Christ's Teachings

[HisChildForever]

Why do none of the Gospels (or Epistles, as far as I'm aware) address...

 

contraception? what constitutes a mortal sin? Purgatory? abortion?

 

For example, Jesus spoke about Heaven and Hell, but not Purgatory, and as the Church teaches contraception as such an intrinsic evil, why did Christ never address this? And if He did, why wouldn't the Gospel authors include it? I understand that we as Catholics go by both Scripture and Tradition, but in many respects the two overlap, which is why I don't understand why such core Catholic teachings don't seem to be found in Scripture. :idontknow:

[Oremoose]

I don't know the facts but did they have Contraception way back when? I know that there was something similar already in place with the Mosaic law so ma be  the authors did not see it for to include them because it was already denounced with the old Covenant.

[HisChildForever]

I don't know the facts but did they have Contraception way back when? I know that there was something similar already in place with the Mosaic law so ma be  the authors did not see it for to include them because it was already denounced with the old Covenant.

 

Yes - obviously not pills or injections but if anything there was superstitious belief that whatever concoction would prevent pregnancy or cause abortion. Even if it didn't work, the contraceptive mindset was there.

 

St. Paul spoke about marriage in the Epistles, so I don't even understand why he wouldn't take the time to address this. 

[Era Might]

Part of the problem is that people in the past do not look at the world as we do (although we usually just assume they did). Our preconceptions, our preoccupations, our emphases, our problems, were not necessarily theirs, or were not necessarily seen, experienced, perceived, communicated, etc. as we do.

[Maggyie]

Personally I think St. Paul left out a LOT of truths about marriage that could have been included! The gospel writers and others were inspired, but human.They focused on the issues of the time. Look at all the attention they give circumcising the Gentiles. I read all the angst about that in scripture and I feel they are writing from outer space. But that's what the hot topic was back then.

 

Nowadays we don't have worries about circumcision, our community is instead being split open by the contraceptive mentality and arguments about whether it is OK or not. I am sure if we transported someone from 1st century Palestine to the current age they would think we are huge weirdos for arguing about the Pill (obviously it's not OK) and they would demand to know if in the 21st century church, we require the foreskin to be removed before ordination.

 

It's possible Jesus himself did speak on these issues, but those particular thoughts were not considered worth recording (or other themes were more important). Then again keep in mind Jesus also "be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect" - it's clear that distinctions between mortal and venial sins were not vital for the message the gospels were trying to convey. That's not to say the distinctions are not important in practical terms (it's very important for the church to point out that someone who commits murder is different than someone who swears when they hit their thumb with a hammer). But in summarizing the teaching and life of Jesus in a time of limited resources when most of this was spread by word of mouth, the gospels are just going to hit the high points so to speak.

[Nihil Obstat]

Jesus' mission, so to speak, was less to lay down minutiae, and more to bring the mystery of the Incarnation to His people, and to sacrifice Himself for our salvation.
The minutiae, the 'rules', are easy in comparison. And He left the Magisterium for that. But nobody save God Himself could have revealed Himself as the Word made Flesh.

 

Posts like these make me wish I were less strict about how I capitalize God-related words... <_<

[Socrates]

(double post)

 

Edited July 6, 2013 by Socrates

[Socrates]

Why do none of the Gospels (or Epistles, as far as I'm aware) address...

 

contraception? what constitutes a mortal sin? Purgatory? abortion?

 

For example, Jesus spoke about Heaven and Hell, but not Purgatory, and as the Church teaches contraception as such an intrinsic evil, why did Christ never address this? And if He did, why wouldn't the Gospel authors include it? I understand that we as Catholics go by both Scripture and Tradition, but in many respects the two overlap, which is why I don't understand why such core Catholic teachings don't seem to be found in Scripture. :idontknow:

 

1) As you acknowledge, as Catholics we are not sola scriptura - there are many particulars related to faith and morals found in the Church's constant teaching tradition which are not explicitly written down in Sacred Scripture.  This was not an issue for most of the Church's history, as that protestant error did not become common until over 1500 years after the coming of Christ.  (Of course, the protestant doctrine of sola scriptura itself has no Biblical basis.)

 

2)  The chief purpose of the four Gospels is to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ and His message of salvation.  The Gospels were never intended to be an exhaustive list of every single detail of the Church's moral and theological teachings.  (There are many, many particulars of moral and theological teaching not written out in the Gospels, and to include all of them would make an extremely long book.)

 

Jesus Christ preached primarily to the Jews, and in fact did not change the moral law given to the Jews (as opposed to the ritual law).  In fact, where Christ's moral teachings contrasted with those of the Law of Moses, Jesus taught people to go further than the minimum prescribed by the law (see the Sermon on the Mount).  

Pious 1st century Jews would have regarded abortion, contraception, and sexual immorality as evil, and there was thus not the need for Jesus to "preach to the choir" against these evils. Abortion and contraception are both condemned in the Didache, a non-canonical late first century list of moral teachings of Christ's disciples which is nearly as old as the written Gospels themselves, and these teachings are consistently affirmed by the teachings of the early Church Fathers - and remain constant in the Church's teachings to this day.

The tale in Genesis of Onan being struck down by God for "spilling his seed" to avoid conceiving a child was traditionally read as a condemnation of both contraception and masturbation.

 

(Read some good articles here: "Abortion, Contraception, and the Church Fathers," and "The History of Contraception Teachings.")

 

Odd as it may seem now, contraception was never even a controversial issue among Christians until very recent times - with even protestants unanimously regarding it as always immoral prior to the 1930s.

 

The idea of Purgatory is implicit in Maccabees, which states that "it is a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead."  (If the dead were all already in heaven or hell, praying for them would be pointless.) 

[HisChildForever]

Thank you for all of your replies - sorry to be so late in responding, I was away this weekend. When I have time I'll post some more thoughts. :)

[MissyP89]

I've always looked at this passage for mortal sin:

 

1 John 5:16-17.

 

If anyone sees his brother sinning, if the sin is not deadly, he should pray to God and he will give him life. This is only for those whose sin is not deadly. There is such a thing as deadly sin, about which I do not say that you should pray. All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that is not deadly.

[Seven77]

To reiterate and add to what has been said already---

 

 

The Church gave us the Holy Scriptures. The same Church that Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would guide into all truth. It's the Magisterium of the Church that safeguards and enunciates the Teaching of Christ, that comes to us from the Apostles (Sacred Tradition). There are kernels of Scripture references that address purgatory, contraception and mortal sin.  Check out this website for the verses: http://www.askacatholic.com/holyquotes/documents/_all_catholic_verses.htm

[HisChildForever]

2)  The chief purpose of the four Gospels is to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ and His message of salvation.  The Gospels were never intended to be an exhaustive list of every single detail of the Church's moral and theological teachings.  (There are many, many particulars of moral and theological teaching not written out in the Gospels, and to include all of them would make an extremely long book.)

 

I suppose I'm just uncertain why Paul, who sought to convert the Gentiles, wouldn't include teachings against contraception alongside his teachings on marriage and gender roles (in the epistles).

[KnightofChrist]

Just for the record.
 

The early Christian community upheld the sanctity of marriage, marital love and human life. In the New Testament, the word "pharmakeia" appears, which some scholars link to the birth control issue. "Pharmakeia" denotes the mixing of potions for secretive purposes, and from Soranos and others, evidence exists of artificial birth control potions. Interestingly, "Pharmakeia" is sometimes translated as "sorcery?" in English. In three passages in which "pharmakeia" appears, other sexual sins are also condemned: lewd conduct, impurity, licentiousness, orgies "and the like" (e.g. Gal 5:19-21). This evidence highlights that the early Church condemned anything which violated the integrity of marital love.

 

Source: http://www.ewtn.com/library/ANSWERS/HISTCONT.HTM

[HisChildForever]

That's a helpful and concise article, thanks.