{"id":1783,"date":"2017-10-12T17:08:58","date_gmt":"2017-10-12T21:08:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicauthenticity\/?p=1783"},"modified":"2017-10-13T12:04:29","modified_gmt":"2017-10-13T16:04:29","slug":"frequently-unanswered-questions-natural-family-planning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicauthenticity\/2017\/10\/frequently-unanswered-questions-natural-family-planning\/","title":{"rendered":"Frequently Unanswered Questions About Natural Family Planning"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"baby-443390_1280\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve had various comments, here and on FaceBook, that basically involve folks asking questions or speculating about whether specific questions are going to be answered. So I figured that I would post the table of contents that I\u2019m planning to work from. These are questions that I gathered probably between a year and six months ago and that I\u2019ve organized thematically, to deal with the different types of situations that people face. So some of it is directed to those who are looking to practice NFP and who want practical intel on how that is likely to look, and how they can navigate some of the difficulties. Some of it is more cerebral, dealing with the intellectual and philosophical questions surrounding the Church\u2019s teaching.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Introduction: Why do we need another book about NFP?<\/p>\n

Part\u00a0One: Advice for Newcomers<\/strong><\/p>\n

Why is NFP allowed, but not ABC?<\/p>\n

Will NFP work for me?<\/p>\n

Failure rates?<\/p>\n

What if my spouse says \u201cNo\u201d?<\/p>\n

What are \u201cgrave reasons\u201d for avoiding pregnancy?<\/p>\n

How much abstinence will we need to practice?<\/p>\n

Which method should we use?<\/p>\n

What exactly does \u2018abstinence\u2019 entail?<\/p>\n

What does \u2018marriage-building\u2019 mean?<\/p>\n

Part\u00a0Two: Stumbling Blocks<\/strong><\/p>\n

Why is this nothing like they said in the pamphlets?<\/p>\n

Avoiding vs. Spacing<\/p>\n

How do we navigate sexual frustration?<\/p>\n

Wife is only interested during fertile days, what do we do?<\/p>\n

We have massively differing libidos and it\u2019s causing problems<\/p>\n

Finding time for one another with a growing family<\/p>\n

Finding time for existing children<\/p>\n

Charting problems<\/p>\n

Money problems<\/p>\n

Where can we get support?<\/p>\n

We keep getting pregnant, what do we do?<\/p>\n

Part\u00a0Three: Wit\u2019s End<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hard case: severe poverty<\/p>\n

Hard case: maternal health<\/p>\n

Hard case: parental exhaustion<\/p>\n

Hard case: irregular cycles<\/p>\n

Hard case: marital breakdown<\/p>\n

Hard case: adultery<\/p>\n

Hard case: porn addiction<\/p>\n

Hard case: special needs<\/p>\n

Hard case: infertility<\/p>\n

Hard case: marital rape<\/p>\n

Part\u00a0Four: How did we get here?<\/strong><\/p>\n

What did Augustine believe about sexuality and marriage?<\/p>\n

How did things change with Thomas Aquinas?<\/p>\n

What was the situation on the ground like in the past?<\/p>\n

What are the relevant modern Vatican documents and what do they teach?<\/p>\n

What happened with the Papal birth control commission?<\/p>\n

Why did Paul VI condemn contraception?<\/p>\n

John Paul II: Evangelium Vitae<\/p>\n

John Paul II: Theology of the Body<\/p>\n

Part\u00a0Five: Causes of dissent<\/strong><\/p>\n

Do the natural law arguments make sense?<\/p>\n

Demographic changes and overpopulation<\/p>\n

Is a celibate priesthood qualified to teach on this?<\/p>\n

Exclusion of women from the discourse<\/p>\n

St. Paul and prolongued abstinence<\/p>\n

The Protestants and the Eastern Orthodox<\/p>\n

The scandal of Unicorn Oil<\/p>\n

Ecclesiastic erotophobia<\/p>\n

Lack of Scriptural support<\/p>\n

The unitive goods of sex<\/p>\n

Women as Catholic-making machines<\/p>\n

Part\u00a06: There must be some kind of way out of here<\/strong><\/p>\n

Development of Doctrine<\/p>\n

How infallible?<\/p>\n

Winnepeg (and other related) Statements<\/p>\n

Oikonomia<\/i> and the Eastern tradition<\/p>\n

The law of double-effect<\/p>\n

Improved methods<\/p>\n

The snip-and-wash solution<\/p>\n

Conscientious dissent<\/p>\n

Dissenting obedience<\/p>\n

What can the Church do to help?<\/p>\n

Conclusion: What if the Church is wrong? What if the Church is right?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Image credit:
\nStay in touch! Like Catholic Authenticity on Facebook:<\/em><\/p>\n

\n
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Catholic Authenticity<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve had various comments, here and on FaceBook, that basically involve folks asking questions or speculating about whether specific questions are going to be answered. So I figured that I would post the table of contents that I\u2019m planning to work from. These are questions that I gathered probably between a year and six months […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2295,"featured_media":1785,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54,17],"tags":[117,435,439,1007,114,900,102,139,470,47,20,18,126,39,96,361,230,978],"class_list":["post-1783","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-family","category-sexuality","tag-abstinence","tag-aquinas","tag-augustine","tag-birth-control","tag-children","tag-faq","tag-fertility","tag-humanae-vitae","tag-jp-ii","tag-marriage","tag-natural-law","tag-nfp","tag-paul-vi","tag-poverty-2","tag-pregnancy","tag-scandal","tag-theology-of-the-body","tag-vatican"],"yoast_head":"\nFrequently Unanswered Questions About Natural Family Planning<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I've had various comments, here and on FaceBook, that basically involve folks 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