Advice & Help for Christians with Masturbation
Does The Bible say anything on Masturbating? Is Masturbating a Sin?
AT ISSUE: What does the Bible teach about masturbation?
A recently divorced 42 year-old woman asks if it is a sin. It’s a question that is usually asked by adolescent boys, but it is becoming an important question among older divorced and widowed people.
Our Insight
What does the Bible say about masturbation? Nothing. It is absolutely silent on the matter, yet the question about whether it is right or wrong still concerns many Christians.
The Sin Of Onan
Many suggest the “sin of Onan” (Genesis 38) refers to masturbation, but that’s not the case. What Onan did is what we call “coitus interruptus,” which is having intercourse, but withdrawing before ejaculation. Many Christians practice this method of “birth control,” and it could be considered the real sin of Onan. However, we must stop and ask ourselves if God is really in the business of killing people, as he did Onan, just because they don’t ejaculate inside a vagina. This is an absurd thought, of course.
That brings us to the real sin of Onan, and that is, God wanted a child of that union and Onan was wilfully disobedient. At the heart of the matter was greed. If Onan had children with Tamar it would have meant that the prosperity of the land would have to be shared with these children as well as his own. Onan didn’t want that, so he defied God. It is important to remember that God still judges wilful disobedience today. The sin of Onan was not the means of his disobedience (spilling his semen on the ground), but the fact of it.
Lustful Thoughts
If masturbation is not mentioned in the Bible, and if it is no sin for a man to ejaculate outside his wife’s body, then what is the problem?
To some it is the idea of having a fantasy about a lover as part of the masturbation process. They say it goes against Matthew 5:28. But I would suggest that there’s a huge difference between “looking at a woman lustfully” with an intent to commit adultery and fantasizing about some imaginary lover. If this distinction was not an honest one, then certainly the Song of Solomon should be removed from the Bible. The whole theme of the book is about looking on a woman lustfully, even though many have tried to mask this reality by drawing a comparison between the lovers and Christ and his Bride, the Church.
Is it possible to be aroused without lusting after a real person, or relying on pornographic images? It is these things that are not good for Christians. But is masturbation a mark of “lasciviousness,” “impurity,” and “uncleanness?” The Bible itself does not say masturbation is these things, but some interpreters do. Followers of Jesus must make a decision whether they intend to be guided by the teaching of the Bible or the various views of those who have differing opinions. This applies to all concerns in this life.
Differing Views
Most of what we have come to believe about masturbation comes from the teaching of the Catholic Church in bygone centuries. These Catholics believed and taught that a man only had so much semen in his life and that it should not be used up gratuitously, but conserved for procreation. As late as 1975 the Pope said, “masturbation constitutes a grave moral disorder,” but this is a Catholic teaching, not a biblical one.
Up until about 1940 some people in the medical world thought that masturbation led to insanity. There was never any truth to this, and this conclusion was arrived at by faulty observation. Sane people know enough to masturbate in private, but insane people, without inhibitions, did it publicly. Somewhere along the line people thought there was a connection between insanity and masturbation, but there is no medical evidence this is true.
Men and women masturbate. In 1966 research by Masters & Johnson revealed the practice to be virtually universal in North America, cutting across all boundaries of religion, sex, age, race, and social class. People always have masturbated (if paintings on cave walls are any evidence) and always will, and it is morally neutral. Our bodies and minds require sexual release, and this has been the way it is from Creation. God “hard-wired” us this way. For young men and women, and those not married, masturbation is a perfectly normal way of dealing with the situation. There should be no guilt associated with it. To try to stop people from masturbating for religious reasons is like trying to outlaw sneezing as some unholy event.
The Problems Associated The Practice
So, should masturbation be encouraged in all circumstances? No. The yearnings are there for a reason, and it’s important that people examine those reasons. For example, if a person is masturbating often, then it may be that they have some unresolved emotional issue that needs to be discussed. Masturbation should never become an addiction.
How often is too often? Adolescents are prone to doing it daily sometimes, but as people get older the desire normally fades. Others may do it weekly or less frequently. Surging hormones play a big role. Sometimes married people also masturbate occasionally, and this should not be a problem unless one spouse makes it into one. In that case, a thorough discussion by the couple is necessary.
What about the more mature single person? The desire may be God’s way of suggesting it is time to find a husband or wife. In 1 Corinthians 7 Paul said it was better to marry than to burn with passion.
Sexuality is a God-given gift that is connected with relationship. Masturbation can be a problem if people are continually using it as a substitute for relationship. People may engage in solo sex for release, but there should be some concern if it is continually done because of loneliness, boredom, depression or other such emotional reasons.
A Conclusion
If you have guilt about masturbation it does not come from something the Bible teaches. It is there because of social conditioning. Solo sex is not the ideal, but it is a natural human expression. It is not inherently evil, but like so many things, it can be used wrongly.
Whether a person masturbates or not should not be based on their place in the theological spectrum. It is not a matter of liberals doing it and conservatives not doing it. Masturbation could have been condemned by name in the Bible had the Holy Spirit so inspired the writers. But since this is not the case, Christians need to take it for what it is, a temporary release from sexual tension.
Related Christian topics
Christian Love | Christian Dating advice | masturbation help part 1 | Christian views on love and romance
Christian advice help & tips at christian advice.net
