It
is customary for those who write books for teens and youth to caution them against
masturbation. Beyond this, many will even find a way to say it is a sin. So, what
does the Bible say on masturbation?
They
say it is a sin to waste sperm as Onan in the Bible did, but they themselves use
a condom to prevent pregnancy, especially if their wife is not up to giving birth
for some reason. That is wisdom, and the sperm goes in the wastebasket.
But,
when Johnny masturbates, he is a murderer. Hmmmm
We
need to talk about this folks.
WHAT DOES
THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT MASTURBATION?
There
is virtually nothing said in the Bible about masturbation.
Thus,
I have nothing to offer under this subtitle.
That
said, let us now go on to look at what strange things have been promoted around
the view of sexuality in many churches and Christian homes.
ONAN-- THE
MAN KILLED FOR MASTURBATING?
There
is one Bible text used against masturbation by perverted Bible teachers. These
Bible teachers are the classic crooks that wrest the truth until they make the
Bible say what they want it to say. I call this exegesis by presupposition and
fabrication.
Here
is their trick:
Genesis 38:9 And Onan knew that the seed should not be his;
and it came to pass, when he went in unto his brother's wife, that he spilled
it on the ground, lest that he should give seed to his brother.
10 And the thing which he did displeased the LORD: wherefore he slew him also.
Onan
spilled his sperm on the ground. He withdrew from intercourse just before ejaculation,
and his "seed" was wasted. To Catholic apologists in the recent past,
this was even classified as murder by reasoning that Onan actually murdered a
potential Catholic baby.
What
Onan did works and is used today in many places. It sure takes dedication because
the man has to forego the pleasure of complete copulation with maximum stimulation.
In the midst of the rush, few men can resist the instinct to get the full experience.
What was it that was more powerful than total copulation to Onan?
We
will now look at the whole story in context. Bible teachers who play tricks with
the Bible use only Genesis 39:9-10. Let's read the whole context, and we will
see something far removed from masturbation is happening.
Genesis
38:1 And it came to pass at that time, that Judah went down from his brethren,
and turned in to a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah. 2 And Judah saw
there a daughter of a certain Canaanite, whose name was Shuah; and he took her,
and went in unto her. 3 And she conceived, and bare a son; and he called his
name Er. 4 And she conceived again, and bare a son; and she called his name
Onan. 5 And she yet again conceived, and bare a son; and called his name Shelah:
and he was at Chezib, when she bare him. 6 And Judah took a wife for Er his
firstborn, whose name was Tamar. 7 And Er, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in
the sight of the LORD; and the LORD slew him. 8 And Judah said unto Onan,
Go in unto thy brother's wife, and marry her, and raise up seed to thy brother.
9 And Onan knew that the seed should not be his; and it came to pass, when
he went in unto his brother's wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest that
he should give seed to his brother. 10 And the thing which he did displeased
the LORD: wherefore he slew him also. 11 Then said Judah to Tamar his daughter
in law, Remain a widow at thy father's house, till Shelah my son be grown: for
he said, Lest peradventure he die also, as his brethren did. And Tamar went and
dwelt in her father's house. 12 And in process of time the daughter of Shuah
Judah's wife died; and Judah was comforted, and went up unto his sheepshearers
to Timnath, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite. 13 And it was told Tamar,
saying, Behold thy father in law goeth up to Timnath to shear his sheep. 14
And she put her widow's garments off from her, and covered her with a vail, and
wrapped herself, and sat in an open place, which is by the way to Timnath; for
she saw that Shelah was grown, and she was not given unto him to wife. 15
When Judah saw her, he thought her to be an harlot; because she had covered her
face. 16 And he turned unto her by the way, and said, Go to, I pray thee,
let me come in unto thee; (for he knew not that she was his daughter in law.)
And she said, What wilt thou give me, that thou mayest come in unto me? 17
And he said, I will send thee a kid from the flock. And she said, Wilt thou give
me a pledge, till thou send it? 18 And he said, What pledge shall I give thee?
And she said, Thy signet, and thy bracelets, and thy staff that is in thine hand.
And he gave it her, and came in unto her, and she conceived by him. 19 And
she arose, and went away, and laid by her vail from her, and put on the garments
of her widowhood.
Tamar,
by the tradition of the day, and by Moses' law later, had the right to expect
her brother-in-law to marry her and have children by him. Onan would be called
the "kinsman redeemer" in that he redeemed her from being a dead end
in the family tree, and she would have no son to receive Tamar's husband's estate.
This would leave Tamar at the mercy of people who owed her no favors.
Onan
wanted Tamar, possibly because she was young and good looking. Verse 8 indicates
that Judah ordered Onan to do this, so Onan may not have been very motivated by
either family sympathy OR sex. He also may not have had another wife. The son
from this sexual union, once he grew up, would inherit the estate of Er, whom
God killed. But if Onan had no other wife, the son of Tamar would have inherited
the estate of Onan also when Onan died because he was Onan's first son. This would
make a rich man of the son, but any sons of Onan who came later would get nothing.
The worst
of it all is the custom of the day not mentioned in the text. History is important.
The son of Onan and Tamar would have been named after Er, his father, rather than
Onan. So, Onan might legally lose his estate to his brother Er in the distant
future, and all the neighborhood would forget Onan. Onan could not stand the feeling
that he and his sons by other wives would be a dead end clan.
The
contrast to Onan is Boaz in the Bible book of Ruth. He married Ruth who was the
widow of his kinsman, Elimilech's son who died in Maob. Boaz WANTED Ruth as a
wife as well as wanting to make sure Ruth's husband had an heir. Boaz, according
to Scripture, had no other wife.
The
rest of the story is in Verses 11-19. Neither Judah, Onan, nor Tamar were behaving
very morally. Tamar seems to be a pretty girl who would do whatever it took to
get pregnant, even play the whore. No one had the moral high ground in this story
except God himself.
God
was not angry at Onan because he spilled his sperm on the ground. God was angry
because Onan defrauded Tamar of her right to have a son by her brother-in-law,
and THAT is the only thing God was angry about. That is, unless you do not take
the text literally and throw in some Mother Goose inventions of your own.
This Bible text cannot be
applied to masturbation. Onan displeased God in that God did not want Onan to
set aside His sovereignty and rob his brother's wife of an heir. This is not about
a tablespoon of semen on the desert sand, it is about an arrogant man trying to
manipulate the sovereignty of God.
It
is possible to make Onan's sin into masturbation only by taking Verse 9-10 totally
out of context. So, if your pastor, or some pious friend, use Onan to produce
guilt over masturbation, you are dealing with a perverted pastor. Strong language?
Acts
13:10 And said, O full of all subtilty and all mischief, thou child of the devil,
thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways
of the Lord?
You
see, when someone, in a great rush of zeal, senses they can take the high ground
in biblical truth, nothing will stop them. And, they will even invent things "in
the Bible" which are NOT in the Bible. Why? They are perverts-- it is a perversion
of truth to ADD to the words of God.
Proverbs
30:6 Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.
That
said, I would also give a huge caution about pastors and friends who take a lofty
and public posture on the perils of masturbation. It has been my observation that
gurus who have wise counsel on masturbation, while abusing the use of the Word
of God to allegedly prove their teaching, are themselves perverts in some other
grievous sins. Such were Baptist preachers Jack Hyles and Jack Schaap. Schaap
is now sitting in jail for sexually using an under age girl. I also believe Mike
Pearl has a problem with sex. It is just too important to him, and he makes filthy
innuendoes in public meetings on the topic.
Mark
Driscoll? There is a puzzle. He is very sound in doctrine, but his liberated chatter
on sexuality is the sort of thing he really could put to great use if he did not
make it center stage stuff. I think he has given in to the need all gurus have,
that is, to find some truth which he can magnify above measure and patent it as
his own. This draws a devoted group of followers who find no other guru quite
satisfying. When sex is what satisfies on Sunday morning, I have to back off and
wait. Time will tell on Mark. He may turn out to be useful to the Lord after all.
You will find Driscoll's video on masturbation at the end of this article.
Before
we move on, did you get the point? The question was, "What does the Bible
say about masturbation?"
The
answer: NOTHING, and leave it that way please.
I
am talking especially to parents. Whatever you tell your kids about "playing
with yourself" be sure your suggestions never move through the Bible in the
form of, "Thou shalt not....." If you tell them God hates masturbation,
and later they find out he does not even talk about it, your kids will mock you
and possibly mock God. Until your kids can think for themselves, Daddy, YOU are
the voice of God to your kids. It is a perverted Daddy who drives his kids to
terror of their private parts and libido by telling them, "God is watching."
God
indeed IS watching, but he may not be mad at all.
REASONING
ABOUT SEX IS NOT SIN IF GOD IS THE ONE REASONING
Reason is the tool of the
perverted apologist but not the reasoning called for in the Bible.
Isaiah
1:18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be
as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they
shall be as wool.
Some
Bible teachers know very well that masturbation is not ever discussed by God.
So, in fear of abusing the Scriptures, they play tricks with your mind. They start
with Bible texts on other sins, and they move on to sweep masturbation into the
mix by default. Such sins are selfishness, adultery, fornication, and sodomy.
If it is possible to convince you that when you masturbate you are in a category
of sex perverts, these scum bags will do it.
Let
us invent our own twisted truth. Here is how it works:
God
hates sin. God hates unclean beasts according to Moses' law. It is a sin
to even touch an animal that walks on paws (Leviticus
11:27 And whatsoever goeth upon his paws, among all manner of beasts that go on
all four, those are unclean unto you: whoso toucheth their carcase shall be unclean
until the even.) Therefore, God hates foxes. And finally, your fox
stole, lady, is wicked. And worse, YOU are unclean.
Pay
attention now..... God never expects you to understand absolute truth BY DEFAULT.
What does
that mean? God is very clear and in your face about his truth. There is no guessing
and no manipulation needed. In fact, I believe Bibles with footnotes are wicked.
Footnotes imply that the Bible alone is obscure and too hard to understand. You
need Schofield, DA Waite, Spiros Zodhiates, John Calvin, or John Gill to lead
you into all truth. BAH..... That is what the Roman Catholic Church teaches about
their priests, and it is a lot of Papal Bull.
2
Corinthians 1:20 For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen,
unto the glory of God by us.
"Amen"
means, So be it, or, That is final.
"Amen"
is found in all Semitic languages and means the same thing. When God speaks, we
should say, "Amen," and when he does NOT speak, we should keep our ever
loving flap trap shut.
AMEN
The
perverted Bible teacher will use reason and what sounds logical, and so I will
reason right back and thrash him. As always, I do this in good Christian charity.
Charity, that is, to the poor sheep who find the hireling shepherd grabbing for
their private parts. I fear some people who have grown up in the Lord's Church
have been virtually castrated by these hirelings.
The
hireling Bible teacher will reason that sex is for marriage and procreation. This
is very sound reasoning. God did not tell Adam and Eve, at their creation, to
have good sex. He told them to procreate:
Genesis
1:28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply,
and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the
sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon
the earth.
But,
the perverted Bible teacher will not talk about sex being pleasurable. Many
saints really do think sex is only to make babies.
Note
Solomon on sex....
Proverbs
5:15 Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own
well.
16 Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets.
17
Let them be only thine own, and not strangers' with thee. 18
Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.
19 Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee
at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love. 20
And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom
of a stranger?
Solomon
clearly talks about pleasure in sex, and procreation has NOTHING to do with it.
The fountain is a discreet reference to the man's pleasure in copulation. The
graphical language is very obvious. The sin would only be in sharing the fountain
with anyone other than the God-given wife (verse 17). In the biblical setting,
the fountain is to be very busy for a godly married man and women.
I
will get a bit caddy possibly, but this needs to be said. When a preacher or Bible
teacher rides sexual sin and masturbation as a hobby horse, and if the man is
not a sex pervert and a verbal exhibitionist, then I assume he has a lousy sex
life. He is miserable with temptation in the market place, and when he gets home,
his fountain is never satisfied. Lady, read that again please.
If
a wife is worried about her husband being attracted to other women or porn, that
wife might consider the power of seduction. It is a shame to put the seduction
away, as if it has become obsolete, simply because we grow older or familiar with
each other. It is a rare man who cannot be seduced by his own wife, that is, if
he is a man of God. And, age has little to do with it. If your spouse masturbates,
and if you don't like that, volunteer to do it for them.
Song
of Solomon 7:8 I said, I will go up to the palm tree, I will take hold of the
boughs thereof: now also thy breasts shall be as clusters of the vine, and the
smell of thy nose like apples;
There
would be a lot less stress in Christian marriage if husbands and wives talked
to each other in these terms. Also, note that procreation is not mentioned ONCE
in Song of Solomon. The satisfaction of sexual love is everywhere in the
book, and it is of God and it is good for godly people to enjoy sex.
So, masturbation cannot
be pushed into the sin category by saying that copulation is only for having babies.
"MASTURBATION
IS SELFISH"
Well
then, so is eating a chocolate bar. If I eat a chocolate bar and enjoy it, am
I selfish. It gratifies my need for pleasure in food, and that too is sanctioned
by David, Solomon, and others as they describe special feast type foods which
satisfy me. So, that one won't fly either.
The
only time masturbation is selfish is when you will not "share with others."
And, sharing in the Bible teaching on sex is ONLY with your spouse. Masturbation
is a sin when you deprive your spouse of sexual pleasure by keeping the well dry
by excessive masturbation which kills libido. When you made your marriage vows
you deeded over all of YOU to your spouse. Does your spouse own your sexual hardware?
Sharing in godly marriage is knowing you give all of you to your spouse every
time your spouse was aroused. In fact the highest form of sex is watching your
spouse in ecstasy because you made sure it happened. Masturbation can be sin if
one is so drained from it that he cannot perform when called upon.
A
man who can perform well with his own hardware is admired by the world. A really
virile and noble man of GOD is admired by God when he makes sure his wife is satisfied,
even if he is not every time. So, save some for the lady, sir.
"IT
IS IMPLIED THE CONTEXT" CRIES THE PERVERTED TEACHER
The
next trick is to say that there are many things the Bible does not mention, but
we know that they are sin because of the context. Things like smoking, alcohol,
and drug abuse will be cited as implied in Bible texts on temperance or self-control.
The Bible still does NOT talk about smoking-- that is for YOU personally to figure
out as the Holy Spirit talks to you as you read the Bible.
Well, masturbation was not
some late thing to come along which Bible writers did not know about, like smoking.
Adam could have conceivably masturbated if he had wanted to. I note that
God gave council on much to do with sexual things, and he made it very clear which
things were sins or forbidden:
1.
Adultery 2. Fornication 3. Sodomy 4. Having
sex with an animal 5. Women grabbing a man's testicles (stones) during
a fight
I
suppose I missed something, but you see the point. Masturbation is so common,
and it is available to both men and women, that we must not assume it into the
sin category when God made NO comment at all on the subject.
Also, young people, as they
gain sexual performance in early teens, commonly experiment with the body God
gave them. To assume that playing with one's privates, and eventually masturbation,
is sin, is doing violence to what God did at creation. If God did not want kids
playing with themselves, God would have commented on it. And, God would have given
kids longer to develop sexually so that their ability to perform sexually would
coincide better with the accepted age of marriage and starting a family. God is
not the author of confusion. The talent of generating confusion is reserved for
those who pervert, with man-made codes and assumptions, what God says nothing
about.
"MASTURBATION
IS HABIT FORMING"
Of
course it is.
All
the sex perverts, exhibitionists, and sex criminals of all the ages masturbated
before they got around to criminal sex.
But,
there is equally no evidence that total abstinence from masturbation will produce
a great scientist or a profound theologian.
Why,
did you know that all sex perverts made a habit of drinking water? Does that imply
that God hates people who drink water? Does that imply that the habit of drinking
water will lead on to sexual perversion?
You
see, this is very faulty logic. You need more to go on to make a case against
masturbation than to claim that you have your hand on a tool of wickedness used
also by sex offenders.
Masturbation
does become a problem when boys masturbate together. This kind of social masturbating,
or stag party, often leads to acts of sodomy as boys start stimulating each
other. The solution is to teach young people that masturbation is a private matter
and should not be made public. This will help them to realize that sex is only
to be shared with others when they get married, and then only with their spouse.
Sexual
stimulation should never be the subject of gross humor and light conversation.
Telling jokes
about masturbation pushes the thing into the dirty category. Beware of that. I
have been with pastors and missionaries a few times who told filthy sexual jokes.
I have never been able to understand how this happens. How can a real man of God
take such liberties and think he is doing God and his brothers a service? In fact,
I personally look on this filthy joke telling as a sort of group sex event for
Evangelicals. I admit though-- that is my personal view of it.
If masturbation becomes
obsessive it will lead to a loss of control in the life just like gluttony or
any other form of appetite gone astray. It is a very sick picture-- a fat lard
ball of a preacher telling us that masturbation can result in loss of self-control.
The young person should be taught to confess the sin of appetite which is out
of control rather than to tell them that they are sexually perverted or nasty.
The sin is that of not letting the Holy Spirit lead in appetites. Read that again
please, especially if you are more than ten pounds overweight :-)
Another
way in which masturbation is, without a doubt, sinful is when it is accompanied
by the use of pornography, filthy music, or even mental fantasies of women other
than the spouse. This is so common that it is assumed to be the only method of
masturbating. Of course, many young people do NOT start out in their first masturbating
venture with ANY fantasy. So, they are not sinning. They have no history to work
with mentally. They are just playing with their hardware, and they only need to
be told to keep it personal.
The
older a man gets, the more he accumulates a mental history which feeds fantasy,
and thus, the more tempted he will be to sin by mental lust as he masturbates.
This is why Paul warns Timothy to "flee youthful lusts." And, maturity
leads to marriage, and then sexuality becomes a matter of pleasing one's spouse.
If you do not fantasize about women other than your spouse when you masturbate,
fine. If you have a busy sex life with your spouse, then it is quite appropriate
to fantasize about your spouse while masturbating. In fact, tell them so later.
We said
that masturbation is NOT called sin in the Bible, but sexual lust for a women
IS called sin by Jesus. To add masturbation to this mental "youthful lust"
will insure trouble by and by. So, it IS true that masturbation is easily perverted
by fetishes of the mind or the Internet. I knew a man who fantasized in lust for
a woman in the church fellowship while he masturbated at home, and whenever he
came to church and saw the woman, he blushed with shame.
So,
masturbation IS a danger for sure if the physical "habit" leads to mental
masturbation.
DOES
MASTURBATION SERVE ANY HEALTH PURPOSE?
When
a husband and wife are separated against their will and one is having severe temptations
with lust, masturbation can serve as a release for those drives. This has saved
many men from infidelity. In that sense, and I suppose I shall be thrashed for
this, I suggest that masturbation is a very useful solution. Masturbation is also
a release to young unmarried men. We just don't like to admit it. Many a young
man has defused a setting for fornication by masturbating ahead of time. Cold
showers are fine, but they don't last. Of course, a young man can further help
this struggle greatly by making sure he is only found in modest company.
Masturbation can also be
therapeutic according to one report I read. It seems that copulation in a man
will help to relieve the effects of prostrate problems of middle age. Of course,
the ideal is for the man to simply increase his bed chamber life with his wife,
but if that is not possible, masturbation could help the plumbing work better.
There is also some evidence that testosterone in men, which aids in other body
processes, is enhanced by copulation or even a temporary erection. This could
possibly later increase the chances of impregnation when children are wanted.
Also, this therapy is no excuse for obsessive behavior, and young men need not
think this is a matter of getting an early start on the thing.
Also, ask any Roman Catholic
priest how he avoids fornication (if he does, that is). Guess what he will
tell you, if he feels free to speak candidly. Rome's celibacy laws are wicked
indeed.
There
seem to be other health benefits from masturbating. It helps some people deal
with insomnia because the mental release afterward puts one to sleep.
Here
are some researched benefits of the use of seminal plasma:
I
decline to go into detail here, but you may Google "health"+"semen"+"benefits".
In
any case, masturbation is the only way to gather semen if there is a use for it
outside of marriage pleasure.
MASTURBATION
AS EVANGELISM:
Romans
14:14 I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean
of itself: but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean.
There is one area
we need to beware of. If someone sees masturbation as defeating and unclean, we
better be cautious about encouraging that person to just let go on and enjoy it.
Enjoying it is also NOT taught in the Bible since the Bible says nothing about
it.
God
created men to have wet dreams to expel semen occasionally to keep semen healthy
and virile. So, it is obviously not essential to masturbate to keep our reproduction
process active. We dare not try to deliver someone of their dedication to avoid
and flee from masturbation if they associate it with a vile past sexual life.
To them, it is important to abstain and related to their victory. Again, this
is why the thing needs to be made a private matter for a kid at an early age.
Paul
taught us that we need to avoid offending a brother by promoting something that
offends him in himself and in his Christian zeal to please God.
1
Corinthians 8:13 Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh
while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend.
The
issue in Corinth was meat purchased in the market place that was sold by pagans.
It was also sometimes dedicated to pagan gods. Paul concludes a discussion of
this issue by saying that he would not offer a fellow Christian ANY kind of meat
to eat if he knew that his guest would feel he offended God by eating it. Paul
could eat it knowing that, "the idol is nothing." (I Corinthians 8:4)
My fellow believer, who saw meat offered to idols as polluted, must not be expected
to eat it to prove he has Christian liberty.
So,
as you read this article, if you feel liberated from some debilitating terror
of pleasuring yourself foisted upon you in the past, DO NOT go around being an
evangelist for masturbation. You will be thought of as a pervert. But, worse,
you may cause some weaker brother or sister to throw away all of their personal
standards and lose all self-control. I find that the ungodly sometimes are smarter
than Bible believers at not offending people with issues of liberty. I have had
a lot more evangelists trying to convert me to booze at the church house than
in the market place. Maybe you need to read this paragraph again.
SO,
HOW DO WE TALK ABOUT MASTURBATION WITH OUR KIDS?
You
will learn about masturbation by your kids in one of three ways:
1.
They will come and ask-- This
is great. They are learning from you instead of the ungodly kids in the world.
Do not tell them it is a nasty thing and that godly people don't talk about it.
You will simply be sending them to the wicked for an answer to their questions.
2.
You may be told by someone that your kid is masturbating-- Run
the tattler off, and tell them you will take care of it. If they persist in meddling,
break all communication with the perverted tattler, and get your family, especially
your kids, away from all contact with the tattler. If it is a local church settling,
you may even need to talk to the pastor about it. Tell him you do not want sex
cops spying on your kids.
Now,
if they are masturbating with a group or in public, get right on it, and follow
the instructions to Number 3 below. Otherwise, leave it alone for a couple of
days, and meditate on it. When you bring the subject up, tell your kid that some
people are watching them to see if they play with themselves, and your kid needs
to keep his or her activities private and alone. You need to break up any group
sexual activities at once you may lend up with a lesbian or sodomite kid because
the world encourages this.
3.
You will catch them masturbating-- If
you catch your son or daughter masturbating, DO NOT panic. You don't have a budding
pervert in your family. Deal with it discreetly and kindly with a word of advice
to keep it very private and personal.
Suzie,
"Oh Mommy, I'm so sorry you caught me doing that."
Mom,
"Well, you know, God made your body so you could get sexual pleasure at your age
before you got married. Sex feels good doesn't it? Sex is not dirty,
but sex is the most exciting after you get married. The more of your sexual
pleasure you save for you husband, the happier you will be. If you feel
you have to play with yourself, just be careful to keep this very private, and
don't allow it to be the main thing in your life. God wants you to think on His
Word and His holiness as much as you can. He will help you decide what is good
and OK for you if you ask Him."
OR:
Johnny,
"Dad-- Is it wrong to jack off?"
Dad,
"Son, the next question is important-- What does the Bible say about masturbation?"
The kid,
"Dad, I can't find anything."
Dad,
"Nor can I, son."
The
kid, "So, what about it?"
Dad,
"If you have to masturbate to get the pressure off of you, then OK, but talk to
the Lord about everything in your life. He made you with all this sexual drive.
He will help you know what is important. Stay in the Word. Don't let sex ever
be the main event in your life. Keep some ammunition for the wife God is getting
ready for you. Here is a question son-- What if you found out the lady you are
going to marry was masturbating all the time?"
The
kid, "Uh, that's a weird question Dad."
Dad,
"Well, think of it as saving some of your strength for her and for the honeymoon.
But, if you masturbate once in a while, God is not mad at you, or He would have
told you about it in the Bible."
If
masturbation is a sexual sin to you, well deal with it that way. But, you have
NO grounds to teach that to anyone else, for God pointedly said nothing about
it, and it is the first and possibly the most common form of sexual activity with
all of humanity.
YOUR
QUESTION MAY BE:
"Why
did you have to put this in the Journal?"
Answer:
I know that thousands of little kids in Christian homes have grown up with
a warped and twisted terror of their privates and of sex. Some of these
kids have never had sexual pleasure for many years later after they got married.
Some of these kids become sodomites as a result of neurotic behavior by
their parents. I HAVE SEEN THIS DONE TO MORE THAN ONE BOY.
So,
after much deliberation, and after some desperate questions from readers, this
is needed. I hope it helps some kid grow up without crippling terror, and
I hope some Mom or Dad learns to be more wise with the kids as they grow into
puberty. It is an exciting thing to see a little kid start looking grownup
and act like an adult. How wicked it is then, to twist their new found sexual
desires until they are too mutilated to ever give pleasure again. I would liken
this to castration. I pray that you see why this discussion is needed.
Psalm
139:14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous
are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.
By
the way, I hope Daddy and Mommy find their bedroom adventures a bit more like
those of Solomon and his wife in Song of Solomon after reading here.
Genesis
26:8 And it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king
of the Philistines looked out at a window, and saw, and, behold, Isaac was sporting
with Rebekah his wife.
Abimelech
thought Rebecca was the sister of Isaac. Abimelech had thought to make Rebecca
his wife, but he panicked when he saw them making love. I make the following application
cautiously.....
Sex
is sport, and it is a great thing when limited to married couples in love with
one another. A eager sex life may one day also deliver you from leading someone
into offense.
When
John Gunther, the world traveler, toured Africa long ago for his book on Africa,
he visited Arabs in North Africa. One sheik invited him to a feast he wished to
prepare for him. It was a huge affair with a camel stuffed with a sheep which
was stuffed with pheasants and roasted for days. Hundreds of important Arabs were
there. During the feast, the host excused himself and retired to the harem for
a while, only to return and resume feasting. John Gunther learned that this was
not unusual, and the visit was for a sexual feast.
Perverted?
I think not. That was the custom in North Africa. What I would feel was not right
for me was morally quite proper for those Arabs. It might be a lot happier world
if we let people take care of their normal desires with more tolerance. I am not
talking about adultery and fornication. I am talking about God-given appetites
worked out within the confines of biblical truth.
One
more vent, if you will let me..... I have had a few letters from Christians whose
pastor has demanded their services in local church programs so viciously that,
"We no longer have time for each other." I know very well what that
means. They are sexually frustrated, and their pastor does not care one way or
the other. If you are that pastor, you need to be taken out to a live oak tree
and hanged at dawn. YOU are the cause of much of the adultery among your church
people. And, you are also the one who professes to be shocked when these allegedly
"faithful workers" get into adultery. You are a bastard son.
Do
you, brother pastor, want to do penance for your sin of destroying the marriage
chamber that God sanctified? Fine, here is what I want you to do. Review the time
all of your married people spend at the church house pampering you and you pet
programs. Reduce the activities of anyone you have overloaded. Next, take $500
out of your own pocket (not the church's petty cash fund), and give it to the
husband whom you most offended. Tell him it is to be used only one way-- to take
his wife on a weekend adventure to a nice restaurant and hotel.
Now,
if you are staying faithful to your wife, preacher, and if you are the example
your people follow in their abandonment of their marriage to allegedly "serve
the Lord," you have a wife at home who is probably doing a lot of masturbating.
Do you think that is cool? I think you are a creep. You are under direct orders
from God, not me.....
1
Corinthians 7:5 Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a
time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again,
that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency.
Fasting
and prayer are the ONLY reasons to leave the marriage bed for the Lord. Otherwise,
grab hold please preacher, THERE IS NO WORK FOR THE LORD THAT MUST COME AHEAD
OF YOUR SPOUSE'S SEXUAL JOY. What does she want-- She wants YOU. Those tools God
hung between your legs belong to your wife. Give them back-- tonight!
THE
END?
Not
really.
As
long as we live here on earth, our libido is given to us for pleasure as well
as to propagate the human race. When we die or go to heaven we will not have a
libido, for Jesus said that we will be like the angels who never give or take
in marriage.
So,
sex never ends. The world perverts it and makes it dirty. The Lord God who made
us exalts sex as a great joy and blessing. So, enjoy, but please keep it clean,
and keep it unmolested by fallen humanity.
So,
use it now, for this life is the only time you will be able to enjoy sexual pleasure.
By
the way, I have felt some liberty to speak of these things in writing here. But,
I will not respond to email or phone calls discussing this subject. I do not care
to be trapped in some perverted trap by someone with evil motives.
A
READER SHOWS THE POWER OF PERVERTED TEACHING
Dear
Pastor Steve,
I believe you are right about about God not condemning masturbation. As a married
man with a wife who suffers a physical handicap I sometimes resort to this release.
However, not without a certain amount of guilt feelings attributable to my upbringing.
As a
kid, I grew up Catholic and attended the Parish school. One day we heard a film
was to be shown to us sixth-graders. It was a blindside... parents hadn't been
told in advance. Which today, I believe is improper.
That year I was in an all boys class... gender separation was typical in parochial
schools. The seventh-grade boys who joined us made our already crowded classroom
even more cramped. Our teacher, a nun, promptly left after turning the class over
to Father Francis... our pastor. Everyone in the parish knew him to be a grave,
humorless curmudgeon.
What we were to view was a "50's sex-ed film" in which a coach has a frank, locker-room
talk with his team of pubescent boys. All went well even as one of the boys asked
the coach about "masturbation". As I recall, the coach answered saying that it
was not a good practice. And went further to dismiss the myths that prevalent
culture had put on it as untrue... much of it he identified as "social hysteria".
He added that it could be useful as a release for pent-up tension. However, it
should be done alone, in private and not often.... lest it become a serious habit.
At that
point... Father Francis stopped the film, turned on the lights, and stated the
Roman Catholic position. He let it be known that masturbation was a "sin". And
not just any sin... but a "Mortal Sin"... deadly, and capable of condemning those
dying in such a state to an everlasting hell.
The room was still, you could hear a pin drop. I myself felt the tension (although
at the time I was was sexually naive). It wouldn't be until I was in my 20's that
I became sexually active. However, I did wonder who, and how many of my classmates
were destined to hell. The priest told us to disregard the counsel of the "coach"
as "sperm is human life" and to let it spill is an affront to God and equivalent
to murdering the innocent.
When Herbie, a seventh grader raised his hand and asked about the guilt in having
a "wet dream" (a strange term I'd never heard before or experience I hadn't encountered
at that age) the "good father" ... as I recall... exploded at him. I can't remember
what was said but for some reason the question must have angered the priest. Until
this day I still don't know why... it seemed like a perfectly legitimate question
to me.
Steve
Van Nattan comments: The reason the priest exploded is because his perverted theology
exploded. It was God who created man, and so God arranged for the wet dream. Since
God cannot sin, the sperm in the wet dream must be OK to "spill."
At the end of the day I went home confused. To discuss matters of sex with my
parents was unthinkable. Father was distant and mother was prudish. Neither were
open to frank discussions about anything. I found out what a "wet dream" was by
my buddies on the street. So, in and throughout adulthood I believed that...
1) sex was for procreation only... even within marriage... forget about mutual
enjoyment!
And...
2) to masturbate would put one on the greased sluice to Hell and in league with
capital criminals... like those that eat meat on Friday's!
Out of curiosity I may go to the Catholic Encyclopedia online to see if there's
an entry with today's RC position on this topic. With what I remember from my
youth, I don't believe the RCC condones it as a tension release for their priests.
Irish whiskey... definitely yes.... masturbation... I doubt it.
Not only did God save me thirty-one years ago but he cleared up... and is continually
clearing up a lot of my confused thinking generated through the years. I'm eternally
grateful for Christ and His Salvation.
God Bless you for your frank Holy Ghost anointed explanation of a "not-often addressed"
topic....
COMMENT
BY READER:
A
reader reported hearing Harold Camping answer a question about masturbation. Camping
said that masturbation was not a sin in itself, but the mental fantasy and imagery
in the mind of the masturbater was sin. So, he felt it was rare that it
was totally innocent.
Steve
Van Nattan's response-- Harold Camping is not my favorite source on a number
of topics, but he has a point here. I suppose that a man or woman who are
married could have their mind on their spouse and sin of lust in the mind could
be eliminated. Desire for one's spouse, along with memories of sexual experiences
with them, is NOT sin.
A
young unmarried person would be hard pressed to masturbate without resorting to
thoughts of someone they are attracted to. This violates Christ's teaching
that looking with lust is the same as adultery. Pornography used during
masturbation would fall under this teaching also. So, masturbation could
still be without sin, but the mind must not be directed outside of the act alone.
COMMENT:
Hi
Steve,
Just
read your "m" article-- if you know what I mean. It just about blew my head off.
I think you are right, though. The Bible doesn't say anything about it. As long
as one doesn't turn it into some sort of lust or let it become a ritual to look
forward to. The ideal should still be in the married state. I never thought about
those "good" ole Priests. Perhaps in my blinded mind I thought they just went
either numb--or at the worst, abused children in secret.
Boy,
you didn't mince words and I found myself laughing out loud at some of ways you
phrased words, even if they were found in the Bible. But all in all I think
it will help some of the young people. Way to go, brother! God bless.
Charles
Ephesians.
6:13 "Wherefore, take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to
withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand."
COMMENT
A
reader wrote and shared that he could not find any sexual release anyway. This
is a very common story in the USA and Europe where millions of people are made
artificially sick by doctors who play with lab test, and the subsequent numbers
they invent, to make fit people feel sick and take heaps of drugs. Men like this
need to be sent to an MD nutritionist or nutripath to review all the drugs. Then,
they victim can decided if he wants to live a couple of years longer, or if he
wants to live what is left of his life functioning normally. I have chosen the
latter, and I am feeling great since I weaned myself off of the big pharma junk
medicine.
The
man's letter:
Thanks for your advise... It is very relevant to me since I have had prostrate
issues ever since I was in my early 20's (58 now). I've also had chronic sinus
issues all my life and constantly have to use nasal sprays and antihistamines.
I know some of that can affect the "hardware" as you call it...lol..as well. I
was told l2 years ago that I am diabetic and have also had two stents put in for
blocked arteries after a "mild" (if there is a such thing) heart attack back in
2008. I guess this body won't last forever but the next one will! Amen? I have
no trouble believing that many of these problems are related to the food chain
issues we have today. I do use some natural supplements but I'm sure what I do
is nowhere near enough. I saved your email into a file entitled "Bro.Van Nattan's
Health Advise for further reference.
As
it stands right now the cardiologist AND the family doctor I see have me taking
a thyroid pill, two blood pressure pills, Crestor for the cholesterol, Plavix
because of the stents (told me I'd have to take THAT one the rest of my life)and
a niacin supplement and 1 aspirin daily for the heart issues. For the diabetes
I take the Metformin pills. I also take a daily prescription Prilosec for an issue
I have with acid reflux (no big surprise there with all this other junk,huh?)
Beyond that...of my own volition I take the following supplements..Cinnamon, CoQ10,
& Fish Oil. I'm a walking pharmacy, huh? Some days I tell myself I'm just about
ready to chunk all this stuff but then I get to wondering what might happen if
I do. I'm sure you know what I mean. As for the "erection" thing....I have no
doubt that some of this stuff (if not all of it) no doubt has something to do
with THAT problem.
My
family doctor actually agreed with me (when I spoke to him about it) that, regrettable,
was most probably one of the side effects that could or would be caused by taking
the medications I am on. In effect brother, I feel as if I have been chemically
castrated. Frankly, with all the moral liberties (SIN) I took in my past I can't
say I'm not deserving of it....but I had hoped I could have lived a more normal
existence (whatever that is) Sorry to unload on you like that but it feels kind
of liberating to actually have the liberty to get it off my chest. I'll be OK....God
has been and is being good to me. I live in His mercy and grace.
COMMENT
Thank
you for having the courage to write about "m."
I
am a saved, divorced saved woman. I was taught that this was wrong, even though
it is something that I done since the age of about 3 or 4. When done in my young
life I was, of course not thinking any lustful thoughts, I didn't even know what
I was doing. Since I have been in the church and divorced, since I was taught
it was wrong, I have prayed and refrained for years.
Now,
after years of not doing this, I found myself in the position of doing it, while
I was half sleep, I immediately felt guilty and I heard a still small voice say
"I didn't say it is a sin." So, that is why I got on the Internet to see if I
could find any scriptural support for the teaching against masturbation. I don't
have any one in mind when this is done, so I am not being lustful. It is simply
a release. I hope that you will pray for me and I will continue to pray as well.
I wouldn't dare discuss this with anyone that I know.
CATHOLIC
ENCYCLOPEDIA
Introductory
Comment by Steve Van Nattan:
Here
is the foundation for the guilt, defeat, and spiritual dementia into which the
average Catholic man ends by the time he is about 20 years old. This is probably
the single most mind numbing doctrine of devils that causes Catholic men, including
priests, to give way to the flesh and live like dogs. In a church I pastored in
California we had a brother who said that at a very young age he would go to confession
in a Catholic church. The perverted priest would ask him each week if he had masturbated.
At first, this fellow was too young to know what masturbation was, so the priest
very carefully told him how to masturbate, after which he quickly learned to meet
the priest's expectations as a fully active sinner.
This
is the dear damned Mother Whore of the Roman Catholic Church. It also is very
handy for the priest who has taught the boy how to have sexual pleasure. It is
then a very short journey to be servicing the priest's libido, for the priest
was the first one to help the boy find pleasure in sex. All the priest needs to
ask the boy is, "Have you confessed the sin of fellatio?" Of course,
a full discussion and demonstration will be called for if the boy does not know
that Latin word.
Question:
Why are you still a member of the Catholic Church?
HERE
THEN IS THE WHORE CHURCH'S HERESY:
The
traditional Catholic doctrine that masturbation constitutes a grave moral disorder
is often called into doubt or expressly denied today. It is said that psychology
and sociology show that it is a normal phenomenon of sexual development, especially
among the young. It is stated that there is real and serious fault only in the
measure that the subject deliberately indulges in solitary pleasure closed in
on self ("ipsation"), because in this case the act would indeed be radically opposed
to the loving communion between persons of different sex which some hold is what
is principally sought in the use of the sexual faculty.
This opinion is contradictory to the teaching and pastoral practice of the Catholic
Church. Whatever the force of certain arguments of a biological and philosophical
nature, which have sometimes been used by theologians, in fact both the Magisterium
of the Church--in the course of a constant tradition-- and the moral sense of
the faithful have declared without hesitation that masturbation is an intrinsically
and seriously disordered act.[19] The main reason is that, whatever the motive
for acting this way, the deliberate use of the sexual faculty outside normal conjugal
relations essentially contradicts the finality of the faculty. For it lacks the
sexual relationship called for by the moral order, namely the relationship which
realizes "the full sense of mutual self-giving and human procreation in the context
of true love."[20] All deliberate exercise of sexuality must be reserved to this
regular relationship. Even if it cannot be proved that Scripture condemns this
sin by name, the tradition of the Church has rightly understood it to be condemned
in the New Testament when the latter speaks of "impurity," "unchasteness" and
other vices contrary to chastity and continence.
Sociological surveys are able to show the frequency of this disorder according
to the places, populations or circumstances studied. In this way facts are discovered,
but facts do not constitute a criterion for judging the moral value of human acts.[21]
The frequency of the phenomenon in question is certainly to be linked with man's
innate weakness following original sin; but it is also to be linked with the loss
of a sense of God, with the corruption of morals engendered by the commercialization
of vice, with the unrestrained licentiousness of so many public entertainments
and publications, as well as with the neglect of modesty, which is the guardian
of chastity.
On the subject of masturbation modern psychology provides much valid and useful
information for formulating a more equitable judgment on moral responsibility
and for orienting pastoral action. Psychology helps one to see how the immaturity
of adolescence (which can sometimes persist after that age), psychological imbalance
or habit can influence behavior, diminishing the deliberate character of the act
and bringing about a situation whereby subjectively there may not always be serious
fault. But in general, the absence of serious responsibility must not be presumed;
this would be to misunderstand people's moral capacity.
In the pastoral ministry, in order to form an adequate judgment in concrete cases,
the habitual behavior of people will be considered in its totality, not only with
regard to the individual's practice of charity and of justice but also with regard
to the individual's care in observing the particular precepts of chastity. In
particular, one will have to examine whether the individual is using the necessary
means, both natural and supernatural, which Christian asceticism from its long
experience recommends for overcoming the passions and progressing in virtue.
______________________________________
CAVEAT
I
believe the article is useful, and many readers have written and thanked me for
helping them deal with the subject. Also, many Fundamental Baptist pastors have
developed what amounts to a rabid Roman Catholic monastic approach to the issue
of masturbation. This is creepy indeed, and I seem to be one of very few who will
bell the cat.
The
problem that bothers me is that a bunch of sodomite sites, and other perverts,
link to this page. They have no use for Jesus Christ or any other teaching from
(or not from) the Bible. They just use this article to make a case for wanton
lust. This cannot be avoided I guess, so if the article is useful to you, copy
it. I may drop it some day in frustration with the queers.
VIDEO:
This
is a very secular address given by a man who is very clever, but he lacks the
mature level of Bible knowledge, or I should say, the wisdom to use his Bible
knowledge which he has. You will wonder why I added this video I suppose, but
some of you will benefit from the historic discussion of sex and religion, especially
in the organized Church.
Now,
when you reach the end of the video, the question is this:
Why
has sex become dirty to so many Bible believers, but in secret (masturbation)
and in union (one husband with one wife) sex turns out to be a lot of fun and
a great way for two married people to love each other? Can we have it both dirty
and nasty at the same time?
Here
is a question that bothers me because I indulge in this:
Why
do I grumble and decry how very nasty and promiscuous humanity around me has become?
We
all too frequently see a young lady walk by nearly naked, and we comment about
how wicked she is. Well, she would be just as wicked if she were dressed like
an Amish housewife. Why do we not comment about how very lost in sin she is and
how much she needs the love and regeneration of the Savior who said, "Neither
do I condemn thee, go and sin no more"? The REAL question is, "How can
we reach her with the Gospel so that Jesus Christ can make her truly beautiful?"
So,
the problem is, we respond to the dirty world, fallen in sin, perverting sex,
and in our response we make the very faulty conclusion that sex must be restrained
and made adversarial rather than made holy.
The
video:
Did this offend you?
Well, I will offend you even more-- Go read Song of Solomon. You will see the
delight of sex in marriage as God meant it to be. AND, God thought enough of sex
to give you married people an instruction manual so that you would NOT dirty sex
instead of enjoy it.
Finally,
as to masturbation, the physical rush of sexual climax, though only a shadow of
the sexuality enjoyed by Adam and Eve before they fell, is still part of life.
That people resort to masturbation when alone (never otherwise) is simply part
of life. Any appetite can get out of control, but tell me, does the fact that
some people eat as an addiction, until they blow up like a blimp, cause you to
hate and distrust a good steak, or a piece of pie? If so, you are sick my friend.
You belong in a monastery flogging yourself with barbed wire.
FINAL
WARNING
You
will not find any other article on this journal of this sort or on this topic.
Out of nearly 2000 articles here, this one, and one on what Mormons teach on masturbation,
are the only two on that topic. I do not avoid sensitive subjects, but I also
do not get obsessed with any subject. This discussion on masturbation came out
of a question in email.
I
realized that Bible believers in the vast majority of local churches today have
no one to talk to about masturbation. If they talk to the average pastor, the
man will almost always twist some Bible text to teach that masturbation is a sin.
So, feel free to print this and hand it to anyone troubled with this issue, especially
pastors who are abusing the Bible on the subject.
