Natural Family Planning
Separating the Men from the Boys
Tuesday, August 26th, 2008“Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the Church” (Eph. 5:25). The problem is, most of us can’t just flip a switch and love our wives “as Christ loved the Church,” even if–especially if–we understand the depth of St. Paul’s words. Nonetheless, we realize that the Apostle to the Gentiles is trying to give [...]
Contraception and the Sexual Revolution
Monday, February 25th, 2008There is less talk today about the Sexual Revolution than there was in the eighties, and that’s because the revolution has become institutionalized. What seemed revolutionary in the 1960s became commonplace by the end of the 20th century. Back in the 1950s, contraception, though widely practiced by non-Catholics, was still a taboo subject; people didn’t [...]
Humanae Vitae and Three Natures
Monday, January 28th, 2008In last month’s commentary we looked at the teaching of Humanae Vitae from the perspective of the authority of the Church to teach about human love. Specifically, we saw that Jesus at the Last Supper promised that the Holy Spirit would continue to guide the Apostles and their successors in teaching the truth, including the [...]
What God Has Joined
Thursday, November 29th, 2007In this month’s installment of John Kippley’s ongoing series leading up to the 40th anniversary of Humanae Vitae, he addresses the myth that contraception leads to a greater incidence of intact, fulfilling marriages. Rather, contraception undermines not only the procreative but also the unitive dimension of the marriage bond, thereby contributing to the alarming divorce rate not only on a societal level, but even [...]
More on “For Your Marriage” Site
Wednesday, November 21st, 2007Regarding our recent post on the U.S. Bishops’ new “For Your Marriage” website, we received the following comment from marriage and family expert John F. Kippley regarding the site’s recommendation of the work of Dr. Richard Gaillardetz: “Thanks for directing me to the long analysis of the works of the dissenting theologian, Dr. Richard Gaillardetz. [...]
More on Contraception
Tuesday, September 25th, 2007As part of his series of posts on Humanae Vitae, expert John F. Kippley briskly shreds the argument that scientific advances in contraceptive techniques justify their use, and he also points out the “good science” behind natural family planning. For more in-depth treatment, see the resources offered at the end of Mr. Kippley’s article, which CUF [...]
In Defense of Humanae Vitae
Thursday, August 23rd, 2007Today Humanae Vitae and NFP expert John Kippley addresses the “totality” argument that some dissenting theologians have used to justify the morality of contraception. The Argument from Totality by John Kippley In the mid-Sixties, some of the would-be revisionists developed an argument called the Argument from the Totality of the Marriage. Its principal theological proponents [...]
Ends, Means, and Speaking the Truth
Friday, July 27th, 2007Here is the final installment of the series of articles we are posting on this blog in observance of “NFP week.” We hope you’ve found the series helpful! The End Does Not Homogenize the Means by John F. Kippley Most Christians recognize that the end does not justify the means. Many recall St. Paul’s allusions [...]
NFP Week Continues
Wednesday, July 25th, 2007Here is the next installment of the series of articles we are posting on this blog in observance of “NFP week.” This article is particularly timely, not only in its connecting NFP with conversions and thus the “new evangelization,” but also in light of the fact that today marks the 39th anniversary of the publication [...]
Explaining Humanae Vitae
Monday, July 23rd, 2007In his 1968 encyclical, Humanae Vitae (Concerning Human Life), Pope Paul VI reaffirmed the traditional teaching of the Catholic Church that it is the grave matter of mortal sin for married couples to use unnatural methods of birth control. This teaching is widely misunderstood and not widely followed. This is the first of a series [...]