• Starting today August 7th, 2024, in order to post in the Married Couples, Courting Couples, or Singles forums, you will not be allowed to post if you have your Marital status designated as private. Announcements will be made in the respective forums as well but please note that if yours is currently listed as Private, you will need to submit a ticket in the Support Area to have yours changed.

  • Christian Forums is looking to bring on new moderators to the CF Staff Team! If you have been an active member of CF for at least three months with 200 posts during that time, you're eligible to apply! This is a great way to give back to CF and keep the forums running smoothly! If you're interested, you can submit your application here!

gzt

The age of the Earth is 4.54 ± 0.07 billion years
Jul 14, 2004
10,621
1,906
Abolish ICE
Visit site
✟144,806.00
Country
United States
Faith
Eastern Orthodox
Marital Status
Private
From OrthodoxWiki:


https://orthodoxwiki.org/Birth_Control_and_Contraception

That should answer your question.
 
Upvote 0

jckstraw72

Doin' that whole Orthodox thing
Dec 9, 2005
10,160
1,145
40
South Canaan, PA
Visit site
✟71,942.00
Faith
Eastern Orthodox
Marital Status
Engaged
Politics
US-Republican
Nope, am neither. Hope that helps.
It actually doesn't help at all.

Feel free to quote a saint who wrote approvingly of contraception.
 
Upvote 0

jckstraw72

Doin' that whole Orthodox thing
Dec 9, 2005
10,160
1,145
40
South Canaan, PA
Visit site
✟71,942.00
Faith
Eastern Orthodox
Marital Status
Engaged
Politics
US-Republican
Yes, I can read. Even into the 1960s and 1970s the various jurisdictions were teaching against contraception. Any acceptance of it is at best 40-50 years old ... out of 2,000 years of teaching ...
 
Upvote 0

gzt

The age of the Earth is 4.54 ± 0.07 billion years
Jul 14, 2004
10,621
1,906
Abolish ICE
Visit site
✟144,806.00
Country
United States
Faith
Eastern Orthodox
Marital Status
Private
And saints have been wrong, too! We can't be trying to be more Catholic than the Pope, as the saying goes, we can only admit that, at the very least, the position isn't ignorance or deliberate misinformation but rather a common part of Orthodox thought, as represented by statements from various jurisdictions. It seems imprecise to not acknowledge that on a forum for Orthodoxy broadly speaking rather than a rigorist board.
 
Upvote 0

gzt

The age of the Earth is 4.54 ± 0.07 billion years
Jul 14, 2004
10,621
1,906
Abolish ICE
Visit site
✟144,806.00
Country
United States
Faith
Eastern Orthodox
Marital Status
Private
What an odd assertion. Anyway, here's Met Kallistos Ware on the subject - this is not an official source but it is a metropolitan bishop who is highly regarded as an expert in a book [The Orthodox Way] that is highly regarded:

For the OP, I hope that helps answer your questions.
 
Upvote 0

jckstraw72

Doin' that whole Orthodox thing
Dec 9, 2005
10,160
1,145
40
South Canaan, PA
Visit site
✟71,942.00
Faith
Eastern Orthodox
Marital Status
Engaged
Politics
US-Republican
In the past birth control was in general strongly condemned, but today a less strict view is coming to prevail, not only in the west but in traditional Orthodox countries.

If only that darn, pesky Truth wasn't unchanging. Darn Truth!
 
Upvote 0

jckstraw72

Doin' that whole Orthodox thing
Dec 9, 2005
10,160
1,145
40
South Canaan, PA
Visit site
✟71,942.00
Faith
Eastern Orthodox
Marital Status
Engaged
Politics
US-Republican
In 1957, the Greek Archdiocese Yearbook made the following statement:

“If a husband and wife do not desire to have any children, they ought to abstain from all conjugal relations until they are able to have children, and then to come together again in sexual union, relying entirely and solely on God’s omniscience. The use of contraceptive devices for the prevention of childbirth is forbidden and condemned unreservedly by the Greek Orthodox Church.”
(Greek Archdiocese Yearbook – 1957, pp. 50-51)

In agreement, Archbishop John Shahovskoy says that we must not interfere with procreation:

The Church of Christ suggests a way, of which the Gospel revelation speaks quite clearly. Continence outside a marriage, and continence in marriage itself. So says the word of God, and such is the understanding of the word by [the] best Christians of history . . . The Orthodox Church, without doubt, categorically rejects interference with the mystery of childbirth.
(Abp John Shahovskoy, 1961 Yearbook of the Metropolia)

Metropolitan Kallistos Ware, in the first edition (1963) of his famous book, “The Orthodox Church”, simply points out:

“Artificial methods of birth control are forbidden in the Orthodox Church.” (did the Truth change, or did Met. Kallistos change?)

for a extensive look at what the authorities of the Church actually teach, see the article here: https://theorthodoxlife.wordpress.com/2015/05/18/sacred-seed-sacred-chamber/
 
Upvote 0