I was thinking about this today. In the Bible, God told Adam and Eve to go forth and multiply. So, for Christians, is it considered a sin to not want to procreate? If some Christians don't ever want to have children, is that a sin, against the Word of their God?
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from an atheist to a christian, even though this probably won't sound as good, no. If your god wants you to be happy then it wouldn't care if you didn't want children, so long as you're happy.
I think the sin should be to procreate when you have no parenting skills at all. There should be a law that takes children away from people unfit to parent them. This would certainly make the world a much better place.
You seem to be of the understanding that because God told Adam and Eve to go forth and multiply that every Christian should likewise do the same or be damned for eternity. This is simply not true, and the leap from one quote in the bible to your opening question is a vast leap in order to make some kind of point.
Your argument would also stand true that if all Christians did not build an Ark in order to survive floods then they too are committing sin because God told Noah to build an ark.
No, it's not. What if someone was unable to have children? Would it be a sin?
Thanks for your responses.
I hear you, SlowJoe23. | Trevor: the unfit to parent part, I get. But shouldn't be allowed to procreate when one has no parenting skills? No one's born with parenting skills (though some may have some idea beforehand).
Paw42UK: I can't see where I mentioned that because God said Adam and Eve should go forth and multiply, that every Christian should therefore do the same. I was asking a question, something I'm curious about - not making a point, not stating what I believed to be true or not, not putting forth an argument - just a question. You answered it, so thanks. You don't believe it to be true. | Sorry if I touched a nerve as it feels like I did from your response. That was not my intention. I'm just a very inquisitive person.
DTommy79: my question was about Christians who might choose not to ever have children, not about those who are unable to.
You did not touch any nerve, it is the way the opening statement is framed,
"In the Bible, God told Adam and Eve to go forth and multiply. So, for Christians, is it considered a sin to not want to procreate?"
I just don't see the link, it's arbitrary to link the two together, and this could lead to any number of random assumptions.
If the opening question was, "Is it a sin for Christians not to want to procreate", without the link to what was said to Adam, then I wouldn't have any problem with the question. Or if you had quoted a law from God, i.e. one of the commandments that said "Go forth and multiply", again I would not have a problem, but to link one phrase spoken to one person about a given thing at a given time, and then to extrapolate that to the whole human race or at least to Christianity for eternity, is in my book loading the initial question somewhat.
I'm kinda lost, to be honest. God did say to Adam and Eve in Genesis that they should be fruitful and multiply. That was the basis of my curiosity/question. The question didn't come first. I thought of what he said, then the question came. So if that's what he said, and it's not done, is it against his word and therefore considered a sin? | I'm afraid you might be giving my brain matter more credit than it deserves regarding my question. I wasn't thinking, "let's see. How can I link the two?", or trying to load it, or thinking about the question in any particular depth. There really was no motive behind it. It wasn't calculated. The question really did come that way. I can't un-think it. | I can't quite see what you're seeing - and I appreciate you trying to explain. You can't see why and how one thought in my brain led to another. And that's OK. We're wired differently. Take care...
I am not surprised you are kind of lost, the reason I can't see how one of your thoughts in your brain led to another is in the make up of your question. Your question is made up of two unrelated parts, the first part is you thinking about the bible and God telling Adam and Eve to go and multiply.
The second part is you asking if Christians who don't want to have children if they are committing a sin.
Now stay with me here for a little longer while I try and get some more info to help me out with your question.
1. Do you believe that Adam and Eve are Christian?
2. What faith is the God you are talking about? Jewish?
3. Are you on the understanding that Christians have to do everything that is laid down in the Old Testament?
I am sorry that you can not see why I am confused, but you are kind of making assumptions that you expect me to follow. If you truly believe that Adam and Eve were Christians and that the God of the Old testament was a Christian God and that all Christians have to follow the saying of another religions God then I concede the point to you. But you must also believe that Christians must be circumcised, uphold Saturday as the sabbath and Eat kosha food.
I'm done here. Today's a new day. Take care...
I don't want to have children...I absolutely don't think that this could be a sin for a Christian....And priests and nuns? aren't they good christians?
Mirta, thanks for sharing your thoughts on that. From the replies I've received (including yours), the consensus is that it's not considered a sin. My question's been answered. Thanks for contributing. Take care...
The saying to Adam and Eve was a gift....if they don't want to use it, fine but that doesn't mean they are sinners even to themselves. However, the new testament is here and perhaps you'll agree with me its no more sin if it was then.
The saying to Adam and Eve was a gift....if they don't want to use it, fine but that doesn't mean they are sinners even to themselves. However, the new testament is here and perhaps you'll agree with me its no more sin if it was then.
This topic may lead to the use of contraceptives which Christians totally disagree. For me it's not a sin as long as you don't kill an unborn baby. The bible have too much rules but as humans we know what are good or not and what moral or not, so it can be a good basis for our belief on what is good or right.
It isn't a sin, or at least that's what I believe in. We have a choice and for me, what should be considered a sin is bearing a child when you know you would not be a good parent. I hate it when I see very poor couples having lots of kids. If you can't even provide your kid's basic needs, then you have no right to be a parent.
That's a tough one. Some would argue that the context of the time would make all the difference - God said this to Adam and Eve when they were the only two of their kind (even though the Bible clearly documents that Canaanites were living on the other side of the hill, in the villages where their sons, Cain and Abel, got their wives from), and again impressed this on the Jews when their tribes were low in numbers. Looking at the mass overcrowding of the world today, I doubt any god would say the same thing now.
Depends on how literally you want to take your Bible. I'm not a Christian so I have no skin in the game, but if I were you I'd probably just agree to obey God if he speaks directly to you - unlike Onan, who refused to procreate even when under direct orders from God to do so.
You'd need to address this question to a monk, nun, or celibate priest.
Musttt nottt do joke about nunnn...
RE: OP - Only for some. Ba-da-boom.
The original meaning of sin was "separation from god. It had nothing to do with your actions as validated by the parable of the Tax Collector. This is also the reason children can be "born into sin" the doctrine of "original sin." We are all separated from god. I have not read anyplace in the bible that not having a child is sinful unless it was outside of being married. There are passages that tell believers not to marry if they can. "The Bible does tell us that children are a blessing from God. Psalm 127:3-5 But then again it turns around and tells you to kill them if they don't turn out right.
Leviticus 20:9 ESV
For anyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death; he has cursed his father or his mother; his blood is upon him.
Proverbs 30:17 ESV
The eye that mocks a father and scorns to obey a mother will be picked out by the ravens of the valley and eaten by the vultures.
Matthew 15:4 ESV
For God commanded, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’
Mark 7:9-10 ESV
And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’
IT'S AN ABSOLUTE MYTH THAT JESUS LOVES THE LITTLE CHILDREN. He has written an Old and New Testament attesting to the fact that children are worthy of death and their best use is to slaughter them to punish kings and parents.
If we do not reproduce, the species dies out.
So your are left with two possible outcomes:
a) A "god" would prefer humans to reproduce as nature intends.
b) "he/she" does not like it, and has the intellectual capacity of a brick.
I don't know about YOU guys, but I have known people over the years whom I believe it to be a sin if they DID procreate.
Hey! Your inference did not fall on deaf ears. We all know who you are talking about!!!
@Cog
Well, if it makes you feel any better, I never had kids. Just didn't seem fair to release any more of "me" out into the world. lol
That makes two of us. Actually, I have heard that 50% of the male population in America is opting to stay single these days. I read that someplace. I suppose I have always been too selfish to get married. I like my freedom. I like traveling. The idea of settling into a home, mortgage and paying for a family is unsettling. I suppose if your goal in life is to have a family, it is a wonderful thing. It has never been something I wanted.