The bible says nothing about the number of children one should have in a given lifetime.  God leaves that decision up to each couple.  Personally, we don't believe He is against restricting the size of one's family....

Almost all Christians today seem to believe in limiting the size of their families.  Why do we say this?  According to medical science, a normal woman unhindered by any form of birth control is capable of having as many as twenty children during her childbearing years.  Since we have yet to meet a Christian family with twenty children, we suspect that they have utilized some method of reducing that potential number.

As an aside here, Rep. Carolyn Maloney of New York and several members of Congress have been trying, with no success, to get President Bush to articulate his position on birth control.  Since he is a Christian who does not have 20 children, one can assume that he has used birth control.  But neither he nor his press secretary will provide an answer on this point.  (Press secretary Scott McClellan said the President's position was well-known and the question did not need answering.)

The LaHayes, who conducted Family Life Seminars across the country long before Tim became co-author of the popular Left Behind book series, are quite specific in their suggestions.  They recommend birth control pills, condoms, diaphragms, vaginal foam. They write:

Birth control is a very personal decision, one of the first a young couple should have settled before their wedding day.  Some people, for religious reasons, do not believe in contraceptives.  We respect that and feel each couple should be convinced in their own minds what is the best plan for them ....

Because of its safety and simplicity, we consider the pill the preferred method for a new bride in the early stages of marriage.

And, if that is not enough, they are opposed to reliance upon the `rhythm method,' which they describe as ineffective.

We often jokingly note in our family lectures that `the people who use the rhythm method are called parents.'

Tim is one of the co-founders of the Moral Majority, and is instrumental in the Traditional Values Coalition and other religious right organizations.  His wife, Beverly, founded Concerned Women for America, which has waged a constant battle against the morning-after pill, and has stood firmly against its release for over-the-counter sales. The morning-after pill is a high-dose birth control pill.

 I asked Wendy Wright, a spokesperson for Concerned Women, about this apparent discrepancy after a Food and Drug Administration hearing on the morning after pill in December 2003, but she turned on her heel and walked away without answering. Perhaps she believes her opinion is well-known. Wright, formerly of the National Right to Life Committee, no doubt, wishes the LaHayes had just left the Pill alone.

But in their 1996 update of their marriage manual, the LaHayes' reiterate their opinions:

There is no clear-cut scriptural reference advocating birth control, nor is there one condemning it. The attitude of Christians is changing on this subject, and thus birth control is gaining much more acceptance.  The Bible was written long before such methods were developed; consequently its silence cannot be used to prove either point - as long as the couple does not refuse to have any children.

So does that make Tim and Beverly LaHaye unbiblical?  Or are they merely being straight-shooters?