Masturbation. Christians Only, Please.?

Question

OK, so this is half question, half telling.

So, when Onan got smote, it was because he disobeyed God. IT WAS NOT BECAUSE OF HIM MASTURBATING!!

Here is my question:

Is masturbation a sin?

Now, the answers I am hoping for are from Christians that are going to give me a true answer, not pertaining to Onan and his spilled seed, and not pertaining to anything like, "So what? Everybody does it, it feels sooo good!! Why would God care?" Or anything like that. Please, answer truthfully.

Answer 1

It's how you interpret it. I think It means he was condemned for s*x prevention. I think God want's us to have s*x naturally and to have children.

Answer 2

First, please read this from a Christian minister - be sure to read it all through, as the beginning is a bit confusing:

http://www.jackinworld.com/bios/bio233.h...

I was brought up by a strict father who told me, when I was 12, that masturbation was very wrong. No reasons - he just said it was wrong. For a while I struggled to stop; then I made a new friend, got to know his family, and discovered that they had no problem at all with masturbation. They were a very caring and happy family - knowing them changed my life, and changed my attitude towards masturbation from negative to positive.

However, I can see that using pornography to heighten the enjoyment is another matter; some people become dependent upon it, and that leads to serious problems.

When I had my first serious girlfriend I was glad that masturbation had helped me understand my own sexuality; otherwise the sensations would have been overwhelming and confusing.

Most Christians agree that s*x is only appropriate within marriage; so I think another reason masturbation exists is that God wanted the pleasures of s*x to be available to bachelors too.

Within the Christian church there are traditional people, who believe in behaving according to tradition; and liberals, who believe in taking account of the discoveries of science, and in using our own brains to interpret the Bible. I'm a liberal - if we ignored science, we'd still believe that the sun goes round the earth! Galileo got into very serious trouble with the church for disputing that.

I could say MUCH more - if you want to discuss this further by email, click on my name to get to my Profile, and you can email me anonymously via Yahoo Answers. Meanwhile I hope I've helped, and good luck!

Answer 3

NO! and anyway, if he allows us to do it and HE created it, why is it?

Answer 4

i am 100% christian and no it is not a sin, it is self pleasure other wise s*x would also be a sin

Answer 5

In the sense that masturbation perverts the reason God created s*x to begin with, yes it would be considered a sin.  God created s*x as a means of not only creating new lives, but as a means of two people sharing a unified bond and deepening their relationship.  That is it's intended purpose, and as it was created is a good, healthy thing.  When you m********e, the focus is only on pleasure for yourself- not with a mind to create new life, nor to share in any sort of deeper relationship with another person.  s*x feels good because God made it good, and He obviously intended us to enjoy it in the right time and place.  That is why we feel distress when we do not enjoy it in the manner which He intended us to, and why we feel something is missing from the equation.  On some level, we know we abused a special gift we were given.  Of all the things God created, only man has a sense of sexuality.  Animals have s*x because they are driven to it by their biology, their instincts give them no other choice in the matter.   Man has both understanding and control over his own sexuality, therefore man is unique in his ability to abuse it.  As sins go, I'm sure it's not top of the list of things that will see you burn in h**l-but I'm sure it's not pleasing to the good Lord to see us misuse our own bodies, no.  The Bible says we will be called to account for how we have used or not used the various gifts we were given, and I think the use or abuse of our sexuality will be one of those things we will need to give accounting for.  

Answer 6

You know, the bible doesn't specifically say that the /masturbating/ was the reason God got smote Onan.  Onan was given a direct order from God, in accordance with Jewish tradition, to impregnate his dead brother's widow.  He disobeyed by spilling his seed on the ground instead.  

This is the only instance in the bible when anything even related to masturbation is mentioned.  It's quite possible that the reason Onan was smote wasn't because he was masturbating, but because he refused to impregnate his sister in law.  We don't know, but it's something one must decide on their own, with their own moral beliefs.  It is worth noting though, that in all of the books of the law (the first five or six books of the old testament), there is no direct mention of masturbation, though they seem to mention everything else under the sun, related to s*x or not.

Based on all of this evidence, I'd say that no, masturbation is not a sin.  It's a completely natural human function.  Babies do it, even in the womb.  Animals do it.  Humans were given both the ability to do it, and the desire to do it.  I can only think that that must have been for a reason.