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Keywords

Marriage, procreation

Abstract

Children are a gift from God. Psalm 127:3 says, “Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, The fruit of the womb is a reward” (NKJV). They are not only a gift, but a natural result of the sexual expression of marriage. This naturalness is reinforced by God’s command to Adam and Eve to procreate (Genesis 1:28). Because of the value of children and the mandate given to the first parents, it is no surprise that marriage and procreation are tightly linked. Many believe it is wrong for fertile couples to never have children. However, an analysis of the purpose of marriage, natural law, and the biblical evidence suggests that though marriage as a general principle ought to lead to procreation, it is not morally wrong for married couples to never have children.

DOI

10.15385/jce.2012.12.1.2

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

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