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.
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?)
I'll stand with, uh, my bishops. EDIT: https://oca.org/holy-synod/statemen...age-family-sexuality-and-the-sanctity-of-life If you want it. From 1992.Married couples may express their love in sexual union without always intending the conception of a child, but only those means of controlling conception within marriage are acceptable which do not harm a fetus already conceived.
It could be that he updated to include more accurate information. If the Church can't be wrong but it's now saying something different from what one source reported earlier, perhaps the earlier source was just this guy, you know? It's so odd that these official statements differ from these random guys on the internet...Sadly, I fear this must be the question we must be aware of. Given some hints of possible changes on other topics recently ...
Well gzt, to be honest -It could be that he updated to include more accurate information. If the Church can't be wrong but it's now saying something different from what one source reported earlier, perhaps the earlier source was just this guy, you know? It's so odd that these official statements differ from these random guys on the internet...
This quote doesn't actually say "contraception is perfectly ok".The OCA Synod states in their encyclial:
I'll stand with, uh, my bishops. EDIT: https://oca.org/holy-synod/statemen...age-family-sexuality-and-the-sanctity-of-life If you want it. From 1992.
You're dealing in hypotheticals, we're dealing with what is actually the case! Sure, hypothetically, if a synod said murder was fine - but are you really going to assert that this is what's going on right now? That's a pretty weighty accusation. Do you really want to accuse the bishops of the Church who are charged with rightly dividing the word of truth of that?!But even if several official jurisdications say - softened their stance on same-sex activity - that doesn't mean I'd embrace it. Even if I were a person who was same-sex attracted or for some other reason had deep personal reasons for wanting it to be true.
.
I've never said that, either! That's not what's at issue - it's that , to quote my original statement, contraception is not per se wrong and that the Church is not against birth control (and that one poster was wrong to say that people who say that are misinformed or lying). The orthowiki I quoted earlier has a fair statement of what I mean: the Church "may be fairly described as the teaching that non-abortifacient contraception is acceptable if it is used with the blessing of one's spiritual father, and if it is not used to avoid having children for purely selfish reasons." This statement is apparently beyond the pale to some.This quote doesn't actually say "contraception is perfectly ok".
It says that not every instance of sexual activity needs to have the purpose of creating children. It says that methods of contraception which harm a fetus are not allowed.
The rest needs to be discussed with one's priest. The real spiritual question is the couple's motives. The OP asked if NFP was allowed. Presumably it would be but the real question will be why the couple doesn't want to conceive.
You're dealing in hypotheticals, we're dealing with what is actually the case! Sure, hypothetically, if a synod said murder was fine - but are you really going to assert that this is what's going on right now? That's a pretty weighty accusation. Do you really want to accuse the bishops of the Church who are charged with rightly dividing the word of truth of that?!
Not to nitpick, but his first edition was published 3 years before he was ordained a priest. Isn't it conceivable that his later editions reflect a better understanding of the issue based on what he saw and experienced pastorally as both a priest and a Bishop? I think that's the problem with threads like this. It's largely a pastoral issue. our bishops should be having these kinds of conversations with each other and with their priests so that they know how to deal with parishioners. Laity should be having the conversation with their priest rather than arguing on the internet.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?)
He was also, like, only in his late 20s at the time.Not to nitpick, but his first edition was published 3 years before he was ordained a priest. Isn't it conceivable that his later editions reflect a better understanding of the issue based on what he saw and experienced pastorally as both a priest and a Bishop? I think that's the problem with threads like this. It's largely a pastoral issue. our bishops should be having these kinds of conversations with each other and with their priests so that they know how to deal with parishioners. Laity should be having the conversation with their priest rather than arguing on the internet.
This is true - it would be much more profitable to ask one's priest and then be able to explore any nuances.Not to nitpick, but his first edition was published 3 years before he was ordained a priest. Isn't it conceivable that his later editions reflect a better understanding of the issue based on what he saw and experienced pastorally as both a priest and a Bishop? I think that's the problem with threads like this. It's largely a pastoral issue. our bishops should be having these kinds of conversations with each other and with their priests so that they know how to deal with parishioners. Laity should be having the conversation with their priest rather than arguing on the internet.
Laity should be having the conversation with their priest rather than arguing on the internet.
The problem is if someone just flat-out says that contraception is OK, then this conversation isn't even necessary.
But if we maintain that the Church's standard is against contraception, but yet there is economia, then this conversation comes into play.
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?