Birth control and vasectomy: contraception that prevents conception is morally permissible for Christians; abortifacient contraception is morally equivalent to killing a human life.

Winger makes a key moral distinction: anything that destroys a fertilized egg (many hormonal contraceptives act this way) kills a tiny human and is morally wrong. Methods that prevent fertilization from occurring are a different category — Winger finds no strong biblical prohibition against them and suggests ancient families likely practiced natural family planning. Genesis 38 (Onan) is addressed: Onan's sin was not contraception per se but refusing to raise up offspring for his dead brother under levirate law — he was robbing his sister-in-law of children and his brother of an heir for selfish financial motives. To derive a universal ban on contraception from this singular case is hermeneutically poor (taking one instance to make a universal rule). Children are a blessing but selfish avoidance of all children is the spiritual problem to address, not the mechanics of family planning.