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The Bible and Masturbation

Discussion in 'Off-topic Discussion' started by Notmandy, Dec 16, 2016.

  1. Notmandy

    Notmandy Fapstronaut

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    The Bible is interesting.

    It is filled with rules and stories, analogies and metaphors. It is the root of the Christian faith and has been the source of many arguments, fights, and wars for a very very long time.

    As a Christian, I struggled with God's view of MO. I understood that porn was bad because of many reasons, but what about masturbation? If I'm saving myself for marriage but I have sexual desire, isn't it better to just stimulate myself then fall to temptation.

    Then I read Matthew 5:29. It was pretty intense.

    Here it is:

    "If your right eye causes you to stumble, pluck it
    out and throw it away from you. For it is more
    profitable for you that one of your members should
    perish, than for your whole body to be cast into Gehenna"... aka hell.

    In a sense, if you're lusting after someone or something with your eyes, pluck those suckers out so that you literally can't lust after them anymore. Intense right?? So is God telling us to start mutilating ourselves? Like cut off my hand because I touched myself or smash up my computer because I watched porn?

    I doubt He's telling us to do that, but it makes you think about loyalty and dedication. Vincent Van Gogh cut off his ear for the woman he loved. Bruno Mars said he would catch a grenade for the girl he loved (although I doubt that entirely).

    Have you ever loved someone so much that you would sacrifice your eye, your hand, or even your laptop for?? That's how Christians should love God; not because He tells us to, but because we love Him enough to do it because we sinned.

    All this to say, I won't cut off my hand for masturbating or pluck out my eyes for lusting after people having sex. HOWEVER, I think it is a good device to think about this Scripture to keep me from sinning.

    Thanks for the rant!
    NotMandy
     
  2. Deadlihood

    Deadlihood Fapstronaut

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    I need to mutilate both of my eyes, sometimes.
     
  3. Reclaimer

    Reclaimer Fapstronaut

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    Does it explicitly say anything more about masturbation? Like literally stating that masturbation is bad or something
     
  4. Nuh uh.
    A bit disappointing, right?

    But @Notmandy hit the hammer on the nail ;)
     
  5. HappyDaysAreHereAgain

    HappyDaysAreHereAgain Fapstronaut

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    The Bible passage that is most commonly used against masturbation is the story of Onan. Masturbation is often referred to as "Onanism." Onan did not want to make son's with his brothers' widow, so instead of consummating with her, he "spilled his seed on the ground." That sounds more like early withdrawal than fapping, but it has been the official biblical basis to oppose masturbation. The story is found in Genesis 38:8-10 and in Deuteronomy 25:5-10 is some of the legal basis for giving a widow to her brother-in-law.
     
  6. Wow. That one was bad.
     
  7. Deadlihood

    Deadlihood Fapstronaut

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    What - Jesus's crucifixion?
     
  8. NickMat

    NickMat Fapstronaut

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    No pullout? Well, I'm disappointed.

    Please do not castrate yourself guys...
     
    Leonardo_001 likes this.
  9. Themadfapper

    Themadfapper Fapstronaut

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    That bible verse is an analogy or a metaphor if that explains it better. Whatever the case don't go cutting anything off. The bible condemns self-mutilation. It's a stupid wasteful thing to do.


    If you need to ask if the Bible condemns masturbation then you haven't read the book, or for whatever reason, you are being deliberately obtuse. Half the book [hyprobole] is about condemning lust, pleasure seeking, carnal desires, and immoral sexual practice. It doesn't have to mention masturbation specifically it's a no brainer.
     
    feo1966 likes this.
  10. Notmandy

    Notmandy Fapstronaut

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    Damn. That honesty tho!

    You and me both, friend.
     
  11. Traditionalist

    Traditionalist Fapstronaut

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    I'll just throw out the Catholic understanding (even if Protestants in these parts may disagree).

    Sex = 1 man + 1 woman who have been joined in marriage
    The man must complete the sexual act inside of the woman's vagina. Other forms of sex should only be used as foreplay.
    Any artificial means of preventing the creation of life (i.e. contraception) is sinful.

    This automatically rules out masturbation, anal sex, any non-intercourse sex to orgasm for the man (some debate about women here, but most I've read is that you can bring a woman to orgasm without intercourse as long as the man finishes with intercourse), and homosexual acts.

    In terms of prevention of births, Natural Family Planning (NFP) is permissible (although some Catholics are against using it for prolonged periods of time without a good reason) since the man and woman have to abstain completely from sex during her fertile periods (which usually can last anywhere from a week to 10 days). This is permissible because it's natural that the woman is infertile for the majority of the month and the couple is completely abstaining from sex during this period rather than still indulging in sex during the time that the female should be fertile and using artificial means to prevent pregnancy.
     
    Connaisseur and Phong like this.
  12. Irish Explorer

    Irish Explorer Fapstronaut

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    Yes, it's true that there's consequences to the actions you take in the privacy of your room. It's harmful and will break you. But Jesus doesn't want you to only be living by a list of rules. That's why we were called into a new covenant. A covenant defined by GRACE. He wants you to live life to the fullest. Be ambitious. Be heroic. Build the Kingdom of Heaven.

    Focusing on 'not' doing something will only get you so far. It becomes much easier when you start planning the amazing things you're going to do for God and his people.
     
  13. The Blue Ocean

    The Blue Ocean Fapstronaut

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    I agree fully with you! :)

    But I was wondering, if a woman and a man truly loves each other and sex before marriage.
    And afterwards gets married, is it still considered a big sin?
    I don't know, it was just on my thought.
     
    Notmandy likes this.
  14. Traditionalist

    Traditionalist Fapstronaut

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    Yes, and we repent for our sins and vow to not commit them anymore. That's why we have the Sacrament of Confession.
     
  15. Yes, it would still be a sin against chastity. Yes, it would still be a big sin since premarital sex is not an act of true love. To further explain why I will post some of the best remarks I've read regarding chastity and it's importance;

    “Abstinence has only one requirement: no sex. But chastity requires a person to define sex as a sacred, physical sign of the vows husbands and wives made at the altar where they were married, designed to express a married couple’s union, and for procreation.

    “Chastity provides depth where abstinence lacks it. It requires us to abstain from sex outside marriage, but unlike abstinence, it also explains why. Chastity clarifies that we are not supposed to abstain from sex outside marriage because sex is bad (it isn’t), or because it will soil us (it won’t), but because of what sex is: an expression of the unity achieved by the sacrament of matrimony…

    Abstinence just challenges us not to have sex. Chastity challenges us to live lives in which desire is subservient to reason, which equips us to love as Jesus does: selflessly."~Arleen Spenceley
     
  16. iwmsgan

    iwmsgan Fapstronaut

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    I really disagree with you. Take another look at Leviticus 18. You say the bible doesn't have to spell it out but you're overlooking the fact that the bible does indeed spell it out. The bible isn't really shy about naming names.

    1) Don't have sex with your close relatives (Lev 18:6)
    2) Don't have sex with your parents (Lev 18:7)
    3) Don't have sex with your step-mother(s) (Lev 18:8)
    4) Don't have sex with your siblings or half-siblings (Lev 18:9)
    5) Don't have sex with your grand children (Lev 18:10)
    6) Don't have sex with your step-siblings (18:11)
    7) Don't have sex with your Aunts (paternal) (18:12)
    8) Don't have sex with your Aunts (maternal) (18:13)
    9) Don't have sex with your Aunts (by marriage) (18:14)
    10) Don't have sex with your Daughter in Law (18:15)
    11) Don't have sex with your Brother's Wife (18:16)
    12) Don't have sex with your Mother and Daughter/Grand-Daughter (18:17)
    13) Don't have sex with your wife's sister (18:18)
    14) Don't have sex with a woman on her period (18:19)
    15) Don't have sex with your neighbor's wife (18:20)
    16) Don't give your children for child sacrifice (18:21) Very interesting this is in the sex chapter, there's a whole sermon in that
    17) The most infamous verse of all Don't have gay sex (18:22)
    18) Don't have sex with animals (18:23)

    It's so easy and so common to brush over the old testament, as if "Ohhhh, that's just the old covenant, we have the new covenant now." People will use that argument to add more rules (Don't masturbate) or take rules away (Hey Bacon!)

    It's very true that the new covenant is not the old covenant. The rules have been altered, the new testament specifically calls men to have only one wife, for example. When the new testament refers to sexual immorality it is looking back to the old testament, which everyone was familiar with, and which clearly and succinctly spelled out the rules.

    No one is being obtuse. God didn't forget to mention masturbation. God did not spend three verses to spell out all the ways a woman could be your aunt, to forget masturbating.
     
  17. Themadfapper

    Themadfapper Fapstronaut

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    And does that passage mention fornication in general, adultery, or pedophilia? Thus does it condone these things by omission? The bible says lasciviousness [ depends on translation] carnal desire, fleshy pleasures constantly and condemns those things. You're being deliberately obtuse[ not trying to be offensive but your trying to argue water isn't wet] and difficult if you think the bible condones masturbation for a new testament Christian. A Christian is meant to be an ascetic this is pretty obvious from reading the book along with an emphasis to not pursue not just carnal pleasure, but pleasure seekers are condemned. Spending your time pleasuring yourself sexually is not something the bible condones.

    Maybe your one of these guys who thinks he needs to wank to keep the beast in chains, but these guys have never gone without fapping. Masturbation doesn't make you less horny long term, and it doesn't help you control your sexual desires. That is your mind bullshitting you. Go a long time without masturbation and you will see you have much better control of yourself and your sexual desires. Being undisciplined and unable to control yourself is not a trait of a good Christian neither is it how the bible tells us to be. The bible tells us to be chaste and to pursue the spiritual not the physical.

    FYI. I'm not a Christian myself. Also when I was younger I didn't have a masturbation problem which is how I know what's it like to not masturbate.
     
  18. Gold.
    Mastubation does not help us at all, and a basic interpretation of a lot of the bible tells us that morally, it's a very slippery slope.
     
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  19. Leonardo_001

    Leonardo_001 Fapstronaut

    I feel like in that story with God telling the guy he needs to get his widowed sister in law pregnant; God was just angry because he told him to get her pregnant and he pulled out. Not that pulling out is a sin. The Bible specifies "Life begins at conception". My opinion is that if you prevent conception from happening that's not necessarily killing a baby.

    With masturbation, I think the evidence of Nofap speaks for itself. The whole world tells everyone we need to release sexual tension so that way men will be less likely to rape and have less aggression. Well, I feel like most people here value women more after nofap (could be wrong, but generally speaking). Also, we release sexual tension without faping, so our body has ways to deal with sexual tension without masturbation or sex lending itself to say that men don't necessarily need to fap to release sexual tension.

    I think a lot of the (supposed) need for masturbation comes from sexualized women on tv, the internet, billboard advertisements. I wonder if we lived in world without those things if we still would be told to masturbate. Not saying it would totally kill male sex drive, however I think for a lot of men images/videos of hot women, how we say "turns on" your sex drive at a premature age. Young boys don't understand what's happening to them and in some cases that leads to "acting out". I just feel like everyone says men have been masturbating since the dawn of time, and while that may be true for men high testosterone/sexdrive; I don't feel like that's true for every single man. I think the rate of masturbation has definitely increased with the birthing of the internet. I know that if I hadn't been exposed, I probably wouldn't have been sucked in. At least not at that early of an age.

    P.S.
    Still learning everything. Don't feel like I'm trying to be a butthole. Just searching for answers like everyone else haha! Feel free to disown my comments.
     
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  20. Leonardo_001

    Leonardo_001 Fapstronaut

    Also, with masturbatiom to porn, you're basically lusting after a prostitue. I mean... come on man...
     
    Notmandy likes this.

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