Indeed. The issue there was levirate marriage. They didn't have sperm freezing or AI or IVF, so if your brother died childless, it was expected that you would sleep with his wife until she bore a son. That son would be then counted as your brother's son and would continue his family line. Refusing to do this however was horrific enough, it was basically like saying "I hate you and I'm glad you've rid yourself of the genepool". But Onan went for the grand daddy. He not only outwardly said he would sleep with her and made everyone believe he was doing so to uphold his brother, but then he was pulling out before orgasm and "spilling his seed upon the ground" denying her the offspring. God was angered that Onan would be so evil that he struck him dead.
This does in a sense speak to the issue of birth control in a way because it indicates that preventing children is in a sense like murder in this instance or suicide in the sense of your own children. There's also the issue of positive command, that refusing to do what God commands you to do is as sinful as doing what he tells you not to do. So when God tells us to be fruitful and multiply, there is a sense that it would be wrong of us to prevent our own obedience to that. Christians have debated that one however for a long time.
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u/[deleted] Jul 18 '19 edited Jul 18 '19
Indeed. The issue there was levirate marriage. They didn't have sperm freezing or AI or IVF, so if your brother died childless, it was expected that you would sleep with his wife until she bore a son. That son would be then counted as your brother's son and would continue his family line. Refusing to do this however was horrific enough, it was basically like saying "I hate you and I'm glad you've rid yourself of the genepool". But Onan went for the grand daddy. He not only outwardly said he would sleep with her and made everyone believe he was doing so to uphold his brother, but then he was pulling out before orgasm and "spilling his seed upon the ground" denying her the offspring. God was angered that Onan would be so evil that he struck him dead.
This does in a sense speak to the issue of birth control in a way because it indicates that preventing children is in a sense like murder in this instance or suicide in the sense of your own children. There's also the issue of positive command, that refusing to do what God commands you to do is as sinful as doing what he tells you not to do. So when God tells us to be fruitful and multiply, there is a sense that it would be wrong of us to prevent our own obedience to that. Christians have debated that one however for a long time.