Is masturbation un-Christian?

Is there anything in the Bible that specifically condemns masturbation? Can one masturbate and still be a Christian?


Thanks,
Ash_Freakstreet.

 

ahaha, i dont know forsure..
but i remember reading that all our seeds are not to be wasted because they are sacred? its the same reason there against abortion as well i think

 

I am not sure either. I think that when it is all said and done, it is not the act per se, but the thoughts and intents of our hearts that matter. Pretty hard to masturbate without a lustful thought.

 

I think only a fanatic would, in this day and age, try to claim there is something intrinsically bad or sinful, or deserving of Divine retribution about masturbation. The reults of sexual repression though are definitely un-healthy, and can lead even to mental instability and neurosis. As with all things, it is a question of balance. Excessive masturbation should probably not be encouraged.
But really, this raises the whole fundamental question about sexuality. From a modern perspective, we tend to see it as a natural thing - a necessity on one level through which the race is continued, and we don't tend to see it as a result only of sin, as did some medieval christians. A lustful thought is probably a quite natural thought in many cases. However, a strict christian morality tends to see it as bad/sinful. Even legitimate lust, if there is such a thing, as a man for his own wife is seen as not quite right. So I suppose given that view, the best case you could make out for sexuality is that it's a neccessary evil.

On the other hand, there is the more attractive view (to my mind anyway) put forward by the english christian poet and painter William Blake 'the nakedness of woman is the glory of god'. This seems to extend to saying that sexual pleasure is a gift of God. But of course, like many of His other gifts, it is open to abuse.

I'd be interested to hear what others think about all this.

 

sweet jesus i hope not...otherwise im definitly going to hell

i hope so! pray with me people!

 

on a serious note...i havent read the bible but i dont think masturbation is really seen as a sin...maybe sorta frowned upon?

 

Do you really think you'd stop even if it was?

 

the bible is silent on it. i think the issue is in the beattitudes, and in the 10th Commandment not to "covet" your neighbors' wife. So the issue isn't necessarily masturbation, per se, but the fantacies you use to climax. If you are married, for example, and you are without your wife, and you masturbate thinking of her, i don't think you could consider it a sin if you judge that sort of thing by biblical standards.

 

when Jesus "re-did" the commandments on the seromon on the mount...He says somthing about "thinking of a woman with lust, you have commited adultury with your mind" or somehing like that...

 

Wasted jerkin off, or wasted at night on the sheets. Might as well have some fun while you're wasting it, right? hahaha

(In all seriousness though, that thing about wasting seed was because Onan did an early withdrawal when God had told him to impregnate his brother's wife, or some crazy shit like that. Some superconservatives like to say it's about masturbation, but it isn't...at least if memory serves, I could be wrong)

 

I may be stupid, acually I know I'm quite stupid but I can't comprehend why many christians wonder if this act is permissible when they(most of them) ingage in fornication which is alot more worse than this (I believe it's called "christian dating", like if the name made it less wrong)?

You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel
Matthew 23:24

 

If it wasn't sinful, it wouldn't be any fun.
I personally try to sin every day.
You should too. It's fun!

 

Correct. He was punished not for "wasting his seed" but for refusing to carry on his brother's name. He, in effect, was killing that whole line of the family because he refused to do his duty.

By the way, the impregnating his sister-in-law was not a specific command from God just for him, but was a part of Levitical law. It was a cultural law which aimed at perserving the Jewish people by allowing lines to continue. The rule was that if a man died and left no children, his brother would take his wife as a wife and her first child would be considered his, not his brother's. Seems kind of backwards to us, but Jewish culture was (and is) very big on lineage. One of the underlying moral principles here is the idea of family being very important and respect and care for those who cannot help themselves.

 

The punishment for refusing to fulfill this duty was not death (Dt. 25:5-10). I think Onan was killed for deceiving, defiling, and exploiting his brother's wife.

As for masturbation, while the Bible doesn't specifically condemn it, I think it's important to consider what is the biblical purpose of sex. It is intended as unifying act of mutual surrender and gratification between husband and wife. Masturbation reduces it to an act of mere self-indulgence.

 

I understand that. But many Bible based faiths consider it a "sin" for a womyn to turn down her husband's advances. Isn't having sex with a womyn who doesn't want to just as bad as masturbation or any other "self indulgence?"

 

The Bible says that neither spouse should deprive the other, but I don't think that justifies forcing or even pressuring an unwilling spouse to have sex. I do think that loss of interest in sex is an indication of serious marital problems, though.

 

It is like being hungry. CONTINUAL not wanting could indicate a problem, but occasion lack of hunger (or hornyness) doesn't. Sometimes you just don't feel like it. But I have friends whose husbands use "it is a sin to say NO to me about sex" to pressure her, when she isn't in the mood. I would think having sex with someone who doesn't want it at that moment no better than masturbation, and IMO, worse. (Of course, I don't have any problem with people masturbating, as long as it isn't obsseive and interfering with other parts of their lives.)

 

It sounds like we probably agree, more or less.

 

True, but sexual frustration can be difficult to deal with, even dangerous, as sexually repressed people can act erraticly. Also, if one isn't married but is old enough for sex (in our society, that is basically all teens and many early twenty-somethings), we're talking 15 years of withholding on biological urges. That's not going to lead to good things.

 

of course. anything that makes you human is a sin. duh. now stop thinking.