've come up with in a moment.

That is false, but why? Well, it's false because Christians will use sources of authority differently, including interpreting them differently or putting different emphasis on a source.

So you might even have the same source of authority that's being used within the same church, and two Christians might still interpret it slightly differently.

So what source of authority might we be talking about here then? Well, the Bible's a really important one for most Christians.

So we can look at this at the different teachings that might link to this issue of contraception to help us understand the Christian teaching.

And one of these passages which can really inform ideas and teachings around contraception is this, which is found in Genesis and it was spoken to Adam and Eve at the beginning of the world.

God blessed them and said be fruitful and increase in number.

So you can see that's right at the beginning of the book of Genesis, which is at the beginning of the Old Testament.

God bless them and said be fruitful and increase in number.

What might it mean to be fruitful? Pause the video and have a think and we'll see what you've come up with in a moment.

Well, many Christians believe that God is telling humans to procreate in this, to be fruitful, to bear fruit like a tree that's having apples.

And then the second part which says increase in number seems to relate to that, doesn't it? But this could be interpreted in different ways.

How could it be interpreted in relation to the use of contraception then? If God is telling Adam and Eve to be fruitful and increase in number, then how could this relate to the idea of contraception? Pause the video and have a think and we'll see what you've done in a moment.

Well, some Christians use this to suggest that humans now shouldn't use contraception as it stops them from being fruitful.

If God has given this instruction to Adam and Eve as the first humans on Earth, then that's what we should do too as humans.

So some Christians interpret that to mean they should not use contraception, it's preventing them from being fruitful through procreating.

But other Christians may interpret it to mean that yes, having children's desirable.

And yes, that's part of being human and relationships, but it doesn't directly forbid the use of contraception.

And also these were the first two humans on Earth when there was only Adam and Eve.

And now we've got many, many people on Earth.

So perhaps the circumstances are different.

So along with the Bible as a source of authority, we said that there are some ethical theories which Christians and Christian leaders, Christian thinkers, have developed over time to help Christians to make these moral decisions.

Particularly when the teachings in the Bible might not be so relevant to many modern new things that we can encounter.

So some Christians might use the ethical theory of situation ethics to help them make a decision about family planning and the use of contraception.

And you could probably tell from the wording, situation ethics, that this is a theory that's based on each situation.

You make a decision based on each situation and particular circumstances rather than being a theory that says something is always right and always wrong.

Situation ethics is supported by a Christian teaching of agape, which is selfless, unconditional love.

Jesus actually uses that word agape when he says love your neighbour, which you may know is the golden rule.

So this idea of unconditionally loving others and wanting the best for them and wanting to do the most loving thing.

So in each situation, someone can decide what the most loving thing is to do.

And in that sense, they're following that Christian teaching of loving your neighbour.

Now, some Anglican churches, which is the Church of England, support individuals using situation ethics alongside their own conscience to make a personal decision on using contraception and family planning.

So it's that idea of it being dependent on the situation, on the circumstance, what is happening for them to decide if it's right in that moment or not.

So let's have a look at some examples.

Jacob here is considering some examples of situations regarding family planning and contraception, and then he gives his opinion using situation ethics.

So we need to look at the situation to then decide what the most loving thing is to do.

So the first situation is a woman that's 18 years old wants to use contraception so she can focus on her career.

So she wants to use contraception so she doesn't get pregnant so she can focus on her career.

What do you think Jacob could argue is the most loving thing to do in this situation? Pause the video and have a think.

You can talk to the person next to you or talk to me.

What Jacob says, he thinks it could be more loving to use contraception to stop an unwanted pregnancy from stopping her career so that she can have her career and maybe she wants to get her home set up and have enough financial stability to be able to bring those children into the world.

Let's do a second example.

There's a woman who's 40 years old and she feels she's too old to have a child.

What do you think Jacob might say about the most loving thing to do in this situation is? Would it be most loving to allow her to use contraception? Pause the video and have a think and we'll see what you come up with in a moment.

What Jacob says, he thinks it would be loving to allow her to use contraception to stop an unwanted pregnancy she might not be able to cope with, and maybe she might not be able to cope with as the child grows up later in life.

And a third example, there's a man who knows he has a genetic disease that might be passed down to any children that he has.

So he knows if he has sex and there's a pregnancy, that child might have the same genetic disease that he has.

Would it be most loving to allow him to use contraception or not? Pause the video and have a think and we'll see what you come up with in a moment.

Jacob says, again, I think it would be loving to allow this person to use contraception to stop the disease being passed on to potential children.

It's more loving to allow him to use contraception so that this disease isn't then passed on to potential children.

So time for a quick check.

Which one of the following is doing the most loving thing in a situation? Natural law, situation ethics, Humanae Vitae, or tradition? Pause the video and have a go and we'll see what you've done in a moment.

Well done, it's situation ethics.

And you had that word there, situation, which is a bit of a clue, isn't it? Well done.

Now alongside the Bible as an important source of authority for many Christians and then ethical theories that have been developed over time with Christian principles, we also have teachings from church leaders themselves on these issues to do with contraception and family planning.

And in 1968, the head of the Catholic church, Pope Paul VI, issued a document called the Humanae Vitae and it's a Latin term.

Humanae meaning of human and Vitae meaning life.

So Humanae Vitae was a document that clarified the Catholic church's teaching on family planning and contraception.

Within Christian denominations, church leaders are able to explain and apply biblical teachings and other sources of authority in Christianity to more modern day settings and situations.

And this is an example of one of those where the Pope has issued something to help clarify with the developments we have in family planning and contraception.

What should the perspective be for a Catholic Christian? And this is some of the things that it says.

Quotation, each and every marital act must of necessity retain its intrinsic relationship to the procreation of human life.

And here we got that idea of procreation again.

And what this means is that anytime a married couple has sex, it should be possible to procreate.

Now it's not going to be that every time they have sex there will be procreation or a pregnancy will occur, but it should be open to that possibility because that is one of the main purposes for that sexual relationship.

So they should be able to procreate.

There shouldn't be any way or method or barrier to preventing that happening.

A second quotation, excluded is any action which either before, at the moment, or after sexual intercourse is specifically intended to prevent procreation, whether as an end or as a means.

So there are different types of contraception which can prevent procreation before, during, and even after this sexual act has happened.

And he's clarifying with this that any of these ways that prevent procreation using contraception is not allowed.

So it's quite clear teaching here that these three different steps are still covered.

And another quotation, if therefore there are well-grounded reasons for spacing births, the church teaches that the married couple may take advantage of natural cycles imminent in the reproductive system.

So this means that methods that use the natural cycle, could be called the rhythm method, are acceptable for family planning.

Because you are spacing out the births in the most natural way possible in that you're looking at the woman's menstrual cycles.

So normally that's around 28 days between when a woman's period comes and there's going to be times where she's more likely to get pregnant and less likely to get pregnant, and people actually track that for when they're trying to get pregnant.

So it's kind of the flip side.

You can track it to see when you might be less likely to get pregnant, but it's not preventing it all together and it's not a 100% method of contraception because you can still get pregnant.

So this says that methods that use the natural cycle rhythm method are acceptable for family planning.

So let's do a quick check.

Which of the following is a method of family planning accepted in the Humanae Vitae? Sterilisation, artificial contraception, withdrawal method, or rhythm method? Which of these was accepted in that text then? Pause the video and have a go and we'll see what you've done in a moment.

Well done, it's the rhythm method, sometimes called natural family planning.

All the others would be seen as wrong because they were artificially stopping pregnancy happening either before, during, or after the sexual act.

Well done.

So here we have Thomas Aquinas who's a Christian thinker who's influenced lots of ideas within Christianity around different ethical and moral decisions.

Saint Thomas Aquinas developed a theory known as Natural Law.

He believed there's a natural order to the world and this was created by God.

He proposed five primary precepts that humans must follow.

And these are things that would always be right or always be wrong to break.

So for example, not lying or not taking life, doesn't depend on the situation which is different to situation ethics.

The Catholic church supports Aquinas's absolutest approach to contraception.

It applies in all situations.

It cannot be changed by humans.

The second primary precept of Natural Law, to reproduce, can be applied to contraception in the following way.

God wants humans to procreate to continue the human race.

So if you're thinking about Natural Law being from how God has sort of set up the universe, set up nature, it is natural for us to procreate and to continue to human race in that way.

So it must be the right thing for us to do this.

And this is the second primary precept of Natural Law.

Contraception prevents procreation.

So if we do something that goes against that, then we're going against that primary precept.

And God would not want humans to prevent procreation as it goes against Natural Law.

It's natural for us to reproduce, and therefore we shouldn't be preventing it because it goes against that Natural Law.

So therefore humans shouldn't ever use contraception because it goes against the natural way that God has set up for things to be.

So you can see here that this is absolutist, it's not based on the situation like situation ethics was, which we looked at earlier.

So time for a quick check.

What's the missing word? A person that believes that whether something is right or wrong applies in all situations and must always be followed is called an, what? Pause the video and have a go and we'll see what you've done in a moment.

It's called an absolutist.

So the rules are absolute, they're either right or wrong.

Absolutely it's not decided on the situations.

Well done.

So time for a practise task to see what we've learned.

You're going to complete this table with a teaching from each of the sources that could be used for the topic of contraception and family planning.

So we've looked at quite a lot today already, and you're going to summarise the teaching that could be linked to contraception and family planning from each of these sources.

So firstly we've got situation ethics, the Bible, Humanae Vitae, and Natural Law theory.

How could each of these be used for the topic of contraception and family planning? Pause the video and have a go and we'll see what you've done in a moment.

Well done, some good thinking there, and we've covered lots of different sources today already.

So for situation ethics, you could have said that you could use contraception if it's the most loving thing to do in a situation.

For the Bible, you could have used the quote be fruitful and multiply.

For Humanae Vitae, you could have said each and every marital act must of necessity retain its intrinsic relationship to the procreation of life.

And for Natural Law theory, you could have said that using contraception goes against God's natural order to procreate, which is the second primary precept.

Well done.

So onto our second section then, Christian views on contraception.

So whilst we've looked at some of the church teachings from different denominations around contraception, Christians might belong to a specific denomination, but they can also use their own conscience to answer ethical questions about family planning and contraception.

So sometimes we might have the teaching of a particular church or denomination, but that doesn't mean that the people who attend that church or say they're part of that church also follow those in their own decision making.

Sometimes it might mean they don't follow the exact teachings of the denomination, but they have their own personal Christian worldview.

And we can use social science methods to find out personal views on ethical questions about contraception and family planning.

And it can also give us an insight into how far people follow those Christian teachings.

So one method is to use a survey and that's a method that's used a lot by social scientists in order to gather data on different opinions and attitudes and behaviours of people in a society.

So in a survey, respondents may be given different options and then answer data can be turned into numbers, which is qualitative data.

So then that can be compared across places, across times, and across types of people.

So what could we find out with a survey then? Is it morally right or wrong to use contraception? Do people feel within those different denominations that it is right or wrong to use contraception? Well, in 2016 in a survey in the United States, some Christians were asked that very question.

They were asked about their views about the use of contraception.

What do you think they might have said? Pause the video and have a think and see if you can predict what they said.

So we can see here the data's been organised into Protestant and Catholic and then unaffiliated, which means they're not part of those particular main groups.

And I wonder whether their figures match up to what you predicted.

Here we've got the majority of Protestant Christians saying it's not a moral issue.

So it's not really to do with being right or wrong, basically it could be up to the couple whether they decide to use contraception or not.

And then we've got 48%, which is just under half of the Catholic respondents saying the same thing.

And then if we look at the morally wrong column, so who is saying that it's absolutely wrong and shouldn't be done, 4% of Protestants and then we've got 8% of Catholics that are saying this too.

I wonder how much this matched up to your predictions.

So what does not a moral issue mean then? Well, that means that it's seen as it's not an issue of it being right or wrong, it's just personal choice and there's not those moral consequences to it.

Does this data correlate with the Catholic Christian teachings then? So we said that 48% said that it was not a moral issue.

It's not to do with being right or wrong, but what were the Catholic teachings that we were learning about in the second section of this lesson? Does that correlate with it? Pause the video and have a think and we'll see what you've come up with in a moment.

Well, not really because in this survey only 8% have said it's morally wrong, whereas actually the Catholic church's teachings was that it's wrong and that it shouldn't be done before, during, or after the sexual act and only natural methods of contraception, as in the rhythm method, was allowed.

That was quite clear teaching from the Pope there that it is morally wrong, but only 8% of the Catholics actually said it was wrong and almost half of them have said it's not even a moral issue.

So why might this data not correlate with the Catholic church's teachings then? Can you think of any reasons? Pause the video and have a think and we'll see what you've come up with in a moment.

Well this shows us that people don't always fully follow the teachings of their religion and they're happy to say in a survey that they're Catholic and that they also don't think contraception is a moral issue in contrast to those teachings from the church itself.

So this is an example of why religious studies will often say some or most Christians rather than all.

Because even if the church teaching is quite strong for or against a certain thing, we don't know how many people who belong to that religion would actually have that view too.

So let's do a quick check.

What percent of Catholics in the survey believe that using contraception is morally acceptable? So it's okay to use contraception.

What percent of Catholics in the survey said that? Pause the video and have a think and we'll see what you've come up with in a moment.

Well done, 41%.

So we can also use social science methods to find out personal views on ethical questions about contraception and family planning.

And this might also give us an insight into how far people follow those Christian teachings.

So one method could be interview questions where open answers which are respondents' own words.

So it gives us qualitative data.

So they're longer answers, but they can be more in-depth and they can go into a little bit more detail as to why people might have these different views.

So we could ask, do you think it's okay to use contraception to prevent pregnancy and should we use family planning methods? And Jun is going to interview some Christians and ask them these ethical questions.

So Jun asks Fiona, who's an Anglican Christian, which is the Church of England.

As an Anglican Christian, Fiona, do you think it's okay to use contraception to prevent pregnancy? Should we use family planning methods? And Fiona says, I believe that using situation ethics is a good way to decide because it supports Jesus's teachings of love and kindness towards others.

In this way, a woman can decide considering her own personal circumstances if planning for family using contraception is the right choice.

And now Jun's gonna ask David, another Anglican Christian, how might you answer our questions on contraception and family planning? And David says, I believe that although God told humans to be fruitful, he didn't want us to have children regardless of our situation.

Using our conscience is important.

I use artificial contraception to plan when we have children as part of having a happy and loving family.

My church leaders have not forbidden using it.

So David is in the Anglican church which allows for the use of something like situation ethics and personal conscience to decide whether contraception would be right or not in that couple.

Time for a quick check.

All Christians interpret be fruitful and multiply in the same way.

Remember, this is the command that was given to Adam and Eve in the book of Genesis at the beginning of the Bible, the first humans on Earth to be fruitful and multiply.

Do all Christians interpret that in the same way today? Pause the video and have a think and we'll see what you come up with in a moment.

That is false, but why? Well, some Christians interpret it to mean they shouldn't use contraception to stop procreation, but others consider it alongside situation ethics and their conscience to plan procreation.

They might not read that story in a literal way.

So here we have Jun asking Danielle about her views on contraception and family planning.

As a Roman Catholic Christian, Danielle, how would you answer our two questions? And Danielle says, as an absolutist, I believe that natural law is important, as God told humans to be fruitful.

I therefore do not use any form of artificial contraception.

However, I do use the rhythm method for family planning as Catholic teachings allow this.

I believe that God will help provide for anyone that has children.

So Danielle's saying here, she's absolutist, which means that she doesn't depend her decision on particular circumstances or situations, but that because of Natural Law, it's just the natural orders things, we are to be fruitful and to procreate.

But she is using, however, family planning, that rhythm method of tracking her cycle of when she's less likely to get pregnant.

And Jun's gonna ask Niamh.

Niamh, you're also a Roman Catholic Christian, what are your views on our two questions? And Niamh says, although the Catholic church teaches not to use artificial contraception, I believe it's a part of everyday modern life for a woman to be able to decide if and when she wants to have children.

So Niamh here is showing us the view of some of those respondents to that survey who were Roman Catholic Christians but didn't necessarily follow the teachings that were set out in the Humanae Vitae.

She says, I believe that planning for family ensures my husband and I don't have children we can't afford to look after.

So I take the contraceptive pill.

We use our conscience to do the right thing in our circumstances.

So Niamh's view seems to go against the Catholic church's teachings.

However, individual members can make their own informed decisions.

Some Catholic Christians believe there aren't fixed absolute sets of rules like Natural Law.

They believe God has given humans the knowledge to think carefully about family planning.

They believe their conscience will guide them to use contraception in the right way, for example, as population control or to prevent spreading sexually transmitted diseases.

So let's do another check.

Which of the following is the correct source of authority for the quotation be fruitful and multiply? Where was this from? Situation ethics, Humanae Vitae, Natural Law, or the Bible.

Pause the video and have a go and we'll see what you've done in a moment.

Well done, that was from the Bible.

Remember it was in Genesis and said to Adam and Eve.

So let's do another practise task to see what we've learned.

Here is a full evaluation question using a statement about artificial contraception.

No Christian should use artificial contraception.

And what you are going to do is write the first paragraph to support the statement and refer to religious Christian arguments.

So you're going to give one paragraph that supports the statement that no Christian should ever use artificial contraception.

So you're going to write the first paragraph to support this statement and refer to religious or Christian arguments.

So you might bring in some of those arguments from the Roman Catholic Church, the Roman Catholic teachings, the quotation from the Bible about be fruitful and multiply, ideas to do with natural moral law.

So when you're ready, pause the video and off you go and we'll see what you've done in a moment.

So I asked you to look at this evaluation question statement, no Christian should use artificial contraception.

And you were writing one paragraph showing some views to support this.

And your answer might look like this.

Some Christians believe that they should not use artificial contraception because the Bible says be fruitful and multiply, which they interpret to mean they should have many children.

This is important because if God told them to do this, they should respect his instructions.

Some Christians also believe they should follow the teaching of Humanae Vitae, which forbids the use of artificial contraception on the basis that procreation should always be possible when married couples have sex.

This was taught by a pope who Catholics believe is an important source of authority to follow.

Some Christians also believe that contraception goes against Natural Law because God wants humans to procreate.

This is important because it supports Bible teachings.

So well done for your hard work there.

So let's summarise everything we've learned today then.

Different religious views about contraception.

People may answer ethical questions about contraception and family planning differently.

Christians may use different sources of authority and teachings to answer these questions, which leads to diverse views.

Some Christians use situation ethics to work out the most loving decision.

Roman Catholic Christians may use Humanae Vitae and an absolutist approach to Natural Law for teachings on contraception and family planning.

We can use social science methods to find out people's views on these issues, including the use of surveys and interviews.

So well done for your hard work today and I'll see you again soon.

Bye-bye.