A look at antinatalism and the gospel
In a recent issue, World magazine publish a story about so-called “antinatalists.” What are antinatalists? The article explains that antinatlists “believe it’s morally wrong to have children—under any circumstances. And they’re on a mission to convince people to stop procreating.”1 On the face of it, this seems like a rather extreme solution to any problem.
The concerns of antinatalists are real, however. They are deeply concerned with the suffering going on in the world—and not just environmental harm. Quoting Amanda Sukenick, a leading antinatalist thinker and influencer, the article points out that antinatalism is about “ending human suffering.” She sums up her argument by saying, “There’s absolutely no reason for human beings to keep perpetuating suffering.” No doubt there is much suffering in the world. No one can doubt such a statement. But, is this the answer? And if not, why not?
Humans: Crown of Creation
What does Scripture tell us about humanity? Some might point to the biblical injunction to “be fruitful and multiply” (Gen. 1:28). And the idea of antinatalism certainly does violate the clear command of Scripture. But the tendency would be to stop there, and we must not do that. Because this movement does more than just violate a clear command of Scripture—it undermines human dignity itself.
The first thing we are told from Scripture is that humans (all of us) are made in God’s image. We are image-bearers of the Creator of the universe. We read in Genesis 1,
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. (Gen. 1:26–27)
Humans have an inherent dignity and worth because of this stamp of the divine. “But what about the fall?” one may ask. When Adam and Eve sinned, they were corrupted by sin, along with the whole creation (Rom. 8:19-23). Nothing worked as intended. Humans began to be self-centered instead of God- and other-centered. Did they thus lose the image of God? Consider this command of Scripture:
“Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image. (Gen. 9:6, emphasis added)
We should keep in mind that this command came after the flood. The world had gotten so bad, so evil that God decided to essentially start over, except for Noah and his family. In giving this command to Noah, it’s clear that God still saw His divine image in humanity.
In wanting humanity to just “go away,” then, antinatalists are basically saying either 1) that humanity is so bad they we aren’t worth saving, and/or 2) that God cannot save and transform us. Scripture would disagree with both of those statements. If either of them are true, then Jesus came in vain, and all of history since His resurrection is a lie.
God’s Plan for Humanity
God has decided that we humans, as flawed and corrupted as we are, are worth saving, and He has a plan for doing just that. His plan deals with changing our very nature, from sinner to worshiper. This plan is the gospel of Jesus. What is the gospel? It is the good news that God has given us His Son. Jesus came to die in our place to take the penalty for our sin. But, more than that, Jesus came to set us free from sin’s power by changing us. As part of the gospel, those who turn to Christ in faith receive “a new heart, and a new spirit” and have the “heart of stone” (the sinful heart) removed, replaced by the heart of flesh (the Spiritual Heart, bent toward God instead of hostile to Him, see Ezek. 36:26-27).
For a closer look at God’s plan for salvation, take a look at our new publication, Today’s Disciple; first up is a series of posts (originally published in 2022) dealing with salvation—our need and His answer.
Grace Snell, “Extinction event: Antinatalists say it’s time for humans to go the way of the dodo bird.” World Magazine, February 1, 2025, posted January 16, 2025. https://wng.org/articles/extinction-event-1736308901. Accessed February 24, 2025.
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