While Christians take a variety of stances on contraception today, this diversity of opinion and practice is a relatively recent historical development. The majority report in Christian history has been overwhelmingly vocal in its opposition to birth control. The Early Church fathers condemned the use of contraception, leaning heavily on the negative example of Onan in Genesis 38 as evidence for their position and arguing that procreation was the primary purpose of sexual intimacy. This same basic stance was reiterated and reinforced by the Medieval monks and theologians. Even with the sweeping changes which the Reformation brought to Christians’ views of marriage and family, leading Reformers (such as Luther and Calvin) maintained the church’s historic opposition to contraception. Up through the 19th century, both Protestant denominations and the Roman Catholic church stood united in their condemnation of contraception. The first official break with this view came with the 1930 Lambeth Conference, in which the Anglican Communion cautiously opened the door for Christian use of contraception. Within a few decades, the Christian consensus on contraception had collapsed and a range of attitudes and approaches towards contraception began to develop (Ben Franks).

Other Authors

CATEGORY	CUISINE	TAG	YIELD
Eggs, Grains, Dairy		Cake	1	Servings

INGREDIENTS

2	tb	Oil
1		Egg
1	pk	Pillsbury Nut or Cranberry Quick Bread Mix
3	c	Apple pie filling; (from two 21-ounce cans)
2	ts	Cinnamon
1/2	ts	Nutmeg
1/2	c	Chopped walnuts
1/2	c	Sugar
1/2	c	Firmly packed brown sugar
1/2	c	Butter or margarine
1/2	c	Whipping cream
1	ts	Vanilla

INSTRUCTIONS

CAKE
SAUCE
Heat oven to 325 degrees. Spray a 13-by-9-inch pan with non-stick cooking
spray. In a large bowl, combine oil and egg; beat well. Add bread mix,
apple pie filling, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir 50-75 strokes, until mix is
moistened. Stir in chopped walnuts. Spoon into the sprayed pan; spread
evenly.
Bake 45-55 minutes or until cake is golden brown and toothpick inserted in
center comes out clean. Cool 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, mix sugars, butter and cream. Bring to a
boil, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla.
To serve, cut warm cake into squares and place on individual dessert
plates. Top each serving with warm sauce and, if desired, ice cream or
whipped cream. Serves 12.
(To prepare sauce in microwave, combine sugars, butter and cream in 4-cup
microwave-safe measuring cup. Microwave on high for 3 minutes, stirring
once. Stir in vanilla.)
NOTES : By Beverly Healy, Nampa, Idaho
Posted to recipelu-digest by "Lynn Ratcliffe" <mcgrew@ntr.net> on Mar 22,
1998

A Message from our Provider:

“There’s hope. There’s God.”

I affirm with John 3:16 and 1 Timothy 2:4 that God loves the world with a deep compassion that desires the salvation of all men. Yet I also affirm that God has chosen from before the foundation of the world whom He will save from sin. Since not all people are saved we must choose whether we believe (with the Arminians) that God’s will to save all people is restrained by His commitment to human self-determination or whether we believe (with the Calvinists) that God’s will to save all people is restrained by his commitment to the glorification of His sovereign grace (Ephesians 1:6,12,14; Romans 9:22-23). This decision should not be made on the basis of metaphysical assumptions about what we think human accountability requires. It should be made on the basis of what the Scriptures teach. I do not find in the Bible that human beings have the ultimate power of self-determination.

John Piper