Masturbation: Sin or Not?

Hey Guys. Float Here.
I was just wondering if Masturbation is a sin or not. Please don't answer if you don't have any backup. I myself am a christian and I want to be the best I can be, and this is an issue I have been struggling with for quite a while now. I know somewhere in Leviticus 15 it says "any man who spills his seed (semen) onto the ground or himself shall bathe completely and be defiled until evening." But then again thats Jewish law. Any help would be appreciated =]

God Bless
eace:

 

It reminds me of something I read back in the 70's.

"Masturbation is like picking your nose. Everybody does it and nobody admits it."

I doubt if it will keep you out of the Kingdom as long as your heart is good. The idea is to steer you into a settled existance with a wife and not go coveting your after your neighbor's.



x

 

One of my professors at university wrote a paper about nocturnal emissions and Jesus and whether or not he had them. (This is relevant, just wait). Basically the medieval thought was that if emissions seem to be a sin (Lev 15) then Jesus could never have had one, but if Jesus was fully human, experiencing everything humans do, then he must have had them otherwise he wasn't fully human.

So the lesson I guess I would take from this is that Lev isn't a good backer if someone was to say that masturbation is bad. What about women, what about if you don't ejaculate? Can you masturbate and then the ejaculation is a sin? Or is it a matter of degree. Are you addicted to masturbation so much that it detracts from god, or other commitments? Then you are entering an area that it doesn't matter what act it is, what you are avoiding is what matters...

 

It depends on what brand of Christian you are. Catholics and Protestant fundamentalists consider it the sin of Onan, who cast his seed upon the ground. Liberal Protestants like me don't take the Bible literally and regard Leviticus and many other parts of the Old Testament to be no longer applicable. Catholics add to the Bible the concept of natural law (masturbation is using sex in a way that is inconsistent with its natural function of reproduction.) Natural Law was considered state of the art in Greco-Roman times, and it still has a following, but I don't think it's valid. I think it's a sin to teach teenagers they can't jerk off. You might check with your pastor on this, since I may be going to hell.

 

Well if the Catholic church does think it's a sin, I'd assume the actual sinning would be from the death of your sperm and potential living offspring right? Not the pleasure part.

So I always used to ask my religion teachers (Catholic schooling) if drinking Mountain Dew was a sin also.

They never had a straight answer.

 

More on Onan. The story is in Genesis, not Leviticus. Onan's married brother was killed, and his Dad asked him to have sex with his brother's widow so that he could have a grandson of his own bloodline. Onan obliged with the sex, but pulled out (Coitus interruptis) before ejaculating to avoid the pregnancy. God didn't like that at all and struck Onan dead. Not exactly masturbation. But it's been used as the Biblical basis for condemning masturbation (at least by males). In fact, Catholics and fundies call masturbation "Onanism".

 

God I hate the Catholic church...

 

Which is weird, because official Catholic teaching is that life begins at conception, so if you prevent conception you aren't really doing anythin "wrong"...

Why do you say this?

One correction: God told Onan to have a baby with his brother's widow. So I could see this story as 1) a lesson against disobeying God and 2) ancient science. Because ancient Hebrews believed the male "seed" carried life in it, could it not have been seen as an equivilent to abortion?

 

The idea of sin comes about when the action is self-degrading; if the action makes you a different person, really, for the negative. Jacking it to the point where you become obsessed or sexually deviant to a harmful extreme, sure it's sinful. Being that masturbation is a natural habit, I doubt it's too much of a problem. In moderation, like everything else.

True, feel bad for the Muslims on this one though.

ahaha that would've been a good question for my theo teacher as well.
The thing that gets me is that they die anyway, which would make God one hell of a sinner.

 

But the male seed didn't carry life in it. Only the possibility for it. Official Catholic teaching is that anything that interferes with the natural course of reproduction (except,oddly, the rythm method) is wrong. Yes, preventing conception would prevent abortion, but in the eyes of the Church, they're still both wrong.

 

Thanks guys. It reallys. I've stopped so God will give me favor for one very important thing. And thats my girlfriend. But really, I appreciate it.

 

Jesus said that if a man looks at a woman with lust in his eye other than his wife, then he commits adultery, Mat 5 27 28. Unless you are masturbating with your wife and thinking of her only, then it is not a cardinal sin. If you are sitting on the toilet drooling over nude women, then it is.

 

Oh i understand that they are both wrong in the eyes of the church, I just think it is weird...

 

So any sexual fantasy is lust? I thought it only applied to giving in to obsessive cravings for sex divorced from love, and involving the treatment of the person lusted after as a sex object. (See Howard Clinebell, Professor of Pastoral Counseling). If every "impure thought" or "wandering eye" is lust, we sure have a lot of adulterers on the planet. Could anyone develop a normal attitude toward sex without becoming a sinner? How do you acquire that wife without having any impure thoughts toward the lady before marriage? In my opinion, the conception of "lust" that you put foward would lead to neurotic guilt and unhealthy sexual development. Any belief that makes people feel guilty for behavior that everybody does and must do as a part of normal development is, in my opinion, pathological--what Clinebell calls religion that hurts instead of helps.

 

It saddens me someone would have to ask if it was ok to masturbate The worlds become a bit messed, hasnt it

 

not trying to crash the thread or anything...i just thought this bit was funny

 

:smilielol5:Yeah well, I never did follow the rules. I mean Im sure I did at some point. But who's actually a hardcore Christian here?

 

oops lol.......

im not here

 

Yes, it is a sin.
Drill the path to the devil.