Bible Studies on Family Planning

by Judith and Richard Brown

Medical missionaries, Chogoria Hospital,

Box 35, Chogoria, Kenya. Email: Richard_Brown@maf.org

Family planning programs in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, began in the 1960s in a Protestant health center and later expanded to other centers run by the government and churches. During the 1980s, major donors funded efforts in clinical services, as well as public education through posters, flip charts, radio, and television.

 

Then, in 1991, military and civil unrest led to the abrupt departure of nearly all donor organizations and, with them, the funding for family planning. During the next four years, stocks of contraceptives in Kinshasa dwindled, and many experienced Congolese family planning workers turned to other activities.

 

Early in 1996, the medical office of the national Protestant coordinating agency (Eglise du Christ au Congo, or ECC) began efforts to revitalize family planning services. During a two-year period, with modest grants from the World Bank and the Presbyterian Church (USA), the ECC helped more than 30 church and government health centers in Kinshasa re-establish clinical services offering oral contraceptives, injectables, and IUDs.

 

In the process, we and our colleagues at the ECC discovered that the four-year lack of public information had allowed opposition to family planning to grow, particularly among Protestant pastors and church members. They were simply misinformed about reproductive physiology and the action mechanisms of modern contraceptives. Their objections, however, were phrased in religious and biblical terms. Some individuals were quite outspoken, spreading their message through radio preaching and neighborhood prayer groups.

 

Our team adopted two approaches to family planning education.

• First, we emphasized clear explanations of contraceptives and their action.

 
• Second, we sought advice on the Bible passages that family planning opponents most often cited.

The Bible study process covered several months. We first considered each passage in our team's weekly Bible study. Subsequently, we asked a number of pastors and theologians to comment on the passages. We then submitted the Bible passages to public discussion, both in churches and in health centers.

Discussing the Bible during health talks, even in government health centers, was not at all unusual in Kinshasa. Religion and the Bible were lively current topics. In fact, biblical arguments could often be heard in crowded public markets. Health workers could easily cite and discuss Bible passages. They encouraged questions and comments and later made notes on what different people said.
 
 

The ECC medical office then produced a booklet in French entitled, "Be Fruitful: Bible Studies on Responsible Parenthood". The booklet contains the following 11 one-page studies:
 

On each page, a Bible passage is printed in full, followed by questions for reflection, and a number of comments from men, women, pastors, a grandmother, a teacher, and others are shown verbatim (see examples in accompanying boxes).

Readers were encouraged to think about the passages themselves and to discuss them with friends. The passages stimulated much discussion and helped shed light on the subjects of parenthood, husband-wife relations, and planning for the future. During the Bible studies, participants frequently asked for technical information on modern contraceptives, which the ECC team provided in a companion booklet.

 

 
 
 
 
 

In conclusion, we encourage readers to read, reflect on, and use these and other Bible passages on the subjects of sexuality and family life. We welcome comments on these passages, especially comments from Third World Christians.

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A Sample Page from the Booklet "Be Fruitful" GENESIS 1:27-28 AT THE CREATION God created man in the image of himself, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them. God blessed them, saying to them, "Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and subdue it. Be masters of the fish of the sea, the birds of heaven and all the living creatures that move on earth." Questions for reflection -- Reflect as a group on the meaning of the words "image of God" and "subdue the earth". -- To whom did God give these instructions: to the first human beings long ago, or to us also in our day?  -- Do these verses say anything on the subject of family planning? -- Do they forbid the use of contraceptive methods? Some comments A woman: "The image of God" means a being who acts with love, wisdom, intelligence, and reasoning. A theologian: The idea of "the image of God" is the foundation of human dignity. Thus it is with dignity that the human being must be conceived and born. We must take human dignity into account when we "fill the earth". A pastor: This commandment to "fill the earth": it's probably the only one we have obeyed ... A man: Children? Yes, you should have them, but not in a disorderly way. "Be fruitful" and "multiply" -- those are not synonyms for disorder. A pastor: Yes, these verses say something about family planning. God gave the couple the ability to have children and to reason, in order to plan a birth in an orderly way, with wisdom.