The Pope evidently has a recent expression of opinion by
the Lambeth Conference in mind when he says that excuses for birth control, such as health or economic conditions, are not only normally but always unjustifiable. "Any use whatsoever of matrimony exercised in such way that the act is deliberately frustrated in its natural power to generate life is an offence against the law of God and nature, and those who indulge in such arc branded with the guilt of a grave sin." He goes on to say that although strict monogamy was at one time modi- fied by divine legislation (Mosaic), the original purity of marriage was restored by Christ. Christ acted" by virtue of His supreme legislative power." The Pope here is perhaps relying upon a passage in the Gospel narrative which is considered by many critics, even conservative critics, to be an interpolation. But however that may be, we cannot help agreeing with those who see in the teaching of Christ a very distinct avoidance of statutory ordinances. The whole sense of His teaching seemed to be that He would not take sides in the discussions of His time as to whether particular laws were good and bad. He preferred to remind mankind that there was only one real law which was the law of God—perfection—and that whoever fell short of that law was a sinner.
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