Vasectomy Forbidden In Bible?

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Dear all:

I am looking for the strongest possible case (from the Bible) against a vasectomy. I know that all forms of birth control were rejected using the Bible alone for a long time, but I need specific verses.
 
1"He whose testicles are crushed or whose male member is cut off shall not enter the assembly of the LORD. (Deuteronomy 23:1)
 
And how about the direct command from God to “be fruitful and multiply”?
 
Thanks for scripture passages.

I believe it is forbidden because it also goes against one of the commandment - Thou Shall Not Kill ? Catholics have never been allowed to cause any destruction to their own bodies. It would be considered a mutilation of the body.

This site was under jimmyakin.org. It explains many of physical side effects.

dontfixit.org/
 
Todd_Easton said:
1"He whose testicles are crushed or whose male member is cut off shall not enter the assembly of the LORD. (Deuteronomy 23:1)
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That doesn’t forbid anything. It just prohibits one from entering the assembly – a specific place (that no longer exists). That same chapter (I believe) also prohibits people with physical deformities. That doesn’t make it a sin to be born with a deformity.
 
Valke2 said:
That doesn’t forbid anything. It just prohibits one from entering the assembly – a specific place (that no longer exists). That same chapter (I believe) also prohibits people with physical deformities. That doesn’t make it a sin to be born with a deformity.
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You are correct; it is not a sin to be born with a deformity. (See John 9:1-41, where Jesus talks about the man born blind.)

My reason for citing Deuteronomy 23:1 was more along this line of reasoning:

It would seem that, if a man had the choice of entering the assembly of the LORD or doing something that would prohibit him from entering the assembly of the LORD, then he should choose to enter the assembly of the LORD rather than doing that which would prohibit him from entering the assembly of the LORD.

Applying this principle to Deuteronomy 23:1, it would seem that, if a man had the choice of keeping his reproductive system intact and functioning normally or deliberately doing something, like getting a vasectomy, that damages his reproductive system so that it no longer functions normally, then he should choose to keep his reproductive system intact and functioning normally rather than deliberately doing something, like getting a vasectomy, that damages his reproductive system so that it no longer functions normally.
 
Todd_Easton said:
You are correct; it is not a sin to be born with a deformity. (See John 9:1-41, where Jesus talks about the man born blind.)

My reason for citing Deuteronomy 23:1 was more along this line of reasoning:

It would seem that, if a man had the choice of entering the assembly of the LORD or doing something that would prohibit him from entering the assembly of the LORD, then he should choose to enter the assembly of the LORD rather than doing that which would prohibit him from entering the assembly of the LORD.

Applying this principle to Deuteronomy 23:1, it would seem that, if a man had the choice of keeping his reproductive system intact and functioning normally or deliberately doing something, like getting a vasectomy, that damages his reproductive system so that it no longer functions normally, then he should choose to keep his reproductive system intact and functioning normally rather than deliberately doing something, like getting a vasectomy, that damages his reproductive system so that it no longer functions normally.
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I’m not sure if there was a fad of men crushing their testicals. 🙂 THat chapter seems to be concered with physical deformities, which in biblical times were associated with spiritual deformities. I’d bet that the Church hangs its hat on the “be fruitful and mulitply” rationale.

On a (not really) related issue, what is the Church’s view of elective/plastic surgery?
 
Historical pagan cultures would certainly have eunichs. In Esther they speak of the King’s eunichs. The kings had many eunichs to entertain the women yet not be able to perform.

In the movie “Last Emperor of China” which takes place around 1920-1940 there is one scene where thousands of men present their organs in jars.

St. Paul? …
For there are some eunichs, which were so born from their mother’s womb; and there are some eunichs, which were made eunichs of men; and there be eunichs, which have made themselves eunichs for the
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From conservative Jewish site that uses Leviticus 22 to prohibit vasectomies.

yoatzot.org/question.php?id=5017
 
gam197 said:
Historical pagan cultures would certainly have eunichs. In Esther they speak of the King’s eunichs. The kings had many eunichs to entertain the women yet not be able to perform.

In the movie “Last Emperor of China” which takes place around 1920-1940 there is one scene where thousands of men present their organs in jars.

St. Paul? …

From conservative Jewish site that uses Leviticus 22 to prohibit vasectomies.
yoatzot.org/question.php?id=5017
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Very interesting. Looks like I was wrong. Thanks for the link.
 
I have a Protestant friend looking for biblical reasons why her husband should not get a vasectomy (or her not get a tubal ligation.)

I normally try not to do this but maybe a so called “reformer” or Luther, Calvin, Wesley quotes may help her as well. Prior to c.1930 Catholic and Protestants agreed on the wrongness of contraception. Do any documents exist or support that, other than Scott Hahn told me in a tape 😉 thanks.
 
Little girls do not grow up dreaming of hopping from bed to bed and contraception, they dream of a man who will sweep them off their feet, love them forever and having his many children. A cynicism born of the sexual revolution has brought emptiness to the hearts, wombs and lives of far too many modern women. This emptiness and pain can be avoided or redeemed and healed by the love of Christ and adherence to His teachings. The Catholic Church believes in such dreams because God wrote them on the human heart. And there are men who long for such a woman to love and cherish.

Real lovers want to give without reserve in God’s own superabundance creating more hearts and lives to love. Contraception is like kissing through a screen door and real love cannot tolerate obstacles. Contraception breeds selfishness and separation that drives a wedge between husband and wife that kills love. Real lovers want their love to explode into the posterity of future generations for all eternity. This is the kind of passion and fulfillment God wants for His children. Contraception limits what should be boundless. It spits in the face of this glorious passion and love’s true abandon; and that is why it is a sin. It seeks to “tame” love, thus killing it. The Catholic Church is the last bastion on earth of true romance. The modern world has suffocated love and made sex a thing of deadness.
lifeissues.net/writers/mall/m…tionkills.html

I think the best non-religious argument against contraception is the skyrocketing divorce rates that results, compared to those who use Natural Family Planning. That should speak louder than any scripture verse.
 
Isaiah 56:3-5 (New International Version)

3 Let no foreigner who has bound himself to the LORD say,
“The LORD will surely exclude me from his people.”
And let not any eunuch complain,
“I am only a dry tree.”

4 For this is what the LORD says:
**"To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths,
who choose what pleases me
and hold fast to my covenant-

5 to them I will give within my temple and its walls
a memorial and a name
better than sons and daughters;
I will give them an everlasting name
that will not be cut off.**
 
The pratice in Deut 23:1, 17 relates to temple prostitutes, it is related to false worship – cultural context is everything.

Deuteronomy 23 (Contemporary English Version)

If a man’s private parts have been crushed or cut off, he cannot fully belong to the LORD’s people.

Temple Prostitutes

Moses said:

17People of Israel, don’t any of you ever be temple prostitutes. [d] 18The LORD your God is disgusted with men and women who are prostitutes of any kind, and he will not accept a gift from them, even if it had been promised to him.

Footnotes:

Deuteronomy 23:1 a man’s private parts have been crushed or cut off: This was sometimes done to show devotion to pagan gods.

Deuteronomy 23:17 temple prostitutes: Some Canaanites worshiped by going to their temples and having sex with prostitutes that represented their gods.
 
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