Hey friend, welcome to another episode of Java with Julie.

My name is Julie Slattery and I will be your host today.

This podcast is an outreach of authentic intimacy, which is a ministry all about helping people make sense of God and sexuality.

And boy, a key part of that is asking the question, what is the purpose of sex?

What is the purpose of sex in marriage?

Today you're going to hear a conversation that might challenge how you think about sex and marriage,

and I know it has challenged me.

I've invited Dr. Christopher West as my guest to talk about birth control.

As you're going to hear, Dr. West has some really strong opinions about birth control rooted in how he understands the purpose of sexuality

within marriage. I want to tell you out of the gate that this is a deep theological conversation.

You're going to hear Christopher's passion and you're going to hear me

pushing back a bit with some hard questions. Now, you're going to have to wait until the second

half of our conversation to hear some of those practical questions. But I don't want you

just to skip ahead because Christopher is laying a foundation of why he believes what he believes.

I also know that this is a very sensitive topic for many people.

It has some practical implications for choices that you are making today and for choices

that you've made in the past.

So I'm going to encourage you to listen with an open mind and heart.

And at the end of the conversation, I'm going to wrap up with some of my thoughts in response to what Christopher

has shared. So listen to the end if you want to hear how I'm processing this conversation.

Let me tell you a little bit about Christopher West. He is one of the founders of the Theology of the Body Institute.

He's written bestselling books, including Our Bodies Tell God's Story, and is one of the

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